Invincible - From the Beginning **Spoilers**

[Lethiecq]

The idea for this is from a number of similar posts in the x forums here on CBR and I thought it would be fun to read through the series from the beginning and discuss. I'll do a few issues a week and it will take a while to get all the way through.

Some of these threads in the x forums have some rules about not referencing anything that occurs later on in the series as you read and discuss. I think that in the case of Invincible this would be a mistake. A lot of the fun of rereading the series will be in finding all of the little references to the future that slip in unknown when first reading the material.

I'll start with issue #1. There is an issue #0 but it falls in between issue #22 and #23 so I'll post about #0 then. There are a few mini's set in this universe set prior to the events in this series. Despite the chronological time line of those mini's however, I think it best to deal with that material around the same time that the mini's were released as far as the issue they are discussed around. I am not positive when that is but there is plenty of time to figure that out.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/kirkman.jpg

Invincible - Issue #1

Invincible starts off in the middle of some action with our hero carrying what appears to be a suicide bomber out far from any bystanders, perhaps in the arctic or on top of a mountain range, and then throws the guy, who then explodes. Our hero is unhurt following this explosion, and that's pretty much the opening to the whole series. The next page is started with the note in the top left "Four months ago" and the issue carries on as if this event hadn't happened...yet. It is important to note that the person that explodes is never shown. Its a man, but you never see his face. It appears from the art that he may not have any hair, but its hard to say for certain. This event is never revisited this issue.

The next scene is taking place 4 months previous at the home of our here. He is seen in the bathroom reading an issue of Science Dog, a comic book. We meet his mom for the first time here too. They discuss the fact that they don't know where his dad, her husband is. When the tv comes on it shows a blurred figure fighting a dragon in Taiwan. The figure is identified by the television announcer as Omni-Man, Defender of Democracy. In a very matter-of-fact way our hero says "Well, now you know where he is." revealing that Omni-Man is in fact his father. The fact that this dragon appears here in the very first issue is interesting to note also since the villain that Omni-Man is fighting is re-introduced to Invincible much later in the series. I had completely forgotten that this character had already appeared in Invincible when I first saw him much later in the series. I also thought it interesting that it was so matter-of-fact about who Omni-Man was. It seemed so natural to the characters that I believed it instantly.

The next scene is at the hero's school, introducing William, a friend of Marks. This is also the first time that Mark is mentioned by name in the series. Now I can stop referring to him as the hero... William will later turn out to be an important character, Mark's best friend, and an excellent supporting cast member throughout the series.

Mark at school is immediately followed by Mark at work, Burger Mart, where he accidentally throws a garbage bag way way way up in the sky. The look on Mark's face implies he is pleasantly surprised.

The next scene is one of my least favorite in the first issue. Mark and his mom sit down to dinner and Mark's dad shows up. They speak a bit about the thing in Taiwan earlier in the morning and then Mark reveals that he has some powers now. His mom says "That's nice. Can you pass the potatoes?" which is a little too matter-of-fact in my opinion. I found it very believable that earlier in the first issue when turning on the tv Mark and his mom were just very nonchalant about the fact that there on tv is his dad fighting a dragon in Asia, problem solved. In the case of his powers activating, I find it hard to believe that it would be treated with the same nonchalance however. I know it wouldn't have helped the story along any faster if they started talking about it or whatever, but it could have been left with "oh, what happened to give you the idea you are getting your powers" or something else, and then leave the scene. Just my taste. The conversation between Mark's parents before he mentions his powers however involves his dad's secret identity as a writer, and is the first mention of the Guardians of the Globe.

The following scene places Mark on the roof of his house. I didn't find this scene very believable either. Mark wants to test whether or not he can fly, and mentions that he is unsure if he has his dads invulnerability or not, so he decides to jump off his roof to see if he can fly, or if he can't he hopes he can't be hurt. I can think of numerous ways to test invulnerability before jumping off a roof the night after I figure out that I have super strength. It just seems like a move that is completely lacking in any calculation. For someone who has lived his whole life as a semi-normal human being, able to be hurt like anyone else, it just doesn't seem believable to me that he would jump off a roof without knowing that he couldn't be hurt. At least he closes his eyes and cringes when he jumps, but he flies. It is a good way to mention a few of his powers. We have already seen his strength when he threw the garbage bag earlier in the issue, and now it is revealed that he can fly, and apparently he is invulnerable too, or will be.

Next we get some more action. A powered villain, apparently a for-hire henchman, is running with some well dressed diamond thieves. Mark shows up and knocks out the powered villain and the other two crooks. The powered villain, who can surround himself with some sort of stone shell, plays a role later in the series with several appearances, but his first appearance here is nothing special. He is easily overcome by a untested and inexperienced Mark, who reveals to his dad at the end of the scene that he has had his powers now for two weeks.

Mark's father then shows up and teases Mark about his makeshift costume and then takes him to a Tailor. The intro to the scene says "Prom dresses by day, nuclear powered suits of armor by night..." and we meet another character. His name is never given in this issue, but he will appear again numerous times throughout the series. Mark tries on a costume but doesn't like it. This costume appears again later in the series, on a different hero. This whole scene is one of my favorites in this issue, with Mark telling his tailor that he wants an "iconic" costume. He is told he needs a name. Also Mark's dad runs off to take care of a villain called Gridlock. I don't recall if Gridlock ever appears in the series later on. He is just mentioned here in passing. It gives a feeling that Mark is just coming into a world that is already busy with all sorts of things happening.

The next scene is in Mark's high school and introduces a teacher of Mark's and a classmate named Derek who is a bit of a jerk towards his girlfriend. This scene is very important later on in this initial story arc.

Mark then gets into a fight in the hallway with a bully protecting a kid, Steve White. Is it an Atom Eve appearance in the scene of the fight, looking on? It is hard to tell. Walkers art is very different than Ottley's, who pencils most of the series. I am not certain that the hair color is quite right for this to be Eve. Anyway, Mark is next seen in the principals office with principal Winslow. The first time I saw this I thought it was funny that his name was Winslow and he reminded me a bit of the guy from Family Matters. I later found out that there was a lot more to this than just a coincidence. I really like that part of it, the layered humor and pop-culture Easter eggs for those paying attention. The principal tells Mark to be careful with bullies, "You're not Invincible you know." and a name is found for Mark's secret self.

The issue closes out with a couple of bank robbers making their escape, only to be faced with Invincible flying in front of them holding their getaway car over his head. When they threaten to shoot him, he tells them he's Invincible.

Reading through this issue again I was surprised at how little was revealed while also enjoying a great deal all of the little things that I know take root here and end up meaning something later on in the series. This first issue and the first issue of The Walking Dead were actually what drew me back to comics after many years away, and I enjoyed reading it again. Many of the characters in this issue haven't been given names. We know what Mark's mom looks like, but we don't know her name yet. We know Mark's dad is Omni-Man, but we don't know his name. We don't know the name of the tailor who is making Mark's super hero costume, and we don't know the name of the dragon villain in Taiwan, or the shell villain that Mark knocks out midway through the issue. In fact, as far as these villains are concerned, we have no reason to expect that they will every appear again throughout the series. A lot of things like that happen in Invincible though. We have no reason to suspect that that trash bag Mark threw when he first got his super strength would appear again. It is little things like that which make rereading this issue a joy.

I think that the series gets a lot better later on but it's the very fun, light feel of the beginning issues that first drew me in.

What did you guys think of issue #1? What did I miss?

[Quest Mar-Vell]

Its crazy that we are 70+ issues in and there are still things from Issue 1 that have turned into subplots and havent been hit on yet. This series has SOOOO much going on. Excellent book... This is gonna be fun being able to re-read this with others along for the ride.

[HEATWAVE 2010]

I'm down with this. I love INVINCIBLE and have only started reading it recently. I have HCs 1, 2, and 4, and have finished the first two, but waiting to get my hands on #3. So I'm pretty much not aware of any of the recent going-ons of the INVINCIBLE Universe except that I saw a few adds for the Viltrumite War (which I can't wait to read). Anyways, what I really wanted to say was : STEVE WHITE. (Chuckles). Kirkman, you crack me up... For those of you who haven't read INVINCIBLE, Steve White is referring to Jaleel White who played Steve Urkel on Family Matters (which I believe is the name of one of the INVINCIBLE trades). And as stated in the above posts, there are plenty of pop-culture easter eggs dropped throughout the series including Principal Winslow at Reginald Vel Johnson High School...

[Lethiecq]

Family Matters is actually the name of the first TPB, which collects issues 1-4 of the series.

As far as the Vitrumite War, it will be a long time until we get there, though the first plot threads leading to those issues will be starting pretty soon in our reading. There are still some major characters that have yet to be introduced so there is a long way to go but some important people will appear for the first time in the next issue.

I will try not to spoil too many things as we read through, for those who may be reading the series for the first time, but I make no promises. Does anyone know how to make the spoiler boxes?

[400yrs]

Invincible #1

Nice summary.

This is easily my favorite book. I consider it to be gen x's Spider-Man. A large part of my enjoyment is that it's a story I can simply read and enjoy, not having to over think things. Therefore, my re-reading summaries past this one will probably reflect that.

I bought #1 off the shelves when it came out. The simple cover art and the nice clean and simple title were all very appealing to my eye. I took it home, read it and was very impressed. However, I didn't buy #2 because often these series never make it past 3 or 4 issues. I picked it up again around issue 8 when I saw the book hanging in there and haven't looked back.

Kirkman's use of the "If I keep this up...." line in the first few pages was brilliant and had me laughing. The bathroom humor was risky, but it really worked..... probably because he was reading a comic book on the can.

I appreciated the use of the retail store rip-off names such as "Rap" and "Toys B We" instead of Gap and Toys R Us and also the incorporation of band names such as AFI, Tool and Slayer on the t-shirts of the high school kids and the Family Matters references.

The thing that was unique about this issue to me was the costume. I loved the yellow dish gloves and bandana he used while practicing. I could see myself doing that. Going to the costume tailor, Art, was something I had never read in a comic before. I thought it was brilliant.

This issue reads even better after you've read the entire series because you see all the things that Kirkman has brought back into the story even from the very beginning. Things like the trash bag and the Bulletproof costume are why this is my favorite book.

One thing that did bother me about Walker's art is that he uses the dots for eyes on characters who are far away.

[EuphemismForSex]

I have the entire issue from the beginning, too. I might get around to rereading them. I have to say though, the amount of improvement in virtually every field that this book got from 0 - now is phenomenal.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #1

Nice summary.

Thanks!


This is easily my favorite book. I consider it to be gen x's Spider-Man. A large part of my enjoyment is that it's a story I can simply read and enjoy, not having to over think things. Therefore, my re-reading summaries past this one will probably reflect that.

I bought #1 off the shelves when it came out. The simple cover art and the nice clean and simple title were all very appealing to my eye. I took it home, read it and was very impressed. However, I didn't buy #2 because often these series never make it past 3 or 4 issues. I picked it up again around issue 8 when I saw the book hanging in there and haven't looked back.

I wish I had gotten in on this early but I didn't get back into comics until pretty recently so I had to buy a lot of back issues. The issues after issue 20 or so aren't too hard to get for cover price and sometimes less but I spent a goodly amount of money for the earlier issues. It is worth it though. My issue #1 is pristine but its the Larrys Wonderful World of Comics Convention version or whatever, so it was cheaper than the real first print #1. I probably should have just picked up the trades but I really wanted to own the comics. Did you ever close that early gap in your run?


Kirkman's use of the "If I keep this up...." line in the first few pages was brilliant and had me laughing. The bathroom humor was risky, but it really worked..... probably because he was reading a comic book on the can.

I think it was the bathroom humor that sold me on the series actually. I was flying down to Florida (I live in New England) so I downloaded a couple of free comics on my iPhone on an app called Comixology (Comics) and one of them was Invincible. I went through the comic on my tiny screen which zoomed in on each panel individually (never saw the full pages, heh) and I was sitting next to my mother on the plane reading that scene. I thought it was hilarious, and done well since it avoided being crass. I didn't tell my mother what I was laughing at though...


I appreciated the use of the retail store rip-off names such as "Rap" and "Toys B We" instead of Gap and Toys R Us and also the incorporation of band names such as AFI, Tool and Slayer on the t-shirts of the high school kids and the Family Matters references.

I saw the "Rap" and Tool shirts as I was reading through but I don't remember "Toys B We" and Slayer. I do find that the first couple books did a great job of keeping things light by making those subtle references to television. I get the feeling that this sort of humor isn't injected into the stories with as much frequency nowadays, but the book is a lot darker and more serious now than it had been in the early days. I actually hope that a bit of that lighter mood shows itself once we reach the end of the Vitrumite War. It is refreshing to read comics with positive and fun things happening.



The thing that was unique about this issue to me was the costume. I loved the yellow dish gloves and bandana he used while practicing. I could see myself doing that. Going to the costume tailor, Art, was something I had never read in a comic before. I thought it was brilliant.

I really enjoyed the get-up Invincible was wearing when he faced off against Titan and the diamond thieves. It had a very Grifter-like quality to it with the way that bandanna looked covering his face. It definitely looked like something he threw together using stuff he had lying around the house. I didn't mind the color scheme though, not that I would have wanted him to wear that for any length of time, but it was funny.


