Comic Review: Invincible Volume 6

    Every time I pick up a trade of this book, I think ‘witch one of my favorite characters is going to die this time?’  It’s stressful.  Still, it means I’ve emotionally invested in the series and its cast, and that’s not true of a lot of comics.  And now I know how I’m going to feel when he eventually kills off one of my very favorite characters.  Because I thought he did.  I stared at the panel where it appeared said character was snuffed out and felt resigned sadness.  Like, ‘I knew this was coming, and here it is.’  But then it wasn’t.  I’m sure it’ll be coming for real later.  And the death of another long time core character does appear to be permanent.

    There’s a lot of guest characters in this volume, not just Guardians of the Globe, but other Image personalities.  The whole pantheon has to be called up to face another world threatening foe.  And dang.  Not only is the threat ramped up, but the violence is beastly.  And every time it seems like there’s going to be a pause, it steps up another notch.  So many people get punched to pieces.  It’s horrifying.  I like that these people with super powers do super damage.  You always see Superman punching a normal person and they fall back a little.  A guy who punches planets out of orbit and a human just falls over and looks dazed?  When Invincible isn’t holding back, the turns people he punches into puddles of lumpy red oatmeal.  In the middle of the volume, there is an extended story about Omni-Man and Allen the Alien.  This strange relationship has been evolving for a long time, and has reached a pretty crazy, but awesome place.  Omni-Man sleeping on Allen’s couch must be about the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.  Whatever it’s building to should be plenty cool.  A few new characters, possible villains and allies make appearances.  Universa, Dinosaurus, Space Racer, Conquest.  Cool.

    Of the things I’ve read from him so far, this is Kirkman’s best work.  And the series remains fun, grim, exciting, and cool.  Ryan Ottley’s art improves by the issue, and his love of drawing excruciating gore is impressive and sick.  This volume also includes guest artwork from series co-creator and original artist Cory Walker.  And as always, the back end of the book is loaded with sketches and commentary.

    If you’re any kind of superhero fan, and you’re not reading this series, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  It’s got action, cool characters, humor, romance, grand plotting, twists and turns, and a consistent vision.  This has what Marvel and DC are so sadly missing.  Read it.

Invincible Ultimate Collection: Volume 6
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Ryan Ottley & Cory Walker
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-360-5

-Matt

Comic Review: Invincible Volume 5

    What is it I keep saying?  Oh, yeah.  Invincible is the best super hero comic on the market.  That’s right.  And the more I read, the more I think that’s true.  This fifth volume in the Ultimate Collection sees some major changes in Mark’s life.  A falling out with a trusted friend, deepening romance, trouble with his brother, and oh, man, the Mauler Twins.  The Mauler Twins!!!…So much blood.  So much gore.  And like previous volumes, there’s plenty of foreground story, with hints of longer running threads woven in through the background.  What’s all this with Titan?  Something has been building with that guy for a long time.  What’s his deal?  He seems like a pretty good dude, for an underworld boss.  Why’s everybody messing with him?

    The problem I keep running into with this series isn’t actually a problem really.  It’s that feeling you don’t get when reading Marvel or DC.  It’s that feeling that nobody is safe, and things won’t be back to normal in an issue or two.  I’m pretty sure my favorite villains are dead.  Like dead, dead.  Not, gonna show up in another couple issues dead.  There have been a couple cases of characters that seemed dead coming back, but those are uncommon and connected to specific characters (not all that shocking when a guy called The Immortal turns out to be harder to keep dead than normal).  But while I don’t see Invincible himself getting killed, it’s not out of the question.  And pretty much anyone else could go at any time.  This volume carried me through issue 59.  The monthly issues just passed 100.  I want Invincible and his lady to be happy.  But I’m guessing if I were reading issues hitting the newsstands today, I’d be seeing horror and sadness.  I can’t wait, but I also dread it.  Unlike so many ongoing series, the unified voice brought by Kirkman being the continuous writer has kept it more real.  If this came out of Marvel or DC, it would have had six or eight different writers, each one wanting to kill off or resurrect their own pet characters, and each trying to take the series off in different directions, while never straying too far from the studio mandated status quo.  Kirkman has the freedom to shape the story and make things count.  So, again, I fear for the life of every character I like.  And I have good reason to think those fears are justified.

    The sideline story with The Astounding Wolf-man felt a bit shameless pluggy.  But whatever.  However, the Allan the Alien interlude was amazing.  Are they building up to the greatest comicbook character team-up ever?  If what it looks like actually comes to pass, I’ll have to put a little ‘power of 2’ sign next to my statement that this is the best superhero comic on the market.  (Also, keep an eye out for a cameo from Doctor Venture and Brock Samson, as well as another awesome dig on Aquaman).  So, if you like the idea of superheroes, like the style of the Silver Age, but want something a bit more meaty, a bit more emotionally impacting, try Invincible.  This feels like all the potential of the Marvel Universe, without the status quo mandates demanded by their market position.  I believe I cautioned readers about this before, but do remember it’s not an ‘all ages’ title.  There is violence, and when that violence happens, it’s not pretty.  In fact, it’s some of the nastiest, bloodiest, freakiest violence I’ve seen in a comicbook (Oliver punched that dude’s jawbone out the back of his head!).  But for the adult reader, this is top shelf material.

Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 5
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Ryan Ottley, etc.
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-60706-116-8

-Matt