CREDIT: Image Comics
Rating: 4/5 – A Pause in the Action to Reflect on the New Status Quo.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Adam Alamo.
The last half dozen issues of Invincible promised big changes and for the most part delivered on that promise. The story arc was exciting, shocking, engaging, and overall some of the best work that writer Robert Kirkman has put out on this title. In typical Kirkman fashion, he once again shook up the status quo in this self-billed “only superhero comic book you will ever need!” After a short interlude last issue to bring us a knock-down, drag-out fight on the other side of the universe, Invincible #116 returns to the shocking events of the previous story arc to pick up the remaining pieces.
This issue lays out an Earth where the superheroes have all lost to the well meaning, but misguided Robot. Things have never looked worse as the world…well actually, the world is looking pretty good. Despite the complete and utter takeover by Robot, it appears he is making great progress in forcing humanity to cut out all its nonsense and get to work on making the planet a utopia. And while this is all great news, Invincible just can’t shake the notion that the ends don’t justify the means. He seeks out help to retaliate, but finds that the various players in the series all have their own agenda, which does not include another confrontation with Robot. With that, Invincible has some tough choices to make. Will he give up and just go with the flow? Will he run and hide? Will he once again face-off with Robot? These are some of the questions that this issue sets up.
Was this the most exciting issue in the series? No, it wasn’t. It was mostly a character driven issue that focuses on the aftermath of recent events, so there isn’t a lot of action and doesn’t give artist Ryan Ottley the chance to draw copious amounts of blood and guts (though he does sneak in a couple bloody splash pages). However, I know it’s only the beginning of a chain of events that will no doubt climax in the “terror, violence, mayhem, horror, and misery” that has become standard for this series. And although there is a ton of backstory, that I cannot recommend enough if you have not read it yet, this issue is a decent place for a new reader to jump in to get a taste for the series.
Reviewed by: Adam Alamo
(adam@comicspectrum.com)
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