INVINCIBLE #111
In Image Comics’ Invincible, a lot of people get punched in the face. That will include you, the reader, if you choose to read it, and subsequently get punched in the face.
Do you like face punching? Maybe you do. I don’t know. I don’t know your life.
Having no experience with previous issues of the Invincible series (shame on you, Tower; this is my favorite non-DC/Marvel comic series of all time – Editor Moody), I have to say this issue #111 reads like a stand-alone. Not so much like a #1, but at the very least, a stand-alone. Everything that happens, happens, but it’s clear WAY more has been going on. It’s kind of like watching an episode of Law & Order, except one of the recurring characters is pregnant.
Written by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), with art by Ryan Ottley (Haunt) and Cliff Rathburn (TWD), Invincible is, by far, the unbeatable one-two punch combination of this particular FOC. It starts strong, keeps pace, and finishes big.
The story of Invincible follows Mark Wahlberg as he chases his dream to play for the NFL — Wait, no. Sorry. That’s not it.
Oh, yeah… Invincible follows Mark Grayson, a super being, last in a long line of super beings, who faces enemies both faceless and faced. The faceless enemies include “difficulty coping with the reality of life” and “inability to accept family.” The faced enemies are mostly “many brains of alternate selves of an evil scientist existing in the same killer robot”…
So, you know, THAT.
I’m giving it a hard time, but it’s a really fun comic. On an honest note, for any of the faint-of-heart, I will say this comic is violent. I assume most of you will not have a problem with that. I don’t either, I just wanted to put it out there… So, it’s violent. And the violence comes as a shock, because the art is playful enough that it doesn’t presume violence.
Regardless, it’s well worth a read, and you can kind of pick up the story at #111 if you want. If, that is, you can take all the HITS.
- TMNT 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL – I mean, let’s all take a knee for Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, huh? For creating this bizarro pseudo-comic-turned-cultural-institution in some crappy workspace in New Hampshire, like, 30-years ago. Right? Am I right? Initially I wanted to lead off FOC with this because it seemed timely, what with the forthcoming Michael Bay TMNT reboot about to kick-flip it’s way into theaters. But, alas, this particular comic is more of an anthology — albeit a spectacular one — and I wanted to give credence to a new original series. But, c’mon, it isn’t like those four nunchuck-wieldin’ mutant knuckleheads haven’t gotten plenty of attention since their 1984 debut. And from those early days back in Mirage Comics black-n-white, to the glossy sheen of a more kid-friendly appearance in Archie’s Adventure, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello’s collective journey out of the New York City sewers is deftly chronicled in this slick volume. Also included are excerpts from an Image Comics’ 1996-1999 incarnation written by Gary Carlson with art by Frank Fosco; as well as one from writer and artist Jim Lawson in another Mirage release from 2001; and a more recent offering from Tom Waltz and Bobby Curnow (writers) and Dan Duncan (art) released on IDW. 4.5/5.
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