Invincible

[JackBauer]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Duuuuuuuude......

 

[Kahoot]

I ordered Ultimate Collection Volume 2 about two weeks ago, and I still don't have it, unless it came this morning and is now waiting for me. Bloody mail is f***ed up in Dundee.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Duuuuuuuude......

Yeah Kirkman's a *****e, what do you want.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

I'm just really hoping that this is one of those misleading covers, but frankly, I wouldn't put it past him. After watching everyone even remotely likeable in Walking Dead die horrifically, I would not be surprised to see Eve go too.

Yup, Kirkman feels no obligation to any of his characters (with maybe the exceptions of the title characters, Mark and Rick as still alive). Anyone and every can die in his comics, and as far as what fans want, I don't think he cares either.

I wouldn't doubt it if Kirkman turns out to be the Sly Stallone of comics, strarts off great and does some really nice stuff then it's all crap after.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Just read issue 63 and well......

Spoiler

he killed Eve. Big surprise there. Yes she is fully on fully dead as a door nail. Not a lot happens in this issue but that and a dark prediction.

As for these so called 32 page issues. What a bunch of BS! It's like 19 pages with the rest previews for upcoming comics for other series and letters to Kirkman. If you say 32 pages, give me at least 30 pages of actual content and story!

But next issue will be very interesting since

Spoiler

Conquest dies? Hmmm, Mark predicts it, and clearly by the cover of issue 65 when they hold the funeral for Eve Conquest is most certainly gone, but dead? I don't think so, especially since Conquest is the biggest threat by far Invincible has ever faced. Even more so than his dad.

Plus Conquest has really made it apparent just how weak Mark is. If Conquest wanted to he could probably from the start just walked up to Mark and strangled him to death and Mark wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop him.

Oh well, just will have to wait until July to find out.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Just read issue 63 and well......

Spoiler

he killed Eve. Big surprise there. Yes she is fully on fully dead as a door nail. Not a lot happens in this issue but that and a dark prediction.

As for these so called 32 page issues. What a bunch of BS! It's like 19 pages with the rest previews for upcoming comics for other series and letters to Kirkman. If you say 32 pages, give me at least 30 pages of actual content and story!

But next issue will be very interesting since

Spoiler

Conquest dies? Hmmm, Mark predicts it, and clearly by the cover of issue 65 when they hold the funeral for Eve Conquest is most certainly gone, but dead? I don't think so, especially since Conquest is the biggest threat by far Invincible has ever faced. Even more so than his dad.

Plus Conquest has really made it apparent just how weak Mark is. If Conquest wanted to he could probably from the start just walked up to Mark and strangled him to death and Mark wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop him.

Oh well, just will have to wait until July to find out.

 

[Andy C.]

....aaaaaand I'm done. If he can't figure out how to advance character development without [BLACKOUT]pointlessly stuffing the main character's love interest in the refrigerator, EXACTLY LIKE HE ALREADY DID IN WALKING DEAD[/BLACKOUT], then I've really lost interest. Especially since the whole reason I loved the comic was its more energetic and fun tone, and now the comic is going off the deep end into gritty angsty 90s-anti-hero bull****.

And to be frank, I really don't care about Conquest. Sure, Angstrom Levy won't exactly go down as comicdom's most memorable villain, but he at least had some character. Same with the Mauler Twins, and Powerplex, and most of the other villains that have shown up. But another big bad Viltrumite? How many of these guys are we going to go through?

 

[BigBlue1055]

....aaaaaand I'm done. If he can't figure out how to advance character development without [blackout]pointlessly stuffing the main character's love interest in the refrigerator, EXACTLY LIKE HE ALREADY DID IN WALKING DEAD[/blackout], then I've really lost interest. Especially since the whole reason I loved the comic was its more energetic and fun tone, and now the comic is going off the deep end into gritty angsty 90s-anti-hero bull****.

And to be frank, I really don't care about Conquest. Sure, Angstrom Levy won't exactly go down as comicdom's most memorable villain, but he at least had some character. Same with the Mauler Twins, and Powerplex, and most of the other villains that have shown up. But another big bad Viltrumite? How many of these guys are we going to go through?