This issue reads even better after you've read the entire series because you see all the things that Kirkman has brought back into the story even from the very beginning. Things like the trash bag and the Bulletproof costume are why this is my favorite book.

Kirkman does an excellent job of harvesting his back-issues and pulling gems from them. The best ones are the ones that show up and you remember what it references but hadn't ever thought it would be revisited. The trash bag is a perfect example of that.


One thing that did bother me about Walker's art is that he uses the dots for eyes on characters who are far away.

I am not a huge fan of Cory Walkers art, honestly. I definitely prefer Ottley to Walker for any number of reasons. In particular I don't like the odd lines that Walker puts on faces to add age or shape. His style for this issue was pretty spartan. I imagine the look of the book now had he stuck with it throughout the series would be different. He would clearly have adapted, as Ottley has since the time he started.

[Quest Mar-Vell]

His work on issues 66 & 67 aswell as the back-up in Invincible Returns #1 shows how much Walker's art has evolved since those days...

[Lethiecq]

His work on issues 66 & 67 aswell as the back-up in Invincible Returns #1 shows how much Walker's art has evolved since those days...

No doubt that his art has evolved since those early days. A lot changes in 7+ years. I enjoyed his Allen/Nolan catch-up issues a lot too. I also have to say that Ottley has changed and grown as an artist too. His early Invincible work is much less skillfully drawn than his current work. He has also been doing Invincible for 60+ issues now which has to have an impact based on familiarity with the characters alone.

[Quest Mar-Vell]

He has also been doing Invincible for 60+ issues now which has to have an impact based on familiarity with the characters alone.

No kidding... many people on the Kirkman board went on about how they didnt like Walker's art now. And most agreed it was because they are just so used to seeing Wya's art that seeing Invincible done by someone else... even the original co-creator... just doesnt seem right. Especially in the pages of Invincible.

Dont know if you have read it... not Image but Kirkman and Walker... but if you havent... check out Destroyer published by Marvel's MAX line. Excellent Kirkman book

[Libaax]

I will always prefer Cory Walker over Ryan Ottley in Invincible. Ottley is a fav too but Walker art is more fun to me. I prefer his style more.

Naturally it seems weird reading even Walker now after 60+ issues of Ottley.

[Lethiecq]

Dont know if you have read it... not Image but Kirkman and Walker... but if you havent... check out Destroyer published by Marvel's MAX line. Excellent Kirkman book

No, I haven't read it yet but I plan to eventually. I will also grab his Marvel Team-Up and Ant Man stuff as well if I find it. I haven't read Astounding Wolf Man, Brit, or Tech Jacket yet either. I've read the crossover issues of Wolf Man and Team-Up but that's it.

[400yrs]

No kidding... many people on the Kirkman board went on about how they didnt like Walker's art now. And most agreed it was because they are just so used to seeing Wya's art that seeing Invincible done by someone else... even the original co-creator... just doesnt seem right. Especially in the pages of Invincible.



I guess I'm kind of one of those people. I don't care for Walker's art now at all. The faces are too weird. I didn't like the art in Destroyer either, but it might be the coloring. It didn't help that the story was kind of pointless.

I'm not one who says I don't want to see him on Invincible though. He's a creator and I like to see him do some fill in issues.

Invincible is Ottley now though. The book made it because he was able to get it out in a reasonable amount of time...... because Walker couldn't. Do you remember how delayed even Destroyer a 5 issue mini was?

I've never seen an artist progress as much as Ottley has in a short amount of time. Comparing the early issues and the recent stuff is night and day.

[400yrs]

No, I haven't read it yet but I plan to eventually. I will also grab his Marvel Team-Up and Ant Man stuff as well if I find it. I haven't read Astounding Wolf Man, Brit, or Tech Jacket yet either. I've read the crossover issues of Wolf Man and Team-Up but that's it.

Ant-Man is really good as well as the Brit one shots. The rest is take it or leave it.

When is #2 going up?

[Lethiecq]

Ant-Man is really good as well as the Brit one shots. The rest is take it or leave it.

When is #2 going up?

Tonight, I just got delayed by the holiday weekend.

[Jer]

I just got Invincible: Family Matters .... thought it was a little too campy for my taste but then I read Invincible 0 and was like wow. :eek:

Now I got to read the rest. This book seems to me like a mixture of Spiderman and Superman. Would you guys say that's about accurate?

[Lethiecq]

I just got Invincible: Family Matters .... thought it was a little too campy for my taste but then I read Invincible 0 and was like wow. :eek:

Now I got to read the rest. This book seems to me like a mixture of Spiderman and Superman. Would you guys say that's about accurate?

I think it is natural for people to want to find similarities in new comics so that it can be more easily categorized in our minds. When you first read Invincible you begin with the understanding that his powers are superman-like in that he can fly, is hard to hurt, and he has super strength. As far as Superman goes, I think that the similarities end there.
Invincible, especially early on is similar to the Spider-Man style story in that he is a young guy learning about his powers, dating girls (first a blond and then a red head), and dealing with secret identity and such.
Very early on however, within the first 10 or 12 issues you begin to see that Invincible is very much it's own entity. You deal with some villains and generic stories where Invincible fights baddies that he is far more powerful than. The real center of the story for much of the series is character driven. Dealing with his father issues, his mothers issues about that same subject. As the story of Invincible progresses it grows darker and more violent. It becomes obvious that Kirkman is playing for keeps. You learn that what started out as a fun little series about a kid with super powers becomes a gritty tale about a young man coming to grips with a violent legacy which he wants to escape but fears his ability to control.
To answer your question more directly, I think the similarities between Invincible and Superman and Spider-Man are there, especially early on in the series, but those similarities exist only skin deep and the reality is that once you get past perhaps the 3rd trade you won't think about those similarities much because the character will have begun to already move on beyond them. Invincible progresses, and the franchise doesn't have the problem of having to constantly find ways to return itself to it's status quo.

[Jer]

LOL

Yeah, I got that it's suppose to be darker from reading Invincible 0 actually.

I picked up Family Matters after reading issue 0.
I didn't find Family Matters that entertaining actually. It really did feel like a parody of Superman/Spiderman stories to me. Only this time Uncle Ben was a well and alive to lead Peter lol

But I know from reading issue 0 that he's part of an alien invasion force that Invincible will have to fight to save the earth. In fact, this Super Hero actually considers killing the bad guys to protect the ones he's love. No phantom zone or just go to jail ... to say become top cop of the world.

But he actually decides to kill for the greater good. I think that more then anything else got my attention.

Vol 3 you said. It should become it's own vehicle. I'm so there. :cool:

[Lethiecq]

LOL

Yeah, I got that it's suppose to be darker from reading Invincible 0 actually.

I picked up Family Matters after reading issue 0.
I didn't find Family Matters that entertaining actually. It really did feel like a parody of Superman/Spiderman stories to me. Only this time Uncle Ben was a well and alive to lead Peter lol

But I know from reading issue 0 that he's part of an alien invasion force that Invincible will have to fight to save the earth. In fact, this Super Hero actually considers killing the bad guys to protect the ones he's love. No phantom zone or just go to jail ... to say become top cop of the world.

But he actually decides to kill for the greater good. I think that more then anything else got my attention.

Vol 3 you said. It should become it's own vehicle. I'm so there. :cool:

Vol 2 of the Trades, the one with issues 5-8 will actually contain the scenes that reveal to the readers that Omni-Man is not who you believe him to be after the first few issues. Make sure you don't skip the second trade or you will regret it.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #2

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/2-1.jpg

Issue #2 starts out with a flashback from Mark's memory. His dad is admitting to not being from Earth but rather from a distant planet called Viltrum. He explains that he was part of a missionary project and that he is here to be the sole protector of the planet.
During the flashbacks we see that the planetary defense systems he says his people place around the galaxy look remarkably like Death Stars.
We also see a panel of a certain one-eyed orange alien getting beat up by Mark's dad. Apparently Mark's parents met when his mom was in danger many years ago.

Mark's dad then explains that in the coming years his son will experience some changes, will like girls, will grow hair in places, voice change....oh and super powers too...Mark hears the super powers part.

The next scene is of Mark now, having trouble sleeping. He flies out his window in the middle of the night in his pajama bottoms. While flying around he spots a blue guy with an bull ring in his nose stealing video game boxes from a store. As he flies down to stop the thief he gets swatted away with a back hand. Just as they are about to get fighting an explosion blasts between them.
Next we see that a group of costumed heroes have arrived on a flying motorcycle/hovercraft. The blue guy grabs the hovercraft and tosses it, breaking it apart, and while "Bot" and "Rex" argue about it Mark knocks out the blue guy.
As the team prepares to depart Mark talks with one of the girls who he thinks he recognizes but he isn't sure. She makes fun of his costume (pajama pants) The apparent leader of the team introduces the team as the Teen Team and introduces himself as Robot, the girl he was chatting with as Atom Eve, the guy who can cause explosions as Rex Splode, and the other girl as Dupli-Kate. We also learn that the blue guy is named Mauler. Mark introduces himself as Invincible.

The next day in school Mark runs into Atom Eve at school. She apparently has a class with him. They make a little small talk about how tiring super hero work is when you stay up all night and then have school all day. Mark asks Eve not to mention his secret identity to any of her team mates in case any of them turn evil. Eve then invites him to join them on some follow up of the previous nights events. He agrees and after school they go and change into their uniforms in a dumpster corral behind school. They just fly off from there and Eve explains that most people never look up.

When they arrive at the Teen Teams base Robot is there complaining that he almost had to leave on his own since they were late and apparently Rex Splode and Dupli-Kate are out on another mission. Robot explains that he wiped Maulers memories and put a tracker on him, hoping that when he woke up he wouldn't remember the events from the night before and would lead them to his lair so they can discover what he had planned for those game boxes from the night before.
They follow Mauler to a building, and inside Mauler meets with Mauler...Another blue guy, this one without the nose ring and wearing a white lab coat. Just as the two Maulers begin discussing how important the items that were supposed to be stolen the night before are for their plans Invincible, Robot, and Atom Eve burst in.
In the ensuing fight Robot subdues one of the Maulers and Invincible subdues the other. Robot asks Invincible if he would like to become a part of the Teen Team and Invincible asks if it is always this easy.

The next scene is at a mall, and a guy wakes up on a bench, notices something beneath his shirt and opens it. When he does he finds a bomb strapped to his chest. We then cut to an explosion in the mall and that ends the issue.



This issue was an interesting read from the standpoint of someone who has read much further into the series. We get a little bit of explanation from Mark's dad about where he is from and this explains some of Mark's origin. I didn't know when I first read this about what would happen later on as far as the big reveal but I thought the story Mark was getting here was a little too Utopian. I just expected that it was cleaned up a little bit for children. The panels here are important later on though. We also get a first view of Allen the Alien here, although we don't know that he is of an importance at this point, with his single panel appearance.

As far as more real introductions we meet Robot, Atom Eve, Rex Splode, and Dupli-Kate who all become important in the series later on, to varying degrees. We learn a little bit about Rex Splode's power, and there is a certain palpable tension between Eve and Mark right from the beginning. I thought they would get together right away when I first read this.

The Mauler Twins make their first appearance here. There really isn't any of the cool and humorous twin/clone banter that we get to see later on in the series here. They are pretty basic villains here, meant more to carry the story forward than to exist as characters with their own history and depth. Reading through their dialogue this issue leaves a lot out. It almost seems like they hadn't been developed at all yet and existed as fill-ins until Kirkman had the idea to develop them further later on.

We get a little bit more on the beginning of the first issue, when we see the guy with the bomb vest explode. In the first issue we saw Invincible throw someone in the arctic with one of those things strapped to his chest and this time we see someone wake up with one on him, apparently a victim.

I almost feel like this issue was a bit of a letdown from the first. A little bit more happened and you got to meet several interesting characters, but didn't feel that it had quite the same feel as the first issue.

What did you guys think of issue #2, on its own and in hindsight.

[HEATWAVE 2010]

I just got Invincible: Family Matters .... thought it was a little too campy for my taste but then I read Invincible 0 and was like wow. :eek:

Now I got to read the rest. This book seems to me like a mixture of Spiderman and Superman. Would you guys say that's about accurate?

I would agree with your assessment. If you I were to tell someone about INVINCIBLE who had never read a comic book, I would tell them that it was something like a cross between Spiderman (high school angst, young love, wise cracks) and Superman (god-like abilities).

[Joseph C.]

I love how much the art has evolved. Ryan Ottley has become one of my favorite comic book artists.

[400yrs]

When I first read it, the back story in #2 was pretty cool. It definitely had a different feel from #1. The Robot character struck me as odd, but very interesting. The Mauler twins seemed like fresh new villains.

One thing that I really liked the first time I read it was the simple, but descriptive and clever names..... Atom Eve, Robot, Dupli-Kate, RexSplode. Comic character names are often hard for me to remember. This is the first series I've read where just about every name is easy to remember or at least I know who they are talking about. I appreciate that greatly and I'm able to enjoy the stories much more because of it.

Looking back, I like how the back story parallels what Nolan tells Mark later. I like seeing a bit of Allen, the Science Dog toy.... I'm sure more of the stuff from this issue will surface later in the series.

This isn't an issue that would've had me begging for more, but looking back, it's a good set up issue.

