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Invincible #4-5
Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 2
Continuing the definitive collection of what is probably the best superhero comic book in the universe
What now?
After the cataclysmic events of the last volume, Mark is left to pick up the pieces of his life. Everything is different now-his family, his friends, his colleagues. The world is a very strange and unfamiliar place for our young superhero. He is faced with insurmountable odds, countless super-villains, otherworldly threats... and graduating high school. Nobody told him being a superhero would be easy, but nobody told him it'd be this hard, either.
This volume contains issues 14-24, the zero issue and the story from the Image Comics Summer Special from Free Comic Book Day 2004.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published July 18, 2006
42 people are currently reading
755 people want to read
About the author
Robert Kirkman
2,737 books6,933 followersRobert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
May 5, 2017
Excellent 2nd collection!
This story arc is about growing up and taking on new relationships and responsibilities.
There's also all the emotions that come along with the spoilery thing that happened in the last collection. Shock, anger, betrayal, grief...
How Mark deals with the fallout from that starts to mold him into a more adult character, and I think Kirkman does a great job showing Mark (and the other characters') growth.
It's still fun, uniquely interesting, oddly touching, and humorous look at the life of a superhero.
If you haven't checked this title out, you don't know what you're missing!
This story arc is about growing up and taking on new relationships and responsibilities.
There's also all the emotions that come along with the spoilery thing that happened in the last collection. Shock, anger, betrayal, grief...
How Mark deals with the fallout from that starts to mold him into a more adult character, and I think Kirkman does a great job showing Mark (and the other characters') growth.
It's still fun, uniquely interesting, oddly touching, and humorous look at the life of a superhero.
If you haven't checked this title out, you don't know what you're missing!
April 21, 2021
The second volume of Invincible was as fun as the first. Collecting issues 14-24, it shows the development of Mark as he graduates high school and goes to college.
Following the events of the first volume, Mark now works closely with the Pentagon. There is even a super-hero team that exists to fight major threats. No threat is more pressing that the Viltrumite Empire's expansionist policies. As Mark makes an impression throughout the galaxy, news of his actions have reached the Viltrumites.
While there is nothing deep or amazing about this series, I can not deny that it is quite entertaining. There is a strange balance of humor and development of the character's maturity all mixed with a sometimes very serious story. This volume focused on Mark's development as a young adult starting school, as well as personal relationships with close friends and girlfriends. Throughout the entire plot, in the background, other alien species work together to face the Viltrumite threat. On Earth, Dr. Angstorm's experiment misfires and it seems that Invincinble has a new enemy.
Good art, fun story and an interesting cast of characters make Kirkman's Invincible a great comic. While never assaying into deep philosophical ravings as an Alan Moore work, Kirkman's series is pop-corn munching fun. There are complicated issues in the background though. While there is dry humor, the story is serious and the consequences could be fatal. A great, fun series..that's all I expect from a comic.
Following the events of the first volume, Mark now works closely with the Pentagon. There is even a super-hero team that exists to fight major threats. No threat is more pressing that the Viltrumite Empire's expansionist policies. As Mark makes an impression throughout the galaxy, news of his actions have reached the Viltrumites.
While there is nothing deep or amazing about this series, I can not deny that it is quite entertaining. There is a strange balance of humor and development of the character's maturity all mixed with a sometimes very serious story. This volume focused on Mark's development as a young adult starting school, as well as personal relationships with close friends and girlfriends. Throughout the entire plot, in the background, other alien species work together to face the Viltrumite threat. On Earth, Dr. Angstorm's experiment misfires and it seems that Invincinble has a new enemy.
Good art, fun story and an interesting cast of characters make Kirkman's Invincible a great comic. While never assaying into deep philosophical ravings as an Alan Moore work, Kirkman's series is pop-corn munching fun. There are complicated issues in the background though. While there is dry humor, the story is serious and the consequences could be fatal. A great, fun series..that's all I expect from a comic.
