Back Issues: "Invincible" #85-96Well hey there! I bet you weren’t expecting to see me talking about another chunk of issues from the creator owned comic book series Invincible, now were you? Well, I’m gonna do just that! Today I’ll be talking about issues 85 through 96 of Invincible, written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Ryan Ottley and Corey Walker. These issues are all conveniently collected in the Invincible Ultimate Collection volume 8, which is how I read them!
Now in the present day, Allen has the choice of using the Scourge Virus on Earth and wiping out the Viltrumites, but also very likely wiping out humanity, and saving the rest of the universe, or not using it, and allowing the Viltrumites to expand their empire. Allen decides he’s gonna do it, and this naturally doesn’t sit well with Invincible’s father, who has become good friends with Allen but still would rather give the beat down on Allen than let all of humanity get wiped out. Allen beats the snot out of Invincible’s dad (which begs the question why he didn’t do more damage to the Viltrumites in the war if he’s really this strong) and is about to release this virus on Earth, when Invincible comes to see what’s going on. Now remember, Invincible is a wanted man right now, but that doesn’t mean that he and his former boss Cecil can’t have a civil conversation. Cecil wants to know what the heck is up with Invincible breaking Dinosaurus out of Government custody, when Invincible finds out from Cecil Allen is coming to Earth. Invincible reacts to Allen’s plan in the same way his dad did, but oh, I forgot to mention, Invincible’s brother Oliver is with Allen and thinks releasing the scourge virus on Earth is a good idea. (So I was kinda right that Oliver would eventually become an antagonist to Invincible). Before Invincible can get his butt handed to him, who comes to his rescue but Thragg, the leader of the Viltrumites, now hiding on Earth?
But I’m getting ahead of myself. So Thragg has just about convinced Allen that releasing the Scourge Virus on Earth is a bad idea, when the Guardians of the Globe (this world’s Justice League/Avengers equivalent) come to see what’s going on. They get in a tussle with Thragg and Invincible, because Invincible’s a wanted fugitive, remember? And then Oliver thinks this distraction means he can bring the Scourge Virus to Earth. So Mark, in an effort to stop Oliver, gets infected. This is right around the point where everyone basically forgets that Invincible is a wanted man. But like I said, it doesn’t really bother me. Now that Cecil knows that 37 Viltrumites are on Earth, he pretty much can’t afford to make Invincible his enemy. So all is forgiven, more or less. But the Scourge Virus. As we were told back when we first found out about this, it takes away a Viltrumite’s powers, temporarily, which is how so many of them died. So Invincible is at least temporarily benched, which sucks, because the second half of this group of issues deals with an alien invasion. These aliens, the flaxans, have been a recurring thing since before Invincible’s dad murdered the original Guardians of the Globe. But this is the first time they’ve actually been a threat. In the previous group of issues, Robot and Monster Girl, 2 members of the Guardians, went into a portal to follow the Flaxans and make sure they don’t come back to earth in the future. This storyline shows us what went down while they were there, and how they really only made things worse for the Flaxans and for the people of Earth (hey, I’ve already told you just about every other plot point, I have to leave something for you to discover when you read the books for yourself). 
I will say, if you read this book for Invincible himself and his adventures, you are NOT going to like the last half of this book. It really shines the light on Robot and Monster Girl, who have always been in the background, but now they’re basically the protagonists while Invincible’s powers are suspended. And we get more Bulletproof, who has been a very minor character we knew nothing about from the beginning, who has now got supporting characters and subplots of his own. Personally, I liked it, because I like seeing this world expand and change, and I am confident that Invincible will return to the spotlight soon, so it’s not like this book just ousted its main character and decided to start focusing on these other guys. And, when we do get Invincible in these issues, it’s nice to see him going through some personal stuff that he doesn’t usually have to deal with, which is cool. 
Overall, I really enjoyed these issues. Yes, they sorta sidestepped the whole “Invincible is now working with a supervillain” thing like I predicted, but they did it in a really nifty way that I approved of. It definitely got me excited for the next group of issues…which is a bummer because I’ve been reading this series from my library, and Ultimate Collection volume 8 is the last volume my library has. So it might be a really long time before I can get around to discussing more issues from this series. But I have to say I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this series during this recent reading. Way back when I first came into contact with this series, the second year or so of issues really didn’t do anything for me, and I gave up on it. But now that I’ve had a chance to get much further into the series, I can see that it just takes a really long time for this series to find its footing. But now that it has, I’m really digging it a lot more than I thought I would. So those are my thoughts on this group of issues from Invincible. I liked them, and I hope you liked me liking them (and maybe liked me liking them enough to go like them yourself!). So until next time, you muties keep it trashy! Read past "Invincible" issue reviews: - Invincible #1-13 - Invincible #14-24 - Invincible #25-35 - Invincible #36-47 - Invincible #48-59 - Invincible #60-70 - Invincible #71-84 
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