Invincible No. 63

Published by Image Comics. Written by Robert Kirkman. Pencils by Ryan Ottley. Inks by Cliff Rathburn.

The Deal: It's the latest issue of Kirkman's teen superhero series. This month we're getting part three of the "Conquest" story arc, which seems to involve Invincible getting the shit kicked out of him by an alien baddie from his father's home planet.

The Good: Call me sick, but I enjoy the level of brutality that Kirkman and artist Ryan Ottley have rolled out in the last few issues. I mean, this arc seems to be about Invincible facing his toughest foe yet, so copious amounts of blood, bruises and broken teeth sort of come with the territory. It would have sucked if they presented this tale like DC presented Superman fighting Doomsday. You remember? Doomsday beat Supes to death, but somehow Mr. Kent's corpse barely had a hair out of place. So if you're gonna show an epic battle, you've got to show streams of blood and flesh shooting through the air. Anyway, besides the brutality, Kirkman and Ottley also make you feel fear for Invincible and his crew. And I guess that's the point of this whole story: to make us readers think that all bets are off. Well, mission accomplished.

The Bad: I won't spoil anything, but I will say that I wish Kirkman didn't kill who he killed this issue. I will say no more. But, I'll miss ... this particular character.

The Verdict: Bloody good.

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