August 26, 2015
This was certainly much better than volume 1 of the ultimate collection. I admit I was impatient, but that's maybe because the story moved so fast that I thought the characters development would move to suit.
In this volume you get much more character development. Mark not only has to deal with his family losses, but he has to deal with his mothers' grief and a new love. You'd think it would all be too much, but he copes well.
I really love the crisp sketching and inking in invincible and the best thing is that because its image the artwork is consistent! Yaaaay for image comics!
Still 7 more volumes to go plus volume 10 comes out in November and I don't see this series slowing down, I just hope it still gets as much attention from Kirkman among his other projects. I say dump the walking dead, but I'd be in the minority.
In this collection we get some extra origin stories at the end as well as sketches which are not in the compendium.
The only down side is I wish they would explore his powers more, I hope this follows in future stories.
In this volume you get much more character development. Mark not only has to deal with his family losses, but he has to deal with his mothers' grief and a new love. You'd think it would all be too much, but he copes well.
I really love the crisp sketching and inking in invincible and the best thing is that because its image the artwork is consistent! Yaaaay for image comics!
Still 7 more volumes to go plus volume 10 comes out in November and I don't see this series slowing down, I just hope it still gets as much attention from Kirkman among his other projects. I say dump the walking dead, but I'd be in the minority.
In this collection we get some extra origin stories at the end as well as sketches which are not in the compendium.
The only down side is I wish they would explore his powers more, I hope this follows in future stories.
July 19, 2021
When I read the first volume of Invincible back in 2016, I loved it! Yet, it took the awesome new animated series on Amazon Prime Video for me to dive back into the series. In this volume, Mark aka Invincible and his mom are dealing with the fallout from the reveal that Mark's father, Omni-Man, was actually a bad guy who was planning to take over Earth for his alien planet. His disappearance has left a void and Mark is struggling with his grief as he also tries to keep up with his senior year of high school, a girlfriend and of course fighting villains. There is a lot of character development as he struggles with balancing everything and keeping his identity secret. There are many many plot threads- the underwater duel ceremony (so ridiculous but so flippin' funny), the Mars mission, an evil scientist on his new college campus, the multi-verse of Angstrom, the anti-hero Titan, and a love triangle with Eve and Amber. Sometimes the stories could become confusing, they'd drop a storyline, pick it up again unexpectedly, and then drop it again. This volume concludes with a story about Allen the Alien and gives some interesting backstories to Monster Girl, Rex Splode, The Immortal, Dupli-Kate and Atom Eve. I'm still digging the art and loving the font they use for explosions, with all the interlocking O's.
October 28, 2012
Brief Introduction:
After reading the first volume of Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s classic superhero comic “Invincible,” I just had to read the second volume of this fantastic series and see more of Mark Grayson and his family after the explosive and tragic revealation at the end of the first volume! “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Two” is definitely one volume you do not want to put down!
What is the story?
After the tragic events in the first volume, Mark Grayson is starting to look at life in a different light now and must take over his father’s job of protecting Earth from villains. Throughout this volume, Mark will have to face various foes that he has never faced before, while trying to graduate from high school and make it to college!
What I loved about this comic:
Robert Kirkman’s writing!: As with the first volume, Robert Kirkman’s writing is just fantastic as not only are we shown more action scenes than we were shown in the first volume, but we also get so many emotional moments from the characters themselves. I loved the way that Robert Kirkman actually explored the turmoil that Mark and his mother suffered after what happened in the first volume (I really do not want to spoil the ending of the first volume since I want everyone to check this series out, but let me tell you, it truly was a shocker). Just seeing both Mark and his mother become so upset after the events of the first volume and trying to cope with the situation the best they can truly shows that these are characters who strongly relate to any person. Even though most superhero comics do deal with your typical super heroic action scenes, this was one of the few times I have actually read a superhero comic that actually explores a character’s emotions on a certain situation (okay, I actually read emotional content from some of the X-Men comics) and it was a truly sad experience to sit through when I was reading this comic and I often found myself sympathizing with Mark and his mother. I also loved the way that Robert Kirkman created many action scenes in this volume so that way you can stay interested in the storylines and enjoy the constant action scenes being shown in this volume! Again, I loved the way that Robert Kirkman wrote Mark Grayson’s character as Mark is shown to be an average teenage boy trying to juggle his time with high school and being a superhero and I love how he shows enthusiasm in being a superhero while trying to stay close to his friends despite his constant superhero duties.
