Holy shit.  There is not a single panel of wasted space in this comic.  Ryan Ottley and Cliff Rathburn deserve some sort of award for taking this already really gripping storyline and revving it up about eight notches.  If you’ve missed the last few issues, Invincible is having the life beaten out of him by a Vultrimite named Conquest.  This guy makes Omni Man (Invincible’s dad, who nearly killed him waaaaaaaaay back at the beginning of this comic) look like a mincing little pig-tailed girl in a pink taffeta dress.  Bad-ass isn’t enough to describe him, as there’s no part of his body that isn’t bad (I can’t vouch for his other parts’ assiness).  The fight rages through the whole book, and every panel is gripping, and packed so full, that the action can’t help but break the frame.  Every character who tries to assist seems to immediately be put at the brink of utter destruction by this mayhem machine, who admits that he’s, up until this issue, only been toying with Invincible.  There are very few panels showing the reactions of characters who are watching the fight on TV, and those silent panels are heart wrenching.  These panels, balanced with a solid page of silent action focusing in on Invincible’s pain are gripping enough.  But the real gem, for me, was not the money shot panel (though that page is a doozy, too), but the two page spread of Conquest, covered in hero blood, thanking Invincible for allowing him to “cut loose” and have fun destroying him, and the planet. 

This was the third comic I read today, and I have fourteen more to go in my pile, but I just can’t fathom anything topping this (though, I’d love it if it happened).  If you’ve never read Invincible before, go pick up the first trade or hardcover or absolute.  If you’re broke, borrow one from a friend who reads comics.  If you don’t have any friends who are collecting this, go make some.  Keep in mind, the first trade is a little slow, but after that it’s an epic story with very few weak points (and most of those came out of personal challenges that Kirkman gave himself).  I’ve let a number of people borrow the first nine trades, and they all blew right through them, and most of the subscribe to it in issues now.  You should, too.  Really.