Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 2 »

Continuing the definitive collection of what is probably the best superhero comic book in the universe

What now?

After the cataclysmic events of the last volume, Mark is left to pick up the pieces of his life. Everything is different now-his family, his friends, his colleagues. The world is a very strange and unfamiliar place for our young superhero. He is faced with insurmountable odds, countless super-villains, otherworldly threats... and graduating high school. Nobody told him being a superhero would be easy, but nobody told him it'd be this hard, either.

This volume contains issues 14-24, the zero issue and the story from the Image Comics Summer Special from Free Comic Book Day 2004.

VOYA

Mark is still reeling from the loss of his father, and sometimes pulling on the mask of Invincible is the only way to escape the twin problems of his mother's spiraling depression and his plummeting high school grades as graduation looms. This beautiful volume chronicles the end of one romance, the blossoming of another, and for Mark and his mother, the slow but necessary process of reinventing oneself. The bonus materials at the back of the book hint that the writer knew that these issues were weaker than those in the first volume (Image Comics, 2006/VOYA June 2004), particularly owing to, as Kirkman puts it, "the seventy-nine subplots currently going on in the book." At worst, this book is lost in a sea of planning that has not yet been paid off. But at best, it is still a strong, fresh superhero tale with specific relevance to teen readers. The book takes on topics as important as emerging sexuality, love and trust, and the necessity for young people to choose their own directions in life. The artists use composition and color particularly well to provide dramatic action (as well as touching moments of domesticity) without allowing the panels to become cluttered. The inefficiency of which the first volume was guilty is draining away, replaced by strong timing and excellent pacing, even in scenes full of dialogue. This volume clearly represents a strong series taking a breath between a tremendous opening and a promising future.