Title: Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 4
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Genre: Superhero / Action / Adventure
Year Published: 2010
Year Read: 2013
Series: Invincible
Publisher: Image Comics
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)
Introduction:
After reading the third
volume of Robert Kirkman’s classic
superhero series “Invincible,” I was
geared up to read the fourth volume of “Invincible”
and man was this easily one of the most emotionally charged volumes I had ever took
the pleasure of reading from this series!
What is this story
about?
In this volume, Mark Grayson, now known as the famous
superhero Invincible, is trying to put the past behind him by shedding his
image of being the son of a superhero gone rogue and he proceeds to protect the
world from any threats (which basically includes alien invasions, reanimated
corpses and super-villains bent on world domination). Unfortunately, Mark Grayson’s social life is
slowly dwindling away as he keeps getting into arguments with his girlfriend
Amber and is possibly still in love with Samantha Eve Wilkins (a.k.a Atom Eve).
Can Mark solve this romantic tension between him, Amber and Eve?
What I loved about
this story:
Robert Kirkman’s writing: Wow! Robert
Kirkman’s writing just continues to get better and more personal as the
volumes go on! I loved the way that Robert Kirkman managed to combine both
straight-up action and emotional content in this volume as not only was I
enjoying the action scenes of Invincible fighting his enemies, but I was also
sympathizing with Mark Grayson’s predicament with his love life. Now, normally I usually do not like reading
about loving relationships crash and burn, but in this case, I will make an exception
since the troublesome relationship between Amber and Mark was written extremely
well and I was able to really understand about the problems that Mark and Amber
were facing in their relationship due to Mark not being able to spend enough
time with Amber because of his job as a superhero. I think that Robert Kirkman handled this delicate situation in a realistic and
logical manner (something I rarely see some comics do) and it really made me
relate strongly to Mark, Amber and Eve as I saw how this turbulent relationship
is affecting all three of them. I also
loved the chaotic action sequences that happened in this volume as Invincible
is always fighting some kind of villain and it really adds more dimension to
his super heroic activities.
Ryan Ottley’s artwork: Ryan
Ottley’s artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as the action sequences
are brilliantly drawn as you can see the bad guys’ teeth get knocked out of
their mouths whenever they are being punched by the superheroes. I also loved the way that Ryan Ottley drew the facial expressions
on each character’s face as they brilliantly reflect the emotions that the
character goes through in each situation, such as Mark’s face having a sad look
on his face whenever he was trying to decide about what to do about his
relationship with Amber.
What made me feel
uncomfortable about this story:
For anyone who does not like gory violence in any comic
book, this volume does have some bloody violence (although not as graphic as
the previous three volumes). There are
many scenes where characters are punched and blood comes out of their mouths
and that might disturb some readers who do not like gore.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Four” is a brilliant volume
that really explores the relationship problems of Invincible and I cannot wait
to see how Invincible’s social life will improve or self-destruct in future
volumes depending on what other villains face him!
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