[Lethiecq]

When I first read it, the back story in #2 was pretty cool. It definitely had a different feel from #1. The Robot character struck me as odd, but very interesting. The Mauler twins seemed like fresh new villains.
I definitely had a similar feeling for Robot when I first read the issue. He came off as very interesting, and his dialogue didn't seem quite right but with a name like Robot I expected that he would sound unusual. At this point in the series we still don't know whether Robot is in fact a Robot or not.

I had a very different opinion of the Mauler twins however. At this point I didn't feel like they were anything more than just a filler villain while different characters were introduced. I later ended up liking the characters a lot but at this early stage I definitely didn't think that the Maulers were anything special at all.



One thing that I really liked the first time I read it was the simple, but descriptive and clever names..... Atom Eve, Robot, Dupli-Kate, RexSplode. Comic character names are often hard for me to remember. This is the first series I've read where just about every name is easy to remember or at least I know who they are talking about. I appreciate that greatly and I'm able to enjoy the stories much more because of it.
When I was reading a little bit about Invincible before I started buying all the back issues I read some of the character names and they seemed silly and juvenile to me. I didn't think that the names were cool at all and they all seemed like puns to me, and I prefer at least some effort at seriousness in my comic books so I was sure that this was a turn-off for me. Once I read a few issues and the characters were introduced all my doubts about the characters and their names evaporated. They are extremely easy to remember and I like that they aren't your stereotypical comic book names like Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, etc...The fact that Kirkman brings this up later on is even more hilarious to me.



Looking back, I like how the back story parallels what Nolan tells Mark later. I like seeing a bit of Allen, the Science Dog toy.... I'm sure more of the stuff from this issue will surface later in the series.

I completely missed the Science Dog toy. Good catch!



This isn't an issue that would've had me begging for more, but looking back, it's a good set up issue.

I agree completely.

[Lethiecq]

I will be posting my summary and comments on issue #3 tonight so I'm just bumping this now in case anyone has anything else to say about issue #2.

[Quest Mar-Vell]

I didnt really know what to say that hadnt already been said... I read in Trade form at this time so it wasnt so "blah" to me. I could see how I wouldnt have been excited about issue 2 like I was about 1 if I had bought the singles though...

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #3

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/3-1.jpg

Issue #3 has an interesting cover. I haven't really talked about the cover art yet for the previous 2 issues but this cover is action packed. The first one was invincible standing in front of a broken wall, and the second was invincible flying down on one of the Maulers, but this cover is Invincible and Omni-Man fighting with a bunch of green skinned aliens. Mark has one of the aliens by the throat (a technique he will eventually master...) and his father is swinging at another alien who is mostly off-panel. I think its a pretty good cover. Of the first 3 I have to say I like this one the most, with the 2nd cover being pretty good too.

Issue #3 starts with the principal speaking at a school assembly about some students that have gone missing. The first panel is just a picture of the front of the school with the name of the school engraved into the stone. As we progress through the series an often used device is to show the same or very similar location panels at the beginning of new scenes located in regular locales. It is effectively used by Kirkman and both of his artists to quickly change scene and immediately bring the reader into the new locale comfortably. I find that I follow the story easier when I have a clear idea that we are dealing with a change of setting. Nothing worse than having a change so dramatic that I flip a page back just to make sure I didn't skip a page by accident.
The principal explains that the kids that have disappeared disappeared on different days but all knew one another so it may have been planned on their part. After the assembly ends, Mark and Eve are talking in the hall and then in the cafeteria. Mark mentions that the kids that disappeared were jerks, and Eve argues with him saying one of them was nice. When Mark points out that one of them was probably nice to her because she was attractive she quickly mentions that she is dating Rex. Mark stumbles a bit and then argues that he wasn't trying to put the moves on her. A few minutes later Eve starts to apologize for making things awkward earlier in the hall and Mark says not to worry about it. Its followed by an awkward silence. I really like that they just used the same panel twice of the two of them sitting there without any dialogue to show that silence. It said a lot without saying anything. Mark then starts smalltalk and Eve mentions that there was another Mall bombing. That is the 2nd in less than 3 weeks.
Eve asks Mark if he wants to stop by the "secret lair" and mentions that Mark had never given Robot an answer to his invitation to join the Teen Team. Mark mentions that he has to go to work. After Eve leaves William shows up and talks about Eve as Marks girlfriend, but Mark explains that she definitely isn't his girlfriend.

Next 2 pages are Mark at the burger mart getting yelled at by his boss, followed by Mark quitting and walking out. Mark stops outside and says "Dad's going to kill me."

Next Mark is finishing dinner with his mom and dad and the boys end up with dish duty. Mark's dad mentions that maybe Mark should quit his Burger Mart gig, and Mark looks relieved. Shortly after Mark and his dad go out together for a team-up. As Invincible and Omni-Man fly around and chat Omni-Man zips off super fast several times and just appears much quicker than his son. They stop for lunch someplace with palm trees and Hawaiian shirts for hot dogs (the sign mentions hot dogs numerous times) and Mark's dad explains that he will grow more powerful and faster as he gets older. Omni-Man then gets a message on his pager and flies off. He pops back moments later and says he is gonna need Invincible and they zip off together. The next panel is a full page of them flying into an air battle between alien craft and jet fighters. In the background there appears to be a battle raging in front of a giant pink blob.

As the battle ensues Invincible and Omni-Man fight the massive numbers of aliens who appear to come from a different dimension. Eventually they notice that the aliens appear to be rapidly aging. Apparently the dimension they come from works differently time-wise. As they fight Omni-Man goes into a rage, screaming, then tosses a tank through the pink portal while yelling "Get Off My Planet!" In one of the last panels at the scene of the battle it shows Omni-Man in an absolute rage. He has a look in his eyes like he could lose control completely.

With the battle won Omni-Man and Invincible fly off and talk about how bad the fight was. Omni-Man mentions that it was almost bad enough for him to call in the Guardians of the Globe or Megaforce. Suddenly they have to rush off to the Lakeside Mall and Omni-Man tells Invincible to try to keep up. Mark can't keep up, so he eventually catches up to find Omni-Man had flown through the roof of the mall and finds his dad holding a guy with a bomb strapped to his chest up and trying to get answers as to who had put it there. Just before the bomb explodes Omni-Man throws the bomb-victim through the hole in the roof to explode outside. Mark mentions that the guy with the bomb was one of the missing students from his school, and then suddenly one of the green skinned aliens they fought comes through a portal and drags Omni-Man back through with him. Invincible flies away and when he gets home his mom mentions that she should get used to them both being late now, and Mark tells her that his dad was pulled into another dimension and wouldn't likely be home for dinner. She says something about more pork chops for us, but looks worried.



I really liked this issue. I think this issue had a lot more of the magic of the 1st issue that seemed to be missing in the 2nd. The aliens that they fought have several other appearances throughout the series and are one of my favorite villains that Invincible fights and I don't feel like anything was missing here from their eventual characterization like I did for the Maulers in the previous issue. I liked the art more in this issue also. It definitely seemed like by this time Walker was getting more into his groove. You could already feel a good bit of tension from the Eve/Mark relationship right from the start, and in the few places that Mark's mom shows up in this issue I felt like you learned a lot about her too. Some of the humor of the book was really good, and I liked a lot of the little details in this issue, as in previous issues.

[400yrs]

Issue #3:

One thing that jumped out at me in this issue was the coloring. I really like Bill Crabtree's work on this book. The colors are simple, but bold. The pink on the front cover isn't something you see often, if ever. I love the bright yellow backgrounds on the page where Mark and Eve are talking in the cafeteria.

An element of this book that I really like is that everything isn't over dramatic like most other super hero books. It's not like the end of the world for every little thing that is going on. When Nolan gets sucked away at the end, Mark and his Mom are pretty non-chalant. I think that's cool.

I liked the 2 pages where Nolan and Mark were flying side by side conversing.

I agree that this issue had more of the Invincible charm than issue #2.

Odds and ends - the "Wyld Stallyns" ballcap was pretty cool.

[Lethiecq]

Issue #3:

One thing that jumped out at me in this issue was the coloring. I really like Bill Crabtree's work on this book. The colors are simple, but bold. The pink on the front cover isn't something you see often, if ever. I love the bright yellow backgrounds on the page where Mark and Eve are talking in the cafeteria.

An element of this book that I really like is that everything isn't over dramatic like most other super hero books. It's not like the end of the world for every little thing that is going on. When Nolan gets sucked away at the end, Mark and his Mom are pretty non-chalant. I think that's cool.

I liked the 2 pages where Nolan and Mark were flying side by side conversing.

I agree that this issue had more of the Invincible charm than issue #2.

Odds and ends - the "Wyld Stallyns" ballcap was pretty cool.

Later on in the series when Crabtree left I was really worried about who would end up replacing him. I agree completely about how compelling the coloring was in this particular issue but even in previous issues it stands out if you look for it. A perfect example is the way Crabtree lays down all the cool colors, blues especially, when doing night scenes. He did this in a few places, most notably on the cover of issue #2, but I think there was a scene in issue #1 with Mark on the roof as well, if I'm not mistaken.


I will probably post about the next issue (#4) tomorrow to give people time to talk about #3. Weekends are really slow on the boards.

[400yrs]

I was worried when Crabtree left too. The first few FCO issues felt different, but either I got adjusted to him, he started getting the feel of the series down better or a bit of both. He's pretty awesome now and I prefer him to Crabtree now.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #4

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/1076/82784-17993-105534-1-invincible_super.jpg

Invincible #4 starts with an interesting cover choice. The bomb strapped to the chest is familiar from previous issues, starting with the very first scene in the first issue. This one has a big "Uh Oh..." on a black frame located at the bottom of the cover, and the timer on the bomb is at 1 second. This isn't a cover I find especially intriguing but it is appropriate to the issue since the plot threads for the whole mall bombing and missing student questions that have been around for a while are finished up.

Getting back into the interiors it starts with a full page panel of the Teen Teams secret hideout with Robot working on a robot which apparently was seized from the Maulers when they raided them and stopped the whole robot army plan they had concocted. Invincible is flying in through the skylight.

Invincible and Robot talk about the fact that one of the human bombs had been from Mark and Eve's school and Robot throws in a mention that Rex and Eve are an item. As they are talking Rex and Eve show up and Mark tells Eve about what he had learned.

The next scene is at Mark's house, and he is talking to his mom who is worried about the fact that Mark's dad is in another dimension.

Next Mark and Eve are at school in the cafeteria talking about the whole bomb/missing students thing and Mark is basically pointing out that they have nothing to go on. They then go to class, and while chatting in class near the end of period the teacher decides to embarrass the two of them and calls them lovebirds and such. Mark points out that they aren't boyfriend/girlfriend and leaves the class angry. The teacher calls Eve by her full name (Samantha Eve Wilkins) and Mark by his last name (Mr. Grayson). This is definitely the first time we learn that Eve isn't her real first name. I always think of her as Eve regardless of this revelation. I am not sure if this is the first time that we learn Mark's last name or not.

In the hallway after class Eve gets a call on her cell phone from Robot and Robot tells her, between blasts during a fight that he, Rex, and Dupli-Kate are involved in, that the likely suspect responsible for the bombings is their physics teacher, David Hiles who is apparently a retired Globaltech weapons engineer. The fight is interesting in the fact that they show a lot of action without showing really anything about what they are fighting.

Eve and Mark go off to the dumpster corral to change into their costumes but a teenage couple is using the place as a make-out spot (how romantic) and they have to go elsewhere to change. They fly off to face their teacher and when they arrive at their house he immediately recognizes them (points out that Eve isn't wearing a mask) and invites them in. He then goes on a tangent of stereotypical villainous explanation of his motives and so on, and then reveals that he is holding another student (Derek, the jerk who was being rude to his girlfriend in an earlier issue in Hiles class) and that he is also wearing a bomb himself and is going to use it to kill Eve and Mark.

Mark flies off with him while there is still time and goes to Antarctica and we see the pages from the beginning of issue one repeated (except for the full page panel) and the teacher is no more. Mark flies back and the police are on hand and Eve tells Mark she will be leaving as soon as Robot gets there.

The final scenes of the book are at Mark's house. He gets home and talks to his mom, asks if his dad is there yet. She says no. A few panels later his dad shows up looking ragged and says he needs to shave. Marks mom cries tears of relief. At dinner they are quiet until his mom asks if either of them had anything interesting happen today. Mark tells about his teacher and then his dad mentions that he was imprisoned in an that alternate dimension he was brought to last issue for 8 months and finally lead a revolt and was able to escape back here. She replies "That's nice. Who's ready for dessert?" nonchalantly in a manner very reminiscent of the first issue when Mark revealed that he had gotten powers.




Overall it was an interesting issue. It felt a little short to me. The whole book was only 22 pages, but 2 of those pages were basically reprinted from the first issue. Some of the highlights for me was the teacher instantly recognizing them.

I liked the further characterization of Mark's mom. I think that through these first several issues you really get to know a bit about her. Her nonchalance when dealing with her husband and her son with regards to their powers and super heroics is obviously an act. She clearly worries about them, and I detect (maybe I am imagining it) a certain amount of amusement on her face when she just sort of blows past any of the super discussions.

I find it interesting that the aliens were able to imprison Mark's dad for months and the device they used as they stole him must have obviously prevented him from fighting back initially. The part that interests me about that is that this alien race appears a number of times in the series but I don't recall them ever using this technology on Mark later on.

