Invincible 19: The War at Home

invincible volume 19 the war at home cover trade paperback
7.5 Overall Score
Story: 7/10
Art: 7/10

Characters always evolving

Robot's flip could have been planned even better

Comic Info

Comic Name: Invincible

Publisher: Image Comics

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Ryan Ottley

# of Issues: 6

Release Date: 2014

invincible #106 cover armwrestling

Invincible #106

Reprints Invincible #103-108 (June 2013-January 2014).  Angstrom Levy is back on Earth, and he’s out to destroy Invincible once and for all.  Nolan sets out to make a change amongst the Viltrumites, and Allen might not be keen on his idea.  As Mark and Eve question their future and plan for their baby, Angstrom and his plans could ruin everything…but Mark is about to discover the real danger could be someone he never suspected!

Written by Robert Kirkman, Invincible Volume 19:  The War at Home is an Image superhero comic book collection.  Following Invincible Volume 18:  Death of Everyone, the collection features art by Ryan Ottley. The issues in this volume were also collected as part of Invincible Ultimate Collection—Volume 9 and Invincible Compendium—Volume 3

Invincible has always been a wild card comic.  The events in the series are often so extreme that the game becomes how can Kirkman write his way out of the corner he’s painted himself into?  While this collection does have a big cliffhanger, there have been bigger Invincible cliffhangers…but as always, Invincible surprises.

invincible #108 cover review

Invincible #108

One unique aspect of Invincible that is continuously highlighted is that Invincible evolves.  Unlike typical comic book characters who are forever twenty-nine, Invincible is grown and aged over years.  His relationships have developed along with his enemies.  Angstrom is a bit of a throwback to a classic superhero villain, but Kirkman of course takes it a different way than the typical Lex Luthor…and takes the character who would normally be an ally and flips him to the villain.

This approach doesn’t always work, but since Kirkman is in the long-play mode, the flipping of Robot does actually make sense with the character arc.  There have been hints and developments that indicated it would happen, but I kind of wish it had been slid in a bit more instead of the overloading in this volume…you kind of knew he was going bad most of collection so the betrayal wasn’t all that surprising.

Invincible is a finite story that has a planned ending.  You can see Kirkman guiding and gearing up the characters for events and this collection feels a more like a building volume than the “big event” volume.  You have all the pieces in place for another big collection and the end wants you wanting even more…which is a good thing.  Invincible 19:  The War at Home is followed by Invincible 20:  Friends.

Preceded By:

Invincible 18:  The Death of Everyone

Followed By:

Invincible 20:  Friends

Author: JPRoscoe View all posts by
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram/Letterboxd @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.

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