I’ve recently gone on somewhat of a graphic novel buying spree. I have this HUGE list of graphic novels I believe I have to own (actually typed out in full in a nice Excell spreadsheet) and I’ve been going to different comic book stores seeing what deals I can get on books. I’ve picked up some quality gems (as you can see from all the reviews I’ve been doing lately) and you can be sure that there will be even more reviews in the future (such as The Filth, by Grant Morrison, coming soon!). However, due to my system of how I have to read them (they’re placed on my shelf by publisher and I move from left to right), I don’t get to read certain books as fast as I’d like. I finally made it to the I’s and started a book that I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading, and now I can come here and say to you that this was by far one of the best choices I made in my huge graphic novel binge. The comic is none other than Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s Invincible.
We here at MC already love Invincible, even if only one of us is caught up. David reviews it whenever he can, one of our old writers used to express love for it, and we all LOVE Kirkman’s Walking Dead. Kirkman is a writer who somewhat came out of nowhere and surprised us all with his uncanny ability to tell these intense stories with characters that we quickly grow attached to and whose plight becomes a plight of our own. Walking Dead is a perfect example of this as Kirkman takes us on an increasingly emotional roller coaster filled with death and disaster and horror at every turn. I expected something similar when I picked up Invincible, albeit less frightening, and I can say I was pleased even beyond my expectations. What Invincible is is a nice and heartfelt story of an up and coming super hero that doesn’t fail to capture our hearts and imagination in a way that reinvents all the classic super hero tropes in new ways.
Remember when Ultimate Spider-Man first started with Bendis? Remember how everyone was excited about how fresh and exciting these stories seemed in this brand new world? Think of that when you think of Invincible (and, as a side note, Bendis does the opening note to the hardcover edition I own). Invincible tells the story of Mark Grayson, son of the world’s greatest super hero Nolan “Omni-Man” Grayson. Mark is waiting for his super powers to kick in and has to spend every day going through the routines of a daily high school student. He has a crappy job at the local fast food chain, he has his nerdy best friends, he reads comic books (Science Dog!), and he is somewhat shy around girls. Every day, though, he waits for his powers to kick in. His dad told him about his super hero origin when Mark was 7 (and about how he comes from a planet where everyone has a mustache!), and said that they’d kick in around puberty. So where are they? That’s where we come in. We get to be with Mark as his powers begin to manifest and we see him learn what it takes to be a hero. It’s a pretty classic origin story all things considered, and it sets an innocent stage for the epic scope of the story to come. Mark, calling himself Invincible when in costume, has his first hero team-up, defeats his first villain, and flies alongside his father, fighting alien invasions and playing catch around the world (literally).
It’s not long, of course, before Kirkman throws in his sinister mind, of course. I remember sitting there reading it and commenting, “Man, this is SO much less dark then Walking Dead,” and in the next page someone dies. This is where we truly start to see the shape of things to come, as a murder mystery begins that somewhat pays tribute to and parodies Watchmen in a hilarious character “cameo” (more on that later). While this isn’t as dark as Walking Dead, this one simple action sets the scene for much bigger events, and this is where Invincible really shines. I had noticed this myself, but Kirkman fully explains it in the back of the second hardcover – the book is all about build up. You see, the first 13 or so issues have their own arc, and everything beyond that is written differently. Kirkman and Walker didn’t know if the book would go past that first 13 issues, so when they got the all clear to go ahead and write it to infinity and beyond, they began to set the stage for an epic story that I’m still not even close to catching up to. In every issue you’ll have a page or so that seems so out of place, but it’s a clue to what’s going to happen. Little things will get resolved, but there is so much left over that you just know that it will lead to a huge pay off (and, from my understanding, this pay off has actually taken place while setting up for an even bigger pay off). It is most definitely one of the shining aspects of the book, and the story alone is worth the read.
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One of the great things about the book, I think, is that characters we already know about make “appearances” in this book. The book in and of itself does what many other comics by independent publishers do, and that is pick apart and comment on the two big publishers and their heroes. Invincible himself is, in a way, Spider-Man, whereas the Guardians of the Globe (pictured right with Omni-Man, Invincible’s dad) are clearly the Justice League of America. I mentioned above that there is a Watchmen character somewhat “parodied” in the book, and it of course doesn’t stop there. This element was one of my favorite parts of Planetary, and it is still a quality of this book I highly enjoy. The best part about this is while Planetary would have a character parody appear for a single book where Ellis and Cassaday would emulate a particular style or story, Kirkman and Ottley take characters, re-invent them, and they become a part of the ever expanding universe. In one issue, Invincible fights a character known as The Elephant who looks similar to the Rhino (aside from choice of animal), and Invincible later makes a comment fully stating that the Elephant is a “lame Rhino rip-off.” We later see the Elephant in the background in several scenes, and it’s that attention to detail I love. There is one episode where one of the villains brutally beats up some characters (one of whom seemingly turns into a vegetable beyond that point), and the villain disappears, only to appear in the background of a very important scene a few issues later (I’m doing my best to avoid spoilers here). That is just awesome. Invincible as a whole does in fact tie into the rest of the Image “universe”, and Savage Dragon appears once or twice during scenes (for example), but the whole epic scope of characters being repeatedly called to attention is a great touch.
Another great thing to make note of is the artwork. I am not very familiar with Ryan Ottley’s artwork, but I can guarantee that this is the book that really launched him. His style is somewhat similar to Mike Mignola’s in a few issues, and it’s very interesting to watch him get better and better as the book goes on. In the beginning he uses very simple backdrops and focuses a lot on the characters, choosing very bright colors to go along with it. As the story goes on and the book pushes into it’s 30s, Ottley is drawing epic landscapes and backgrounds full of an insane amount of little detail. There is one issue in particular that comes to mind with one character interacting with a multitude of his multiverse selfs, and we see a scene with all of them together on a single page. If you look, each character is doing something different and not just being placed in the background like a tree. That’s just amazing. I mentioned his color scheme as well, and I feel that that is a big part of the book. The book, even when it has dark elements in it, is mostly bright and sharp colors. It’s a very intriguing contrast to some of the stories, but at the same time it helps to remind us that our main character is just 17-18 years old and is living in a kid’s world despite the grown up situations he’s placed in. Bravo, Ryan Ottley. With this book and this book alone you’ve been placed into my repoirtoire of “artists I really respect,” right under new comer Francis Manapul.
To make a long story short, Invincible is a great comic book with a lot of heart. I’ve heard a lot of comic nerds praise it, but never anyone really outside that world, so my hope is that in writing this I can reach some of the people who like comics for Marvel and DC but don’t venture too far out of that. Invincible is now 50-something issues in and going strong, and as David reviews it every week, the anticipation for something big keeps building up. I’ve gotta say, I really dropped the ball by not egtting into this sooner. It’s just such a wonderful series, and the fact that I have to wait until the rest of my books arrive in the mail really annoys me. I was loving being able to just flip through book after book. It flows very well and is yet another hit from insane mastermind Robert Kirkman. I would say, go out and pick this up now. You’re only hurting yourself by not reading what is arguably the best superhero book not on either Marvel or DC.
