Dziewiąty już tom przygód Marka Greysona, znanego jako Invincible. Znajdziemy w nim jak zwykle sceny walk, krew i łzy, ale przede wszystkicm niezwykłe zwroty akcji. Dowiemy się dlaczego regent Thragg tak bardzo nienawidzi Marka i jego ojca, a także jakie konsekwencje miał pobyt Robota i Monster Girl na Thraxie. Autorem scenariusza serii jest Robert Kirkman, twórca m.in. „Żywych trupów” i „Outcast”, a rysunki wykonał Ryan Ottley („The Amazing Spider-Man”).
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.
Still a quality story that keeps evolving and expanding the characters in its universe. And it still doesn't shy away from the violence, either.
As always, there's just too much that happens in this collection to mention it all, but there were a few highlights. Such as the resolution to the loss of Mark's powers...
Mark's dad gets an unexpected gig -
And Mark gets an unexpected gig -
Plus, the conclusion of the Dinosaurus storyline...
And the conclusion to the Angstrom Levy storyline that turns into the reemergence of the Robot storyline from the last collection!
THAT CLIFFHANGER!
I gotta go read the next one now.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
As must be obvious, I've been on something of an "Invincible" run. It has been a fun ride.
Volume 9 certainly has some surprises. It starts off with a rather dark, but interesting, "origin" story for Bulletproof. The outcome of that reveal was not at all what I expected. The story then looks at Invincible and his growing family. There are some fascinating developments with the Viltrumite Empire as Thragg makes a fateful decision that will change the Empire forever. Finally, the Dr. Angstrom story arc also had a surprise ending. The artwork is pretty good all throughout.
This is a seriously fun and entertaining series. Nothing deep just plain old fun. It always has some soap opera twist and that also has its entertainment value. This volume had the 100th issue of Invincible as part of the story. I can see why this series has lasted this long. I've certainly enjoyed and devoted a significant chunk of space to this collection and I would say well worth it. If you enjoy a soap opera hero story with some good twists and turns, then Invincible is for you. Just don't start with Volume 9.
Given this has the landmark issue 100, the volume is a mixed bag, especially after the very strong preceding volume.
We have a truly bizarre opening followed by a self aware scene that throws you completely until we settle into the pretty good Dinosaurus set up 'Ultimatum' wave. No wait, that's a different comic. Still, the splash page issue was neat with a hell of a closing page, swiftly trumped by the opening page of issue 100. It cracks me up they have this in the kids section of comics at the library. My wife looked at that page for a good minute before exclaiming 'I'm not sure what I'm looking at'.
The philosophy of their relationship and what Dinosaurus is trying to achieve is interesting and feels quite unique in this kind of book. I like the big red scaly dude so it's a shame how it ends.
Following this it all feels a bit meh. We have some Viltrumite hijinks, the introduction of Marvel Zombies. No wait... And the reveal of a good character going bad which has been set up for a while now and should alter the status quo for a while.
Of course I'll keep reading but I would like a little more coherence next time please.
Stunning art as ever and a nice collection of extras. Good good, though not a great jumping on point.
One of the things that is great about Invincible: it takes standard super hero tropes and does them in a very different way. One of those tropes is the hero's unswerving loyalty to the law. In the past few volumes Mark learned to bend that and compromise to serve a greater good. The first few stories here show ramifications from one of those decisions: his partnership with Dinosaurus, an evil genius.
There are big developments in Mark's relationship with Atom Eve. Angstrom Levy returns and makes his final attack. Thragg attacks Omni-Man after the revelations in the last volume. The last issue here will make your jaw drop. All the subplots will finally pay off.
Pasaron muchas cosas significativas en este volumen, pero siento que me gustó un poco menos que el anterior, no por nada en particular, de todas formas lo disfruté. Me gusta el ritmo que está tomando aunque me intimida los conflictos que vendrán luego. Invencible es bastante bueno para rematarme cuando las cosas se ponen mal.