I agree, I'm dropping the book as well. It's absolutely ridiculous to [BLACKOUT]kill her off when they had just started to really figure things out and hit their stride as a couple. [/BLACKOUT] Maybe I'll pick this book back up if he decides [BLACKOUT]to try and bring Eve back,[/BLACKOUT] but I doubt it. Chalk up another one for the fridge!

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

I'm really not that upset by it. I will keep reading the comic, not buying it, but I will ready it still at least until issue 65-70 or so. I am still interested to see what goes down with Conquest, what his reasoning is for Eve dying that is so important and what the new dynamic duo. Nolan and Allen The Alien are up to.

 

[BigBlue1055]

Yeah, I think that's what I'm gonna do, just read it and not buy it. I just hate that every comic book writer seems to have a vendetta against any sort of normal, happy, functioning couple. Also, I really don't feel like paying good money to see Mark go the way of some *****ey emo brooding anti-hero.

 

[TheVileOne]

I kind of agree with the sentiment. It kind of makes that whole prison/criminal income subplot thing they had pointless.

I dunno, Eve came off as massively ******ed in this issue. What she did seemed out of character.

 

[Dread]

Repost on my take on the issue, with spoilers.

INVINCIBLE #63: Oh, that Robert Kirkman's a card. Mocking the hype about a certain star spangled Marvel character, he made a special "announcement" at Newsarama that "extra copies" of this issue would ship on this Wednesday, and about how epic it was. In some ways INVINCIBLE WAR in issue sixty was a send-up of overblown events, getting to the meat of a 6-8 issue mini in one oversized one. It even has an "event" style tagger on the cover, noting the aftermath saga, "CONQUEST", which seems poised for four parts.

To be fair, Kirkman was right about this being a big issue. Invincible is still fighting Conquest, the monster of a Viltrumite soldier sent by the empire to take over the planet by any means required. Last issue was pure combat and while a lot of it continues, there is definitely a bit more dialogue here.

Spoiler

Getting the spoiler off the chest quickly, this is the issue in which Atom Eve seemingly and brutally is murdered. The fans were smelling it coming for quite some time, as nearly every month Kirkman got a "don't kill Eve" letter even since before issue 60. Apparently in WALKING DEAD he kills noble, fan-fave characters often. Of course they are all his babies and he is creatively free to kill them off when he wants. But, some solicits implied a funeral coming up, and Eve was already in the hospital. Her Gwen Stacy moment has arrived.

As the world is still trying to repair itself after Angstrom Levy's army of alternate reality Invincible's ravaged it, Mark is the only hero in shape or of proper power level to take on Conquest. Eve wakes up after two days in the hospital and basically blows his identity to her parents to chat with Cecil. Oliver tries to help Mark, and is mauled and nearly torn in two. Eve later comes in and isn't so lucky, getting impaled on Conquest's arm in about a page. Despite a shattered leg and having taken a worse beating than Rocky Balboa did in ROCKY IV (if such a thing is possible), Mark vows bloody vengeance after Eve dies in his arms. Axing off a couple after they had JUST started to date and be happy with each other is a bit of a cliche, of course. In the letters page Kirkman seems to brace for about half a year of hate mail and claims he "had no choice" but to kill her off. Part of me thinks back to something Brian K. Vaughan said shortly after he killed Gert in RUNAWAYS: "I couldn't imagine Runaways without her, which is when I realized she had to die", in so many words. Writers have to do things to keep stuff fresh and often that is drastic, status-quo shattering stuff. Kirkman's done it a few times with Invincible, starting with the Omni-Man reveal and onward since then, which has propelled the title into the high ranks fans give it critically. From a story standpoint, it was a perfectly logical, in character situation. Eve would want to help Mark, despite being unable to walk on two broken legs. Conquest would not spare her.

In fact the only problem I had with it wasn't Eve's death itself, but who it was to. While it could change, right now Conquest isn't a villain; he's a threat, an opponent, someone to make Mark stronger to prepare him for the next arc. While not quite as shallow as Doomsday was, he isn't far removed. He's a nasty, easy-to-hate "absolute monster" type villain, but he's just a cipher. Methinks it would have felt a little more gut-punching had Angstrom Levy pulled it off, or some other villain Mark knew more. Right now Conquest is merely the second Viltrumite besides Nolan who's had the honor of being named before he is killed off. Of course Conquest could live; between the scar and the cybernetic arm, he seems to have survived his share of scuffles. He could be akin to a Bane done right; a villain who scores a major win immediately and actually doesn't fall flat right after. And I imagine that Kirkman wanted that sudden feeling of a threat out of nowhere icing Eve.

