Invincible Presents: Battle Beast #11
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist:Ryan Ottley
Colorist: Annalisa Leoni
Letterer:Rus Wooton
Invincible presents: Battle Beast #11 is a very gory and fun continuation of the battle between Conquest and Battle Beast and knows what the reader wants from it. It gives us panel after panel of blood and destruction, but without forgetting to show us its consequences. Its pacing and dialogue, as well as its ending, only further highlights how both characters are similar in their madness. The dynamic this creates gives you something you didn’t know you wanted, smack dab in the middle of delivering its promises.
Issue #11 wastes no time and panel on delivering hard hitting action as Battle Beast is chasing a glorious death against Conquest, who has an insatiable hunger for fights. This makes for a thrillingly endearing dynamic between them. But it leaves only ruins around them, filled with the bodies of bystanders.
The time the issue spends to show us the Fantanian recovery efforts of trapped citizens in the middle of their clash, but doing so in small panels right in the middle of the fight, allows us to feel like we are not missing a beat.
This makes sure we know the cost that this battle has to everyone around them without sacrificing its swift pacing. I believe the dynamic of a broken Fantania could have overstayed its welcome, but thankfully the fight takes to the skies, giving us a lot of cool visuals like a huge dragon against Conquest or Battle Beast taming it only to use it like sand in Conquest’s eyes for more hits to be thrown.
With the dragon dead and Battle Beast trying to kill Conquest mid-flight, even striking him as he tries to speak, they land in a river filled with huge monsters, further complicating their fight.
There is only one character in the world of Invincible that could be quoted by Conquest as maybe madder than he is, and that is this character. This exact dynamic is, as previously mentioned, why this comic is such a blast.
Robert Kirkman knew that this was what we needed from this series: a battle for the ages between two characters that love nothing more than mortal combat. Delivering on this promise however, allowed Kirkman to also give us something even better. I am of course speaking about the issue’s ending. In a moment filled with the entertaining banter of the two rivals, a truce is made for them to kill the local wildlife before they again battle each other to the death.
It’s a team up that is sure to only last for 2-6 pages, but nonetheless makes for a great way to further the relationship of the two combatants, and end the penultimate issue of this series promising a finale to wait for.
Overall, Robert Kirkman has written a popcorn movie worthy issue, and its dialogue, even when things are dire, like the conversation between King Salaka and his guard, are fun. I couldn’t have agreed more with the guard’s “are you a moron?” question towards King Salaka when he realized that Conquest never came here with the intention of peace. A fact that was also something that was pointed out to him last issue as well, by Battle Beast.
Ryan Ottley’s art is and as it always has been in Invincible Presents: Battle Beast, fun. The 2 pages with 16 panels create a beautiful swift rhythm that is used magnificently as a set up for a double page spread that just convinces me that Ottley has been having fun making this comic series. Annalisa Leoni’s colors are also fun and I don’t believe they could be any better for this series. They fit Ottley’s art like a glove and serve as an amplifier for his work.
Invincible Presents: Battle Beast #11 is delivering on all promises that were made with the fight between Battle Beast and Conquest but it does not forget to twist its story into something even better, making them team up in the middle of their fight. This twist, alongside the thrilling dynamic of the two characters, promise an epic finale in the next and final issue.