This series is nearing completion so I thought it might be time to revisit the Invincible world. The storyline was a little more interesting and left this volume with a cliffhanger that draws you into the next volume. My biggest issue with this series is the repetitive story beats, but that is due to the length of the series. The characters being good and reverting bad, it just feels like a printed days of our lives world. I'm in until the end and I don't expect this to hit and great heights before its conclusion. I think this world would make a fun Tv series but the characters would need development. Good book but still not a classic to convert people who aren't fans of the medium.
Invincible continues to be the gold standard of modern superhero comics, for me. The first issue echoes classic Spider-man, with a modern spice. The later issues harken back to the emotional waxes and woes of the Wofman/Peréz Teen Titans with that same sense of modernness. As we progress towards this ninth Ultimate Collection, the book turns towards the grimness and grittiness of the late 90s, and cranks up the mature nature a notch (which is saying something for a book known for its Tarentino-esque bloodbaths). Historical homage wrapped in a well-defined, and really FUN, superhero comic book.
Invincible, in many ways, is a microcosmic comic book history threaded into the metanarrative of the Hero’s Journey, splashed with gratuitous red, and tangled up with life’s natural obfuscation of moral right and moral wrong in difficult, intellectually or emotionally challenging situations.
Enter this ninth volume and the troubles of the past come back to haunt our hero and his family & friends (as well as planet Earth), new challenges present themselves, and the setup for the series finale is put into place.
I took a long break from Invincible to read some other comic books and novels. What's funny about that is after a couple of pages of reading this I was effortlessly back into the world of Invincible and I was loving ever bit of it. Pick this up if you are a fan. I can't wait to get the next volume.
Es difícil para mí hablar de Invencible, porque los dos pilares del cómic, el guión y el dibujo, son perfectos. Sería fácil decir eso e irme de aquí para leer el tomo 10, pero no, quiero echarle piropos, porque se lo merece.
Kirkman es un genio, lo demuestra constantemente con sus dos buques insignia. The walking dead no se ha convertido en una de las series más vistas del mundo por pura suerte, es un cómic de leyenda que nos sobrevivirá a todos. Pero este cómic... es todo lo bueno del mundo de los superheroes con la licencia de ser independiente. Todo lo que podría ofrecerte un buen superman sin que lo capen o lo censuren. Es el cómic perfecto de superheroes por dos razones: La primera, porque tiene una única serie y no tomos o sagas conclusivas. Tiene un único principio y un único final y, al contrario que en los títulos de DC o MARVEL, aquí las cosas no tienen por qué salir bien. De hecho, es bastante realista y nada acaba saliendo nunca bien del todo. La segunda, porque en ningún momento se idealiza a ningún personaje y todos son «humanos». Se contradicen, están en constante conflicto con ellos mismos y pocas veces hay blancos y negros.
Y al dibujo, bueno. Al dibujo Ryan Ottley demuestra que es un dios. Su manera de expresar la fuerza de un hombre que puede levantar una luna o de dibujarlo hablando del embarazo de su mujer. Su forma de retintar los dientes. La sangre, por dios. La sangre y las fibras de los músculos. Ojalá yo pudiera ser Ottley. Ojalá haber nacido con su poder.
Os hablaría de la edición genial de aleta que ha heredado ECC, os hablaría de la rotulación, del uso del color, de los valores, de los conflictos éticos y de cuántas formas hay de construir a un villano interesante y con el que todo el mundo podría estar al menos un poco de acuerdo. Os hablaría de que estos tíos podrían conseguir que yo tuviera ganas de ser padre. Os hablaría de mil y una movidas galácticas y secretas.
Invencible habla de muchas cosas distintas, incluso a veces lo hace de superheroes. No es una sorpresa que os diga que es mi cómic predilecto del género, y probablemente en general también. Podría lanzar rayos láser por los ojos a alguien que llamara Novela Gráfica a Invencible. Invencible es un cómic con mayúsculas. Un cómic tan potente y misterioso como la fuerza de la gravedad. Leed Invencible. Ahora mismo.
Nine volumes in and Invincible doesn’t seem to slow down.
Overall I really enjoyed this volume. Just like in the last volume, Kirkman’s impatience really shows through half of this book. We start off with Bulletproof’s origin story and the shocking deaths of his parents. This is quickly forgotten so we can give Mark his powers back before the 100th issue.