Ryan Ottley and Bill Crabtree’s artwork: Done in about the same style as Cory Walker’s artwork in the first volume, Ryan Ottley has done a brilliant job at doing the artwork for this volume as the characters look a bit realistic and the facial expressions that shows whenever a character is upset or shocked is extremely well done. Bill Crabtree’s coloring is just as brilliant as before as the characters are brightly colored and I also loved the dark coloring being done whenever the characters are shown during the night time.
What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:
Like the first volume, there are many scenes of blood and gore, especially with various killings in this volume where characters are ripped apart and their insides are showing. Also, one small nitpick I had with this volume was that there were so many different stories being shown all at one time. In the first volume, we had one storyline that had several small events happening to the characters while each event led up to a bigger storyline that was unfolding. In the second volume, there are so many storylines going on at the same time such as Mark and his mother dealing with the tragic events of the last volume, Mark almost being married to the Queen of the Underwater Kingdom, and a time traveler named Angstrom Levy trying to save his timeline from a catastrophe. All of these events happening in one volume is often confusing and sometimes, half of the storylines do not really wrap up, which is irritating if you want to see the storyline all the way through.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Two” is a truly brilliant follow up to the first volume and anyone who is a huge fan of Robert Kirkman’s works or is a huge fan of superhero comics will definitely get a kick out of this series!
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
After reading the first volume of Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s classic superhero comic “Invincible,” I just had to read the second volume of this fantastic series and see more of Mark Grayson and his family after the explosive and tragic revealation at the end of the first volume! “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Two” is definitely one volume you do not want to put down!
What is the story?
After the tragic events in the first volume, Mark Grayson is starting to look at life in a different light now and must take over his father’s job of protecting Earth from villains. Throughout this volume, Mark will have to face various foes that he has never faced before, while trying to graduate from high school and make it to college!
What I loved about this comic:
Robert Kirkman’s writing!: As with the first volume, Robert Kirkman’s writing is just fantastic as not only are we shown more action scenes than we were shown in the first volume, but we also get so many emotional moments from the characters themselves. I loved the way that Robert Kirkman actually explored the turmoil that Mark and his mother suffered after what happened in the first volume (I really do not want to spoil the ending of the first volume since I want everyone to check this series out, but let me tell you, it truly was a shocker). Just seeing both Mark and his mother become so upset after the events of the first volume and trying to cope with the situation the best they can truly shows that these are characters who strongly relate to any person. Even though most superhero comics do deal with your typical super heroic action scenes, this was one of the few times I have actually read a superhero comic that actually explores a character’s emotions on a certain situation (okay, I actually read emotional content from some of the X-Men comics) and it was a truly sad experience to sit through when I was reading this comic and I often found myself sympathizing with Mark and his mother. I also loved the way that Robert Kirkman created many action scenes in this volume so that way you can stay interested in the storylines and enjoy the constant action scenes being shown in this volume! Again, I loved the way that Robert Kirkman wrote Mark Grayson’s character as Mark is shown to be an average teenage boy trying to juggle his time with high school and being a superhero and I love how he shows enthusiasm in being a superhero while trying to stay close to his friends despite his constant superhero duties.
Ryan Ottley and Bill Crabtree’s artwork: Done in about the same style as Cory Walker’s artwork in the first volume, Ryan Ottley has done a brilliant job at doing the artwork for this volume as the characters look a bit realistic and the facial expressions that shows whenever a character is upset or shocked is extremely well done. Bill Crabtree’s coloring is just as brilliant as before as the characters are brightly colored and I also loved the dark coloring being done whenever the characters are shown during the night time.
