Invincible Volume 2: Eight Is Enough

Robert Kirkman continues to roll through his Invincible series, and Mark Grayson is turning out to be one of the coolest characters in comics. I am having a blast getting into Mark's life and world, and Kirkman writes the serious stuff just as well as he writes the zany aspects of a teen with awesome superpowers. I like the fact that Mark isn't as maligned as Peter Parker was while trying to hide his identity as Spider-Man. Back when I was a kid, that was more how real life was in those days. But everything's more laidback now. I especially enjoyed the way Mark's buddy tumbles onto the fact that Mark is the costumed superhero Invincible and doesn't buy his lame excuse that he ran for help. The relationship between Mark and his mother and father is great. Until the whole thing with the Guardians of the Globe. You'll have to read the book before I mention any more. And that fact makes it hard to review this graphic novel much more about the twists and turns it takes. Suffice it to say that I was completely blown away and am looking forward to the next installment. One of the other things that I really like about this series is the way Kirkman keeps the stories relatively simple and doesn't cover the pages with dialogue. Some comics fans feel like they get ripped off by a book where the art primarily carries the action. However, I like the occasional trade off you can get in a book like this. Sometimes I want easy, no-brainer comics that I can glide through. Except that Kirkman doesn't kick back and let his readers get too comfortable. He doesn't throw conceptual or multi-layered plots onto his readers, but he does kick them in the teeth with emotional ones. And, yeah, I'm talking about the whole thing with the Guardians of the Globe. I also liked the scenes of Mark and his dad playing catch with a baseball they were literally throwing around the world. Standing back to back and catching the throws as they swung around the earth was pretty amazing imagery. Even more so when Mark had to dash back and snag the ball from the atmosphere because he and his dad had both forgotten it. The next graphic novel has got to be a real turning point in the series. I'm looking forward to it.

I have enjoyed reading this series. While I did not think this book was as good as Volumes 1 and 3, it was still an enjoyable book.

This trade actually tells four individual stories. The first has Mark dealing with Alan the Alein a creature his father had fought many times before and never bothered to talk to. This is a comedic high point for the series so far. The next has Mark and his best friend checking out colleges and fighting a strange robotic zombie creature. Finally, the series introduces the super hero team the Gaurdians of the Globe who are all murdered. The funeral sets up the big twist that will put this series on the fast track and make it more then a funny silver age super hero homage. If you pick up the first two trades in this series and like it's fun cosmic super hero adventure well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I really like Kirkman's Incredible and Volume Two is the pick of the bunch. Simple but honest writing still allows him to deliver a shock and maximum emotional impact. I can't give it five stars because it does feel a little light - each trade paperback will not occupy your time for that long. But, you will pick this series up to reread again and again.

I first picked this series up for the artwork, but then became captivated by the story. I bought the trades to catch up on what I missed, wow I was missing one of the best stories in comics today. Kirkman does a wonderful job bringing the characters to life with twists and turns around every corner. Ottley's artwork fits it perfectly grade A stuff on both parts. This trade also comes with pages of neat extra sketches and writings. This is well worth the money, if your not reading Invincible I would HIGHLY recommend picking it up, it's amazing!