[BOOK REVIEW] Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 4 by Robert Kirkman

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!

[BOOK REVIEW] Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 3 by Robert Kirkman

Title:  Invincible:  Ultimate Collection Volume 3

Author: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Ryan Ottley


Genre: Superhero / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 2008

Year Read: 2013

Series: Invincible #3

Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 



Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes of Robert Kirkman’s fantastic superhero series “Invincible,” I was dying to read more from this brilliant series and I finally managed to get my hands on the third volume of the “Invincible: Ultimate Collection” and man, did this volume really blew me away!

What is this story about?

After the tragic events of the second volume, Mark Grayson has been trying to move on with his life which includes dating his loving girlfriend Amber and still saving the world on a day to day basis.  One day, however, Mark gets a call from an alien planet that needs his help and he realizes that his father (you know, the guy who beat him up in the first volume) is ruling the planet and he wants Mark to help him defeat his own alien race, the Viltrumites, who are coming to the alien planet to take care of Mark’s father!

Will Mark help his father stop the Viltrumites or will he let the alien planet die out of spite?

Also, this volume contains the fourth issue of “The Pact” with artwork by Jason Howard, which contains the adventures of Invincible, Shadowhawk, Zephyr and Duncan fighting lava monsters that are terrorizing the world!

What I loved about this story:

Robert Kirkman’s writing: Once again, Robert Kirkman has proven that he can write a brilliant superhero series that not only contains full throttle action, but plenty of character development!  I loved the way that Robert Kirkman wrote each character; especially Mark Grayson who is shown to be an extremely optimistic yet slightly tortured character. I actually felt sorrow for Mark’s predicament for his father as he felt a betrayal like no other and I can relate to Mark’s confused feelings about his father as he still loved him, but he cannot forgive his horrible actions in the past.  I also loved Mark’s relationship with Amber as he is extremely honest with her about his superhero antics and it was a bit interesting seeing a strain in their relationship as Mark is having a difficult time trying to maintain his relationship with Amber as he is always out saving the world.  I also loved the various different stories going throughout this volume as we have storylines that involve Mark meeting up with his father and the return of Angstrom Levy and they all managed to tie up into one storyline that affects Mark!

Ryan Ottley’s artwork:  Ryan Ottley’s artwork is truly brilliant in this volume as the artwork is a cross between being realistic and being a bit scratchy, which really brought out the gritty nature of this story while at the same time, bringing out some humor to the story.  I also loved the way that Ryan Ottley drew Invincible’s costume as it is shown in blue, yellow and black colorings, which I think made Invincible really stand out as a superhero in this series!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like gory violence in graphic novels, this volume definitely has plenty of bloody violence that involves characters getting ripped apart and being punched to death and that might be a bit discomforting for some readers.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Invincible: Ultimate Collection: Volume Three” is a fantastic volume of the “Invincible” series and I am definitely looking forward to reading the next volume of this awesome series that caught my eye from the beginning!

[BOOK REVIEW] Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 2 by Robert Kirkman

Title:  Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 2

Author:  Robert Kirkman

Artists: Ryan Ottley and Bill Crabtree


Genre: Superheroes / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 2006

Year Read: 2012

Series: Invincible #2

Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

 

Brief Introduction:

After reading the first volume of Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s classic superhero comic “Invincible,” I just had to read the second volume of this fantastic series and see more of Mark Grayson and his family after the explosive and tragic revealation at the end of the first volume!  “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Two” is definitely one volume you do not want to put down!

What is the story?

After the tragic events in the first volume, Mark Grayson is starting to look at life in a different light now and must take over his father’s job of protecting Earth from villains.  Throughout this volume, Mark will have to face various foes that he has never faced before, while trying to graduate from high school and make it to college!

What I loved about this comic:

Robert Kirkman’s writing!:  As with the first volume, Robert Kirkman’s writing is just fantastic as not only are we shown more action scenes than we were shown in the first volume, but we also get so many emotional moments from the characters themselves.  I loved the way that Robert Kirkman actually explored the turmoil that Mark and his mother suffered after what happened in the first volume (I really do not want to spoil the ending of the first volume since I want everyone to check this series out, but let me tell you, it truly was a shocker).  Just seeing both Mark and his mother become so upset after the events of the first volume and trying to cope with the situation the best they can truly shows that these are characters who strongly relate to any person.  Even though most superhero comics do deal with your typical super heroic action scenes, this was one of the few times I have actually read a superhero comic that actually explores a character’s emotions on a certain situation (okay, I actually read emotional content from some of the X-Men comics) and it was a truly sad experience to sit through when I was reading this comic and I often found myself sympathizing with Mark and his mother.  I also loved the way that Robert Kirkman created many action scenes in this volume so that way you can stay interested in the storylines and enjoy the constant action scenes being shown in this volume!  Again, I loved the way that Robert Kirkman wrote Mark Grayson’s character as Mark is shown to be an average teenage boy trying to juggle his time with high school and being a superhero and I love how he shows enthusiasm in being a superhero while trying to stay close to his friends despite his constant superhero duties.

