Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #2 had a lot to accomplish. Not only did it had to follow up a stellar debut issue, but it also had to top the major fight that said issue was centered around. So does it accomplish its goals? For the most part, yes. Battle Beast once again feels unsatisfied after brutally killing the prisoner known as the Colossus, as it brings him no closer to the glorious death he craves. But the half-dead prince he saved has a proposition: the Colossus had a sister, the Juggernaut (not to be confused with the X-Men’s on-again, off-again enemy), who took over said prince’s world and rules it with an iron claw.
This leads Battle Beast on a new journey, which also gives Ryan Ottley the chance to draw an entirely new collection of alien creatures. One of the best pages features Battle Beast and the prince walking into a bustling marketplace full of different creatures. They came in various shapes and sizes, while also featuring different appendages – all of it rendered in vibrant colors by Annalisa Leoni. If Invincible fans squint, they can also see some familiar faces, including the Geldarians from Tech Jacket. If I had to describe this sequence in one sentence it would be “The cantina scene from A New Hope on steroids.”
Ottley then tops that by throwing Battle Beast into a competition known as the Blood Games. If that sounds extremely violent, that’s because it is. An entire page features Battle Beast climbing the ranks, leaving nothing but corpses and blood in his wake. Once again, the sheer level of variety – both in the number of alien warriors that are displayed, and the graphic ways in which they’re killed – is incredible. Leoni plays around with different color palettes, resulting in different colors of blood and different kinds of entrails covering the page. And since this is a Invincible-based comic, you can definitely expect a splash page or two that’s literally being splashed with blood.
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Where Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #2 stumbles a bit is in the storytelling. I do love the concepts that Robert Kirkman is throwing out there, as it makes the Invincible universe truly feel like a universe. It’s fun to think that while Invincible and his fellow superheroes are defending the world, and the Viltrumite Empire is conquering everything it sees, Battle Beast is out carving a bloody legacy. However, the introduction of a subplot with bounty hunters feels like it could have been saved for the next issue. I’m not opposed to the idea of Battle Beast fighting bounty hunters, but I freely admit that I wanted more pages dedicated to the idea of the Blood Games.
It’s not all chaos and carnage, though. Kirkman peppers his script with some sardonic moments, including a rapport between Battle Beast and his ship’s computer. Considering said computer is trying to kill him, it makes some of their exchanges extremely hilarious. I also love that Kirkman continues a running gag that pokes fun at Star Trek: The Next Generation, and does it twice!
Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #2 not only continues to fill its pages with enough gore to top a Mortal Kombat game, but it also adds a sardonic edge that’s as sharp as its title character’s blades. Kirkman and Ottley have a gold mine on their hands, and I can’t wait to see what they throw at Battle Beast next.
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