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Invincible

Invincible, Vol. 20: Friends

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A new beginning for Invincible as things take a turn down a dark path. Everything changes as Invincible is betrayed by one of his own. You won't want to miss this volume! Collects Invincible #109-114.

156 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2014

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555 people want to read

About the author

Robert Kirkman

2,752 books6,952 followers
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

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5 stars
1,037 (53%)
4 stars
698 (35%)
3 stars
170 (8%)
2 stars
31 (1%)
1 star
14 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
Profile Image for Bradley.
Author 9 books4,885 followers
May 26, 2021
Friends.

Yes. Friends don’t let friends drive a spike through the world. Friends don’t let friends abandon them in alternate dimensions. Friends don’t let friends murder every person they ever cared about.

Ah, friends.


Wow.
Profile Image for Patrick.
2,163 reviews21 followers
March 11, 2021
Sweet mother of all that is holy.

You are not prepared. I certainly wasn't.

I lost track of how many panels made me stop and just stare in disbelief.

Someone was waiting for me to get to a specific volume...I have to imagine it was this one.
Profile Image for Paz.
554 reviews221 followers
April 16, 2023
I thought we were friends.
We were... It's nothing personal. I'm sorry.


The title of this volume? Friends? Brutal.
Rounding up to 5 stars this time because fuuuuck. The darkest, most brutal volume of Invincible so far and it doesn't even relate to the Viltrumites at all.
This is the last volume I read, back in 2016-2017. There's something that happens to Mark that impacted me and made me afraid of how Kirkman would write that story. Well, six years later and I'm still worried.

This volume is insane. From the first issue with Mark trying to escape and survive an alternate dimension after being betrayed by Rex Robot. The hits just don't stop coming for Mark. This might be the most emotionally challenging day (and weeks and months) in Mark's life. It's not only the betrayal from one of his oldest allies, and the helplessness he feels by the murders and atrocities that are being commited on Earth. His relationship with Eve is falling apart I wish..., and he's being targeted by one female Viltrumite... gosh, it just breaks my heart. In all this whirlwind of emotional distress, Mark's baby daughter is born. But it all feels so bleak, and he's worried for the kind of life he'll give to his daughter. He's also suffering signs from ptsd.
Aw, Mark. My heart breaks for you.

There are some losses in this volume that were so unexpected. I can't lie though, seeing Rex's actions, becoming the biggest threat of the Viltrumite empire and the 'conqueror' of Earth, it feels so earned. This character has been so well-established from the beginning of the series. And the pacing on his story the last few volumes have been so well-written. I am enjoying seeing how it all progress. As bleak as it is, I'm ready for the last volumes of the series.

First Impressions (2017):
4.5 Stars.

I FUCKING HATE
I DESPISE
Damn, guys. This is the darkest volume yet. If you think Invincible was not for mature audience, then think again cause some dark shit happens in here. It was great though... in a sick way. I mean, everything bad that happened here, well, there were seeds before. Nothing out of nowhere, great storytelling by Kirkman... still, it made so mad and sad and I really wanna punch something right now.

Hey, invincible was supposed to be my happy place. I wanna go hug Mark right now.
Profile Image for Pat the Book Goblin .
432 reviews144 followers
January 5, 2019
This one was a bit hard to read. Some of the stuff that went down was pretty crappy. I kinda knew Robot was going to turn eventually. In the earlier volumes his face didn’t look very trustworthy to me. And honestly, it was shitty of Eve to treat Mark the way she did when he came back from the other dimension. Women will never really understand how protective men are of the ones they love and how far they are willing to go to keep their family safe. I didn’t agree with Eve sending Mark away. That really just showed that Mark loves her more than she loves him. Overall, this was a crazy good volume. There were things in this volume that really made me mad, but that’s what good books do—they bring out the emotion in us. I can’t believe I have 5 left to the series!! I said it before and I’ll say it again—this is my all time favorite graphic novel!!
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,205 followers
January 5, 2017
This is the BEST fucking volume since Conquest showed up. Holy smokes, this shit is insane.

Spoilers from last volume but Mark was trapped in the other dimension. He's able to stay there a few months, get everything up and running, and splits back to his dimension. Six months later....oh no. But everything seems normal until he shows up back at his home.

Shit goes insane from there. A certain someone comes to visit him and forces him to do unspeakable things. Then Mark confronts Robot but shit does NOT go the way he expected. People begin dying left and right. MARK RUN! NO! OMG! DEATH EVERYWHERE! Ugh this was so hard to read yet I couldn't stop once I started.

