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INVINCIBLE #7-8
Recommended (8/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Cory Walker, Terry Stevens, Matt Roberts, Tony Moore, Mark Englert, Erik Larsen, Dave Johnson, Cliff Rathburn & Ryan Ottley
Colors: Bill Crabtree
Price: $2.95 US/$3.80 CAN |
I'm actually glad that I missed out on issue #7, because Invincible #7-8 read very well as one big story. Although this story introduces a lot of new characters and one big new mystery, but he also goes back to some characters we've seen before, and I'm glad to see that mixture of new plotlines and recurring characters settling in. Kirkman's riffs on classic characters are sometimes feeling a little tired, but it keeps with the more light-hearted tone of the book, and the played-out JLA riff has quite the payoff at the end of issue #7, so it's hard to complain too much. Though this all reads as one story to me, it also features some art changes, with guest artists on #7 and a new regular artist as of #8. All of the artists are good, and though I liked Walker, I think I might like Ottley just a little bit better, so really, Invincible is still all set as far as creative teams go.
These days, we've seen about a dozen riffs on the classic JLA archetypes (half of that dozen come from Warren Ellis alone), and so I'm a little tired of the "look, it's a nocturnal avenger, look it's a warrior woman, etc." that most of Invincible #7 consists of. Even in the midst of these overly familiar archetypes, though, Kirkman injects some neat ideas. Midnight City, a city that is constantly night thanks to the machinations of a dead villain, is a great idea and a perfect setting for a Batman type. The lesbian relationship for the Wonder Woman type is of course also a cliche by now, but I liked the character and loved the casual way that War Woman dealt with intrusions of superpower into her casual life. Then of course there's the hilarious one-page "Aquaman" riff, again playing off a familiar joke but doing it well enough to get a laugh.
 There are a variety of guest artists on these brief sequences, and for the most part, they're very similar to Walker's work. Mark Englert and Erik Larsen turn in a very recognizable style on the War Woman sequence, complete with gratuitous female nudity and Kirby-esque costumes, and Dave Johnson's one page is beautiful, but in general, the artwork is similar enough to the main art that the guest art isn't noticeable. The same can't be said for Ryan Ottley's work on #8, which looks very, very similar to Walker in style but is actually an improvement in small but important ways. His storytelling has a little more energy, notably in the Invincible versus Elephant-Man sequence or the explosive panel at the funeral, and his characters are wonderfully expressive, with more subtlety than Walker's characters typically showed.
Issue #7 is all about upsetting the apple cart and introducing a surprising new villain, but #8 is back to the Invincible status quo of mixing personal/family life stuff with superpowered action. Kirkman went against expectations with Atom Eve by giving her a boyfriend, and her change of status this issue is both a hilarious example of superpowers put to naughty teenage use and a mother's misunderstanding of a situation, a fun visual gag and important shift in the relationship between Mark and Eve. Then there's the difficulty of William of keeping Mark's secret identity, or the goofy request he makes that results in my favorite line of dialogue in the book. These are fun and interesting personal life moments, but there's also some nice tension as we wonder what is going on with Mark's dad, and (at least in my case) worry for his mom.
Invincible is a book that took a while to hook me, but it has now gone right into my list of favorite superhero books. Kirkman needs to get clear of some of the superhero parody elements (not just the JLA, but the Watchmen reference made me groan) and trust a little more in his own originality, but in general the mix of character-based moments and superhero action, with a light touch that sometimes borders on parody, makes for an entertaining and unique superhero book.
One of these comic books was not among this week's new releases.
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