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    Image Comics

    Review: Invincible #54

    Stephen SchleicherBy Stephen SchleicherOctober 28, 20082 Comments4 Mins Read

    It’s your kids, Marty!  Something has to be done about your kids!

    invincible54picon.jpg

    If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you know I love stories involving time travel.  There’s something about being in time well past your years and seeing how far we, as a society, have come.  Jumping on a cosmic treadmill, hopping in a DeLorean, tripping around in a time sphere, or using a time jumping scooter would be the ultimate in doing what you want, when you want.  But what of those other time travelers?  Those that don’t jump in time, but live through it, would that be the life you would want to lead?

    invincible54cover.jpgI have often wondered about the Immortal.  As someone who’s been the President of the United States, a Knight of the Round Table, a discoverer of North America, and a super hero, you’d think life would be pretty great.  Unless his dissected body parts were kept away from one another (locked in a box or something), he’ll always return from the dead to continue where he left off.

    There’s probably a dark side to being immortal; the burden of seeing your loved ones die, having your wealth rise and fall, making sure your head doesn’t get chopped off, and potentially not caring about anyone anymore.  You might even want to end it all by instigating some kind of revolt to get the masses to rise up and end it for you once and for all.

    That’s exactly what happens to the Immortal in the future, and it takes a time traveling Mark Grayson to fix the problem.  It’s a sad story when you think about it, begging someone to kill you just so you don’t have to live anymore.  As awesome as it might be to be someone who can’t die, I ended up feeling pity for the character as his life was taken from him for probably the last time (providing the Futurians can keep those body parts separated).

    I have no idea how far in the future Robert Kirkman has plotted his story points, but if the hints and drops scattered throughout this issue are any indication, things for Mark will never get better, and he may end up turning into the very person he is trying so desperately not to become.  At least Kirkman gives the hero a happy-for-the-moment ending that is as sappy (in a good way) as time travel is trippy.

    54p16-17sml.jpg54p18-19pencilsml.jpg

    Invincible #54 is a done-in-one issue.  While this makes for a great story that anyone can pick up and enjoy, I kind of wish this had been a two or three issue story, giving Mark a chance to explore the future more.  Perhaps that is exactly what Kirkman is trying to avoid, as Grayson’s time traveling buddies point out it’s not good to know too much about your future.

    Looking at the cover, you almost wouldn’t guess it’s Ryan Ottley doing the work.  There appears to be a flavor of John Bryne hanging about.  Other than that, the pencil work is as good as it always is.  However, I’m surprised FCO Plascencia didn’t do a little something different with the colors in this issue. The story starts in Paris full of red and golden hues, making for a romantic moment for Eve and Mark.  As bad as the Futurians (that’s the name I’m using) make the future out to be, I would have expected a color shift to the cooler palette, or at least had a darker feel to the future that could be.

    Overall, another decent issue.  Invincible has become one of those titles that is on the top of my reading stack, and often pushes some of the other titles from my more well liked publishers aside.  I know Robert Kirkman is just one man, and I know readers dig his Walking Dead and Astounding Wolf-Man, but I would really love to see a solid Invincible story that was published as a weekly series.  Call me crazy, that’s just how I feel.  Invincible #54 is good enough to earn 3 out of 5 Stars.

    3stars.jpg

    Pencils via At Ryan Ottley

    21/21

    Body Parts delorean discoverer grayson knight of the round table Last Time North America President Of The United States revolt rise and fall Robert Kirkman sad story scooter super hero time sphere time travel Time Travelers treadmill
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    Stephen Schleicher
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    Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...

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    2 Comments

    1. mugsgame on October 28, 2008 8:26 pm

      “I know Robert Kirkman is just one man, and I know readers dig his Walking Dead and Astounding Wolf-Man, but I would really love to see a solid Invincible story that was published as a weekly series. Call me crazy, that’s just how I feel. ”

      Me too. I wouldn’t mind at least seeing a second book without Invincible. This book is liek The Simpsons, in that it has so many great supporting characters that could easily carry a story arc or two.

      Great review as always.

    2. Propane on October 29, 2008 3:01 am

      I thought it was great how he showed that if you push Mark, at the end of the day, he’s just a Vegemite at core.

      =( As an aside, I’m really sad the clone twins are gone. They were my favourite baddies in this.

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