Rayboy's Review(s): Image United #3, Invincible #74, Science Dog #1

In case you were wondering, Image United #3 finally came out, but the shtick of having the original Image partners (- Jim Lee of course) all participating on the art duties for this Robert Kirkman written series has already worn out for me. I believe the final straw came when I read publisher Eric Stephenson’s two page love letter to Todd McFarlane. Within that pile of editorializing bilge, Stephenson reflects on a time back in the 1990’s when McFarlane penciled and inked a total of 130 pages in a single month, yet there isn’t so much as a single word from Stephenson on why McFarlane took so long to produce his part of the twenty pages of this issues lead story. I only mention this because it has been widely reported that the lengthy delay on this mini-series is largely due to McFarlane’s busy schedule. Bullshit like this I don’t need and it’s not like there is much happening in this book other than page after page of superhero slug-fests with no real point to the thing. Give this book a wide pass!

Image has other books that are more than deserving of you attention, such as Invincible #74, again from writer Robert Kirkman, with penciler Ryan Ottley and inker Cliff Rathburn; which continues “The Viltrumite War” as the war finally spills into the skies of the planet Talescria. Invincible, Nolan, Young Omni-Man and Allen the Alien drive the Viltrumites away in the wake of a betrayal, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that things have suddenly gone their way. With a huge extended cast of interesting characters, the occasional gut-punch of intense violence and Kirkman's appreciation of simple, straightforward storytelling, this book continues to be one of the most fun superhero titles out there, so buy it already!

While we’re on Image Comics stuff anyway, you might want to grab a copy of Science Dog #1, also written by Kirkman but with artwork by Cory Walker. This one-shot reprints the Science Dog back-up stories from INVINCIBLE #25 and #50, and leads right into the back-up story of Invincible #75. I didn’t start reading Invincible until after #50, so it’s all new to me and just like all of Robert Kirkman’s superhero stuff (Invincible, Astounding Wolf-Man, Guarding the Globe, etc.) the main ingredient here is “fun”. As I understand it, the main character Science Dog is the "fictional" star of a long running "Science Dog" comic book within the Invincible Universe, "Science" (as he is affectionately known) is a heroic hybrid of hound and human who embarks upon fantastic pulp-style adventures; plus he is Mark Grayson's (aka Invincible) favorite comic book hero. Simple, yet effective enough for me to encourage you to go check it out!