I feel that I have been reading a lot of transitional issues over the past month and Invincible seems to be in the same category. The events of “The Death of Everyone” plot have played out and now the heroes of the world are getting together to help rebuild. While subtle though we also see a lot of foreshadowing of where the next plot is going to most likely focus.
The book begins and closes with one focus and that is the alien race that Invincible is a part of – The Viltrumite. In the opening pages we see the leader of the once great race scolding three of it’s members for not actively going out and attempting to have as many children as possible. While there is a tentative peace keeping them safe, long term his only plan here is to have his race be re-established by coupling with humans. Clearly this isn’t going to plan.
That is quickly glossed over though as Mark Grayson (Invincible) finds out that his girlfriend Eve is pregnant. They are going to have a child. I have to say that this is one of the few comics that have done character development amazingly well over the years. While on the one hand I remember them acting as teenagers with crushes in the comics, but now you really have seen them evolve into the young adults that they are. It was also entertaining to see Mark’s reaction go from happy to nervous to being unsure how it happened as they use protection. (I wonder if this is going to be a side story or if her joking response about Viltrumite Sperm is just the answer plain and simple.
As touching as this was, the time was quickly spent as we flash forward to the heroes of the world rebuilding. First we see a quick shot of Immortal returning to active duty which should prove for an interesting story line shortly. The main focus here though is Robot who holds Invincible solely responsible for what has happened. In fact he attempts to start a fight when Cecil shows up and prevents things form escalating.
Tension is going to clearly be running high with how many blame him for the damage though it would appear that just as many may feel that he’ll be living in his own hell from now on with the guilt weighing down on him. Cecil takes Mark back to his place and when they talk he arranges a midwife that we’ve seen before for the newly pregnant couple. Great news right? Well aside from the fact that she shows them that Eve can no longer use her powers that is.
From here we take a quick trip to see that Cecil is also talking to Invincible’s father. He’s told him that he is no longer allowed on the planet Earth but can easily occupy an old base that’s on the moon. The only catch is that he needs to keep an eye on what his fellow Viltrumite are up to on the other side of the moon. Immortal is also mentioned by Cecil as one of the reasons he can’t return to Earth. While one would suspect from that we’ll be seeing a beat down between the two in good time there is one more pressing matter that will most likely be dealt with first.
The leader of The Viltrumite is flying over the moon base at that moment and sees Mark’s parents standing there holding each other and he does not look happy.
While we saw some setup in this issue I felt that it fell a little flat after the last couple of stories. I know that something can’t be happening in every single issue (the world isn’t always about ot end) but I felt that the payoff was lacking a little this issue.
Story by: Robert Kirkman
Art By: Ryan Ottley & John Rauch
