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Invincible #0
posted April 25, 2005
 

Creator: Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Bill Crabtree, Rus Wooten
Publishing Info: Image, 12 pages, $0.50, 2005
Ordering Numbers:

This makes sense to me, I guess. With a #0 issue at a small price, retailers now have something to toss at people to catch them up with the convoluted plot of the first few story arcs. It's even constructed as a conversation that takes place between two of the main characters that we don't get to see in the regular comic. The only odd thing is that it seems a little to story specific -- I can't imagine that it would be easy to use this as a jumping on point for any time but right now. While Image seems to have focused its attention on Invincible as one of its cornerstones for a second wave beneath is perennial sellers, I'm not sure the company is capable of the kind of publicity push needed to make full use of this kind of comic.

As for the comic itself, well, it's okay. The dialogue-heavy structure works to make the comic seem slightly longer than it is, and Ryan Ottley clean line allows for a page structure that features a lot of panels. The story is basically the story so far, which has one pretty good idea -- Superpowered dad has superpowered son but reveals himself as a villain working undercover bringing the two into conflict -- and bunch of okay ones. It remains to be seen how much if any of the other have any sort of payoff whatsoever. Kirkman makes his young hero a kind of 1960s-1970s good guy, capable of getting angry but generous and virtuous. This allows Invincible to function as both a general decency fantasy where reader root for the lead because he's so nice, and a kind of tonic to what is sometimes perceived as a marketplace which values cruelty. Me, I think I lack the natural hunger for these kinds of thing to desire even a relatively charming one.