The Good
I really like that this book seems to have settled down with the plot threads running through each issue. While my main complaint about issue #63 was that too much was going on, this month things seem to have condensed a little. There are still events that make me shake my head, but not so much that I'm worried about whiplash.
The Bad
I've been following Invincible for a couple issues, and I can't help but feel like there's a consistent lack of cohesiveness to the way the characters are portrayed. Mark has slowly made a downshift into a more "true neutral" character without any of the indicators of valid character change.
I know this is what Kirkman wants: he wants us to see that Invincible has been affected by the messed up things that he's seen, and maybe not for the better. He wants Invincible to start straddling the "for the greater good" line with increasingly bad decisions until there's breaking point where he's forced to do something drastic. He wants us to feel like we've seen Mark Grayson at his worst hour.
But as it stands, that feeling just isn't there: all I got while reading this book was a profound sense of "Oh Mark, you blockhead."
The Verdict
There's a difference between having your character go through a bleak patch in their life and having the audience catch on to that fact far too early. When I can look at the decisions Mark is making and say, out loud, "Well, that's not going to end well", it kind of ruins the moment for when the proverbial poop does hit the fan.
Instead of being surprised or depressed by things going bad, the reader has already made a moral decision, and can whether themselves for the bad/stupid stuff to come. I've already decided that I'm not going to like Invincible's new plan because there hasn't been any reason for me not to; he's told us all issue that we wouldn't (through other characters), and has not given the reader any reason to trust that he might be doing something right. It's almost like Kirkman is saying "trust me on this one, guys. Remember, me? I wrote good zombie books, right?"
The question is whether we want to give him that chance again.
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