jcschildbach's review
4.0
Without (hopefully) giving too much away, this book just continues to deliver. Here, we have the first chapters of the assault on the Viltrumite Empire...which also become the, at least temporary, ends of that assault. Kirkman keeps asking the big questions of superhero comics, and I love the end of this book, where Invincible is trying to figure out a way to get a rather dangerous figure to put his powers to good use. That Las Vegas has been flattened to get there is a small price to pay.
crookedtreehouse's review
2.0
Skip this volume.
After the excellent pacing and cool narrative beats of volume six, this volume begins with "The Viltrumite War" a chance for Kirkman to extend the gore of the Invincible/Omni-Man fight in volume one, and the Invincible/Conquest/Atom Eve fight in volume five from a single issue's worth of fighting to seven issues' worth of fighting. If you read volume six there aren't many surprises as two of the characters spent part of that book collecting various artifacts to bring down the Viltrumite empire, and here we just see them use them to varying degrees of success. It's about two cool issues worth of story expanded to what feels like fifty issues. The end result is interesting and worth knowing about but I'm sure there will be a recapversation in volume eight that will reexplain it.
"Get Smart" also suffers from excruciating pacing, and terrible, preachy narrative beats. They're all things that I agree with, and am glad to see in comics but man does Kirkman botch each reveal and unfolding consequence.
This is the wettest fart of the series. I hope we find out years from now that Kirkman didn't even write this, and that he quickly sketched outlines between counting piles of Walking Dead money (which he has totally earned) and passed it off to a really eager college student who just discovered slam poetry and the Huffington Post.
I can't recommend this. I was going to say I recommend it for people who love the art on Invincible who could skip over the words, but there's the issue of Fat Eve in the "Get Smart" story. Body positivity being another noble goal that this collection reaches for but falls far short of reaching.
After the excellent pacing and cool narrative beats of volume six, this volume begins with "The Viltrumite War" a chance for Kirkman to extend the gore of the Invincible/Omni-Man fight in volume one, and the Invincible/Conquest/Atom Eve fight in volume five from a single issue's worth of fighting to seven issues' worth of fighting. If you read volume six there aren't many surprises as two of the characters spent part of that book collecting various artifacts to bring down the Viltrumite empire, and here we just see them use them to varying degrees of success. It's about two cool issues worth of story expanded to what feels like fifty issues. The end result is interesting and worth knowing about but I'm sure there will be a recapversation in volume eight that will reexplain it.
"Get Smart" also suffers from excruciating pacing, and terrible, preachy narrative beats. They're all things that I agree with, and am glad to see in comics but man does Kirkman botch each reveal and unfolding consequence.
This is the wettest fart of the series. I hope we find out years from now that Kirkman didn't even write this, and that he quickly sketched outlines between counting piles of Walking Dead money (which he has totally earned) and passed it off to a really eager college student who just discovered slam poetry and the Huffington Post.
I can't recommend this. I was going to say I recommend it for people who love the art on Invincible who could skip over the words, but there's the issue of Fat Eve in the "Get Smart" story. Body positivity being another noble goal that this collection reaches for but falls far short of reaching.
paziinyaa's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
stilldirty's review
5.0
'Invincible' proves, once again, to be one of the most annoyingly hard-to-put-down books I've ever read.
It's funny to me how, originally, I was drawn in by the humanity and drama that encompasses as a seemingly "generic" superhero lifestyle, only for that all to be matched by a really well-laid out mythology.
When I buy other books that I absolutely "must" read, (and will, and do, at some point) it's different than the sense that I absolutely MUST read the new Ultimate Collections of 'Invincible' as soon as superhumanly possible.
It's funny to me how, originally, I was drawn in by the humanity and drama that encompasses as a seemingly "generic" superhero lifestyle, only for that all to be matched by a really well-laid out mythology.
When I buy other books that I absolutely "must" read, (and will, and do, at some point) it's different than the sense that I absolutely MUST read the new Ultimate Collections of 'Invincible' as soon as superhumanly possible.
nimqua's review
5.0
i was going to start on something else when i finished this but that ending made me pick up the nexr one right away
the war was crazy, thragg is evil, the gore got over the top.
then the ending half with mark talking to the people he is fighting rather than just straight out fighting and trying to change the world that way was brilliant and deep for the comic there is a reason this is one of my favourite comics of all time, damn too many people in the library taking them out.
the war was crazy, thragg is evil, the gore got over the top.
then the ending half with mark talking to the people he is fighting rather than just straight out fighting and trying to change the world that way was brilliant and deep for the comic there is a reason this is one of my favourite comics of all time, damn too many people in the library taking them out.
trike's review
3.0
I'm giving the art 5 stars because in some places it's flat-out amazing. The writing waffles around 2 stars for me.
MILD SPOILERS
This whole arc was about taking the long view and not simply punching your way out of situations. Invincible comes to realize that Dinosaurus was right, even if his methods were wrong, and cuts a down-on-his-luck inventor some slack after the guy robs a bank... and then sells his tech to another criminal who then robs a bank, one of the zap-zap heroes who blames Invincible for the deaths of his family realizes he has some culpability, and the core of this story, the Viltrumite War, ends on a similar note after Invincible, Oliver and Allen blow up their planet. The leader of the Viltrumites takes the surviving members of his race to Earth where their long-range plan is to interbreed with humans in order to resurrect the Viltrumite race.
It's couched as growing up and taking a fresh perspective that incorporates shades of gray, but Mark is basically perpetuating the same problems, just via different means. Maybe that will turn out good or bad, but there are not hints given just yet.
However, despite Mark's apparent maturation, he's still not working well with others. He's still a loose cannon, going his own way, and often not communicating with Eve his feelings or plans. I pretty much hate it when characters don't include others, because it's a cheap way to spring a story surprise on readers. Mark not informing Eve about his plan makes sense because it gives her actual deniability, but it's the kind of short-term thinking that will only damage his relationship with her. So wing that he should have figured out by now, with all of his new-found adultiness. (Which is now a word. You're welcome.)
So, yeah, the writing is uneven. But that art, mm-mm! So good! Ottley kills it page after page.
MILD SPOILERS
This whole arc was about taking the long view and not simply punching your way out of situations. Invincible comes to realize that Dinosaurus was right, even if his methods were wrong, and cuts a down-on-his-luck inventor some slack after the guy robs a bank... and then sells his tech to another criminal who then robs a bank, one of the zap-zap heroes who blames Invincible for the deaths of his family realizes he has some culpability, and the core of this story, the Viltrumite War, ends on a similar note after Invincible, Oliver and Allen blow up their planet. The leader of the Viltrumites takes the surviving members of his race to Earth where their long-range plan is to interbreed with humans in order to resurrect the Viltrumite race.
It's couched as growing up and taking a fresh perspective that incorporates shades of gray, but Mark is basically perpetuating the same problems, just via different means. Maybe that will turn out good or bad, but there are not hints given just yet.
However, despite Mark's apparent maturation, he's still not working well with others. He's still a loose cannon, going his own way, and often not communicating with Eve his feelings or plans. I pretty much hate it when characters don't include others, because it's a cheap way to spring a story surprise on readers. Mark not informing Eve about his plan
Spoiler
to spring Dinosaurus from the supermax prison under the PentagonSo, yeah, the writing is uneven. But that art, mm-mm! So good! Ottley kills it page after page.
zorpblorp's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jdanielson's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5