Invincible #72

By Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, FCO Plascencia, Rus Wooton

Tech Jacket backup story by Robert Kirkman, Audrey Sitterson, E.J. Su, Ron Riley, Rus Wooton

My futile attempts to keep up with the world of serial comic books continues. As you can see, I'm still way behind.

Invincible is one of the more successful ongoing endevours to fashion something resembling a shared universe through the efforts of a single creator. Technically, Invincible belongs to the Image Universe. But no one's taken that idea seriously since the publisher's own muddled attempts in the early nineteen nineties left much of the Direct Market in shambles. Like those cantankerous Image founders, creator Robert Kirkman treats his comics creations like an autonomous fiefdom. Admittedly, his spin-off serials haven't fared as well. But within the pages of Invincible, he has managed to assemble a large cast of supporting characters that both pay homage and poke gentle fun at DC and Marvel's properties, while serving as a backdrop for the teen melodrama that is Mark Grayson's (a.k.a. Invincible) life.

Invincible is structured as a series of arcs that tracks Mark's growth as a superhero that starts out reminiscent of Marvel's early Spider-Man. And like a few Marvel comics from the seventies, there are numerous plot threads being advanced at any time. But the one that has propelled Invincible for most of its history is Mark's conflict with his father Nolan and the Viltrumite Empire. His showdowns with increasingly dangerous Viltrumite foes have pushed the overall tenor of the series towards the apocalyptic, making Mark more comfortable with using extreme measures in order to protect his family and loved ones. Mind you, this isn't the most subtle character development - Kirkman's dialogue tends to be a bit stiff and his characters are usually declaring their thoughts and intents for the benefit of the reader. But that to has its own retro charm, I guess.

As villains go, it's hard to beat an interplanetary-level threat like a race of bloodthirsty, world-conquering supermen given that only one is needed to crush all of Earth's armies. This also gives Kirkman an excuse to indulge in some extraordinarily brutal super-powered brawls. Since this is an Image Comics title, the blood flows more freely and doesn't shy away from depicting grisly disemboweling scenes. The series clearly shifted into higher gear when Nolan (a.k.a. Omni-Man) murdered the members of the Guardians of the Globe; then fought Mark to within an inch of his life. Mark's most involved battle so far was an epic multi-issue affair with the virtually unstoppable Viltrumite warrior Conquest - which left Mark, his half-brother Oliver, and his girlfriend Atom Eve badly hurt.

Issue 72 is the second part of the latest story arc The Viltrumite War. Kirkman organizes his stories so that the more exposition-heavy issues set up the proceeding action-oriented issues. In this case, Mark's reconciliation with Nolan in Issue 71 and preparations to take the fight to the Viltrumite Empire are interrupted by a sudden appearance of a small force led by Conquest himself. What follows in 72 is pure mayhem, dominated by Mark's rematch with Conquest.* it would be difficult, to say the least, to top that first fight. And yet Kirkman manages to do just that in one issue by upping the stakes and increasing the gross factor.

The rest of the creative team has settled-in into illustrating Kirkman's scripts. Since taking-over the pencilling duties from co-creator Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley has pretty much become the Invincible artist - his slightly exaggerated style imbues the characters with a certain muscular grace. And while this issue isn't the best example of the work of colorist FCO Plascencia, every drop of blood and gut spilled is rendered in loving detail - with bright reds and oranges.

Invincible is as solidly professional a comic to come out of the Direct Market, just as long as the reader doesn't mind getting a little queasy.

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* Tech Jacket, another Kirkman creation, appears as a supporting character, and in a forgettable backup story.

Short Pamphlet Reviews

Pissing All Over The Superheroes


Invincible #60-65
by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Fco Plascencia

One of the pleasures of reading Robert Kirkman's comic series Invincible is watching him construct a universe through interconnected story arcs that feels both straightforward, but multi-layered. His characters aren't complex, but he manages to balance the ever growing ensemble by deftly switching between the the interactions of main character Mark Grayson a.k.a. Invincible - The son of an extremely powerful superhero who was revealed to be an agent for a world conquering alien race called the Vitrumites, and his supporting cast. Much like the best of the nascent Marvel titles of the sixties, there's an engaging naivete to the cast, and a sense of wonder watching a new world unfolding. But I have to wonder how long Kirkman can keep this up before his creation becomes too byzantine, or too weighed down by its own internalized status quo.

There have been recent moves to connect the title to a larger shared universe that could be said to have culminated in issue #60. Lex Luthor stand-in Angstrom Levy has gathered an army of Invincible's villainous alternate Earth versions and unleashed them on the world. This provides an excuse for cameos from all of Image Comics superhero lineup. Much bloody chaos ensues. The whole thing turns out to be one gratuitous gimmick and a prelude to a knock down drag out fight between Invincible and a Vitrumite soldier sent to keep him in line. The superhero population is largely incapacitated. People die, including an important supporting character. Another's boobs get bigger, literally. But her powers start going all wonky. Half a dozen plot points for future arcs are sprinkled throughout. Mark reaches an important turning point, and suddenly this series has gotten a lot more complicated. Oh boy.


Power Girl #1-4
by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts, John J. Hill

And speaking of gratuitous there's Power Girl. Is there any superhero so obviously derivative with such a convoluted history? Female characters possessing superpowers and ample cleavage should be easy enough to sell. Just look at Cutey Honey. But at DC she's ranked lower on the totem pole than Superman, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl. Given how DC sometimes treats even marquee properties like Wonder Woman like shit, what chance does Power Girl have of moving up from being a magnet for puerile big boob jokes? Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray attempt to develop her civilian identity and supporting cast. But the battle between her and the Ultra-Humanite feels indifferent despite the over the top scheming from Humanite. Actually I'm put-off by the attempt to update the classic supervillain with a more distasteful violent origin. More humor is used in issue four, but it's not enough to block-out the bad taste from reading the last three issues.

Batgirl #1
by Bryan Q. Miller, Lee Garbett, Trevor Scott, Guy Major, John J. Hill

Hey, another derivative character. This is a passing of the Batgirl mantle from Cassandra Cain to the often abused Stephanie Brown despite the latter girl's reservations. Meanwhile the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, broods as if she's trying to be Bruce Wayne. The issue's pretty confusing as the reader is simply dumped into the story mid-stride without prior explanation. But then, who cares about Batgirl outside of the rabid Bat fans.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #1
by Mark Millar, Carlos Pacheco, Danny Miki, Justin Ponsor, VC's Cory Petit

First, that's not what the title on the cover says. Second, they aren't called the Avengers in this issue. Oh look, they've bought Mark Millar back along with his trademark wit, or what passes for wit in these pages. In fact he picks up from where he left off determined to ignore as much as possible the intervening events. But then again no one seems to care. The Ultimate line hasn't been around that long, but this already feels like a reinstatement of some long-standing status quo.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1
by Brian Michael Bendis, David Lafuente, Justin Ponsor, VC's Cory Petit

This is even more insistent about the return to the status quo. Six months since a massive tsunami submerged New York and things have returned to normal? Then again Spider-Man's public cred has never been higher, so maybe that counts for something. Brian Michael Bendis is still writing the title, and this has given it a consistency not found elsewhere in the Ultimate line. I haven't kept up with it lately, and this relaunch has yet to convince me to return to the ongoing teen soap opera that is Peter Parker's life.