What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:
Like the first volume, there are many scenes of blood and gore, especially with various killings in this volume where characters are ripped apart and their insides are showing. Also, one small nitpick I had with this volume was that there were so many different stories being shown all at one time. In the first volume, we had one storyline that had several small events happening to the characters while each event led up to a bigger storyline that was unfolding. In the second volume, there are so many storylines going on at the same time such as Mark and his mother dealing with the tragic events of the last volume, Mark almost being married to the Queen of the Underwater Kingdom, and a time traveler named Angstrom Levy trying to save his timeline from a catastrophe. All of these events happening in one volume is often confusing and sometimes, half of the storylines do not really wrap up, which is irritating if you want to see the storyline all the way through.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Invincible: Ultimate Collection Volume Two” is a truly brilliant follow up to the first volume and anyone who is a huge fan of Robert Kirkman’s works or is a huge fan of superhero comics will definitely get a kick out of this series!
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
April 14, 2021
This is a solid collection to help grow Mark up in a mature way.
With him finally dating Amber, Mark is trying to balance school, superheroism, and dating. He's not very good at it as he is called on A LOT to save the world because...well he's a superhero. In doing so he has a lot of his relationships straining from his drunk mother, to his girlfriend not trusting him, to his best friend being a dick (Though he always is) to just trying to be a better man.
What I did enjoy is the slow burn of his growth here. I think in the trades I gave both volume 4-5 (These volumes covered here) a 3.5 but I'ma bump both to a 4 because I can really enjoy seeing Mark's steady growth as a teenager to more adulthood. I also really enjoyed the humor, it was far better in this volume than previous ones. Also, Allen makes a comeback and he's always great.
While it feels mundane somewhat I promise all the storylines building up here are going to have a huge pay off, make this a great setup volume. A 4 out of 5.
With him finally dating Amber, Mark is trying to balance school, superheroism, and dating. He's not very good at it as he is called on A LOT to save the world because...well he's a superhero. In doing so he has a lot of his relationships straining from his drunk mother, to his girlfriend not trusting him, to his best friend being a dick (Though he always is) to just trying to be a better man.
What I did enjoy is the slow burn of his growth here. I think in the trades I gave both volume 4-5 (These volumes covered here) a 3.5 but I'ma bump both to a 4 because I can really enjoy seeing Mark's steady growth as a teenager to more adulthood. I also really enjoyed the humor, it was far better in this volume than previous ones. Also, Allen makes a comeback and he's always great.
While it feels mundane somewhat I promise all the storylines building up here are going to have a huge pay off, make this a great setup volume. A 4 out of 5.
February 5, 2018
This book starts to deal with the fallout of the shocking twist at the end of the first HC. We do see a fair bit of additional character development.
I need to review these soon after reading so I remember what is and isn't in a particular volume.
I need to review these soon after reading so I remember what is and isn't in a particular volume.
September 12, 2018
Hromada zvratů, nových dějových linek a osobních strastí, to vše s kvalitní dávkou humoru a nadhledu. Tohle je jedna z nejlepších sérií co jsem tenhle rok začal číst a pořád mě to neskutečně baví.
February 5, 2017
En este segundo lujoso integral (con extras, muchos extras) que recopila los números 14 – 24 (USA), un número #0 y el Especial de Verano de Image Cómics del Día del Cómic Gratis en 2014 nos pone justo tras los cataclísmicos acontencimientos del tomo anterior. Mark deberá recomponerse tras el gran mazazo llevado, enfrentarse a complicadas decisiones, combatir con incontables supervillanos, viajar a otros mundos y por supuesto, graduarse para poder ir a la universidad.