Once again the art really shines in this series. Ottley treats us to a full issue of 1-2 page spreads for each panel, which was very awesome! We see the fallout of Mark and Dinosaurus, and find out that Eve is once again pregnant, this time deciding to keep the baby. This first half is kind of a mess pacing wise. We quickly forget about Bulletproof, we give Mark his powers back, and we wrap up the Dinosaurus plot line and put Invincible back on the side of the law. So many interesting plot points that I fee needed more time to breath and for us and the characters to experience their ramifications.
The second half of this volume is more setup for future stories and plots. Nolan is now the leader of the Viltrumites, and we see him trying to change the ways of his people. Angstrom Levy comes back one final time and this is where things get really interesting. Mark meets the remaining alternate Invincibles who have been forced to eat each other to survive, and the last one takes Angstrom back to his dimension to make him pay for his actions. Mark and Rex travel to this other dimension to make sure Angstrom is take care of when Rex kills Angstrom and the evil Invincible, and betrays Mark and leaves him in that dimension so he can take over Earth.
While I don’t always agree with the pacing of this series, the plot and writing remain strong, the art is spectacular, and there’s more than enough to keep you invested and coming back for more. I hope this is just a temporary slight dip in quality, and that this series will deliver a satisfying conclusion.
In the first half, Mark regains his powers, so he checks in with Dinosaurus who he left unsupervised. Big mistake! This dinosaurus plotline fell flat for me- it was just so talky about right vs wrong just for Mark to learn a lesson about understanding Cecil's decisions better. So it's ok that a million people died, so long as Mark realizes life is not always black or white. Plus, it has bothered me to no end that we never learned what turned mild-mannered David into an insane dino/human hybrid. At least there was some amazing artwork with some very cool one or two-page spreads, as the various heroes dealt with the chaos that Dinosaurus caused, with all the faces of characters reacting to Mark's "death" being a favorite. Another significant plot was that Nolan was revealed to be the Viltrumite royal heir and all of a sudden Thragg is overthrown. Eve reveals she is pregnant and won't be able to use her powers as it could hurt the baby. A little joke with Mark attending a comic-con about hitting 100 issues is appreciated, as Invincible was hitting the 100 issue at this time IRL.
Angstrom Levy pops up again and he and his multi-verses of different Invincibles worries Mark, and despite Eve seemingly talking sense into Levy after he threatens them, Mark is concerned about what Levy could do in the future. We also get worrisome windows into what Battle Beast, Rex, and Doctor Seismic are up to. Rex, especially, is unraveling and reveals his true nature to Mark.
Although Ottley is credited for all the art in this volume it seemed off. Eve and Debbie's faces seemed different, and I double-checked that Walker wasn't part of the art team in this volume. Speaking of art teams I should mention that Rathburn (inks) and Rauch (colors) always hit it out of the park.
Wonderful stuff. Mark starts the volume still out of action due to the effects of the scourge virus, but is soon back in action. There's a whole lot of reflection in this book on the fluid nature of character and personality. We receive indications that any number of characters that we've known for some time are changing, growing, evolving--sometimes in heroic, moral directions; sometimes not. And of course Kirkman keeps things as complex and realistic on those points as ever.
We see a tremendous battle/disaster issue that is presented either entirely or almost entirely (I can't remember if there's a couple page exception at the end of the book) in splash pages that is fantastically well-handled. Every major relationship in the book seems to be revisited and thrown some new tests, and all kinds of interesting superheroic issues arise out of the character changes we see everyone going through. In the end, it is always the "humanity" of these characters that drives everything in this book, in as much as humanity is the only word we have for sentience with emotions etc. at the moment. It is these qualities of character, ethics, morality, etc. that drive the book. And that's what's always made it--and continues to make it--so excellent.
