...DAAAAAAAMN!!!
And lo, my quest to review the Viltrumite War continues. This issue consists mostly of action sequences, but only be reviewing it shall we determine if that's for better or for worse.
Our latest issue starts where the last one ended, with Mark encountering Conquest, who he had thought was dead. After Conquest says some random evil clichés, the inevitable fight breaks out, with Invincible, Oliver (A.K.A. "Young Omni-Man"), Tech Jacket, Allen the Alien, and Nolan (A.K.A. "Middle-Aged Omni-Man") fighting for the home team, while Conquest and two nameless Viltrumites who've appeared in previous issues fight for the side of EVIL!
They battle for a few pages, and for a while it looks like Team: Protagonist is winning. However, it seems that Team: Antagonist brought backup. I have no idea who these new aliens are, but they have a giant ship, look funny, and are evil for seemingly no reason, so I shall hearby dub them "The Spaceballs." Almost immediately, one of the Spaceballs shoots Oliver, making him accidentally exhale, and forcing him to fly to the nearest planet for more air. I'd like to note what a nice touch that is, as it helps to remind you that the Viltrumites still need a reasonable amount of oxygen to survive, unlike most depictions of a certain Kryptonian we've all seen.
Anywho, Conquest sees Oliver flying to the planet and trys to intercept him, but Mark is able to come to his little brother's rescue at the last second. This starts off the epic mano y mano fight between Mark and Conquest on the planet's surface. This is probably one of the most epic and graphic fights in comics history, as it joins the short list of comics that have actually made me shout
"...DAAAAAAAMN!!!"
out loud. I won't spoil how it ends, but it does leave the reader begging for more, even if we do logically know that it'll turn out okay in the end.In the month since my last review, I was fortunate enough to come across the entire six-issue run of Tech Jacket at a thrift shop, and in good condition no less, so I'm able to review his current back-up feature in Invincible with much more familiarity. This short feature has far less exposition than the last one, so it goes by mutch faster. In short, the Geldarians show up to say 'sup to Zack, then they find out their ship's in trouble, and Zack flys off to help them, the end. It ain't much, but in a $2.99 book, I ain't complainin'.
Overall, I'm giving this issue the same rating as the last one. It loses a lot of points based on the minimal plot progression, but gains some for featuring one of the best fights I've seen in a comic in a long time, although it gets a little too graphic for even me by the end. I feel kinda bad for giving a 4/5 in all of my reviews on this site so far, but since they were all for Invincible, it should go to show how consistantly good the book is.