Como el mismo Kirkman dice al final, se nota que ya tenían la seguridad de que Invencible iba a ser una serie longeva. Tras el primer arco cerrado en el anterior integral, en este se dedica a abrir subtramas engarzandolas con aventuras la mar de entretenidas. Eso da la sensación de un vasto universo narrativa, de que lo que esta por venir va a molar, pero me da un poco de rabia que casi no se cierre ninguna de estas tramas. Pero es solo una pequeña queja. Seguir viendo como Mark Grayson se va haciendo más adulto y asumiendo su papel, los cambios en su vida. Es como el Spiderman de la época, en plena adolescencia.
El dibujo de Ottlay realmente me encanta. Es liviano pero a la vez adrenalinico, hace que las escenas de acción se vivan de forma intensa. Ayuda el color de Cabtree, potente, un chorro de color en la retina de algunas páginas. Tengo ganas de ponerme con el tercero pronto.
PD: Allen el Alien es el mejor personaje del mundo.
Como el mismo Kirkman dice al final, se nota que ya tenían la seguridad de que Invencible iba a ser una serie longeva. Tras el primer arco cerrado en el anterior integral, en este se dedica a abrir subtramas engarzandolas con aventuras la mar de entretenidas. Eso da la sensación de un vasto universo narrativa, de que lo que esta por venir va a molar, pero me da un poco de rabia que casi no se cierre ninguna de estas tramas. Pero es solo una pequeña queja. Seguir viendo como Mark Grayson se va haciendo más adulto y asumiendo su papel, los cambios en su vida. Es como el Spiderman de la época, en plena adolescencia.
El dibujo de Ottlay realmente me encanta. Es liviano pero a la vez adrenalinico, hace que las escenas de acción se vivan de forma intensa. Ayuda el color de Cabtree, potente, un chorro de color en la retina de algunas páginas. Tengo ganas de ponerme con el tercero pronto.
PD: Allen el Alien es el mejor personaje del mundo.
March 19, 2016
Volume 2 picks up where volume 1 left off. The larger story starts to take shape here, with delving deeper into the characters and introducing some new.
This is a well written series, with good art work.
This is a well written series, with good art work.
August 30, 2020
Hat mich ziemlich kalt gelassen. Die Kunst war in Ordnung, aber nichts besonderes. Die Geschichte war leider immer wieder irgendwelche Bösen, die die Stadt kaputt gemacht haben, die wieder in einem großen Kampf von den op Helden besiegt werden. Vielleicht versuche ich es irgendwann nochmal, aber momentan habe ich keine Motivation weiter zu lesen.
August 19, 2023
OKAY SO WHEN IS THIS SERIES SUPPOSE TO WOW ME?????!!!!!! Because the first book was alright. I had problems with Kirkman's pacing and unnecessary dialogue, but the book ended pretty solid. This time around, we have the same bullshit only its getting worse as we go on. The plot is all over the place and the book does not move smoothly. Again and again Kirkman is just messy with his pacing and crams so much in, at times it doesn't make sense. The world and characters he creates are interesting and he clearly has something going there, but the execution is terrible. I don't know if part of it was me being spoiled by the new show; as that to me was excellent! We got more build up to big events and reveals. No side story bullshit that takes up too much from the story. Everything shown felt important. In the book there's just scenes and convos that just feel like bad filler. The scenes of action and thrill are good but when they try to do something deeper or try to expand on one piece to help the overall story, it feels boring and at times frustrating to read CAUSE ITS ALL JUST RANDOM!! Ottley’s artwork is really the only consistent part of this read so far. But maybe its just me, this series is so loved by so many people and like I mentioned before-the show is GREAT! But this is not hitting for me so far.
March 8, 2014
I don't know if it was because I didn't read the first few issues first or what. But I found this story to be very scattered and it seemed to skip around a lot.
