By Dante' Maddox

After the titanic fall out that took place in issue 50, Invincible is due for a fresh start.

Issue 51 picks up with a few new changes for our main character Mark Grayson. His little brother is now old enough to go out adventuring with him, he and Atom Eve are now officially an item, and then there’s the costume.

Marks younger half brother Oliver started showing super powers several issues ago, his mother is an alien from a planet where they have much shorter life spans than humans, which means that they develop faster. This issue with Oliver’s development hasn’t been fully addressed quite yet but I’m sure it will become an issue eventually. That’s the best thing about Invincible; there are tons of various plot threads that really keep the story moving.

Mark and Eve have finally started dating which was a cool move by Robert Kirkman, it would have sucked if he drug out the ‘will they or won’t they’ dynamic any further. I think that having them together opens up a lot of possibilities without stifling either character. There is also a bit more info into Eve’s backstory as we meet her parents in this issue. There is something going on between she and her dad, but this issue doesn’t explain exactly what.

Issue 51 also marked a change in look for Invincible. Gone is the blue and yellow suit, now his costume is a solid piece that’s in blue and black. This sequence in the story was really great with a lot of self deprecating humor about the original look. Who knows how long this new look will last, but it’s a nice change. Oliver’s costume didn’t impress me as much, there was too much of a Robin influence. I got the joke, but the costume still looks lame.

While this issue wasn’t exactly titanic in its scope, it does represent a great time to start reading. A lot of the characters come full circle in this book, which makes it easier to figure out what everyone is up to. You find out that the Guardians of the Globe have effectively quit after the dust up between Invincible and Cecil. Cecil is putting together a new set of Guardians after Rex Splode and the rest left. The new team is taking on Darkwing which should have explosive ramifications at some point in the future.

I hate to sound like a broken record but you really should be reading Invincible, it’s a great comic with a ton of interesting characters and lots of great action. If you’ve never even paged through an issue, you are truly missing out.

Writer: Robert Kirkman
Pencils: Ryan Ottley
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Series Count: Ongoing

CraveOnline Rating: 8 out of 10