We continue with Invincible’s stage as a free agent, that is, after cutting his ties with the GDA.In this selection of episodes we will see how the C.O.P team-up for the Viltrumite war begins to consolidate, apart from the inevitable role of Invincible who crosses paths with the Wolf-man in a crossover.
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INDEX
Since the reading index is too extensive and this is a selection of Issues where we get to see a crossover, I will not post the entire index but rather the sections that tie-ins.
- Part 14 covering The Astouding Wolf-man #1-#5
- Part 18 covering The Astouding Wolf-man #6-#10
- Part 19 covering Brit #7 & Invincible #48-50.
- Part 22 covering Invincible Issue #51-#54.
_____Invincible #55_______
Grayson Household
As Mark and Eve are about to become intimate for the first time, Debbie thinks she hears something and tries to enter Marks room, but it´s looked.Mark and Eve are lying on bed.and this is a familiar title, we leave Earth and its inhabitants and move into another scenario.
Viltrumite Prison, Outer Space.
We had already seen Allen and Nolan recognize each other in this maximum security prission stranded in outer space, due to the Umopan nks to the telepathic abilities, both became close, and with this they begin to gain trust, to the point that Nolan confesses that his stay on Earth has made him find feelings, such as love, that are not consistent to the Viltrumite way, which has been put his existence in question.
The bond between the Viltrumite and the Unopan grew to the point that Allen’s mission had changed: he was not there to find a potential ally, but to save a friend who was about to be executed for his crimes and betrayal against the Viltrumite Empire.Allen, who was not an important resource like Nolan, went straight to the execution, but they were all failed attempts, so like his friend, he had to sit and wait for the Viltrumites themselves to come therselves to execute him.
When the time finally came, Allen demonstrated how much his power strenght increased since his near death and recovery, since with a simple pull, he was able to destroy the handcuffs that held him in his cell, now is time to execute the plan.
To the Unopan’s surprise, another heavyweight fugitive such as Battle-Beast was being held in the same Viltrumite prison, and excited to fight, Battle-Beast joing him.
- Step one: Create distractions, trip alarms, cause as much damage as possible.
- Step two: Release prisoners.
- Step Three: Scan the prisoners, in search for a valuable resource to aid him.
Meanwhile in the execution chamber, we see Nolan handcuffed to the floor, at the mercy of two Viltrumite Agents who, as they proceed to execute him, lament that the situation has escalated to this point, and claim to consider him a hero due to his previous status in the empire.Suddenly, Allen and Battle-Beast make their entrance, interrupting this sacred ceremony, and the onepan frees Nolan while the other engages in combat with the Viltrumites.
As this combat begins, the rest of the prisoners manage to pass the prision’s security sistem, devising an escape. Battle Beast is having the time of his life due to finding a formidable enemy and enjoying the heat of the fight, while Allen and Nolan take fighton the other Viltrumite and an army of super-powered soldiers.
Although Allen resolves the situation by destroying the structure of the Viltrumite prison, he takes the fight to the darkness of outer space, where the rest of the aliens cannot breathe.
After attacking both at the same time, the Viltrumite and the Unopan crush the head of the agent, also a combat ecstatic Battle Beast is finishing off the other agent, possibly even continuing to beat him up after killing him.
Nolan informs Allen that they have enough time to recover their gear and can even get more supplies, because there is no backup for the Viltrumites on the way… it turns out that in the entire Universe there are at least 15 pure-blood Viltrumites alive, that It is the reason why the Coalition of Planets is favored to win.
Back at Planet Earth, accuraty the Grayson Household.
________Invincible #6_________
Mark and Eve discuss having their own house, as she is uncomfortable with Debbie listening to them having sex, and he is uncomfortable with having to fly to Africa every time they want intimacy.
While Eve thinks of a way they can get money, Oliver interrupts as he has a phone call for Mark.
Mark tells Eve that it’s something personal, which she will tell him later, and asks where she left her suit after using her superpowers to undress him the night before.
Turns out it’s Amber. At first, the hybrid thought that she only called her because she was feeling bad emotionally, whether because of what she said about her father’s death or something else, it turns out that she has been beaten by her new boyfriend, Gary, so Mark take care of this matter on your own.
While a furious Invincible controls himself enough to just intimidate and threaten Gary, perhaps breaking a couple of bones along the way, Kid Omni-man runs into Rampage, who asks for his assistance in another matter.
Mean those happens, Kid Omni-man was out on his first solo adventure, running into Rampage, who need the young hybrid help to get out this godzilla thing.Invincible assists Kid Omni-man in his fight against Rampage, who turns out to be trapped inside that huge robot and in his desperation to free himself caused havok in a big city, so Invincible ends up scolding his brother for the ineptitude with which he thought he had all this covered.
Eve’s house.
Mark lands in the yard, hides in a bush, and then hits the door. He is attended to by Eve’s stepmother, who invites him inside.
Once together, Mark explains to Eve what happened, and confesses that at one point he felt like killing this guy for hitting Amber, to which Eve tells him not to be so hard on himself.
