Invincible #57 / The Astounding Wolf-Man #11 Crossover – Review

By Robert Kirkman (writer) Ryan Ottley (pencils) Jason Howard (pencils) Cliff Rathburn (inks) FCO Plascencia (Colors)

The Story: After learning that he and his family are being spied on, Invincible erroneously believes his old boss Cecil Sredman to be behind the spying, and confronts him at the Global Defense Agency headquaters.  Cecil declares his innocence and asks Invincible for a favor: apprehend the Astounding Wolf-Man who is wanted for the murder of his own wife. Invincible refuses until he learns that one of his old foes is on a deadly rampage in the same area as the Wolf-Man. Eventually, Invincible apprehends the Wolf-Man, but upon hearing his side of the story Invincible is convinced of the Wolf-Man’s innocence and decides to help him clear his name.

What’s Good: First of all, it is extremely satisfying to experience a complete crossover event in one sitting.  The fact that both of these issues were released on the same day is a great gesture to fans of these two series. I can’t recall ever seeing a crossover like this before. In any case, I can only hope that other creators and companies will follow suit.

The over all story is  told pretty well. Kirkman does a nice job of focusing on each character’s plight during their respective title, while the other hero plays a nice secondary role. For example, the first issue deals with Invincible’s and Cecil’s relationship, while the second issue focuses on the Wolf-Man’s relationship with his daughter and quest for redemption. However, the best part of the story comes when Invincible shuts up the Immortal in mid rant.

It was a great decision to bring Cliff Rathburn to do inks on the Astounding Wolf-Man this month. The transition between titles was smooth. It also seemed like Jason Howard was doing his best to mimic some of Ryan Otttley’s pencils, whic can never be a bad thing.

What’s Not So Good: Seeing these two titles side-by-side like this doesn’t bode well for the Astounding Wolf-Man, which comes off looking like Invincible’s ugly step-sister. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Astounding Wolf-Man, but it doesn’t compare to Invincible in any regard.

Also, some of Jason Howard’s pencils are just odd. There are a couple of panels where it looks like the heroes (specifically Invincible) are wearing diapers as their torso’s are out of proportion compared to their mid-sections.

Conclussion: As far as a self-contained story, this is a good showing by Kirkman’s creations. I especially enjoy the idea of Cecil entering into the Astounding Wolf-Man’s narrative and the over-all sound logic and motivations of the characters. However, if you are looking for some substantial  momentum for either of these series, you will be left unsatisfied.

Grade: B+

-Rob G