There always is the escape clause; these ARE superheroes. Atom Eve's mini raised the idea of it being POSSIBLE for her to meddle with flesh as she does other atoms, just it being hard. Angstrom Levy was deader than a doornail for quite a while, all but beaten to death on panel by Invincible, and he's very much alive. The Sequid/Mars subplot refuses to die. Between alternate realities and whatnot, it may not be the end for Eve. Of course, maybe it is. Life is tragic like that.

Kirkman promised a big issue, and he got it. Maybe I would be more shocked about it, but the death of a hero's girlfriend is rather old hat in the genre, and the hints of it was laid out for months. Considering Mark's ex's new BF has a habit of giving her shiners, I imagine a reconciliation is likely. It is a bit of a shame that Kirkman couldn't avoid the genre expectation completely, to kill his hero's girlfriend at some point. It was nice to see a happy couple in comics for a change; most couples in comics bicker, or are insane. It was actually more innovative for the perennial star-crossed lovers to finally hook up and have some bliss together. But, it adds to my theory that all comic writers secretly hate their wives (or at least are bitter about having been single so long beforehand, channeling some GLA logic), and can't wait to vent some argument over bills or missing the can by slaughtering some poor heroine. And anyone who thinks this is impossible should look up some interviews regarding Grant Morrison's inspirations for how he handled Frost and Jean in NEW X-MEN. How quickly did Gary's wife get axed off in WOLF-MAN (albeit THAT was to a worthy adversary), after all? It's a little predictable. Ladies should know by now that dating a superhero is never worth it.

If Conquest serves any role, it is to remind readers after an event where all of Image's heroes managed to kill an army of Invincible's that even one or two full powered Viltrumites coming to Earth would just destroy it instantly without Mark. For aliens who live thousands of years, Mark is still a bit of a baby to them at age 18-19 (Oliver would barely be an infant). Mark was benching 400 tons a few issues back (or, basically, 10% of Rulk's strength) and Conquest is mopping the floor with him.

Another entertaining, shocking issue, even if it lives up to some genre expectations. Can't wait for the epic showdown next issue!

In summary, I wasn't altogether surprised, as some readers were smelling this blood in the water for a year. It's an all too common plot point in superhero comics with a male lead. It just is a bit predictable and a tad sacrificial.

 

[Spike_x1]

I have no words.

 

[Spike_x1]

I think I've finally found the words to express how I feel about this book now...

....aaaaaand I'm done. If he can't figure out how to advance character development without [BLACKOUT]pointlessly stuffing the main character's love interest in the refrigerator, EXACTLY LIKE HE ALREADY DID IN WALKING DEAD[/BLACKOUT], then I've really lost interest. Especially since the whole reason I loved the comic was its more energetic and fun tone, and now the comic is going off the deep end into gritty angsty 90s-anti-hero bull****.

And to be frank, I really don't care about Conquest. Sure, Angstrom Levy won't exactly go down as comicdom's most memorable villain, but he at least had some character. Same with the Mauler Twins, and Powerplex, and most of the other villains that have shown up. But another big bad Viltrumite? How many of these guys are we going to go through?

I'm right there with you, only I'm not quite done with the book just yet. I think I'll stick around for at least a few more (I'll say 5 or 6--that's more than generous) issues to see if Kirkman can move past the predictable cliche's of stock comic hero development that he's written himself into, and set the stage to recapture the fun tone that hooked me onto the book to begin with. I know that he's got to get the grieving for Eve out of the way, so there won't be too much room for lighthearted stuff for at least a couple issues, but I'm hoping that Kirkman moves past that as soon as possible.