February 6, 2023
Cuatro estrellas porque todavía sigo emocionado del volumen anterior (dame dinero por el anuncio, Image). La historia de amor de Mark me dio un poco de pereza pero entiendo por qué está ahí y que seguramente es parte importante de la trama, sólo quería ventilar. El volumen cumple su cometido de robustecer el universo e invitarnos a conectar con los personajes (las pequeñas historias de origen al final del tomo son simples pero poderosas para ello). Mark sigue sin coger, por cierto, aprobado para todas las edades (no).
January 19, 2016
Ah, Robert Kirkman, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
1. Invincible;
2. Invincible;
3. The Walking Dead.
Lame, I know. Sorry. But honestly, Robert Kirkman knows how to pack a punch in both Invincible and The Walking Dead. But this isn’t about TWD. That’s all over the place. Let’s talk about my beloved Invincible. As you can see, I’m way behind in this series. I’ve just finished volume 2 which encompasses issues #s14-24 (with a few extras), while the series itself is up to issue #108? I’m not sorry to hear this. This means I have long time to enjoy reading before I have to start waiting each week to see if a new release is out. This also means that it’s hopefully still as amazing as I currently believe it to be.
SPOILERS ALERT FROM VOL 1:
If you read my review of the first Ultimate Collection you know that I was completely shocked by the outcome. I liked it even though at first I believed it to just be a slice-of-life super-hero comic. I thought it was “nice.” Then BOOM, Mark’s dad, who is also known as Omni-man, turns from best super-hero in the universe and dad of the year into the worst kind of character ever. The betrayer. It was like a slap in the face; I couldn’t believe he turned out to be a bad guy that was planning on enslaving the human race.
The second volume was a lot less shocking. But a lot of things are being built up in this one. Several comments are made about how Mark doesn’t really have an arch-nemesis. And then we’re introduced to this character who doesn’t seem evil but may be transformed by the end by blind hatred that is just being lashed out (his own fault), but it falls on Mark’s shoulders. So I’m excited to see where that goes.
Some other big points are that Mark shares his secret identity with his girlfriend, Amber. And Atom Eve stops being a super-hero and instead just wants to use her powers for the betterment of others, like giving a water and food source to people starving, presumably in Africa. Lastly, an Alien who can shape-shift, hitches a ride to Earth after Mark and some astronauts go to Mars.
I feel like these things, while they seem mild now will end up being something big. If I’m wrong, that’s cool, don’t tell me :) But you see what I mean. Build up, right?
Last but not least, I just want to point out that I love the adventures that Mark and his friends go on. I mean, he ends up going to this underwater world where a fish queen is engaged to marry him simply because he’s the strongest man on the planet. It’s awesome to see how Kirkman and his gang get him into and out of messes. And it’s “nice” again. The brutality of some of the fight scenes are crazy compared to the life Mark is allowed to live. It’s so different from what I’m used to with super-heroes who seem doomed to a life of torment (ie. Batman). It’s something different from what I’m used to, and I got completely caught off guard by it.
1. Invincible;
2. Invincible;
3. The Walking Dead.
Lame, I know. Sorry. But honestly, Robert Kirkman knows how to pack a punch in both Invincible and The Walking Dead. But this isn’t about TWD. That’s all over the place. Let’s talk about my beloved Invincible. As you can see, I’m way behind in this series. I’ve just finished volume 2 which encompasses issues #s14-24 (with a few extras), while the series itself is up to issue #108? I’m not sorry to hear this. This means I have long time to enjoy reading before I have to start waiting each week to see if a new release is out. This also means that it’s hopefully still as amazing as I currently believe it to be.
SPOILERS ALERT FROM VOL 1:
If you read my review of the first Ultimate Collection you know that I was completely shocked by the outcome. I liked it even though at first I believed it to just be a slice-of-life super-hero comic. I thought it was “nice.” Then BOOM, Mark’s dad, who is also known as Omni-man, turns from best super-hero in the universe and dad of the year into the worst kind of character ever. The betrayer. It was like a slap in the face; I couldn’t believe he turned out to be a bad guy that was planning on enslaving the human race.
