Review: Invincible #62

What’s missing from some of the super hero comics out there? A huge smack down drag out fight that spans an entire issue? No, as there have been a few titles recently that feature this kind of action (Power Girl). A villain that is much stronger than the hero? Again, it’s been done in other titles. The notion that the hero may finally be out-powered with his life on the line? It’s a comic book, and when the title character is fighting it out for his life, there is little chance he’s going to die, but in the case of Invincible #62, one gets the feeling that Mark Grayson is in real jeopardy.

With the Viltrumite heavy hitter’s arrival on Earth, it’s finally time for Mark to stretch his legs and go all out on this world conquering bad guy. The thing that is not really clear is if Mark is holding back for fear of becoming that which is his battling, or if Mark has finally met his match, and the Viltrumite takeover of Earth has begun.

Some readers may remember the whole Death of Superman saga that happened back in the ’90’s, that featured a page layout that kept getting growing in size from issue to issue. As the battle heated up, page layout would go from four panels per page, to three, to two, until the final issue featured a single panel on each page until the final punch. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but Ryan Ottley is taking an approach that is totally opposite from the Death of Superman. The issue starts out with large single page panels, and as the issue becomes more intense, the panels become more frequent and smaller on the page. I would like to think this was intentional and that Ottley is showing Mark’s powers diminish as the fight goes on. It certainly seems that way as the the Viltrumite Doomsday character continues to beat the crap out of the hero, all the while taunting him to unleash his true power.

As readers saw during the Invincible Secret Multi-Crisis War event that ended in issue #60, there’s been a lot of damage to the major cities around the world. So, when the fight between the mighty two begins to literally shake the Earth, I’m not as concerned with public safety as I might be if everything was hunky-dory with the world.

As much as I like Mark Grayson, he has a fair amount of Bat-Dickness in him. Instead of accepting help from others for fear of them becoming injured, Mark would rather fight the fight alone, and ends up getting his hash handed to him. It’s something played out in many other titles, but it really comes out in this issue as his brother attempts to assist his big bro at his time of need. Let’s give Mark a Bat-Dickness rating of 6.

As Invincible continues to pay homage (or parody) other superhero comics, Cecil Stedman has certainly emerged as this universe’s Lex Luthor, as he and the Global Defense Agency are working around the clock to revive the dead bodies of the Invincibles from Multiple Earths that were taken down during the great war.

Even though there is not a lot of dialogue in this issue, Kirkman shines once again as he’s the one orchestrating the smack down fight. I wish I could read the script to this issue to see how Kirkman describes the five punch sequence that sends the heavy hitter into outer space. It’s a great sequence, and Kirkman paces the entire issue out nicely to get the reader to anticipate the page changes.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not one that intentionally sits down to read and reread comics until the pages fall apart. If it is an extremely good issue or series, I will take the time to read the issue again for the pure enjoyment factor, but otherwise, it’s a couple of read throughs for review purposes, and then into the ever growing pile of comics that need to be filed away. Invincible #62 marks the eighth issue in a row where I found myself returning to the issue for multiple readings because it was that exciting.

Drawbacks? Oliver really isn’t getting his chance to become a strong character in the series because Mark keeps pushing him into the background. I’m not a huge fan of the little alien brother from another mother, but it seems he needs to grow if he is to become a kid sidekick or an arch-nemesis.

Once again Invincible is a series I look forward too each month. The fight sequence, drama, and excellent art earns Invincible #62 4.5 out of 5 Stars.