Sure, Mark has faced some emotionally dark situations since day 1, but it's gotten to be too much. I don't want to read 19 pages of depression. I want to read Invincible as it used to be; the fun action-adventure book that wasn't a sob story at its core like every other superhero comic on the shelves. Unfortunately, Eve was a large contributing factor to what used to make the book fun to read, so I don't predict that I'll keep buying it for very much longer.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

I think I've finally found the words to express how I feel about this book now...I'm right there with you, only I'm not quite done with the book just yet. I think I'll stick around for at least a few more (I'll say 5 or 6--that's more than generous) issues to see if Kirkman can move past the predictable cliche's of stock comic hero development that he's written himself into, and set the stage to recapture the fun tone that hooked me onto the book to begin with. I know that he's got to get the grieving for Eve out of the way, so there won't be too much room for lighthearted stuff for at least a couple issues, but I'm hoping that Kirkman moves past that as soon as possible.

Sure, Mark has faced some emotionally dark situations since day 1, but it's gotten to be too much. I don't want to read 19 pages of depression. I want to read Invincible as it used to be; the fun action-adventure book that wasn't a sob story at its core like every other superhero comic on the shelves. Unfortunately, Eve was a large contributing factor to what used to make the book fun to read, so I don't predict that I'll keep buying it for very much longer.

Notice how it changed a while back from "Probably The Best Superhero Comic In The Universe." To "The All-New All Awesome"

Like Kirkman knew the comic was losing it's allure and is trying to convince us it's still good.

"Hey, hey wait guys I promise, it's still really good. Here look, look see. I told you, ok wait just read it (buy it) for one more month while I hack out some stuff. I swear it's still really good. I promise."

I mean really, bring back Armstrong Levy? The guy's brain was smashed to a pulp, his whole head was. IF he managed to live he would be severally mentally disabled. I can understand the Mauler twins that keep coming back, the precedent was set up long ago that they clone themselves.

It was fun to see them pop up once in a while and do their thing. But Armstrong Levy feels like Krikman has fallen into the Cliche pattern of kill em off and bring em back already. I hope he picks it up again but I fear Invincible is just going to turn into another ok comic book, if it hasn't already.

 

[TheVileOne]

Tough call really.

However, didn't Mark marry a redhead and have kids in the future before leaving planet Earth?

Or was that in an alternate time sort of like all the other Invincibles?

Just saying . . . Eve could always come back. It is a comic book.

Also, notice how Mark's ex is still with her abusive boyfriend in this issue.

I'm more upset in that it felt like Eve's intervention in the fight felt so cookie cutter and forced.

Like in comics, generally I think character death is fine. I think if its appropriate and it works it works. Here it really feels like Kirkman HAD to put in a big kill, and he had to kill off Eve. Eve's death almost felt arbitrary and poorly written.

Basically I'm not saying he should not have killed off Eve, but the way he did it was lame.

 

[Dark Victory]

I picked up the second volume yesterday and loved it. Picked up the third today and this book keeps getting better and better.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Tough call really.

However, didn't Mark marry a redhead and have kids in the future before leaving planet Earth?

Or was that in an alternate time sort of like all the other Invincibles?

Just saying . . . Eve could always come back. It is a comic book.

Also, notice how Mark's ex is still with her abusive boyfriend in this issue.

I'm more upset in that it felt like Eve's intervention in the fight felt so cookie cutter and forced.

Like in comics, generally I think character death is fine. I think if its appropriate and it works it works. Here it really feels like Kirkman HAD to put in a big kill, and he had to kill off Eve. Eve's death almost felt arbitrary and poorly written.

Basically I'm not saying he should not have killed off Eve, but the way he did it was lame.

That's the thing though, Kirkman had taken what seemed to be all of the great things about comic books and wrote them in, but left out all of those things that were to cliche, overdone and just plain dumb in comics. Like killing off a character and bringing them back, because, hey, it's a comic book, anything can happen in a comic.

 

[Kahoot]

That's the thing though, Kirkman had taken what seemed to be all of the great things about comic books and wrote them in, but left out all of those things that were to cliche, overdone and just plain dumb in comics. Like killing off a character and bringing them back, because, hey, it's a comic book, anything can happen in a comic.

Didn't he do that with brain drain dude who died and then just came back?

