Comic Info
Comic Name: Invincible
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Ryan Ottley/Cory Walker
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2013
Invincible #91
Reprints Invincible #91-96 (May 2012-October 2012). Mark deals with having no powers after falling victim to the Scourge Virus while Zandale Randolph tries his best to substitute as Invincible. When the Flaxan decide to invade London, Robot and Monster Girl discover their past might have come back to haunt them.
Written by Robert Kirkman, Invincible Volume 17: What’s Happening follows the Invincible Volume 16: Family Ties storyline. The collection features art by Ryan Ottley and Cory Walker. The issues in the collection were also collected in Invincible: Ultimate Collection—Volume 8 and the Invincible Compendium—Volume 2.
Invincible continues to be an odd comic. It is a comic that rewards regular readers and is painfully obtuse to anyone trying to jump-in in the middle of the series. To enjoy Invincible, you must start from the beginning…and if you enjoy Invincible, it could be getting a bit old by now.
The comic book reads quite smoothly. Though touting Mark’s lack of powers, this volume is primarily written around Monster Girl and Robot. It plays with the continuing Flaxan invasions that have occurred throughout the series and reveals a big moment for both characters. Monster Girl and Robot are fun, the story feels really out of place.
Invincible #96
While I enjoy the excursion, the Mark storyline is so big (a character called “Invincible” who is no longer invincible) and the idea of a substitute Mark is fun. It plays with multiple Spider-Man storylines like the clone saga etc. by testing people’s ability to accept another character in the title role. While most comic books you’d assume would right themselves pretty quickly, Invincible is always a question mark and could easily go a different direction. That is why a the whole Monster Girl and Robot feels like it is clogging up a good story.
What I don’t like about Invincible is that it just seems to be written for collections. This is a current state of comics, but it isn’t a very fun comic to read issue to issue (much like Kirkman’s other success The Walking Dead). I like coherent issues that be read as a stand-alone while being part of a bigger picture. I feel that Kirkman’s examination of superhero tropes is actually getting a bit tired as well. The story really moved at the beginning of the run and it feels bogged down here. I will keep reading Invincible, but I want more advancement. Invincible 17: What’s Happening is followed by Invincible 18: The Death of Everyone.
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