After the broad-scoped story of the first two issues, Invincible Universe #3 focuses on a single character, El Chupacabra, whose been in rough shape for a while now, since he contributed to the death of teammate Cast Iron back in Guarding of the Globe V.1 in 2011. How does being back in the spotlight treat him? Here’s the official description of the issue from Image:

Chupacabra is a recovering alcoholic with a lot to atone for. But will he find redemption in Siberia, at the hands of his dead teammate’s family, or climb back into the bottle?

There’s a lot of material to be covered in this issue: reestablishing Chupacabra’s history and status quo, introducing the setting, laying groundwork for the the story’s twist, all before actually including a conflict. Phil Hester does a great job at this, also managing to include some humor and to establish a theme that resurfaces a couple times throughout, before culminating in a pretty good “eff yeah” line delivered on the last page. My biggest problem is that I would have liked to see more of the Die Hard-esque, one man against an army action portion that fills the latter half of the book. The major difference in power levels between Chupacabra and his opponents could have made for a ton of good fight scenes. This story could easily have been spread over two issues, though it may have developed new pacing problems in that case.

Todd Nauck‘s artwork is always a treat. His backgrounds are a bit more detailed this issues (partly because the setting calls for it) and he makes some interesting viewing angle choices to keep things fresh. His inking, particularly around the figures, is just a bit heavy. Chupacabra’s hair was driving me crazy, but that’s just a matter of taste.

Invincible Universe #3 is a good done-in-one story. While it doesn’t feel completely essential to the series, it’s a great introduction to Chupacabra’s character.

4/5

Zac Boone‘s mom thinks he’s just wonderful. Follow him on twitter.