Written by Robert Kirkman
Illustrated by Ryan OttleyTHE VILTRUMITE WAR CONTINUES!
THE FINAL STAND! It’s all come to this: The fate of all life on Earth is at stake. If Invincible loses… Wait, Invincible can’t lose… Can he?
The winner of my Best Story Arc of 2010 continues with this issue. Does it keep that momentum going?
Find out after the jump.
One of my favorite things that Robert Kirkman does is, one of the things that he does that puts him on another class than other writers, is the way he tells each story without fear and always gives us the best he thinks his story can offer without considering what fan reaction could be.
In anyone else’s hands, some of the story beats from The Walking Dead or Invincible simply wouldn’t have existed. Some of the biggest deaths and the most shocking moments likely just wouldn’t happen, but they did because they were the best things Kirkman could have done with the story.
In Invincible #77, Kirkman is given an obvious opportunity to do one thing that would a) make logical sense in the story and b) give his artist Ryan Ottley the chance to throw down some of the most incredible action sequences we’ve ever seen in the medium.
But instead he shows restraint, and shockingly so.
Once again though, Kirkman makes an impeccable choice here. The revelation of what the Viltrumites plans are was handled beautifully by Kirkman. We’re given pages of build-up in which we’re force fed horrific imagery in Mark Grayson’s imagination of what is happening on Earth at that given moment (gorgeously rendered by artist Ottley of course), and then to be faced with the non-violent but perhaps even more alarming reality of the situation? It’s a shocking masterstroke by Kirkman.
There are a number of other little character bits in here that really stand out within the story. Allen’s conversation with his wife about how he misses his friend Tech Jacket…Tech’s experimentation with Mark and Nolan’s attention span…Nolan’s confession about how integrated human emotions are into his day-to-day life at this point…these are all moments in which the weight of the story is escalated by the interpersonal relationships that have been developed within this arc and beyond.
Kirkman has always been a creator who doesn’t focus on sensationalism within a plot strictly for that purpose. He only gets to those major and shocking moments when it makes sense organically for the story through the prism of the characters. The characters are king in his stories, and that’s why issues like this seventy seventh issue work so well.
Well, that and his art team absolutely killing it.
Ryan Ottley was the clear cut winner in our Best Artist of 2010 showdown, and his work with inker Cliff Rathburn and colorist FCO Plascencia is nothing short of the best work in superhero comics today. His ability to create both the horrific splash pages of what the Viltrums could be doing on Earth and to have little sections like Tech Jacket’s facial reactions to the Grayson’s inattentiveness perfectly illustrates why he’s such a phenomenal talent. He can make any and every situation sing visually.
His eye for framing scenes and sequences is unparalleled, and each and every page is a joy to read. This is a book that has visual storytelling down to an absolute science, and whether it’s a powerful moment or a softer one, Ottley and his merry men make it work.
I can’t wait to see where this book goes from here, especially given the change-of-pace Kirkman gives us here. This is a new wrinkle that could potentially give the book even more longevity than it had before, as well as opening up all kinds of exciting storytelling opportunities for the team. In my mind, Invincible is the best superhero comic on the market, and it’s issues like this that prove that idea.
Final Verdict: 9.8 – Buy
