Download Invincible, Vol. 17: What's Happening TP fb2

The name of the comic is invincible, yet due to an illness, he's barely in it. We get to read about rex and Amanda in another universe, and how rex is kind of a butt head. But the story is kind of blah.

Another great run

Great book. Perfect condition

Great book! Its always nice to see Walker step back into this series! The story was great. Im a big robot fan and just know he will someday turn into invincibles greatest adversary ever!

Have you noticed that the volume titles of these INVINCIBLE collected trades are inspired by the names of past television shows? Anyway, INVINCIBLE Vol. 17: WHAT'S HAPPENING collects issues #91-96 and happens to be a hit-or-miss arc for me. It's mostly because our central character, Mark Grayson, is sidelined for most of this arc, what with his slow recovery from a near fatal illness. Meanwhile Bulletproof has taken up Mark's slack, has assumed the role of Invincible. Except, sorry, I don't give two shucks about Bulletproof. So there's that.

This volume focuses more on Robot and Monster Girl and their icy relationship stemming from whatever the hell it was that happened in their seven hundred year exile in the Flaxan dimension. While I don't think this arc finds Kirkman at his storytelling best, he once more lives up to his rep as an author of shocking reveals. You may never look at Robot and Monster Girl in the same way again.

INVINCIBLE is the linchpin title in Kirkman's personal corner of Image's cape & cowl universe. It's interesting how this series has evolved from its Silver Age-y teen hero coming-of-age themes to a multiple plotline narrative that explores Mark Grayson's universe thru its sprawling supporting cast. Kirkman casually, habitually, seeds these issues with characters prominent in other titles. It's no different with this arc.

As INVINCIBLE nears its milestone 100th issue, Kirkman yanks Mark away from the spotlight, even as Earth is once again menaced with another of them periodic Flaxan invasions. With Mark out of commission (and fretting over a possibly permanent loss of power), the Guardians of the Globe take center stage as the primary line of defense against the invaders. Threading thru this all-out war is the story of Robot and Monster Girl. Kirkman reveals the reason for their estrangement and, thru flashback segments, recounts their several lifetimes spent in a blink in the Flaxan dimension. If you like Robot and Monster Girl this arc is for you. If you're a fan of the titular character, you may wish that Robot and Monster Girl's arc were chronicled in some other series, namely THE GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE.

Meanwhile, we see further developments with Mark's continuing partnership with the amoral, super-intelligent Dinosaurus, as well as with the few surviving Viltrumites hiding on Earth.

Keep an eye on Atom Eve and see if you notice her subtly losing weight as she exerts herself. Remember that applying her talents tends to cost Eve serious calories, and I love Ottley's attention to detail regarding this. Still, I favor the, er, more curvy Eve. It's a welcome change to have a leading lady in comic books who doesn't look like a fan boy's generic wet dream.

What's with the abrupt ending to the Flaxan invasion?

The art chore is split up. Ryan Ottley is responsible with drawing the present-day arc. Cory Walker handles the Flaxan flashbacks. No surprise, both artists are really good. However, in this volume, I prefer Ottley's artwork over Walker by a smidge. Probably it's because Ottley lands the more dynamic passages whereas Walker gets stuck with lots of talking head panels.

I initially wanted to rate this volume 3 out of 5 stars because I didn't find myself as into this bunch of issues. Still, Kirkman salvages this arc somewhat by going all in with the Robot/Monster Girl narrative. That very last panel is a classic "What the f---!!" moment. And who doesn't love those action-packed double-paged spreads depicting all-out superhero brawls? The upside ultimately outweighs my dissatisfaction. So, 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This trade also offers an eight-paged sketchbook complete with commentary by Kirkman, Ottley, and Walker.

This book doesn't really need a review. If you like the Invincible series enough to have gotten through the first 16 books, then of course you'll want to continue with this one. If you don't know the series, then you certainly shouldn't start with this volume. What I will say is that I think "What's Happening" is a relatively weak addition to the series, not because of the shift in focus to Robot and Monster Girl, but because a key element of the plot makes NO sense, and a second seems quite implausible to me. I won't go into detail here, but if you've already read the book, I invite you to weigh in on the discussion thread I started below, labeled "MAJOR plot hole!" I'm curious to see whether other folks are as bugged as I am.

I'm still looking forward to vol. 18, but this series is now on probation with me: I can't keep caring about an author's characters if he or she is going to manipulate them so nonsensically.

This is an extremely unique arc. Is it the best jump on point? No, but that doesn't mean it will be a problem for folks who haven't read the series. I know that doesn't sound like it makes sense, but hear me out. This arc is really unique among the many invincible stories. This one tells an epic story in flashbacks of Monster Girl and Robot spending hundreds of years in the flaxxan dimension, becoming royalty, and seeing the rise and fall of an empire as well as their own rise and fall from power, and love. This story won't do anything to introduce you to the Invincible Universe, but it will be perfectly fine to pick up and read as a standalone novel even if you've never read an invincible. This is a deep epic story and it will give you an idea of what kind of ferocious writing Kirkman is capable of, as well as a gallery of some beautiful art by both Ottley and Walker, who bring this story to life. The highlight of the artistic end of this is how effectively the art transports you to another dimension. I highly recommend this one. I wouldn't normally bother to review something like this because it's something that everyone reading the series is gonna buy when they get to it. It's the fact that I can see this appealing to people who have never touched the series that brings me here to talk about it.

Mark is badly hit by the Scourge virus and the other heroes rally round. We also learn what happened to Monster Girl and Robot in the Flaxan dimension to create the animosity between them. A Flaxan invasion ensues. Revelations also come into the story.

Quite engaging stuff with lots more character development.