Pump up the hype!
I was really excited to hear that Invincible was going to have a new recap issue, since I'd missed several issues recently. I'm glad to say that the book seems to be going well, and I won't be missing out on it again any time soon. Kirkman's writting is as sharp and believable as ever, while Ottley's art has managed to subtlely improve and evolve, but all while feeling consistant with previous issues. Finally, its just nice to see Invincible dumping the blue & black costume for the classic yellow.
That being said, this book isn't without its flaws. As mentioned above, I like the fact that Invincible went back to his old color scheme, but the reason given doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. That combined with the incredibly obvious symbolism that even the characters feel a need to point out, and the moment is less triumphant than it is laughable. However, the issue's greatest flaw is that its almost impossible to write a recap within character diolauge without it sounding forced. Kirkman tries to avoid this, but ultimately get caught halfway, meaning that the diolauge contains just enough information to sound unrealistic, but not enough to give any new readers a clue of what's going on. Also, I tend to be biased against any book I have to pay $3.99 for, but this one's just barely bulky enough to justify it.
Final opinion: If you've never read Invincible before, then I'd highly recomend you pick up the trade paperbacks, as they'll do a far better job of showing you why you should be interested. On the other hand, if you are familiar with the book, then you'll probably find this issue to more or less be average for the series. But then, knowing how good the series is, you should be aware that that isn't a bad thing by any means.