All this comes from Mark’s insecurities: he has a lot of strength and a lot of anger, after seeing what Oliver has done to the Mauler Twins he is also afraid of what he can do, Eve comforts him by telling him that she has experience.
Grayson Household.
As soon as he returns home, Mark apologizes to Oliver, since he is still very young and he should take the responsibility of training him to be a superhero more seriously. At that moment, Oliver sees a reflection between the two. trees, and using his super speed Mark manages to grab an orb that is spying on him, but it explodes in his hands, without causing any damage to the young hero, but leaving it evident that someone is spying on them.
Who could Mark think is watching him?
_______Invincible #57__________
San Francisco, formerly base of the team known as the Teen Team.
We see Mark and Oliver assisting the super-hero faction that departed from The Guardians of the Globe team, it turns out that Mark has asked Rudy to analyze the remains of the spy orb that they have discovered.
When Robot finishes examining the remains of the device, he warns that it is in fact a surveillance device, but given its destruction they cannot be sure who or where it was transmitting to, although Invincible already had a number one suspect.
So, now we’ll get a look at what Invincible would be capable of.It’s curious how far the hero could go if his suspicions were true.
Washington, GDA bases, down belown the Pentagon.
While Agent Hunter and Cecil Sted-man are in a meeting updating on the hunt and whereabouts of Gary Hampton, the Wolf-man, Invincible breaks into the headquarters and begins to fight and kill some reani-men, most likely weaking GDA defenses and in order to call director Stedman atention, too.Cecil is instantly notified, so he opens a door that transports them to the place, and escorted by a squad of soldiers and Agent Hunter, he orders Invincible to stop and proceeds to interrogate him, at the same time that the hybrid accuses him of spying on his family.
Cecil asks Invincible to calm down and not let all his temper come out, at the same time that Agent Hunter asks what they are going to do about his problem.Because of the good times they’ve had, Cecil asks Mark for a favor.
Although Invincible refuses, Cecil tries to manipulate him by arguing how he could sleep peacefully knowing that he has done nothing to catch the Wolf-man, who is on the run after having murdered his wife. Agent Hunter intervenes, arguing that he has already tried but failed, while Invincible could do it in a while.
At the same time, another informant calls Cecil telling him that The Giant has escaped from prison and has been seen in the same area as the Wolf-man.
Willow Creek, Montana.
In parallel we see Gary, who has advanced in his training to confront and kill Zechariah in revenge for what he did to his wife. Although he has survived another test from the elder-blood, he warns him that the next test will not be given to him, but that others control his destiny tonight since both those who are hunting him and another threat will be present in the forest.
Gary goes into Wolf form and suits-up, we can see him later fighting the Giant, who has escaped from prison and argues that he already knows they will never make him president, that he just wants to return to his home. As he could not be otherwise, Invincible bursts in, disabling The Giant with a single blow to the head, and flies Wolf-man away.
After a little catch-up, Invincible beats-up The Giant and asks him to play good since he appreciates him and knows he is only a kid and the GDA is trying to help him, so aks him to bring in, leading a squad to arrive the place.
GDA Bases, down belown the Pentagon.
Things don’t go as well as Mark expected, not only does Agent Hunter mocks Gary calling him a murderer, but Cecil doesn’t even want to hear his version, since the bureaucracy that prevails in the agency establishes that this case is very public, there is too much t the stake for the media: the press knows him as “The werewolf superheroe wife-killer”, Gary`s story is so public that Cecil cannot leave it in the clear, so he is useless to the GDA.
The discrepancy between Cecil and both heroes escalates again towards conflict.
___The Astouding Wolf-man #11__
As soon as the Reani-men begin to show themselves, Cecil suggests surrendering or being forcibly shot down, thus beginning another confrontation with the Reani-men. Soon, Invincible recommends looking for an exit, thus both abandoning the Pentagon. In full flight, Invincible He is hit by the Immortal, so both he and the Wolf-man are knocked down and fall into a field.
It turns out that Cecil has sent the Guardians of the Globe after Invincible this time. The Immortal accuses Invincible of protecting a murderer, so he reproaches him that this is something they also know about, having Darkwing II united between them. their ranks, and although The Immortal assures that they have no reason to fight, Invincible takes the initiative by attacking him.
When Darkwing II attempts to take the Wolf-man into the shadowerse, Invincible assists in helping him by preventing him from being captured, and neutralizes all the Guardians by beating and knocking them out using The Immortal as a weapon against them, thus defeating the Guardians of the Globe team.
Hampton State
Gary asks Invincible to leave him at what used to be his house, once here he introduces him to his daughter Chloe, who is asleep, and tells him how she found him holding the body of his late wife, Rebecca, just when he found her dead. As soon as Invincible asks where Zecharaiah is now, Dunford appears, who is eager to reunite with Gary.
Invincible assures Gary that when the time comes he can count on him to face Zechariah. Before he leaves, Gary asks him to take him back to Willow Creek, Montana. The Elder-blood asks who Gary’s partner was, to which Gary replies that something he thought he would never have again, a friend. .
GDA Bases, down belown the Pentagon.