With regard to Mark and Eve there is an obvious effort to build a sort of tension tying the two characters together romantically whether they want to be or not. Everyone assumes they are together. There is a good use of awkward pauses and silences again in this issue.

Overall I feel like this issue wrapped up the first arc pretty cleanly leaving few dangling plot threads. There is the question of whether Mark will join the Teen Team, questions about whether Robot is a person or a real robot, and whether or not Mark will end up with Eve. Not a whole lot left hanging at this point, though Kirkman does a good job later in the series of bringing in several elements from this issue and several of the previous issues to fill out the book later on.

What did you think?

[Joseph C.]

The character Robot always boggled me. I couldn't tell if he had his own villainous agenda or if was an honest-to-god superhero. It wasn't until we found out he was just an ugly super genius baby who only wanted to look like a normal person did I start to fully trust this character. Up until then he seemed cryptic and shady. I liked how the fight in the last issue with the green aliens. seeing how Nolan got mad gave a hint into his violent Viltrumite nature that we learn of later on. I wasn't really expecting the human-bomb maker to be their teacher. That was a pretty cool twist.

[Lethiecq]

The character Robot always boggled me. I couldn't tell if he had his own villainous agenda or if was an honest-to-god superhero. It wasn't until we found out he was just an ugly super genius baby who only wanted to look like a normal person did I start to fully trust this character. Up until then he seemed cryptic and shady. I liked how the fight in the last issue with the green aliens. seeing how Nolan got mad gave a hint into his violent Viltrumite nature that we learn of later on. I wasn't really expecting the human-bomb maker to be their teacher. That was a pretty cool twist.

The cool thing about some of those reveals, in particular the Omni-Man and physics teacher reveals is that there were hints given ahead of time but you had to really pay a lot of attention. It makes you want to really dissect every panel as you read through to see what you can figure out ahead of time, only to further frustrate you when something completely awesome but totally unexpected happens.

I too got a strange sort of vibe from Robot. He still gives me the creeps sometimes making me wonder whether or not he will become a villain or something. I have nothing to go on, but its great that the series is interesting enough that you can have all sorts of theories about a bunch of supporting cast members. As the series progresses Kirkman does a great job of really adding a lot of interesting and well defined characters, both allies and enemies, who really help the world Invincible lives in come alive. Even this early on in the series we have already met many important characters, though how important they become is still a mystery at this time.

[Quest Mar-Vell]

I think most people had doubts about robot due to his face.... that smile of his looks sinister. And when just starting out in this series whenever there is just a headshot of Robot it always looks like he has some sinister plan. I remember reading thinking he was a bad guy and when he hired the Maulers I was like "I knew it!"... But i was wrong. I think its his smile that makes people not trust him

[400yrs]

It's Robot's big eyes that bother me.

I really liked the repeat of the first 3 pages of issue 1. Yeah, it's reprinted, but I thought it was cool that it took you back to the beginning (or caught you up to the current or whatever).

This issue is where I really noticed the repeated panels. Most of the panels in this issue were just copies of other panels. It's neat, but too much of that and you know that the artist can't keep up with a schedule.

[Lethiecq]

I will post issue 5 tonight. If anyone else has any thought on issue 4 and the end of the first arc let us know.

[hYPE]

Its crazy that we are 70+ issues in and there are still things from Issue 1 that have turned into subplots and havent been hit on yet. This series has SOOOO much going on. Excellent book... This is gonna be fun being able to re-read this with others along for the ride.

This series is one of my favorites. It will be so sad when this ends. I hope Kirkman keeps pumping these bad boys out!

[Lethiecq]

Crap, you had to bump this and show me slacking. I have been so caught up with work this week that I didn't get around to this. I will post for #5 as soon as I can, unless someone beats me to it.

[hYPE]

Crap, you had to bump this and show me slacking. I have been so caught up with work this week that I didn't get around to this. I will post for #5 as soon as I can, unless someone beats me to it.

Sorry pimpin. Just showin my love for Invincible, not your slackin on the thread. hahaha!

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #5

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/5-1.jpg

Issue #5 has an interesting cover. We haven't seen Mark in space at all and seeing Invincible floating there is interesting. I am not always a fan of dialogue on comic covers but in this is says "Ouch." and because of that I am curious about what would bring him to space in the first place and hurt him.

The issue starts with Mark doing homework on the floor in his room and the phone rings. His mom picks it up downstairs at the same time that he does. I can remember this happening to me many times growing up. Now I just use a cell phone and my wife uses a cell of her own so there is no land line for this classic sort of situation to occur in my house, but it brings back memories for me. His dad is on the other end of the phone and he tells Debbie (Mark's mom finally has a name) that he wants to talk to Mark. His dad explains that he is on an important mission with the Guardians of the Globe and he needs Mark to intercept a major baddie coming to earth. He asks Mark to tell Debbie to make steak for tonight, and explains to Mark that he can hold his breath for a long time (Omni-Man can hold his for two weeks).

Mark quickly changes into his Invincible costume and flies off into space where he is suddenly attacked by the orange one-eyed alien we saw in flashback in issue #2. This alien speaks to Mark through his thoughts, and they begin to fight. The alien is almost playful with Mark as they fight, and they exchange some banter. Eventually the fight takes them to the moons surface where Mark finds out that the alien is a champion evaluation officer from the Coalition of Planets who has mistakenly been coming to Earth instead of Urath. He thanks Mark for correcting his mistake and they introduce themselves, Mark as Invincible and the alien as Allen.

Mark gets home after the confrontation and has dinner with his parents, and explains what happened. His mom points out to his dad that he should try to use his brains more than his brawn and teases him about it. Mark goes to his room ready for bed and then realizes there is still homework he didn't finish.



Overall it was a pretty solid issue. The real introduction of Allen the alien was fun and was the first time that Invincible had fought anyone that could take what he had to dish out. Unlike Titan, Mauler Twins, and the time-differing aliens Allen was actually able to put up a good fight with Invincible and may have even beaten him had the fight continued. It is good to know at this point that there are beings in this universe that are as powerful as Invincible.

The final page looks kind of weird to me. I am not why but the eyes on the three panels as Mark recognizes that he still has homework left look really odd to me. I could just be nitpicking, but it looks strange. The Science Dog poster in the background gets a nice big shot.

The space scenes have this static looking star-field background to them, and I wonder how those were done by the art team. Was this Crabtree going all crazy with it or did Walker do the star field himself or was it added in by computer or something. I don't know, but it definitely have the interior of the book a very different look for many pages. I actually like the big 2-page panel of Invincible standing on the surface of the moon after Allen leaves and turning around and seeing Earth floating there in all her majesty. It is moments like these, taking the opportunity to really appreciate how breathtaking this must be for him, having never seen this before, that it reminds me that he is still new to all this. His powers are new, his adventures are just beginning, and he is experiencing many of these things that a Superman might take for granted after 70+ years of flying in space.

This issue is also a great opportunity for the Guardians of the Globe to get a decent role while still remaining completely off panel. They have now been mentioned several times, and this sort of depth of universe makes it feel like there is more going on in the world than just what Mark is experiencing. It is also nice to get some more time with Mark's mom, who is one of my favorite characters, and who seems to really make these home scenes seem real.

What do you guys think? Sorry for the long delay before I posted this.

[Joseph C.]

I enjoyed this issue quite well. I liked the dialogue between Mark and his father before he leaves to fight allen. The introduction of Allen was pretty cool and he's become one of the my favorite characters Kirkman has ever created. I like how we find out later that Allen's task is to find people that could take on the Viltrume empire which set the stage for the oncoming war the we eventually see today.

[Lethiecq]

I plan on posting about #6 tonight. Getting close to the big reveal and to Ottley too.

[400yrs]

Issue #5.

I really liked this issue because of Allen the Alien. I thought it was hilarious how Mark talked to him when Nolan fought him every time. The Coalition of Planets seemed a bit hokey to me when I read the story the first time, but it's all pretty cool now.

I didn't care for the art in this one at all. There were more static shots. Moreso than that though, there were no backgrounds. Yeah, it was a space issue, but backgrounds were lacking even on the ground. You can tell that Walker was struggling to push something out.

[Joseph C.]

Issue #5.

I really liked this issue because of Allen the Alien. I thought it was hilarious how Mark talked to him when Nolan fought him every time. The Coalition of Planets seemed a bit hokey to me when I read the story the first time, but it's all pretty cool now.

I didn't care for the art in this one at all. There were more static shots. Moreso than that though, there were no backgrounds. Yeah, it was a space issue, but backgrounds were lacking even on the ground. You can tell that Walker was struggling to push something out.

Yeah, his last issue and he couldn't even go out with some sort of artistic bang. Tony Moore at least got to draw the end of the first TWD arc (which was amazing) Time for issue 6!

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #6

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/6-1.jpg

I am not really a fan of the cover of issue #6. I am not a big fan of dialogue on covers, and the fact that nothing like what is shown on the cover actually happens in the issue is misleading as well. If you believed the cover you would think that William knew Mark was Invincible and they were being chased down by some sort of robotic villain. Clearly that doesn't really happen in the issue, though William does figure out that Mark is Invincible but the robotic villain isn't really after anyone in the issue, except itself I suppose.

As far as the issue itself, this is the last issue with Walker as the primary penciler for many many issues. He does do issue 7 but a lot of guest artists do most of the work on that one so this is Walkers last issue for many years.

I actually like the way the first panel starts us off, with Mark and his dad in their superhero outfits playing catch while flying. Omni-Man is telling Invincible about his situation with the aliens from the other dimension that abducted him in issue #3. He explains that he was gone for an indefinite period of time while there, but that he always lies and rounds down to appease Mark's mom. They then begin to discuss the fact that Invincible had called out "Dad!" when the abduction happened and that some people heard it. Omni-Man points out that some of his villains may target Invincible now that this secret is out. Also, we find out that one of the Guardians of the Globe is named Darkwing.

Mark has a appointment at university so they go inside and Debbie yells at them for flying in the house. William shows up, and he and Mark leave, with Mark running back inside to catch the ball that they forgot about when he and his dad flew back inside. Important to note that they were apparently throwing the baseball around the globe while playing catch. As soon as Mark and William are gone, Debbie and Nolan get busy. I think this is the first time in the series that we learn Mark's dads name.

Meanwhile over at the Teen Team headquarters we find out that Robot has been invited to try out for membership in the Guardians of the Globe and he is going to disband the Teen Team but the others can continue to use the headquarters.

The next page is in a mansion, and we meet a butler named Sanford and someone else who is apparently a former member of the Guardians of the globe who was "negated" and lost his powers. He is now having someone build him a super suit and is upset that he doesn't have it yet. The page itself is pretty dark, and you get a definite feeling that the guy is on the edge of a mental break down.

Next is Mark and William at university taking a tour. The spinster giving them the tour explains that there was a chemical fire in the science lab but that it should be repaired by the time they attend. William also shuts her down when she tries to shorten his name, "William is fine".

The next page is in London, and the Burger Mart nag of trash that Mark threw months ago lands next to a guy walking his dog. When I first read this scene I laughed out loud and I still smirk a little every time I see this, or the references to it that appear later throughout the series.

Again we go back to Mark and William at university with a new guide. William almost comes to blows with the guy over wanting to call him Bill. William goes into a long speech to Mark afterward about how he likes his name and there is no polite way to tell someone not to call him by some abbreviated version. It is really the first time we have had any serious exposure to William, so this issue has a lot of him in it.

Next page is Nolan and Debbie on the couch before they go "again". It is funny and nice to see that they love one another and are happy and such. Things like this don't always last forever.

Back to Mark and William, they meet another guide, this one named Rick Sheridan. He calls both guys by their names so we learn that Williams last name is Clockwell. We go into the same joke again where William shuts down someone for shortening his name. It is funny and adds some character to William right away. As Mark and William sit down outside and talk about how good a fit the university is for them and the fact that they will share a room together suddenly the robot thing from the cover bursts through the wall behind them. Mark tosses William to safety then disappears. Moments later Invincible shows up and tries to stop the robot but he gets smacked aside. It reminds me of what one of the Mauler twins had done in issue #2. Invincible has to save several people who seem to be getting in the way. My favorite line from the whole issue is when he says "Geez, people...At least try to be a little careful." The whole situation ends when the robot thing impales itself on a giant sundial in the middle of the area and explodes. Invincible leaves when the ambulance arrives to save the wounded, and then Mark shows up acting all Clark Kent and William calls him on it, knowing immediately that he is Invincible.

Mark gets home and William tells him his secret is safe with him. As Mark comes inside he catches his mom with her shirt on backwards and acts like a stereotypical kid catching his parents fooling around and runs off to his room.

We next go to the Tailor Shoppe where Omni-Man and Invincible are talking with their tailor who was also apparently the guy making the super suit for the mysterious guy from earlier in the issue. That suit was stolen however, and Black Samson is the main suspect.

The last page is Eve showing up at the Teen Team headquarters but she sees something that shocks her and she goes to the ground in a fetal position crying and muttering "no, no, no" to herself.