This was heartbreaking, intense, well paced, and fucking insane. This made me want to read the next volume right away because it's so fucking good. This is why I keep Invincible so high on my list. Because of volumes like this.
Profile Image for Maria Kramer.
681 reviews23 followers
April 6, 2017
Poor Mark can't catch a break - Robot makes his move! Atom Eve wants to break up! and then... As with other serious issues Kirkman has broached in the series, this is handled much more sensitively than I've seen it elsewhere *cough*NightwingandTarantula*cough*. The emotional impact on mark is real and lasting. Poor guy.
Profile Image for Ryan Trepanier.
186 reviews2 followers
July 24, 2018
I think I'm due for a review. My...God... I cannot believe how this series has maintained momentum throughout. I'd say it's probably even gaining momentum for me. I didn't know how it would be able to continue after the Viltrumite war, but amazingly, it's gotten better since then. I am no longer worried about how Kirkman is going to end this. I have complete faith it'll be satisfying (or unsatisfying in a satisfying way if that makes any sense at all).

I am in the home stretch now and I can see the finish line. I want it to finish and I also don't want it to finish. It'll be nice to be free to read something else, but my Reading Challenge is certainly happy I've tackled this entire series in the last couple of months.
Profile Image for Baba.
4,088 reviews1,545 followers
June 28, 2020
It's time for darkness to descend on Earth as the it is struck from within and without. Casualties abound, and Mark and co. are really up against it. Some left field plotting sees some creative use of the cast and mythos to produce some compelling issues. 8 out of 12.

Profile Image for Eugenio.
287 reviews5 followers
May 12, 2021
Mark sure gets kicked while hes down.
Profile Image for Lucas Brown.
392 reviews1 follower
May 6, 2016
Right, that's it. I'm done with this series. I can't take any more. Invincible has continued to try and bring higher-minded ideas and bloodier, more massive fights to its superhero universe and it's finally gone too far. The main character being raped? Ripping a leg off a pregnant woman? Slaughtering the heroic cast en masse? No.

It's sad that the series had come to this. I used to recommend it so highly. Volumes 16-19 were just okay, but this will be my last.

Shame, really.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Des Fox.
1,084 reviews20 followers
November 16, 2014
Volume 19 left us in a dark new place for Invincible and co. and things only go downhill from there. Mark has the absolute worst day ever, and if you've been following the series, you know that really means something. Volume 20 is the darkest, most intense, status quo challenging chapter in Invincible history yet. Be prepared for the worst.

That said, of course, the series continues to be brilliantly written, and expertly drawn by Kirkman and Ottley. The plotting in Invincible is incredible, and impressively amps up with every new story arc. With the new conflict, volume 20 reads as one of the smoothest, most engaging Invincible stories yet.
Profile Image for Kris Ritchie.
1,661 reviews16 followers
December 18, 2018
Have to agree, this is Invincible back at the top of its form. Between Robot embracing his dark path toward dictatorship and the difficult to read, but powerful , I like many others just had to read the next volume.
Profile Image for Jessy Goat.
232 reviews
September 2, 2021
Rating: 90

This volume might be the craziest one so far! Kirkman comes up with a great way to bring Mark back to his original dimension. When he comes back Eve isn't happy, which bugs me a bit. I get her reasons, but I feel like Eve wouldn't react that extreme. Still, more interesting than a "Omg you're back! I love you!".

Mark flies off and then something happens that was also so unexpected... he gets raped. Yes ladies and gentlemen, man can get raped by women. It's strange and hard to watch. I wonder how this is gonna play out in later volumes.

Mark meets up with Cecil and Rex (I'd rather call him Robot) attacks and kills Cecil in one hell of way. Cecil, you'll be missed.

Robot then attacks Eve and my god was I sweating. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Kirkman let Eve be killed, so it was a tense scene.

After all this, shit gets even worse when Robot just starts killing off heroes and villains. It was actually sad to see Elephant get killed. You can see he was working at a barbershop, which means he wasn't a villain anymore and turned his life around. For him to then get killed...

Robot then tries to kill Amanda (Monster Girl) which was also really sad in two ways. 1: I actually rooted for the two to be together a couple volumes back and 2: It's hard for him to kill her, he still loves her. I also want to point out that he doesn't enjoy any of this. He's killing his friends for the (in his eyes) greater good.