The second volume was a lot less shocking. But a lot of things are being built up in this one. Several comments are made about how Mark doesn’t really have an arch-nemesis. And then we’re introduced to this character who doesn’t seem evil but may be transformed by the end by blind hatred that is just being lashed out (his own fault), but it falls on Mark’s shoulders. So I’m excited to see where that goes.
Some other big points are that Mark shares his secret identity with his girlfriend, Amber. And Atom Eve stops being a super-hero and instead just wants to use her powers for the betterment of others, like giving a water and food source to people starving, presumably in Africa. Lastly, an Alien who can shape-shift, hitches a ride to Earth after Mark and some astronauts go to Mars.
I feel like these things, while they seem mild now will end up being something big. If I’m wrong, that’s cool, don’t tell me :) But you see what I mean. Build up, right?
Last but not least, I just want to point out that I love the adventures that Mark and his friends go on. I mean, he ends up going to this underwater world where a fish queen is engaged to marry him simply because he’s the strongest man on the planet. It’s awesome to see how Kirkman and his gang get him into and out of messes. And it’s “nice” again. The brutality of some of the fight scenes are crazy compared to the life Mark is allowed to live. It’s so different from what I’m used to with super-heroes who seem doomed to a life of torment (ie. Batman). It’s something different from what I’m used to, and I got completely caught off guard by it.
July 13, 2014
I'm still enjoying this as much as any other comic I've read recently, and certainly a lot more than Kirkman's far more famous title, The Walking Dead. There are, however, similarities: Kirkman does seem to like to have characters doing stupid things or just being generally obtuse. In The Walking Dead it got to be irritating as a literary device, exploring the ordinary pettiness of human nature and the idiocy of daily life with the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse, which I found aggravating and frustrating, as I'd rather see how people actually pull together in extraordinary circumstances. The stupidity and pettiness of the characters drives me crazy in that title, but in Invincible it doesn't bother me quite as much. For one thing, it's not quite so pronounced - many of the characters are actually pretty smart most of the time, and the title character is an emotionally troubled teen, so I can make some allowances for lack of life experience. Although it didn't bother me so much, it does seem to be a motif for Kirkman.
Overall, however, I really like Invincible. It's funny and dramatic and a little bit mysterious (with the Viltrumites ever lurking in the background). In this second collected volume, Kirkman tones down the parody a bit (although he continues to ridicule Alan Moore's Watchmen periodically), or at least his parody switches to a more "meta" level...there's a lot of Stan Lee-narrator parody, including a running coy gag about characters having sex offstage, in which the narrator states that "after all, this is a family comic." That elicits a chuckle, as this most certainly is not something you'd want children to read, what with all the disembowelings, eviscerations, constant mayhem and other graphic violence, even if the sex is more Marx brothers innuendo than Vaughan-like penetrations. When it comes, the violence remains shocking, which suggests to me that it is being used to good effect rather than being gratuitous. Maybe it's also my perceptions, set as they are by decades of other superhero comics that tiptoe around the violence.
But this is all meandering; I continue to enjoy this comic and look forward to reading Volume Three.
Overall, however, I really like Invincible. It's funny and dramatic and a little bit mysterious (with the Viltrumites ever lurking in the background). In this second collected volume, Kirkman tones down the parody a bit (although he continues to ridicule Alan Moore's Watchmen periodically), or at least his parody switches to a more "meta" level...there's a lot of Stan Lee-narrator parody, including a running coy gag about characters having sex offstage, in which the narrator states that "after all, this is a family comic." That elicits a chuckle, as this most certainly is not something you'd want children to read, what with all the disembowelings, eviscerations, constant mayhem and other graphic violence, even if the sex is more Marx brothers innuendo than Vaughan-like penetrations. When it comes, the violence remains shocking, which suggests to me that it is being used to good effect rather than being gratuitous. Maybe it's also my perceptions, set as they are by decades of other superhero comics that tiptoe around the violence.