All in all, this was an interesting issue. We get a lot more exposure to the Guardians of the Globe in this issue, with the name of one member and one former member being brought up, learn that Robot may become a member, and meet the former member who is trying hard to get back in. When I first read the issue I thought the cliffhanger at the end, with Eve having seen something horrible, was more ominous than it turns out to be once the reason for her reaction are revealed.
I thought the issue was a little light on the action, with the whole campus suicide robot leaving a lot to be desired for actual threat but a lot was accomplished in the issue as a whole. We get a lot more characterization for Nolan and Debbie, really get to know William for the first time, and we see some story threads starting up such as Robot getting called to the big leagues, the trash bag landing in London, Black Samson and his butler, the campus robot that commits suicide, and probably some more things I am forgetting.
This one felt a lot like a set-up issue, which it was. I was left wishing there was a little more to it than was here. What did you think?

[Joseph C.]

T o, the first story arc and a half kinda felt like they were parodying or satiring the whole superhuman lifestyle. I don't know how to explain it. But anyways it was a good issue for the most part and i thought it was hilarious that will, er-sorry, William easily figred out mark was invincible which no one else seems to be able to do in any other comic.

[Salvester]

T o, the first story arc and a half kinda felt like they were parodying or satiring the whole superhuman lifestyle. I don't know how to explain it. But anyways it was a good issue for the most part and i thought it was hilarious that will, er-sorry, William easily figred out mark was invincible which no one else seems to be able to do in any other comic.

Ya, well Mark wasn't exactly way sneaky about everything either.

[400yrs]

Re: Issue #6:

I really liked this issue. I tend to like the quieter issues with less action. Playing catch was awesome. Mark going back to get the ball was cool. The interaction between his parents was a nice change in a comic. The Magnum PI and the Peanuts shirt were nice backgrounds. Robot was creepy as always.

I also thought the Burger Mart bag page was hilarious. The little nuggets like that in this book that come back and could end up being a big plot point are what make this series special.

The whole William / Will thing I felt was a bit dragged out, but when you think of the writer being named Robert, not Rob or Robbie or whatever, I thought it was ok.

the Reaniman villain was pretty cool because he didn't say anything corny. He just kicked butt real quick and left.

Overall, I think the art in this issue got much better. The style looks a bit more comicy which I'm fine with. However, even though I like the art in this issue better, there are several things that still bother me about the art.

The dad mustache in this issue is ridiculously blocky. The page right after they leave Rick, there's a panel with Mark's head really big, but there are those damn dot eyes again. Finally, I still don't get the whole thing where Nolan's shirt is supposed to be inside out. How can you tell? Any other way than the buttons? I wouldn't expect those to be drawn at that distance anyway...... That felt like poor storytelling.

[Lethiecq]

Re: Issue #6:
Finally, I still don't get the whole thing where Nolan's shirt is supposed to be inside out. How can you tell? Any other way than the buttons? I wouldn't expect those to be drawn at that distance anyway...... That felt like poor storytelling.

Actually, if you pick up the book again and look at the page where Mark walks in and sees the shirt, it is Debbie's shirt that is backwards, not Nolan's. The dialogue would lead you to think it was Nolan, since she is yelling at him about it, but since he is the one with super speed he dressed them both, but you can see the tag sticking out of her shirt in front of her neck, obviously backwards.

[GRANT!]

T o, the first story arc and a half kinda felt like they were parodying or satiring the whole superhuman lifestyle. I don't know how to explain it. But anyways it was a good issue for the most part and i thought it was hilarious that will, er-sorry, William easily figred out mark was invincible which no one else seems to be able to do in any other comic.

Yeah the early issues seem to be more of light hearted down to earth look at super heros. Kind of a sitcom version of a superhero comic. Which is when the twist comes around is even more shocking.

[400yrs]

Actually, if you pick up the book again and look at the page where Mark walks in and sees the shirt, it is Debbie's shirt that is backwards, not Nolan's. The dialogue would lead you to think it was Nolan, since she is yelling at him about it, but since he is the one with super speed he dressed them both, but you can see the tag sticking out of her shirt in front of her neck, obviously backwards.

Ah. Whoops. I see it now. Yeah, I never even thought to look at her from the dialogue.

[Lethiecq]

I will be posting the next issue tomorrow morning. It is one of my favorites.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #7

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/7-1.jpg

The cover for issue #7 was interesting. It again included some dialogue, which I am not a fan of, and in this case "One side, kiddo! This looks like a job for -- The Guardians of the Globe". Aside from the fact that the first word just seems really off to me, and should be "Move" or "Step" instead of "One" it is really just an opportunity to show that the GotG appear in the issue, which will be a first. So far there have been a few members mentioned and we met a former member the previous issue but overall the team is still a mystery. On the cover itself you see Invincible, a green guy in the background and an orange guy in the background, and 2 arms from 2 separate people in the foreground. When I first read this issue I was excited to finally meet some of these other characters who had thus far only existed off-panel.

The book starts off with a couple of repeated panels showing Mark sleeping. It is basically the out to explain why he doesn't appear elsewhere in the book. The 2 pages of the same panel repeated 8 times is an interesting device, but honestly it is probably just an out since Walker was having a really hard time keeping up with the series by this point. Most of this issue is split up with other artists, inkers, and so on.

Darkwing is the first GotG character we meet. We find out that he works in Midnight City, which is apparently permanently night since a suicide mission from a villain named Midnight Magician three years ago. Darkwing is a clear Batman ripoff, and Midnight City is apparently his Gotham. The fact that the city is forever at night is interesting, and lends itself to the sort of moody gothic setting that Gotham achieves in Batman.

Red Rush is next, who is a Russian version of the flash. This character seemed a lot more playful, rushing off from his date between words to perform heroic acts including saving a kitten stuck in a tree, and subduing a villain named Kursk.

War Woman comes after the flash knockoff, and she is of course a Wonder Woman wannabe. She is a lesbian goddess defying her parents wishes to live among mortals. She apparently is very rich, having a company that can replace buildings and so on without any real thought. She can fly apparently, and wields a scepter/mace and a shield.

The next hero called back to GotG base is a fish-man from Atlantis. Unlike all the previous characters he isn't named during his intro. Safe to assume that he is meant to represent Aquaman, although he actually looks like a fish rather than a man, except with arms and legs with webbed fingers.

Martian Man and Green Ghost are the next, and the first appearing together. they are in space fighting some kind of robotic/alien thing. It is revealed that the Green Ghost is new to his role, and that his powers are linked to a gem or amulet of some kind. Martian Man is obviously a take on Martian Manhunter, and I am undecided on which character Green Ghost is supposed to be. Green Lantern was my first thought, but he is definitely different enough to not be a total knock-off like several of the others.

Lastly we meet Immortal, who is fighting a villain called Bi-Plane who is going to hit Denver with a dirty bomb since he is dying of cancer. Immortal throws him into space, ending the situation.

Next we get a 2-page spread of the whole team assembled at their secret base in Utah with everyone trying to figure out who called the emergency gathering. Suddenly as you turn the page they are murdered. The only one left standing is Immortal who sees his as yet unrevealed attacker and says "I never liked you" and then is beheaded. The next page is Omni-Man standing their, covered in blood, saying "The feeling was mutual".



Overall I thought this was a great issue. I was really surprised by the ending when I first read it. I thought there was something a bit off about Omni-Man, since he seemed to have some anger issues from earlier issues, but I did not see this coming. It was very surprising too that the book suddenly got so gruesome. The book to this point had been pretty friendly for younger audiences but that suddenly changed in one fell swoop in this issue. Some of the gore was very reminiscent of later issues, although the art style was so different since this was the last issue with Walker as the main artist.

As far as the characters that were introduced and promptly killed off, I thought Kirkman did a fine job of making me care about these characters in a short amount of time, and I was sorry that I didn't get the opportunity to get to know a little bit more about some of them. I am not entirely sure that I am completely sold on how easy killing some of these characters was, like snapping War Woman's neck to kill her seemed pretty easy if she is a goddess, but I don't know her limitations so I will just have to play along.

Using knowledge from future issues, it seems like it may have been no easy feat to kill Martian Man either, but I guess he would have needed time to reshape himself around the strike, and the element of surprise plus the speed and power behind the attack could have been too much. We also don't know whether or not this character was as powerful as Shapesmith, or as skilled. Really hard to say, but its obvious that this character was intended as a throw away character, as were most of them with at least one obvious exception.

I wonder what happened to the amulet/gem thing that Green Ghost uses for his power. It is very conceivable that this could be used again for a new character, but this hasn't happened yet, so it may never happen. Still, it leads to some interesting speculation.

What did you guys think? Bring on the Ottley too!

[Salvester]

I was always under the impression Martian Man was probably a little bit more skilled than Shapesmith, and really the only reason it was so easy to kill him was because of the plot.

Also, it would be really nice to see a new Green Ghost, since it is a legacy.

[Quest Mar-Vell]

Martians have a part in their body called the "core".... As long as their core isnt damaged they are able to heal. Thats why Shapesmith lived through his attack in issue 60 and why Martian Man didnt in this issue...

[Lethiecq]

I was always under the impression Martian Man was probably a little bit more skilled than Shapesmith, and really the only reason it was so easy to kill him was because of the plot.

Also, it would be really nice to see a new Green Ghost, since it is a legacy.

I would definitely like to see another Green Ghost show up at some point. I have seen some different thoughts on forums here and elsewhere about who should get the gem. A lot of people say William would be a good pick for it since it would allow him to play with the big boys and get a bit more panel time as a result. I personally would be happy with just about anyone showing up with it. It should have been in the base where they were killed, assuming that someone didn't move it and assuming when the green ghost was killed it was left behind. The act of killing him while in that form could have broken it or left it incorporeal forever. Hard to say but it could be interesting, especially if Cecil picked someone to wield it as a means of manipulation or as a tool.

[400yrs]

I hated the first 2 pages of this issue. The same panel repeated 8 times. The rest of the issue was fantastic from both a story and art perspective. All the pages drawn by Walker consisted of very large panels with minimal background, but it was all good.

I loved reading and seeing the Guardians characters. I liked the design on Darkwing, Red Rush and the Green Ghost. From the art, it was pretty apparent that Larsen had a heavy hand on the War Woman pages.

This was the first issue where we really see the dark tone of the book. This was surprising and awesome.

As mentioned, I'd like to see William get the Green Ghost amulet at some point down the line. First though, I think someone else should get it while William is fleshed out a bit more as a character. After that, kill off the Green Ghost again and William gets it.

I like William, but he hasn't been significant in quite a while (if ever). I think he needs a bit more development before he jumps in as a hero (or villain). Hell, it took Harry Osborn 130 some odd issues of ASM to become the Green Goblin. Maybe Kirkman should wait until the 130s.....


I'm getting the 5th HC in about a week. I'm probably going to end up re-reading ahead at some point. I've really been wanting to read 59 - 65 again and I can't wait 11-12 months to start it.

[Joseph C.]

When I first read this issue I thought these were all actual Image Characters because I was still very new to the Image brand, it wasn't until I saw Darkwing that I realized "Hold on,he looks too much like Batman for this to not to get sued" and also the green ghost and martian man obviously were john jones and green lantern when i saw it. Seeing Omni-Man just wreck all of them on the last page was a real shocker to me.

[Lethiecq]

You are completely right about this issue. It is a complete departure from the tone of the series up to this point. Invincible is never the same again after this. The threat here simply looms over everything that follows until the confrontation between Mark and his dad.

I will post the next issue tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for playing along with me guys, I am having fun doing this. I don't really get to talk comics except at my LCS and I don't know anyone there that reads Invincible, though I'm trying to get some people into it. It's nice to be able to talk about it here.

[Salvester]

I would definitely like to see another Green Ghost show up at some point. I have seen some different thoughts on forums here and elsewhere about who should get the gem. A lot of people say William would be a good pick for it since it would allow him to play with the big boys and get a bit more panel time as a result. I personally would be happy with just about anyone showing up with it. It should have been in the base where they were killed, assuming that someone didn't move it and assuming when the green ghost was killed it was left behind. The act of killing him while in that form could have broken it or left it incorporeal forever. Hard to say but it could be interesting, especially if Cecil picked someone to wield it as a means of manipulation or as a tool.

I don;t want William to have it, he is too plucky, and it wouldn't make sense to give it him since he really doesn't have any experience besides getting kidnapped as a Hobo

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #8

http://www.thecomicfanatic.com/new%20images/roinvincible8-1.jpg

This issue has an interesting cover with some characters from other image books making appearances at a funeral. Most notably Super Patriot, Shadow Hawk, and Savage Dragon are right there on the cover. It is easy to connect that this is the funeral for the GotG characters that were killed at the end of the previous issues and it is noteworthy that their killer is right there "grieving" for their loss along with Invincible. Walker continues on the covers for a bit before Ottley starts to do those too, if I recall correctly. I can't remember what issue that change happens though.

Ryan Ottley starts off with his first issue with artwork that I feel was an improvement over Walkers previous artwork. If anything I am glad that the pinpoint eyes are mostly gone except when appropriately far away. There is definitely a look to the art here that is reminiscent of the previous art however, which may have to do with transitioning the characters over into Ottleys own style. He definitely improves over the course of the series from here on out, and the most recent issues look very different than these earlier ones with his work.

The issue starts with Nolan talking to an investigator outside of his house. He talks about his experience at the Tailor Shoppe and the stolen super suit. The character he is talking to is named at this point, but is very reminiscent of Rorschach in his hat, trenchcoat, and head covering. We do not see his face yet.