Ryan Ottley and Bill Crabtree’s artwork: Done in about the same style as Cory Walker’s artwork in the first volume, Ryan Ottley has done a brilliant job at doing the artwork for this volume as the characters look a bit realistic and the facial expressions that shows whenever a character is upset or shocked is extremely well done.  Bill Crabtree’s coloring is just as brilliant as before as the characters are brightly colored and I also loved the dark coloring being done whenever the characters are shown during the night time.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

Like the first volume, there are many scenes of blood and gore, especially with various killings in this volume where characters are ripped apart and their insides are showing.  Also, one small nitpick I had with this volume was that there were so many different stories being shown all at one time.  In the first volume, we had one storyline that had several small events happening to the characters while each event led up to a bigger storyline that was unfolding.  In the second volume, there are so many storylines going on at the same time such as Mark and his mother dealing with the tragic events of the last volume, Mark almost being married to the Queen of the Underwater Kingdom, and a time traveler named Angstrom Levy trying to save his timeline from a catastrophe.  All of these events happening in one volume is often confusing and sometimes, half of the storylines do not really wrap up, which is irritating if you want to see the storyline all the way through.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Two” is a truly brilliant follow up to the first volume and anyone who is a huge fan of Robert Kirkman’s works or is a huge fan of superhero comics will definitely get a kick out of this series!

[BOOK REVIEW] Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 1 by Robert Kirkman

Title:  Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume 1

Author: Robert Kirkman

Artists: Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley


Genre: Superhero / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 2005

Year Read: 2012

Series: Invincible #1

Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

Brief Introduction:

For a long time now, I had always believed that the only comic book companies that created superhero comics were Marvel and DC and it is true that they have been creating superhero comics for many years now.  However, when I found Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s latest creation and Eisner Award nominated series “Invincible” from Image comics; I was actually shocked that an independent comic book company would produce a superhero comic!  “Invincible” is a superhero comic book to be sure, but it was one superhero comic that had many plot twists that you would not normally see in any other superhero comic book and those plot twists really made this graphic novel truly unique and exciting to read!

What is the story?

Mark Grayson was a normal teenage boy who goes to high school, has crush on girls and has a dull after school job like everyone else. However, what makes Mark different from everyone else is that his father, Omni-Man is the world’s most powerful superhero and Mark seems to have inherited his powers!  After Mark discovers his powers, he finds the life of being a superhero fun; but then once a dark secret is exposed, Mark’s life will soon change forever!

What I loved about this comic:

Robert Kirkman’s writing!:  Now, I am not too familiar with Robert Kirkman’s work since “Invincible” is the first comic I have read by him,  but now that I had just finished reading this graphic novel, I am totally hooked on Robert Kirkman’s writing style!  Robert Kirkman has done a brilliant job at developing the characters to the point where we can really sympathize and care about their situations.  I loved the character portrayal of Mark Grayson as he is portrayed as being a free spirited character that enjoys having superpowers while trying to balance his life at school and I loved seeing that side of Mark as he knows he has responsibilities, but he still wants to enjoy life.  I also loved the way that Robert Kirkman would make parodies of superheroes in this comic such as the superhero team “Guardians of the Globe” being a slight parody of the Justice League and yet, these superhero teams are not like carbon copies of the superheroes we see in Marvel and DC as they seem to have qualities that separates them from the other superheroes.  Robert Kirkman also did a fantastic job at providing humor in this story as I found myself laughing at the statements being made by the characters, especially by Mark Grayson when he made comments about finding out about his powers for the first time and he just casually told his parents about his powers like it is no big deal.  What I really loved about Robert Kirkman’s writing is his ability to provide plot twists to the story and the plot twists were done extremely well as I was literally shocked at the various secrets that were exposed about the characters. 

Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s artwork:  Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s artwork is a bit unique as it has a simplistic look and yet during the action scenes, is drawn in an effective way.  I loved the artwork of the characters’ expressions whenever they are confused about something as their eyes are drawn as little black dots instead of having their normal eye shapes which really brings out the humor in the situations.  I also loved the coloring done by Bill Crabtree as the artwork looks extremely colorful and I loved the shadowing on the characters’ faces whenever they are in dark places such as being outside during the nighttime.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

This graphic novel is surprisingly gory as there are many scenes of characters being torn apart and you can see blood squirt out everywhere and their innards being pulled from their bodies.  Anyone who does not like seeing gore in any graphic novel might want to skim over these scenes.

Final Thoughts:

“Invincible” is not your average superhero comic as it contains more humor and a lighter tone than what I usually see in superhero comics, but this is definitely one of the most unique and interesting superhero comics I have ever read and I am sure that many fans of superhero comics will definitely enjoy this graphic novel!