But this is all meandering; I continue to enjoy this comic and look forward to reading Volume Three.
June 28, 2021
Este segundo tomo me ha gustado, como mínimo, de igual modo que el primero. Echo en falta un poco más de enjundia, que vaya de un modo más directo a las tramas principales y a las subtramas que estamos deseando conocer, pero la verdad es que la espera entre momentos gloriosos resulta tan deliciosa que me quejaré en voz muy, muy baja.
February 4, 2015
Still good. Actullay getting better if anything.
August 22, 2018
My library doesn't have the others...(grumble grumble) soooooo it looks like I'm going to have to buy the rest. This series is totally worth it anyway :D
November 8, 2021
I read the first volume of the Ultimate Collection and then watched the Amazon Prime TV show. At first it was a hard transition - I found the TV show to be too low budget for me (which means too low framerate). But I gave it another chance and after episode 3, I was hooked. Now I am having a hard time differentiating between what happened in the first graphic novel collection and what I saw in the TV show. So far, it seems like the production company took all the good things about Invincible, threw out the questionable things, and overall made it better. Now, reading this second volume, it's like I took a time machine back to the bad comedies of the early aughts, with all the un-PC content it's known for.
Honestly I hope they do another season. But I will continue to read the graphic novels until I grow tired of it.
Honestly I hope they do another season. But I will continue to read the graphic novels until I grow tired of it.
July 1, 2019
This second volume continues the fun-to-read adventures of Invincible. Unfortunately, it also continues the trend of having exhaustingly huge monologues by characters about the most mundane things that do not further the plot in any way. Check out the conversation between Mark and his mother about her wanting to get a job. Or, the two issues where Amber recaps her relationship with Mark or where he tells his story to her are completely craptastic filler. And don't get me started on the Allen the Alien issue where it only gets interesting in the last 5 pages, but you have to wade through walls of text about absolutely nothing.
Despite all that, I'm moving forward with the next volume - after a break.
Despite all that, I'm moving forward with the next volume - after a break.
February 21, 2017
This volume features a lot of great stories involving Mark becoming a hero in the wake of the tragedy from volume 1. Everyone who reads this: pay close attention to the characters Robot and Monster Girl. They will become extremely important years / volumes down the road. There is a slow burn in their sub plot storyline. Robot takes some very important steps in his development here. The origin of the villain Angstrom Levy is also told, he will give Mark great challenges later on.
July 21, 2017
I didn't care much for the first volume, but seeing the fanfare and love for this series from so many others, I decided to try one more time... and I'm so happy I did! It's a nice break from more serious reads, the story and subplots are growing, I've started caring about the characters and I'm really looking forward to seeing where things go!
March 31, 2025
Invincible's follow up book is surprisingly better than its predecessor, though it wouldn't have accomplished that without Mark and Nolan's falling out at the end of the first part. The story is still charming and very entertaining. The art has also gotten significantly better. All in all, an improvement...
March 15, 2021
Wszystko co dobre w części pierwszej, jest też w drugiej. Podoba mi się dodatkowo poczucie humoru autora delikatnie sygnalizowane co jakiś czas (tutaj superheroes na etacie w korporacji, od 9:00 do 17:00)
September 9, 2022
It’s better than the first volume - they flesh out the characters and their backstories a lot more. Not a ton happens though but that’s kind of okay. They’re setting up a ton for rest of the series. Still not as good as the show though!
July 21, 2021
I was much more gripped by this collection as a whole than 1. I’m so glad we got to learn more about the characters I love and the surrounding world, as well as some details that were not in the show that I also really enjoyed in this series so far. Excited to read more
September 1, 2022
I really enjoy the whole story! I definitely struggled to remember if I had seen any of this in the show but I’ve now decided to rewatch the show to jog my memory of what happens. I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of invincible!
April 11, 2023
Allen :(
*Husband issues*
*Husband issues*
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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