Mark flies into his room and finds Eve there waiting for him crying. She explains that she caught Rex cheating on her with multiple dupes of Kate (can't blame the guy, its like twins only better). Marks mom comes into the room and sees Eve laying on the bed with her head in Marks lap, his lap facing away from the door to obscure whats happening. She makes the expected assumption about whats going on and gets upset and they are ordered downstairs so she can ream them out about being safe and the consequences of their actions. Nolan walks in, finished with his conversation outside and breaks the news about the Guardians of the Globe.

The next day at school Mark is talking to William, who seems to be pretty excited to talk to Mark about his secret in public hallways. Mark gets a note from a pretty blond girl he has a class with. Derek Sanders walks down the hall, back to school after his traumatic experience with his innards being turned into bomb fuses and so on. As Mark and William continue talking Eve shows up and their is some awkwardness.

The next panel is Invincible knocking out a elephant-suited man, who is very reminiscent of a certain spider-man villain who wears a different african animal costume. Omni-Man shows up and tells Mark to hurry, they have to get ready for the funeral. The following page is Nolan and Debbie talking as Nolan gets ready. Debbie gives Nolan a hard time about not remembering that Mark's birthday is the following week but then feels bad because she thinks Nolan is upset about the loss of his friends.

The Funeral starts, and we see Savage Dragon talking to the detective from earlier, who has an ape-like face with big teeth jutting up from his lower jaw. they discuss that Samson has been ruled out as a suspect. We see several other people come in, including some recognizable heroes and some people from Capes. Omni-Man starts to speak for the dead and suddenly pauses as the Mauler Twins show up. They say they are just there to honor worthy adversaries, not to cause problems. Invincible says he will keep an eye on them. Suddenly the monument behind Omni-Man explodes and Black Samsons butler, Sanford, is there in the stolen super suit ranting about how his boss had been mistreated by the now dead heroes. The gathered heroes work towards subduing him while others evacuate the non-heroes in the gathering before they are hurt. Omni-Man strikes the blow to the butler that subdues him, and several of the characters chat. Savage Dragon tells Invincible that unfortunately most funerals are like this. In the background Omni-Man consoles Aquarius' wife, who says "It wasn't your fault...", if only she knew.

Eve shows up at the Teen Teams headquarters and finds Kate helping Robot fix one of the hover bikes while another Kate is flirting with Rex and Eve storms out, angry.

Mark gets home after the funeral and looks at the note he got from Amber, the blond girl from school, when William shows up and asks if Mark will fly him around. Mark laments "this is so gay." as he flies off with William in his arms. When I first read this I laughed out loud. I still find it amusing, and Kirkman comes back to this moment a few times later on in the series for comedic effect.

Debbie and Nolan in bed and he mentions that he is a writer and may need to write another book so they can afford Mark's college tuition. Debbie points out that something is wrong, and Nolan tries to pin it on the death of his colleagues but she doesn't buy it, but drops the subject when he gets angry.

Back at Arlington Derek shows up and pisses on his physics teachers grave, apparently trying to get some closure with what had happened to him. Some grave robbers show up and start to dig up Immortals grave, having heard that if you drink from his skull you become immortal. After they finish digging the hole, the Mauler twins show up.





Overall I thought this was a fantastic issue. We get some great guest appearances from the Image universe, Noble Causes, Savage Dragon, Super Patriot, and Shadowhawk most notably. The art was an improvement in my opinion, and the story seems to be progressing a fair bit. I was intrigued with what the Mauler Twins had planned for Immortals remains, and I thought the use of the butler as the villain was fun. I especially liked the line the Maulers threw at the heroes when the butler was finally taken down, mentioning that it took them longer to take down this clown than it sometimes did for them to be stopped. The situation with Eve and Rex was interesting, and I was especially pleased with the innuendo, however misplaced, when Marks mom walked into his room and found Eve there in what appeared to be a compromising situation. The fact that we know Omni-Mans secret but no one else does also makes that plot very appealing. I am not a huge fan of the detective investigating the whole murder, but we don't really know much about him at this point.

The whole blond before redhead thing could be a coincidence but I think it is meant to be a reference to Spider-Man but it is really hard to tell for sure whether that was intended.

What did you guys think?

[Joseph C.]

I liked this issue but I still have this one big question that was never truly answered in the rest of the series and has been forgotten. Why...why was there a demon who dressed and talked like Rorshach, why was he there? What was the point? Just why? Kirkman, could you please come onto this thread and answer that.

[Salvester]

I liked this issue but I still have this one big question that was never truly answered in the rest of the series and has been forgotten. Why...why was there a demon who dressed and talked like Rorshach, why was he there? What was the point? Just why? Kirkman, could you please come onto this thread and answer that.

I think it was supposed to be a funny homage to Rorshach. Damien Darkblood has actually appeared a few more times throughout the series, as well as in The Astronishing Wolfman, and I have't read Brit or Capes, but it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't in there too.

He also seemed to figure out the Omni-Man was the culprit on his own, so that is kind of interesting.

[Lethiecq]

I think it was supposed to be a funny homage to Rorshach. Damien Darkblood has actually appeared a few more times throughout the series, as well as in The Astronishing Wolfman, and I have't read Brit or Capes, but it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't in there too.

He also seemed to figure out the Omni-Man was the culprit on his own, so that is kind of interesting.

I have only read 2 issues of Astonishing Wolf-Man, issue 1 and the issue that crosses over with Invincible (11 I think) but I plan on picking up the trades. I didn't know that Darkblood makes an appearance in that series but he would fit I think. I don't care for the character, but that's mostly the lack of characterization he gets. He just sort of shows up and I feel like Kirkman just sort of expects that I will understand his motivations and such without making any effort to really explain them at all. Sometimes using characters that are basically other more well known characters knocked-off out of convenience is funny or allows people to get invested quickly, like in issue 7, but sometimes it just comes off as lazy writing. In the case of this character I lean more towards that, unfortunately.

[Salvester]

I have only read 2 issues of Astonishing Wolf-Man, issue 1 and the issue that crosses over with Invincible (11 I think) but I plan on picking up the trades. I didn't know that Darkblood makes an appearance in that series but he would fit I think. I don't care for the character, but that's mostly the lack of characterization he gets. He just sort of shows up and I feel like Kirkman just sort of expects that I will understand his motivations and such without making any effort to really explain them at all. Sometimes using characters that are basically other more well known characters knocked-off out of convenience is funny or allows people to get invested quickly, like in issue 7, but sometimes it just comes off as lazy writing. In the case of this character I lean more towards that, unfortunately.

I don't think he expects us to understand his motives other than he is a detective who used to be a little bit more evil. He is sort of a mysterious character, all we have are a few tidbits of information about him, and I think that is how Kirkman likes it.

I mean I understand what you are saying, but I do honestly think instead of lazy Kirkman went toward fun (Hey guys!! Its demon Rorshach detective guy...haha!), and he is slowly devolping the character. Although I do understand where you are coming from

[400yrs]

Walker continues on the covers for a bit before Ottley starts to do those too, if I recall correctly. I can't remember what issue that change happens though.

According to comicbookdb, Walker did the covers for 1-12, 15 and 17. Issue #8 is one of my favorite Walker covers aside from 11 and 12.

It's interesting that you brought this up. I didn't know that Walker did covers past when he stopped doing interiors. I've always thought the covers for 9, 10 and 13 were........ not good.... and I associated those with Ottley. For that reason, I mistakenly remembered Ottley's interiors starting off terribly, but looking back at this issue, it's really fantastic stuff.


Ryan Ottley starts off with his first issue with artwork that I feel was an improvement over Walkers previous artwork. If anything I am glad that the pinpoint eyes are mostly gone except when appropriately far away.

Amen to that.



Although this was a funeral issue, this one give me many laughs:
- Damien Darkblood not noticing Eve nor Mark flying into the room. That tells you how good his detective skills are.
- Mom walking into the room seeing Mark's back and Eve's head in his lap, his arm on her side.
- The Mom lecture.
- The Maulers showing up at the funeral.
- The butler being the one who stole the suit and went nuts.
- The "This is so gay" scene



The whole blond before redhead thing could be a coincidence but I think it is meant to be a reference to Spider-Man but it is really hard to tell for sure whether that was intended.

I absolutely think it's a tip of the cap much like the black costume later.

Regarding the Damien Darkblood hate..... yeah, he doesn't really have a role in the series other than being a poor detective, but I wouldn't put it past Kirkman to make him relevant in a cool way somewhere down the line in the story. Maybe he just hasn't figured out a way to do that yet. I can't remember him doing much in the Astounding Wolf-Man book. I think it was similar to this. AWM isn't that great of a read anyway.

[Lethiecq]

I agree that this issue had a lot of funny and lighthearted moments. I agree with the ones you pointed out as well as a few others that were unmentioned. What I find really wonderful about the issue though is the amount of tension that Kirkman and Ottley were able to add to the issue either through the facial expressions of Nolan or from the pointed reminders throughout about the terrible truth that was revealed to us as readers last issue that the characters have not yet realized. Little things like Omni-Man talking to Aquarus grieving widow or Nolan talking to Darkblood at the beginning of the issue laid out a lair of stress beneath the surface so that the funny moments still were tinged with a little dread. I think this issue really took that sort of comical approach of the first several issues of the book and added to that a much more mature feel that had really thus far been lacking. In this issue the series really grew up.

I will post the next issue tonight.

[400yrs]

I will post the next issue tonight.

Slacker. :wink:

[Lethiecq]

Slacker. :wink:

Caught! I will definitely do it when I get home from work.

[Joseph C.]

Caught! I will definitely do it when I get home from work.

Leth I have aged in the time it takes you to post these things.

































Jk

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #9

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/9-1.jpg

I will start out by saying that I am definitely not a huge fan of this cover. Even now, after I know who all 3 characters are, and remember how funny the scene it shows was, I just don't find this cover very inspiring. Rex has been a side character for a while in the book, since issue #2 in fact, but to this point i haven't had any real attachment to him, and Monster Girl hasn't been introduced until this issue, so the cover is misleading because it really seems like a lot more is going on than what really happens within the issue. Walker did fine on the details for this cover with Rex and his costume, but his fingers look oddly shaped, there is no background on the cover, and Invincible has some absolutely crazy elbow pointiness here. I am also convinced that the goggles on Invincible's costume are as much to keep Walker from having to draw eyes as it is to conceal Mark's identity.

The book itself starts off with a pretty funny scene that spoofs Star Trek the Next Generation, with Data renamed as Download. The techno-babble speak from the console spoken by him is interesting because to me it looks a lot like Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) so at first I thought it was meant to be him but the beginning dialogue implies Data to my mind. Allen the Alien shows up and saves the ship and its crew from destruction and explains that he can't chat because he is in a rush to get to Earth.

At the Invincible house Mark is celebrating his birthday with some friends watching Zombie movies and when they leave his parents come out and he ends up watching another movie with his dad. William is seen leaving at the beginning of the scene, and his Mom watches him and his dad bonding on the end. There are some nice Zombie movies shown, but I was surprised that Kirkman didn't use this as a chance to show a TWD cover or something but instead it looked like Romero.

At the Pentagon (Parking in Rear) we see that Robot is talking to someone (Cecil Steadman and Donald) that we haven't met in this series yet. I had not read Brit before reading this so I had not met this character yet and he remains unnamed here. He explains that Robot was a shoe-in for membership into the GotG when he had his try-out before but that he would now have to lead the team and help pick the new members since the previous team had all been killed.

Next we see Nolan on a secluded mountain top trying to figure out what to say to Mark to explain the truth. He then listens to something in his ear and flies off. It is interesting to show here the emotion that is dividing him on this whole thing. Clearly he has emotion and isn't purely evil despite his villainous acts shown a few issues ago.

Mark and Eve are talking at school and decide to fly off to do some patrolling together. They are spotted going into the dumpster stockade and when he gets there to confront them for being little perverts they are gone.

Debbie is at home and calls Art to figure out how to wash Mark's costume. It is a light moment but it adds more character to Art who hasn't gotten a ton of play to this point but starts to paint him as a friend of the family.

Mark and Eve apparently end up mixing it up with the Lizard League who have 4 notably unique costumes and a bunch of grunts. The big brawny guy is called Komodo Dragon. 3 of the 4 are left unnamed in the issue including the apparent leader. Eve plays a pretty big role in their capture and the foiling of their attempt to poison the water supply. Robot shows up to invite them to the GotG tryouts and Mark agrees to go and watch while Eve storms off angry.

At the tryouts which are apparently being held in a hangar we see a lot of different characters including many from Capes. I don't recognize everyone but I am not an expert on Capes having only read the back-up material that shows up in Invincible in later issues. Rex is there at the tryouts being a bit of a braggart and he starts talking all condescendingly to a little girl there. She proceeds to change into the monster we see on the cover and kicks his ass. It is a very funny moment. Some of the funniest parts is when she turns back into the little girl and asks someone for a cigarette and when Invincible hits the monster and someone with a mullet comments that he hit that little girl. I just really found this whole scene amusing. The failed hero test of the guy in blue crying in front of the killer robots in the testing room was also a funny moment. Robot announces his chosen team. Dupli-Kate, Rex-Splode, and Black Samson are no surprise being former teen team and former GotG members respectively. Monster Girl and Shrinking Ray fill out the remainder of the team.

