Customer Reviews

Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 3

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I only recently discovered Robert Kirkman's Invincible series, having initially written it off as yet another tired Image attempt at clinging to some remaining market share. Man, am I kicking myself for not picking this book up years ago! This is probably the very finest teenage superhero saga since Marvel introduced Spider-Man back in the 60's. I know that's a bold (perhaps blasphemous) statement, but this book practically oozes that classic Lee/Ditko energy, along with elements of Superman, the Teen Titans, and the Savage Dragon. As much as I love the edgier stuff by Milllar, Bendis et al, it's good to see an author who takes such unbridled joy in an old school superhero tale.

Volume 3 in the Invincible hardcover series contains two massively important events, namely the return of way creepy villain Angstrom Levy and Mark's first encounter with his estranged father since their epic battle in volume 1. If that's not enough, Atom Eve makes a return appearance, Mark discovers some of his father's secrets, and we finally find out just what the heck Robot has been up to. This is probably the best installment in the Invincible series. It's wall-to-wall action, but it still manages to work in plenty of character development for Mark and his nothing short of stellar supporting cast (seriously, have you seen a more dynamic and diverse assortment of secondary characters since Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon?).

So why doesn't this book merit a full 5-star rating? One word: quality. The paper stock used in this collection is way thinner than what was used on previous volumes. It's darn near transparent, and takes away from the overall enjoyment of the story. Maybe that's just Image's attempt to save money, but given the book's cover price I think a better quality of paper was in order.

That aside, this is a fantastic hardcover collection of one of the absolute best comics on the market today. With luck, we'll be reading these hardcover collections of Invincible (and seeing him on lunch boxes and Happy Meal toys) for decades to come.

Before I talk about this particular book, here are a few things you should know about Invincible:

* Invincible is written by Robert Kirkman and was created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker.

* The character first appeared in an issue of Tech Jacket - another comic written by Robert Kirkman - in November of 2002. The original issues of Tech Jacket are collected in this book: Tech Jacket Volume 1: The Boy From Earth (v. 1)

* Invincible is published by Image Comics - a company built by and dedicated to comic book writers and illustrators. Creators who publish their work at Image retain full ownership of all properties they create. Because of this, in Image comics you will regularly see things that don't occur in books published by the "Big 2" - Marvel and DC. Namely, characters that die tend to stay dead, and the overall voice of the characters remains pretty consistent, and continuity actually has some meaning.

* Invincible is one of the most popular comics published by Image. This comic and other comics written by Robert Kirkman have had such strong sales that Image invited Robert Kirkman to share in ownership of the company. He accepted.

* Invincible is an on-going comic series that has been published on nearly a monthly basis since 2003.

* Invincible story arcs have been collected into many TPBs. The first 13 of these all share titles with sit-com television shows from the 1980's.

* Invincible exists in a shared universe with other popular Image comic book characters, including Spawn, Savage Dragon, Superpatriot, Brit, Youngblood, Shadowhawk and others.

* Invincible's costume design features a large "i" on the front of it - mirroring the company logo of Image comics.

One other note: I will attempt to avoid spoilers as much as possible in this review. I enjoyed this book and feel you would best enjoy it if I don't tell you the entire plot summary in this review!

This book collects the sixth and seventh story arcs of the Invincible comic book, which are also collected, separately, in the books Invincible (Book 6): A Different World (v. 6) and Invincible (Book 7): Three's Company (v. 7).

In this book - which may be my least favorite of the series - Mark encounters some different sorts of conflicts - namely moral and interpersonal conflicts. Mark has a violent reunion with his father, an uncomfortable reunion with Atom Eve, and a reality-hopping reunion with Angstrom Levy. Mark also meets his first Viltrumites and a brother he never knew he had.

Also included in this book is an issue of The Pact (another Image comic book), and a large sketch and cover collection at the back of the book.

While not as good as the previous two hard-cover collections, this is still a good book and if you've read the first two, you'll want to pick up this one too.

I never thought I could become such a fanboy over a comic book series but I did. Robert Kirkman delivers one of the most well written and fun to read comics I've ever had the pleasure of gracing my bookshelf with. You must buy all the volumes they are soooo good.

I love the Invincible story and this collection keeps the high standards the rest of the series has always has. The characters are interesting and unique, the story lines are intriguing, and the main character is very compelling.

As someone who has been reading comics since the 1950's, Invincible is a fairly new (started in 2003) addition to the genre, but I can honestly say that this is the best 'new' comic I've come across in years. The creative team behind this collection of Invincible issues (#25 thru #35) - Robert Kirkman (writer), Ryan Ottley (penciler, inker), Bill Crabtree (colorist), and Russ Wooton (letterer) - continue to amaze in what they have produced, a superb blend that plays on the established traditions of the superhero genre while bringing in original takes and twists that make it all fresh and new again.

Also included in this collection is issue #4 from the mini-series The Pact, which Kirkman wrote with Jason Howard as penciler, inker and colorist and Rus Wooten as letterer.

The lead-in lines inside of the dust jacket pretty much set the tone for the series:

"Girls, acne, homework, super-villains. When you're a teenager, it helps to be INVINCIBLE"

...while the lines on the back of the dust jacket set the stage for this third volume:

"After coming to grips with the gut-wrenching events involving his father, Invincible has slowly come into his own as a worl-saving super-hero. Things with his girlfriend seem okay. He's got a cushy government job that's paying his way through college. He's been beaten up a few times, but for the most part, Invincible gets the job done. Now a series of events have been set in motion that may just lead to a reunion with his estranged father. Nothing can prepare Invincible for what comes next."

And as always, the collection has as an added treat another Sketchbook section at the end with all kinds of artwork and commentary showing the creative process the team went through developing and promoting the comic.

Highly, highly recommended for anyone who enjoys quality work in the superhero comic genre.

If you've read the previous two volumes, you know what to expect from this one, and that is the usual Kirkman amazingness and more Invincible goodness. Fights against Viltrumites! Mark's new brother! Nolan! What else? Very good read.

The only downside on this volume is the paper quality. The previous two volumes had thick, glossy paper. This volume has flimsy glossy paper. What gives? Not a very big deal, but after two thick volumes, it's kind of a letdown to see this one as skinny as it is.

Very good continuation of the Invincible story line. Mark finds out what happened to his father and discovers that he has a half-brother on a distant planet.

This volume continues the quality of the first 2 and even adds a few new elements with romantic tensions, the return of Nolan and Mark's family seeing an unexpected addition.
The art just keeps getting better and better.

If you've been reading the series it's a must have.
Invincible is one of the best super-hero books on the market today.

This volume really sold me on the series. I enjoyed the series before, but for some reason wasn't a huge fan. Something about this volume, though -- the way the scope of the story just kept expanding, the way so much from past stories continued to build, the way the characters started to grow, all the very entertaining action -- it just really made me a big fan. I actually went back and reread volumes 1 and 2 of the hardcovers after reading this, and then went out and bought volume 8 of the trades (since no more hardcovers have been released yet,) and I gotta say, I'm a big Invincible fan now. Volume 8 was even better. This series just continues to improve as it goes. Kirman's building a fun, exciting world, and Ryan Ottley draws it very, very well. Ottley is brilliant on this book, and his art is perfect for it. The action sequences he does are phenomenal and brutal, and are even more effective because Kirkman does such a good job of building to them. Overall just great, fun stuff.

I have a simple way to review a story, does it keep me turning the pages with excitement to see what happens next? Invincible Vol 3 (vols 1 & 2 also) does just that. The characters are compelling, the twists are fun, the art is fantastic. The only down part is waiting for Vol 4!