And Mark and Eve are parents now, I love that.

All in all, really good volume that shakes things up considerably!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Ben.
190 reviews2 followers
May 23, 2023
The even more perfect ally to enemy story.

I love robot and the robot war after what happened in the flaxan dimension was great. The birth of invincibles daughter was lovely and I can’t wait to see more of his family life in the next volumes.
This volume actually caused a lot of trauma for invincible so I’m excited to see how he handles it.

Invincible is the best superhero comic book in the universe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Subham.
3,078 reviews103 followers
February 3, 2021
After being left in some alt dimension its upto Mark to find a way to return to his home dimension and he aligns up with this worlds robot and clones and many months later he returns only to find Eve on the close proximity of pregnancy and then that inevitable confrontation with Robot happens and the things that follow are just brutal. What he does to Mark next and the other super heroes in carrying out his plan and then Monster girl..just similar to Injustice. Fall of the heroes, rise of the villain and its just epic. Its brutal yes and there is a scene with Eve thats crazy to even look at. Robot's progression to being a villain and such an effective one at that is mind boggling. The endgame is here and HOW WILL MARK REACT? Thats the question and hey his daughter is born too!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Marc Pastor.
Author 18 books453 followers
May 19, 2018
Feia molt temps que havia deixat Invencible de banda. La sèrie no havia punxat, però sí que notaba un desgast i la fòrmula es repetia.
Després del descans, va i em trobo aquest volum absolutament excepcional.
Les històries fan un tomb dramatiquíssim, mor gairebé tothom de les formes més cruels, hi ha traicions i hi ha derrotes.
Kirkman agafa el rusc i el sacseja. I les picades són de les que fan mal.
Profile Image for Shaun Stanley.
1,316 reviews
March 18, 2021
Invincible Vol. 20 Friends collects issues 109-114 of the series by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley.

Invincible has been betrayed by one of his closest allies and everyone Mark cares about is in jeopardy.

Major events are always occuring in the Invincible universe but this is definitely one of the darkest arcs to date. A lot happens here that will drastically change the Invincible universe. Major characters die and alliances shift here. We are building up to the ending!
Profile Image for MatiBracchitta.
584 reviews
February 24, 2022
Muy buen cómic. Me gusta la forma en que Kirkman rompe, destroza, aniquila el status quo de su universo una y otra vez. Los personajes evolucionan y todo a su alrededor se ve modificado por esos cambios de una forma radical. Me encanta que se hayan atrevido a tanto.

Quizás el cambio de Rex era demasiado premeditado, aún así es muy interesante de ver. No me esperaba muchas de las situaciones que se vieron en este número, aunque la pasividad de Nolan me dejó cierto regusto amargo.
Profile Image for Robert.
2,196 reviews148 followers
December 2, 2018
An epic volume that goes to some very uncomfortable places and some new shocking outcomes. Joy and despair are dealt out in equal measure, and- once again- the cheesy sitcom title for the volume is perfectly chosen.
Profile Image for Cienna.
587 reviews8 followers
March 2, 2022
While this edition is great there is one VERY awful plot point. I'm not sure why the author chose to include this in the overarching story. If you took that out it would still be the same great story. Honestly the event was traumatizing to read, as it probably was for the damn character too.
Profile Image for Santiago Gª Soláns.
902 reviews
March 3, 2023
Después de la entrega anterior este volumen ha resultado todo un bajón. Y la banalización de la violación (venga de dónde venga) no es el menor de los motivos y tiene difícil justificación.
La trama de Robot mantiene el interés y el dibujo sigue siendo muy atractivo.
Profile Image for aaroh.
65 reviews
July 17, 2023
Really nice volume. At this point I honestly cannot tell the direction this story is going in, in a good way of course. The way this series manages to take care of every single plotline and give them all a nice wrap up at the end is baffling. Genius storytelling.
Profile Image for Joel Alex.
389 reviews3 followers
June 14, 2021
Back breaking pacing and excitement. I am on the Invincible train and there are no brakes!
Profile Image for Parker J.
492 reviews15 followers
August 28, 2021
Insanity. Pure insanity. And I'm loving every second of it

(some of the characters who died deserved better tho...they deserved better)
Profile Image for David Dalton.
3,077 reviews
February 3, 2022
Getting totally out of control. Not so much fun anymore,, dark, very dark!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews

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