Invincible #81 & Teen Titans #98

After reviewing 8 straight Marvel comic books, I think it's time to take a break from the House of Ideas and take a look at Image's Invincible, as well as DC's Teen Titans. Invincible is almost always a great read, while I can't imagine this issue of Teen Titans being as bad as the past few issues have been... I mean it's just not scientifically possible!!

Invincible #81:

Summary: Thanks to Dinosaurus, Las Vegas was destroyed last issue, something that is greatly weighing on Invincible, since he was unable to stop Dinosaurus from setting off the bombs that destroyed the city in time. Needless to say, Invincible is a bit depressed, but the super-heroics must go on, so Invincible heads out and stops a bank robbery from being committed by Gravitator and his gravity gun... And no, this is a different guy than the last guy who tried to rob a bank with similar equipment. Invincible and Atom Eve make quick work of Gravitator before Invincible scares Gravitator into telling him where he got the equipment from. Sure enough, Gravitator brought it off of the guy who invented the tech. Invincible confronts the inventor of the gravity gun(and accessories!) and the inventor explains that he didn't know who else to sell the stuff to, so he sold it to Gravitator. To rectify this situation, Invincible takes the inventor to Cecil Stedman at the Pentagon and Cecil decides to put the inventor to work for the government. Upon leaving, Invincible is jumped by Powerplex, who was still blaming Invincible for the deaths of his sister, wife and child. Invincible tells Powerplex that the death of his sister was due to Invincible's battle with his(at the time) crazed father, while it was actually Powerplex who inadvertently killed his wife and kid. Upon hearing this from the man he held responsible, Powerplex realizes that Invincible was right, and that he was to blame. Powerplex dissolves in tears and Cecil and the feds show up to lock Powerplex away. Cecil compliments Invincible for the way he handled the situation, and goes on to tell Invincible that while Invincible was off-world Powerplex had been a pretty good hero, so hopefully this breakthrough would help Powerplex become an even better hero down the road. Cecil then tries to get Invincible to rejoin Cecil's band of heroes, but Invincible turns him down. From there, Invincible returns home to meet with Atom Eve, where he complains about how even with their powers, the world just kept getting worse.

Thoughts: Huh, this was the first time in a LONG time an issue of this series didn't absolutely floor me at some point. It was good, but it wasn't it's usual great. This just seemed like a one and done, placeholder issue. Nothing THAT important happened. Invincible isn't dealing with the destruction of Vegas well, and that's about all that really happened here... While okay, this is the type of comic I'll have forgotten about in a few hours time, something that I never expect to say about an issue of Invincible.

Score: 7 out of 10.I'm still waiting for the Cecil Stedman series... I'd buy three copies of every issue!


Teen Titans #98:

Summary: This issue begins by revealing that Superboy Prime had been sucked back into the mainstream DCU thanks to the Teen Titans battle with Headcase a few issues back. From there we head back to the present where we see the Teen Titans doing whatever they do during their downtime(train, talk to each other, fight, etc). Not that far from Titans Tower, somebody attacks a building in San Fransisco, which naturally brings the Teen Titans over to take care of it. The Titans manage to stabilize the building, and are shocked to discover that it was Prime and several of the Titans various enemies behind the attack on the building. Who are Prime's allies? Roll call! We have Prime, Zookeeper, Indigo(!), Headcase, Sun Girl, Persuader and Inertia(although it appears to be a different version of Inertia I know and love...). Anyway, the Titans pick an opponent and engage them in battle. While the fight is going on, three blurs attack the building again, and when they slow down they appear to be three different versions of Superboy from three different time period!

Thoughts: This was a massive amount better than the past few Solstice heavy issues. Like him or hate him, Superboy Prime is a great villain for the Teen Titans to periodically face. He has a personal connection to the team, plus he's as powerful as Superman. I'm a bit curious as to a) how Prime managed to gather his army of evil without raising any suspicion, b) who this Inertia is(possibly an older version of the original?), and c) what the deal is with the three Superboys. For the first time in a long time I'm actually looking forward to an issue of this series, and that's a great feeling!

Score: 9 out of 10.Hey check it out, Tim Drake's fantasy come to life!