Just as we focused on Chupacabra last month, this issue gives us a closer look at another member of the Guardians, Best Tiger. As a whole, the series is still eschewing an overarching plot in favor of more intimate stories that help us see the larger…wait for it… Invincible Universe. Here’s the official description of issue four from Image: 

No one is better than Best Tiger.

Phil Hester‘s story this month is pretty high-concept. Right away we open with Best Tiger, who is one of the series’ more obscure characters, killing Ms. Popper, then proceeding to take out the other Guardians one by one.  It quickly becomes obvious that there will have to be a twist of some sort (otherwise those solicits for the next few issues would make no sense at all) and you’re simply left wondering what it will be. The nuts and bolts, scene-to-scene writing of the issue is great, but everything is riding on that twist, and I honestly think it could have been improved with a little rearranging. Because we’re dropped into Tiger’s killing spree right away, with no build up, our ingrained sense of plot tells us that the series couldn’t possibly go off the rails so quickly (such unpredictability would rival Game of Thrones). There’s no indication of why he’s doing this, until the very end, whereas if we’d been given some reason, any reason, we might have been able to accept things at face value for a bit longer.

Todd Nauck‘s artwork is great. His signature style is completely different from every other artist. His ability to cram a lot of characters, a lot of action, and (relatively speaking) a lot of far away shots, onto each page is consistently impressive. One thing that stands out is that this is a particularly bloody issue, which contrast sharply with Nauck’s somewhat cartooney style.

While the twist is hardly unexpected, this is another high-quality issue of Invincible Universe. In terms of craftsmanship, no series can beat it.

4/5

Zac got a commission from Todd Nauck last month at HeroesCon in Charlotte. If you followed him on twitter you would have seen it already.