Release Date: December 4, 2013
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Publisher: Image Comics
Written By: Phil Hester
Art By: Todd Nauck
Price: 2.99
Review:
Invincible is known for its high-octane action and masterfully blended character development and Universe is no different. It balances a whole team of heroes perfectly. While it may not have the entire roster in every book, stories revolve around some of the new Guardians and the veterans at the same time.
This issue has Slaying Mantis infiltrating Red Eye’s mansion/prison in order to put an end to his ongoing drug business. Guardians of the Globe do just that and Cecil cares not one bit about violating any and all national borders, laws, or treaties in order to get his criminal. While Best Tiger and Claire Voyant sit on overwatch, a young boy the drug lord saved back in the day is caring for the newly captured Wolf-Man, who asks the boy to expose him to moonlight. The two get sent in to retrieve the fallen Guardian and uncover a very ugly, very large, and very mad alien thing in the basement. On a side note, if you never read the issue spotlighting Best Tiger, you should. I’ll update this later on when I find out which issue it is. Just read ‘em all. The guy puts a blindfold on before he fights. It’s easily one of the best single issue comic books ever written and it made him my favorite character in this new series. While this issue may not be as action-packed as the previous ones, it still has everything people have come to love about this universe. The larger than life, campy, whacky honest to god super heroes remind me why I love comics. Invincible and his universe always take me back to when comics were about good guys in crazy spandex outfits beating the ever lovin’ crap out of bad guys with crazy mustaches. Black and white, good versus evil, superheroes fighting villains, and the occasional awkward divorce letter moment is what makes Invincible Universe the best superhero comic book out. Except for Invincible that is.
The art on this book is superb. There’s plenty of movement and action when it’s needed and the facial expressions are spot on when they need to convey the story. When the characters aren’t fighting it out, it’s rather odd seeing Slaying Mantis in his ridiculous costume sitting in a chair sipping wine with the drug lord. That’s the fun of drawing real superhero books though. Insane costumes and whacky characters come off as cheesy and corny in the real-life, melodramatic, brooding comic books that dominate the market today but in superhero books, they’re old hat. It has to be fun and challenging at the same time, drawing some guy in a weird lizard suit talking to his teammate about her wedding and his divorce being finalized, and then back into the action. Hats off to Nauck for keeping it consistent.
All in all, Invincible Universe is a great book for you if you like super heroes. If you don’t, then go read something else because this book doesn’t apologize for being a superhero book. It’s whacky, campy, nonstop action with over-the-top characters and insane scenarios. While it may be set in the real world, it doesn’t feel like it. That may be my only complaint in that there are SO many characters and subplots and main plots going on at once, I sometimes get detached and feel like the Guardians are the only people on this planet. Still, this book is definitely worth buy