Mark and his mom are sitting down to dinner and Mark explains that Amber is coming over to study and Debbie asks if they are dating which Mark denies. Later on, Amber and Mark are in his room studying and Eve shows up outside unseen. Mark and Amber share a kiss and Eve flies off, obviously a little upset/disappointed.

The issue ends off with the Mauler Twins arguing about who is the clone and then them working on Immortal who they have put back together and are hoping to control through some kind of device. When he wakes up, Invincible screams in rage and flies off, breaking through whatever they had planned to do to control him. Since Immortal knew who killed him, this development has some very interesting implications. This is also the first issue where we really see the clone-arguing banter revolving around who is and who is not the clone. This will have interesting consequences later on and is one of the funnier repeated jokes throughout the series, in my opinion.




I found this issue was really good. It introduced Monster Girl who becomes one of my favorite supporting characters in the series. The Lizard League shows up and I always enjoy their appearances even if they don't seem really threatening. Many of Marks repeat adversaries from earlier issues never really seem to be any threat to him, and they are no exception. The ending really isn't surprising, with a name like Immortal, but the consequences of his coming alive again are pretty obvious, though the way Kirkman plays it out in the following issues isn't exactly how I would have expected it. I really felt like a lot of the supporting characters got a lot of really good solid development in this issue including Allen, Omni-Man, Art, Eve, Rex, and Robot as well as the start of the Mauler Twin banter, which I really enjoy. As the first appearance of Cecil Steadman in the series this issue is important. Cecil becomes vital to the series as it moves on. I am surprised he was not shown as attending the funeral in the previous issue. Overall I think this is a great issue. It really opens up some interesting plot lines.

What did you guys think?

[Joseph C.]

Oh I love the Mauler twins, its sad that way later in the series they're killed. But when we had them, they were a blast to read and always funny. It's that brother-like bickering that always makes me laugh. I thought it was interesting to see how they pick superhero teams in this universe because in others like Marvel, they kinda just say "hey, we all are cool with each other, but hate each other a little bit at the same time, lets make an official team" but here there's random people trying out to be a hero. I liked the little formal exchange between Invincible and Rex as well and how Invincible obviously doesn't like him. Little side note: anyone notice Rex's hair after the fight? It's swirly and a blackish blue and not long and brown like we see later.

[Salvester]

Im calling it right now:


The Mauler Twins are coming back.

[400yrs]

#9:

Not a good cover. Invincible's face is painfully bad to look at.

When I opened this issue up the first time and saw the ST rip-off, I rolled my eyes. I've never been into ST. Thankfully, it was a spoof and just for a few pages. Allen was in those pages, so that made it better.

There's a few slice of life things in this issue which you never typically see in super hero books. I love it..... Things like Mark and his dad watching Zombie movies, Mom doing the laundry and washing a costume, eating dinner again.

I don't know if this is the first time Cecil shows up, but I didn't initially like his design.

The GoTG try-outs were awesome. Monster Girl is a pretty cool character..... even if her powers are magic based (which I don't usually like). The guy crying during his try-out was hilarious.

I think this was the first time we see the Maulers argue about who is the clone. That's usually pretty funny.

From #7 out, the story builds and builds and just continues to get better. Looking forward to the next one to be posted in a month or so. :evilsmile:

[cGrennille]

I really enjoyed the scenes with the tryouts in this issue. Also not a big star trek fan but I love how they manage to mess all their missions up in the later issues. I think its a good recurring thing they have with them. Also I'm new to the forum, I think this is pretty cool, also don't have anyone around to discuss comics with. Pretty much only read this one, the walking dead and a few old trade paperbacks I'll randomly get every now and then. I'm apologizing in advance for future posts, I'm typing on my iPad and this keyboard is pretty tricky

[Joseph C.]

I really enjoyed the scenes with the tryouts in this issue. Also not a big star trek fan but I love how they manage to mess all their missions up in the later issues. I think its a good recurring thing they have with them. Also I'm new to the forum, I think this is pretty cool, also don't have anyone around to discuss comics with. Pretty much only read this one, the walking dead and a few old trade paperbacks I'll randomly get every now and then. I'm apologizing in advance for future posts, I'm typing on my iPad and this keyboard is pretty tricky

Welcome to the Image forums. I like how they make fun of star treck later in the series. After the V-War, it'd be pretty funny to have show up again later only to be killed by nolan or mark because of how they'd end up always screwing things up.

[cGrennille]

thanks, this is off topic but do you guys know anywhere to get the back issues of this at a decent price. I'm only missing 1,2,4-13 for my run and since I don't buy comics that often I'm not really sure where I should be looking. Figured id ask now while we're still talking about these early ones so I'm not being a complete troll..:redface:

[400yrs]

thanks, this is off topic but do you guys know anywhere to get the back issues of this at a decent price. I'm only missing 1,2,4-13 for my run and since I don't buy comics that often I'm not really sure where I should be looking. Figured id ask now while we're still talking about these early ones so I'm not being a complete troll..:redface:

Welcome.

I think most shops are out of the earlier issues at this point. There's one by me that still has them, but they are priced pretty high.

Your best bet may be to just keep an eye on ebay. Sometimes, the early issues (aside from #1) will slip through the cracks for a decent price. Use a snipe service so you don't end up overpaying.

[cGrennille]

yeah, I've managed to get most of the others at cover price, a lot of them for even less. Been lucky so far. Definitely not looking forward to the day I put the money down for issue 1..
I was just going through the one on topic, I like how they have bulletproof in a lot of the background shots during the tryouts. I'm not sure if a lot of the other background characters were made up for this one or if they were in capes or other books,but it seems like they were planning to develop him into a character this early which I thought was cool. Before I just figured he was made up at the time of is inclusion on the team.

[Lethiecq]

yeah, I've managed to get most of the others at cover price, a lot of them for even less. Been lucky so far. Definitely not looking forward to the day I put the money down for issue 1..
I was just going through the one on topic, I like how they have bulletproof in a lot of the background shots during the tryouts. I'm not sure if a lot of the other background characters were made up for this one or if they were in capes or other books,but it seems like they were planning to develop him into a character this early which I thought was cool. Before I just figured he was made up at the time of is inclusion on the team.

Bulletproof had to have been planned, since even his suit is from the very first issue. I forget sometimes that he didn't get picked by Robot though, but gets included later when Robot loses control of the team.

As far as getting issue #1, I bought the limited edition comic con version, it was Larrys Wonderful world of comics or something like that, I would have to pull it out to be sure, but it was cheaper than a regular number one. If you want it just to have the content and not for the collectible part of the game there is always the Image Firsts reprint of it which should be super cheap as well.

[Lethiecq]

#9:

Not a good cover. Invincible's face is painfully bad to look at.
That whole slack-Jaw thing he has going on is funny, but the quality of the art here was just disappointing. This cover would have been released back when he was still the primary artist, but covers really should have some awesome to them, since they will be more responsible for drawing in new readers than anything else except maybe word of mouth.


When I opened this issue up the first time and saw the ST rip-off, I rolled my eyes. I've never been into ST. Thankfully, it was a spoof and just for a few pages. Allen was in those pages, so that made it better.


There's a few slice of life things in this issue which you never typically see in super hero books. I love it..... Things like Mark and his dad watching Zombie movies, Mom doing the laundry and washing a costume, eating dinner again.
I really like that this book has that, not just in this issue but numerous times from the beginning. It gives me the opportunity to relate to these characters more as people than just costumes with powers.


I don't know if this is the first time Cecil shows up, but I didn't initially like his design.
I was under the impression that Cecil had shown up previously in other books but this was his first appearance in Invincible. I didn't think we were going to see him as much as we do following this appearance because he seemed to be placing Donald in charge of the GotG team but clearly he has a more hands-on approach to Invincible.


The GoTG try-outs were awesome. Monster Girl is a pretty cool character..... even if her powers are magic based (which I don't usually like). The guy crying during his try-out was hilarious.
I was a little disappointed when I found out the source of her powers, since I also am usually against the use of magic, but I just find the character compelling. Her interaction here with Rex and Invincible were really good too. You got to meet her but in the process really got the opportunity to learn some stuff about Rex who hadn't developed really except for his thing with Kate and Eve up to this point.


I think this was the first time we see the Maulers argue about who is the clone. That's usually pretty funny.
Yeah, like I said in my summary, this is one of my favorite repeat gags that Kirkman uses.


From #7 out, the story builds and builds and just continues to get better. Looking forward to the next one to be posted in a month or so. :evilsmile:
This hurts! I might just have to make you wait that long out of spite now... Seriously though, sometimes I post a ton in here on the image part of CBR and 2 days later my posts are still on top. You guys here in this thread are a lot better about it than most of the other threads here, where it sometimes feels like I'm talking to myself. Usually when I post the "I'll post the next one tonight" I'm at work hoping that some people will reply to the thread before I do but it doesn't always work out that way. I will try to be better about it.



I really enjoyed the scenes with the tryouts in this issue. Also not a big star trek fan but I love how they manage to mess all their missions up in the later issues. I think its a good recurring thing they have with them. Also I'm new to the forum, I think this is pretty cool, also don't have anyone around to discuss comics with. Pretty much only read this one, the walking dead and a few old trade paperbacks I'll randomly get every now and then. I'm apologizing in advance for future posts, I'm typing on my iPad and this keyboard is pretty tricky
I do most of my posting from an iPhone so I understand your pain. Welcome to the forum, glad to have you here.


Im calling it right now:
The Mauler Twins are coming back.
I wouldn't be surprised but it may be a long time before we do see them. Because of their nature though, most of them being test-tube baby clones or whatever it should be reasonably easy to bring them back without it seeming like a lame decision on the part of Kirkman. We will have to see. I do appreciate that he has been pretty solid about keeping his dead characters dead, unless we find out pretty quickly that they aren't actually dead.


Welcome to the Image forums. I like how they make fun of star treck later in the series. After the V-War, it'd be pretty funny to have show up again later only to be killed by nolan or mark because of how they'd end up always screwing things up.

That would be pretty evil for either of them, killing off good people for being incompetent. I say that but we haven't seen what Invincible does to Cecil yet...

[cGrennille]

yeah, I'm sure I'll go with the convention issue. It'd take a lot for me to drop over 100 on a book. Maybe if down the road I ending up trying to get all the variant covers or something. I'm sure that'll happen after I get the complete run of it though, its too hard to stop.... I just need to make sure I don't try doing this with the walking dead next. luckily I've stuck with the trade paperbacks for that one.

[Salvester]

I was under the impression that Cecil had shown up previously in other books but this was his first appearance in Invincible. I didn't think we were going to see him as much as we do following this appearance because he seemed to be placing Donald in charge of the GotG team but clearly he has a more hands-on approach to Invincible.



I wouldn't be surprised but it may be a long time before we do see them. Because of their nature though, most of them being test-tube baby clones or whatever it should be reasonably easy to bring them back without it seeming like a lame decision on the part of Kirkman. We will have to see. I do appreciate that he has been pretty solid about keeping his dead characters dead, unless we find out pretty quickly that they aren't actually dead.





1. I didn't think Cecil had shown up in other books at all, but I might be mistaken....

2. Ya, that is why I can see the Maulers coming back. With thier nature, and the fact that they are pretty fun. They walk the line between actually dangerous yet slightly incompetent that makes them a fan favorite of mine, right behind Doc Siesmic

[Lethiecq]

I will post the next issue tonight when I get home. The cat is out of the bag with this one...wonder where that saying comes from, it's kind of morbid when you think about it.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #10

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/10-1.jpg

Invincible #10 has an interesting cover. I am a little thrown off by some of the artwork on it, such as the pin-up above Invincible that looks like a sexy female face (eve-like) pasted onto a frumpy body. The image though, is of Invincible in a comic book shop reading a comic while in the background the television is showing Omni-Man fighting some mysterious foe. Reading a comic book about a character in a comic book seems entertaining to me.

The book itself starts out with Invincible fighting a guy called Doc Seismic. He can cause earthquake like effects when he touches his wrists together (bracelets). I actually enjoy this particular villain and he shows up several times throughout the series even though he appears to fall into the abyss in this issue. In this instance he appears to threaten Mount Rushmore when Invincible stops him from defacing the landmark.

Back home later on Mark is confronted by his dad who wants to talk to him in the middle of the night, but Mark misunderstands his dads approach, assuming it has to do with his mom nagging him about the birds and the bees so he brushes it off and heads off to bed leaving Nolan speechless.

The next page is Nolan and Debbie in bed when the beeper goes off and Nolan heads off to stop another disaster. This page is started with the repeat of the same panel 3 times, which plays into a joke later in the issue.

The next day at school Mark is talking to Eve and as they head off to their separate classes William shows up and brings up the Amber/Mark/Eve triangle that is going on. Mark shrugs it off and makes plans with William for after school after he hits his LCS which William is afraid to be seen in. Mark points out that William is the one without a girlfriend.

Back at the Grayson residence Debbie is reading the paper when Nolan comes home, apparently overworked because the new GotG are not as effective as their predecessors and there is a bit at the end where Nolan has a long pause before replying "I love you too" to his wife.