Maybe if characters keep lampshading and pointing out flaws in the writing, nobody will notice that the flaws are still there. Like the last volume, it's fine, it's not bad, it's just fine. There are still some very good moments, but they tend to just remind you of how strong a start the series had. Also, I guess we're just backtracking the entire last volume? Fair enough, I would too. The Rudy and Amanda stuff is still very interesting, and I'm looking forward to when that all kicks off. That'll work really well since these are characters that both we and the protagonist know really well, and have known for a long time, and care about what happens to them, speaking of: Dinosaurus. One of the best parts of this volume is Mark's pretty significant character growth, which unfortunately is set off by the least compelling, least interesting villain the superhero genre's ever seen. I do not, can not, and will not ever care about dear old Dinosaurus. The Nolan/Viltrumite reveal was lazy and unimaginative; the Bulletproof stuff at the very beginning was shocking in a way I thought this comic had forgotten how to be, I hope it's relevant eventually; I wish Eve had something to do; I'm liking the changes to the art-style.
This volume wraps up many of the threads that ran throughout volumes seven and eight of the Invincible Ultimate collections. I'm glad they got wrapped up because, as you might have noticed if you read my reviews of either of those collections, I thought they were garbage, and most of them I was reading for the first time, as I stopped reading individual issues of Invincible somewhere in the 80s, because I was no longer enjoying the series, and then I picked up issue 100 to give it a shot, and hated it.
If you read volumes seven and eight, this volume will give you some closure to some of the stories.
While this book isn't as terrible as the previous two volumes, it's unnecessary to the larger story if you didn't suffer through them.
I recommend it only to Invincible completists who suffered through volumes seven and eight and who are willing to read something that has caused me to use the word "suffer" multiple times when describing reading a comic book series that, during my review of the first few volumes, I referred to as one of the best superhero comics of the 21st century. It will get better again.
When Mark is recovering, other superheroes are fighting the bad guys. Including Eve.
The reflective Mark is trying to cope with losing his power. Oliver was sorry that he almost kill Mark with the virus. It is not just a cold calculation any more for Oliver as one of the dearest person in his life is at risk.
While recovering, the general found out that his blood is a match to the long lost rightful heir to the empire. The power hungry Thragg would not want other people to find out and threatened his authority. So he is out to kill Mark and Nolan. And of course, with Mark weaken state and his father not in the battle for so long, it is hard to beat the big bad.
That's when things got interesting. How the loyalists are loyal to the truth and title. So with a twist of fate, things got a whole lot more interesting.
One of the reasons I like the idea of independent, creator owned comics is that they are, in theory, self contained. So one of the reasons I moved away from this series for a while is that in the later parts of the run, that is definitely no longer true. Oh, you can get by without reading any of the other books referenced, but it's definitely clear that you're missing something and well, that's just a rabbit hole I have no desire to climb down again. Other than that relatively minor caveat, this is an excellent collection.
This issue may be my favorite and for such a small and seemingly insignificant reason. The first few pages tell the story of Bulletproof and the way it is resolved is so unexpected yet satisfying. Without spoiling it I will just it’s what I was rooting for to happen but didn’t think this was that kind of book but then, boom! yup, it can be if Kirkman wants. To make this all even better is his defense of his decision through the character that writes “Science Dog”. Yes! It was just so satisfying and exactly the kind of stuff I like. Well that and gory
issue 100, lets goo.... this is definitely not one of my favorite volumes. yeah, marks philosophy and way of going about being a superhero is explored through dinosaurus, but i dont know, the i feel like there's simply too many world-devastating events going on back to back and its just tiring. the nolan viltumite takeover was unexpected, very kirkmanesc. the twists are also kind of tiring too in a way. mark gets back his powers by getting his freak on with eve, okay bro. all in all, it was alright
Kirkman seems less self-assured in this volume than his previous work. He's playing with ideas, but not all of them are winners. The artwork remains topnotch, and it's always a treat to see the development of covers and the backstory of how they came to be at the end of the book. It's still a worthy read nonetheless.
Mark is becoming a jerk, but his confliction is in keeping with character. Major developments for Nolan in this issue. I keep changing my mind on the big bad for the final arc. This title keeps me guessing in all the best ways.
now we finally have the end game in sight, robot or rex 2 coming into sight as the true big bad of the old series. letting his brain get the best of him sorta like dinosaurus did before hand. i look forward to finishing the series this week.
I read this series earlier this year and the volumes have blended together in my mind. Overall I found this series very enjoyable. Beautiful artwork, a large stable of distinct characters, and a new (at least to me) exploration of the various tropes of the superhero genre.