Invincible #82, August 2011, written by Robert Kirkman, penciled by Ryan Ottley
Invincible #80, June 2011, written by Robert Kirkman and Aubrey Sitterson, penciled by Ryan Ottley and E.J. Su
Invincible #78, March 2011, written by Robert Kirkman and Aubrey Sitterson, penciled by Ryan Ottley and E.J. Su
Invincible #77, February 2011, written by Robert Kirkman, penciled by Ryan Ottley
Is Ryan Ottley the most unsung artist working today? He has grown by leaps and bounds over his seven years on this comic and has been killing it lately. Ryan Ottley is up there with Stuart Immonen right now and I don’t hear nearly enough people raving about his work. Is it because he’s been working on the same Image comic for the better part of a decade? He hasn’t been able to nab the big name characters at the Big Two yet, but his dedication and definite contributions to Invincible’s continued excellence should be applauded. The guy’s got talent. And I don’t wish any ill on Invincible (in a perfect world it would be as big as Batman) but man, I want to see Ottley on Avengers or Amazing Spider-Man so bad.
But about Invincible. Kirkman pulls off quite a feat in this issue. He’s potentially delaying the war that the series has been leading up to for a second time (we’ll see if this agreement sticks next issue) and man, I can’t find any reason to really get mad at him. Kirkman pulls out all the stops. He goes to lengths that other comics don’t; he takes risks and revels in the ramifications of them. So after the bloody slugfest leading up to this issue, the Viltrumites’ plan makes sense. There are only 30ish of them left, enough to destroy Earth but that guarantees their eventual extinction. They propose to let Earth live (the entire issue is spent with Invincible freaking out over the fate of his home planet, showing the destruction that could have befallen it in his absence) long enough for the Viltrumites to fully integrate into Earth society and breed. Once their ranks get big and healthy again, potentially hundreds of years in the future, they will attack and take it over. So it’s back to the waiting game that Invincible and the heroes have been playing for a while, but in a much more in-your-face way. I don’t hate it and it doesn’t feel like a cop out because it’s presented as the only option that makes sense for either side.
Knowing Kirkman, he’s going to really explore just what this decision means thoroughly. And knowing Ottley, it’s going to look fantastic.
My Score: 8.7
Invincible #76, December 2010, written by Robert Kirkman, penciled by Ryan Ottley
The only complaint I ever have about Invincible (and The Walking Dead now that I think about it) is that the issues accomplish too little. The trades are great; you feel like you are getting a complete story. The single issues though are very decompressed and always leave you wanting more and not in the good way. But when a book and overall story like Invincible is this good, the lack of satisfaction I feel after one issue is a minor complaint. The art is some of the best in comics right now and the story is absolutely huge. I was shocked to see that Oliver and Nolan survived the battle with the Viltrumites, mostly because Kirkman kills so often. He’s made comic book resurrections/survivals that are eye-rolling in other books shocking in his because he so rarely does them.
I wish more ground had been covered, but that’s just this book’s style. This book is still enjoyable.
My Score: 8.6
1486. Invincible #75, November 2010, written by Robert Kirkman and Aubrey Sitterson, penciled by Ryan Ottley, Cory Walker and E.J. Su
My Score: 8.4