At the bloody GotG hideout we see some more of Damien Darkblood talking to two detectives I don't recognize. I almost get the feeling from the interaction that these two characters are from something else but I just don't recognize them though they are interesting enough, the girl with a big robotic arm and the man with a patch on one eye (Nick Fury homage perhaps?) but this could be from another book somewhere and I am just unfamiliar with them. Damien hints at a darker past when he suggests that he would have eaten the woman's face in the past when she teases him.

The next scene is at a prison, and over the course of the series this particular prison is revisited numerous times. In this instance Black Samson, now a member of the New GotG, visits his former butler Sanford and suggests that he is looking to get Sanford released so he can get therapy. It is an interesting scene, and shows that Black Samson is a character that is sympathetic. It very much reinforces his previous appearances in the series. In the background we also see the Elephant (the Rhino knock-off) and the leader of the Lizard League. I find the fact that Sanford is dressed in his butler clothing and is feather-dusting his cell very amusing.

At the mall Invincible shows up to a long line at the LCS and his favorite comic book creator, responsible for Science Dog, is there signing. He quickly gets his comic short box "from the car" and gets in line for some signatures. When Mark gets to the head of the line and his books are being signed he has an interesting conversation with the guy and the whole recycled art/repetitive panel for pauses thing is mentioned and blatantly made into a joke. This is a technique that this book uses a lot and Ottley appears to use it still so it probably is written into the scripts rather than used as a lazy technique by an artist that can't keep up which I may have believed the case when Walker was still on pencils.

Meanwhile Omni-Man is fighting and doing heroics near the ocean fighting a big purple birdopus (cross between a bird and a giant octopus). As he defeats it he is struck by Immortal who shows up in a rage screaming. Apparently Immortal thinks he has some chance of winning this fight and he comes at Omni-Man with everything he has and the two of them fly off.

Back at the comic shop Mark is picking up his pull list and talking to the guy behind the counter when the news comes on. There is a name drop for Comic Shop News which almost feels a little forced, though not out of place. I wonder if Kirkman was featured this month or was hoping to be. The reported on the television (a red head in a yellow jumpsuit who looks remarkably like the girl from TMNT) is describing reports of Omni-Man fighting Immortal. Mark disappears and we then see that Debbie is watching the same newscast from home.

Omni-Man and Immortal are fighting and Omni-Man screams "I killed you once! I can do it again!!" as Mark shows up overhearing him and he is just in time to see his dad punch through Immortals stomach and then cuts him in half with his karate chop. Nolan realizes his son is there as Immortals body falls towards the earth in 2 blood-splattering pieces in the background. The last page is Omni-Man saying "Son...We need to talk." in the understatement of the year, Omni-Man coated in blood.




This was an extremely powerful ending, and I am blown away still by the power of this scene and the quality of the art in conveying the complex emotions the different characters are experiencing through their facial expressions. This was a good issue overall. Doc Seismic is a great character and this is his first appearance. The fact that Omni-Man is the killer responsible for the GotG murders is now known by Invincible. There was definitely a comical feel to the issue, sort of funny and light-hearted in the beginning of the issue, but it ends very serious.

What did you guys think?

[400yrs]

Another bad cover. I can barely get past the pube on Mark's nose, but right behind it is a butt shot of Atom Eve. WTF?

I have no clue who the pair of detectives are. Whoever they are, that went right over my head. The comic shop scenes were cool. I liked how the book made fun of itself for reusing panels. The Immortal / Omni Man fight was nice and bloody.

[Joseph C.]

The last page is Omni-Man saying "Son...We need to talk." in the understatement of the year, Omni-Man coated in blood.

Talk about picking a bad time. I love the fight in the following issue. This in my opinion is the first issue that we start to see where this series is gonna go.

[Salvester]

I think the 2 detectives are supposed to be Mulder and Scully from x-files look alikes

[blackpariah]

I think Kirkman said somewhere that the detectives are a shout out to Deena Pilgrim and Christian Walker from Powers, Brian Bendis' creator owned comic.

[Lethiecq]

I think Kirkman said somewhere that the detectives are a shout out to Deena Pilgrim and Christian Walker from Powers, Brian Bendis' creator owned comic.

I can see that. I am familiar with Christian from the new series but his partner is new in that.

I will be posting the next issue tonight.

[400yrs]

I will be posting the next issue tonight.

Sweet! This one actually has a decent cover because there are no funky faces on it.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #11

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/11-1.jpg

The cover of issue #11 is very different from those that preceded it. It is a bloody arm. Omni-Man ended the last issue covered in the Immortals blood and this issue starts with a cover of his bloody arm and cape. It is very iconic in my opinion. It shows a real grittiness that had been lacking from the book until issue #7 came along and changed everyone's expectations of what this series would entail and here for the first time it really showed itself on the face of the book.

The interior of the book starts in a very familiar way. Omni-Man is telling his son where he came from only this time he is telling the bloody truth of the matter. In issue 2, which these sequences very closely mirror, he told Invincible about a very noble race out to help the universe. In this version of the story he tells of a violent warlike race set on domination.

The story is more detailed than the original telling, and we see a lot of different aliens including several of Allen the Aliens race running from Viltrumite soldiers. We see when Omni-Man met the Guardians of the Globe (apparently while killing a Mauler) and we see him and his wife at social engagements with them. Immortal is seen here with a very old woman who I can only assume is his most recent wife who had likely died in the intervening years. Black Samson is seen here in an extremely ugly outfit that I can only describe as a tight t-shirt with a lightning bolt across the chest...I am very glad he is in a super suit now because that costume was extremely lame.

Somehow you have to wonder if he really thought Mark would drop the life he had known to take over the world with his dad. As the issue comes to a close tensions rise and Ottley has some really fantastic panels of Mark yelling at his father, and his father calmly talking to him, and then getting cold as he realizes what he will have to do. The facial expressions are fantastic and really get the emotions right there in front of you. The issue ends with a cliffhanger, father and son about to enter into combat.



I was really pleased with this issue. I liked that they didn't waste half the issue with the two of them fighting. Even though the majority of the issue was spent in exposition the content was really informative. With the previous issues of his explanations of a Utopian society this version stood in stark contrast to what we had been told previously. There were a number of alien races introduced in this issue, and I seem to recall seeing them in future issues so they were brought from this issue forward. There is a 2-page spread of a bunch of Viltrumites hovering over a destroyed city with some blue aliens impaled on the wreckage that speaks well to the sort of destruction we could expect should the Viltrumites ever invade Earth. The devastation is very reminiscent of the damage from the Invincible War from much later in the series. There are a lot of cameo appearances from different series here, such as Capes and Brit, and we see Allen and a Mauler here, as well as the original GotG.

This is the sort of issue that would drive me mad if I had to wait for the next one to be released, but I wasn't reading Invincible back then so I was able to read right into the next issue when I first read this.

What did you guys think?

[Lethiecq]

Shameless bump from page 2. I would like to post the next issue soon.

[400yrs]

I've been busy and haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'll catch up when I can. Where did everyone else go? Maybe SDCC.....

[Joseph C.]

I've been over on the Marvel Boards lately. My loyalty is swaying! Haha. As for the issue I loved seeing the dark contrast between the story told in issue 2 and the one told here. I found myself looking at both and comparing the differences. This made me believe how arrogant the Viltrumites are and how brutal they are as well. They're the monsters of the galaxy. I love how this and the next issue set up for the rest of the series up until this point.

[400yrs]

I liked that they didn't waste half the issue with the two of them fighting. Even though the majority of the issue was spent in exposition the content was really informative.

I finally got a chance to re-read it. The story was pretty awesome. I liked the exposition. It makes the tension leading up to the fight much more meaningful.

One thing that this issue makes me wonder is if Kirkman will deal with the aging. Most comics today don't. Peter Parker hasn't aged much since 1963. However, this book seems to really be keeping an honest time line (or close to it).

Mark started off in high school and then graduated. Oliver is growing fast. I'm wondering if the book is still going 10-20 years down the road, if we will see Eve and William and all the others aging. It would be pretty cool to see how Mark deals with everyone aging and looking old 40 years in the future while he is still young. Would he go Viltrumite eventually????

I guess we've seen a future Eve, but that didn't really deal with aging at all.

When I go back and read this issue, for some reason I always try to spot Thaddeus or whatever his name is. He's not in there though.

Big fight next issue. Let's do it!!!

[jco5055]

Hey I just started reading this great comic a few days ago, my friend told me about it and even managed to own all the back issues and let me borrow them! Though after going on Wikipedia and seeing what's contained in the TPBs, I noticed that he doesn't have any of the special, non-Invincible issues. So I just found a scan of the image summer special, and I was wondering, where is it placed in the 4th TPB? I figured that would be the best place to read it at.

I may be back in a few asking about the others such as #0, 1/2, the Astaounding Wolf-man appearances, and so on.

I feel pretty fortunate to be able to read 70+ issues with no wait, though I have no idea how i'll be able to wait monthly when I catch up!

[Quest Mar-Vell]

#0 and The Wolf-Man appearances show up in the TPBs.... Not sure about 1/2... dont remember 1/2

[jco5055]

#0 and The Wolf-Man appearances show up in the TPBs.... Not sure about 1/2... dont remember 1/2

Yeah I wan't sure about 1/2.... I saw it on Wikipedia but when I type in the issue on google no results come up for it at all...

But what I was wondering was where are they listed in the TPBs? Like is #0 put inbetween 22 and 23? or in the back/front? I'm curious where the image comics summer special is also.

I'd check myself but my LCS is 30 mi away :(

[GRANT!]

I'm pretty sure there is no 1/2 issue. I think Wikipedia is confusing it with the Image Comics Summer Special (which I think takes place before issue 18 or 19). It was reprinted in the back of the singles as well.

[Quest Mar-Vell]

Yeah I wan't sure about 1/2.... I saw it on Wikipedia but when I type in the issue on google no results come up for it at all...

But what I was wondering was where are they listed in the TPBs? Like is #0 put inbetween 22 and 23? or in the back/front? I'm curious where the image comics summer special is also.

I'd check myself but my LCS is 30 mi away :(

#0 is in book 5 and comes in between 22 and 23... The Wolf-Man story comes right after the Invincible issue in book 11.

[Joseph C.]

I finally got a chance to re-read it. The story was pretty awesome. I liked the exposition. It makes the tension leading up to the fight much more meaningful.

One thing that this issue makes me wonder is if Kirkman will deal with the aging. Most comics today don't. Peter Parker hasn't aged much since 1963. However, this book seems to really be keeping an honest time line (or close to it).

Mark started off in high school and then graduated. Oliver is growing fast. I'm wondering if the book is still going 10-20 years down the road, if we will see Eve and William and all the others aging. It would be pretty cool to see how Mark deals with everyone aging and looking old 40 years in the future while he is still young. Would he go Viltrumite eventually????

I guess we've seen a future Eve, but that didn't really deal with aging at all.

When I go back and read this issue, for some reason I always try to spot Thaddeus or whatever his name is. He's not in there though.

Big fight next issue. Let's do it!!!

I think he's been handling the timeline pretty well and I wanna say its been three years since Mark first got his powers. They tell you in some issues that it was been months between the last issue which explains how fast the city was made after the Invincible war and Conquest and also how much Oliver has aged. and we wont be seeing Mark age much for a long time. He could look 25 for like 300 years probably.

[Lethiecq]

Invincible #12

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/invincible/12-1.jpg


This cover is really interesting. With the ending of the previous issue hanging with an epic fight just ahead finding this cover for the next issue is ominous to say the least. There is still some art issues with the cover. Invincibles fingers on his left hand seem out of scale. Mostly though, the image here is eye catching and that is what covers are about.

The whole issue appears to be fighting. Father and son facing off. It's more than that though. The battle is epic. The first 2-page spread of Invincible crashing through buildings in a city, projected by the force of a punch is telling. Super powered fights in this book are devestating. Nolan says it himself. "one punch from one of our people and thousands lose their lives." Skyscrapers crumble in the city as these two fight. It is realistic within the scope of this world. Gritty and violent and horrible. It is a disaster on scale with any we have had.

There are a lot of panels here of Mark being beaten in all sorts of places. Clearly this battle spanned the globe.

Mark appeals to his father towards the end. He has nothing left, cannot fight, will almost surely die, and he still loves this man. He gets through in the end. Nolan can't bring himself to kill his son. He flies off, and as he does, he cries.



This issue was fantastic. I enjoyed it a lot despite the small amount of dialogue. The panels told the story, and it was awesome. One of my favorite issues.

What did you guys think?

[cGrennille]

Sorry for missing out on the last one, been busy as hell with my finals for my summer classes at the college. Last ones tonight though so I'll be back on the boards again.

[400yrs]

#12 is one of my favorite covers because of the colors and what the image conveys.

The first page of the interior is awesome. I don't often read books with knock down drag out fights because they don't entertain me. However, for this book, I loved it because it all built up so well.

As you noted, it's interesting that a fight between a few Viltrumites can devastate the planet. Makes me wonder what Viltrumite buildings are built from.

The art in this book was good. I like the fight scenes. Today, however, Ottley's fight scenes are absolutely the best out there.

[400yrs]

Bump to save this from falling to page 2.

#74 and 75 are running late. You may as well re-read. :biggrin:

[Quest Mar-Vell]

Re-reading now