I just finish the 2nd hard back collection, was a lot of what felt like filler but also felt like it would be leading up to something. I just need to find some sort of income to get the money for the next hard back. I'm loving the childish art style with the sometimes more mature story telling and all the blood. I think Allen the Alien is my favorite, even if I hate the spelling of his name.

 

[Hellstormer]

I think Allen is the breakout character of the book for a majority of people. He's my fave.

 

[Dread]

I didn't mind the return of Levy too much. It had been a few years and I thought the explanation of how he returned was sufficiently handled. With his dying action he zapped himself back to a dimension he knew well and was cybernetically patched back together. Frankly I have seen far more ridiculous resurrections. Besides, it had a real purpose. Mark really hasn't had another outright nemesis like Levy, at least one who made it as personal, targeting his mother and Oliver like he did. Kirkman is trying to make Power-Plex a similar kind of villain, but he's not at that level yet. A lot of Mark's enemies are no longer able to challenge him and Kirkman has struggled a little with replacing many of them with ones who can. Beyond token menaces like The Giant and so on, there's been some lag. Levy seemed fine.

Eve's death, though, did seem to live up to the cliche of making a new villain "dangerous" by icing the love interest immediately. Way back in the 70's, people complained that Marvel was doing that by sacrificing Gwen Stacy to Green Goblin. While I disagree, Bendis basically committed that error by sacrificing Gwen to Carnage in "CARNAGE" in USM, considering "Carnage" was essentially a mindless, random monster.

And yes, killing the girlfriend of a superhero is a timeless cliche. No option in life has such a high mortality rate than dating or loving a male hero in a story, it seems. It's not just in America; this sort of thing happens in Manga or other stories. I can understand the logistics of the death. If Eve had woken up when she did, she would do whatever it took to back Mark up. And Conquest in no way would spare her. Frankly it is amazing his first punch didn't decapitate her. Still, though, the dilemma is that while Conquest is a nice, nasty villain, he is sort of the threat of the week, out of no-where, not far removed from Doomsday. He exists to challenge Mark and remind him of the Viltrumite War that is to come. In a video game, he would be one of those bosses who emerges out of no where and is very tough, but after you beat him, you gain a combo attack that is essential to the next stage of the game. And while that is functional, it doesn't make him an instant classic.

I still do love the book. I'll see where Kirkman is going with it. It is a shame he lived up to cliche, but many of us saw Eve's death coming. The problem is that he has locked himself in a bit of a corner. If he wants to convince everyone of how shocking and important the death is, it has to last forever. But if it does so, Mark in some ways is a less interesting character; their relationship was just getting interesting. Perhaps it is akin to what Marvel is doing with CAPTAIN AMERICA; a writer not realizing what he had and replacing it for something more predictable and petty, akin to a corn farmer discovering a hunk of gold but tossing it away because he's more used to corn.

 

[JackBauer]

And here I was, hoping against hope, that that cover would be misleading... That she wouldn't die. That the issue would end in an awesome cliffhanger where Nolan and Allen arrive in the nick of time to save the day.

But no. Kirkman went with the cliched choice in the lamest possible way. Which goes against what made this book so great - taking old school tropes and making them feel all new.

But hey, why should we be surprised? From the beggining, this book has felt like 60s Spider-Man. Congrats, mister Kirkman, you now have your "Death of Gwen Stacy". Only nowhere near as great as the original.

Anyway, I'll keep reading the book for now, but I doubt it can go back to that fun, loveable, adventure it used to be. But I swear, the second Mark turns into a emo, brooding, dark hero, I'm out the door.

 

[Anubis]

You know, if you people don't want to read it, you could just buy a copy and send it to those of us who can't afford it. I gots no problem with Eve dying. I just wish I had the chance to actually read it.

Ya bunch of privileged *****e bags.

 

[JackBauer]

You know, if you people don't want to read it, you could just buy a copy and send it to those of us who can't afford it. I gots no problem with Eve dying. I just wish I had the chance to actually read it.

Ya bunch of privileged *****e bags.

Or maybe you should stop reading Hercules or Avengers or the latest Marvel tie-in and use the money to buy this.

Freeloader.

 

[Anubis]

First of all, Hercules and Mighty Avengers is effin' awesome and secondly, i'm not reading those either.


*****ebag.