While Cecil’s informants have already monitored and found the Wolf-man’s exact location, Cecil takes the final word that everyone stands by for instructions, Gary may still prove useful, so they will keep him in surveillance, deciding what they will do with him.
__The Astouding Wolf-man #12__
Willow Creek, Montana.
The Elder-blood notices a lot of progress in Gary, so he announces to him that they are done, that the little he has left to learn will be done at his expense and that he will no longer be welcome in his forest.
Chicago, near Stronghold Pennitientiary.
We see a truck transporting the villainous inmates Construct, Eruptor and Thrill-kill, suddenly it crashes, since Construct had planned the escape, and sabotaged the vehicle’s engine causing a crash.
Then we see them access an unidentified place, Construct tells them that this is her sanctuary. Thir-kill tries to take-over the whole place, so slashes Erupto’s neck and tries to slash Construct too, but soon finds out that she is protected by some laser rays inside this building. Construct asks what where their goals before this , money, respect, dominance… they could acomplish all of this together, also she suggests their to go by the name of Triple Threat.
Construc thinks that the Triple Threat first act must be something bigger than robbery or similar, so he purposes killing some superhero, especially one who may later come after them, so the decision is unanimous, the whole team goes for Wolf-man.
Wolf-man HQ’s, down belown Westedge Outlet Center.
While Gary is stunned looking at his old base of operations, where he witnessed the murder of his wife for which he is now blamed, Cecil bursts in transporting while telling him that the government doesn’t know what to do with the place, that they were considering selling it to Capes Inc but it is not big enough to accommodate them.
Gary turns into wolf-form but Cecil warns him that he has tracked him down and has come to tell him that although he cannot help him officially, he will do everything possible to assist him until he can clear his name, at first he informs him that the government will take action. charge of this place, but in the meantime he can use it to stay here.
The Wolf-man is stunned… to which Cecil responds that he is not heartless and believes him, that he will do what he can to help him, but that he should not let himself be caught, otherwise he will escape from the hands of he.
Willow Park, Montana.
The Triple Threat villains arrive at the scene and begin to cause havoc, even going so far as to set fire to the forest, waiting for Wolf-man to appear, but to their surprise it is the Elder-blood who will engage in combat with them.
Cypres Hill Cemetery.
Ignoring logic, Gary continues moving around, and goes to the cemetery to pay respect to Rebecca’s grave, this is the first time he has visited the grave. Shocked by what has happened, he spends more hours than expected there, and along with dawn Agent Hunter appears leading a squad, effectively managing to arrest Gary.
Deaths
- Nameless Viltrumite Agent #1.
- Killed by: Allen & Nolan.
Both punched the Viltrumite agent in the head, blowing his brains off.
- Nameless Viltrumite Agent #2.
- Killed by: Battle-Beast.
Excited to find a worthy opponent, Battle Beast beated him to dead in hand-to-hand combat.
- Lots of alien super-soldiers.
- Killed by: Nolan, Allen, Battle-beast and another fugitives.
- Few Reani-men.
- Killed by: Invincible.
After breaking into GDA HQ´s, Invincible killed a few Reani-men thinking that Cecil was after him and his brother.
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Curiosities
- While Allen and Nolan were in prison, the Unopan spoke to the Viltrumite about his son Oliver, this being the first time Nolan heard about his youngest son, who the last time he saw was just a todler.
- Most likely, Battle Beast was looking for worthy adversaries, leading him to end locked up in the Viltrumite prison.
- Nolan is surprised at Allen’s level of strength after the Unopan regeneration.
- Debbie breaks Eve’s prejudice “They don’t look up.” Nothing inusual after being Omni-man’s wife for so many years.
- Rudy assures that multi-tasking is something native to him, even knowing how to use his drone much better than his own body. This is something that is much more expanded in the TV series.
- Kid Omni-man hints at joining the ranks of departed Guardians of the Globe faction.
- Rex warnsInvincible that he should be more careful, since at this point some villains have a personal thing against him.
- It’s curious to think how far Invincible would have gone against Cecil if he had really spied on his family. Confronting the reani-men may even be the first step in weakening GDA defenses.
- Cecil uses his charisma again to manipulate Invincible.
- Agent Hunter, ex-Agent Invincible, gets to know the young hero running by his formerly nickname.
- The bureaucracy that he prevails over the GDA limits the actions with which it can cover certain cases.
- This is the first time Invincible fight the Guardians of the Globe.
- The government considers giving Wolf-man bundle to Capes Inc. but they imply that this building does not meet their needs, which is strange, given that the Capes are housed in an ordinary NYC building.
- Gary is locked up in Strong-hold prison, where an alternative Invincible - akaMohawk Mark- will later wreak havoc, through the Invincible War.
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Next reads
- Part 25 covering Noble Causes #37 (Spin-off)
- Part 26 covering The Astouding Wolfman #12 - #15 & Invincible #58 & 59
- Part 27 covering Atom Eve & Rex Splode special.
- Part 28 covering The Invincible War. #60 - The Astouding Wolfman #16 TechJacket TPB2 Vol III.
- Part 29 covering Invincible #61-#65.