1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Plot/Story:
Art:
Dialogue:
Presentation:

I don't quite see what everyone does in Robert Kirkman. There is a ton of potential in his work, but unlike the blatant and unwarranted comparisons to Brian Bendis, so far, in this reviewers' opinion, he has accomplished almost nothing that justifies all the buzz surrounding everything he touches. Don't get me wrong, he is a great writer, but all of the projects that he has done to date have been works that should receive only minor praise.

"Invincible" is nothing original. It follows a simple concept and is a fusion between Spiderman and Superboy. And I very much dislike the praise behind "Walking The Dead" since it is a direct and obvious clone of every zombie movie ever made. Sure, the dialogue in it may be superb, but it drags on and becomes incredibly boring at critical moments. But this review is not about Robert Kirkman, it is about Tech Jacket, which I must say, is probably Kirkman's weakest work to date (besides the horrible and terrifying Captain America/Falcon…yikes).

Think of Kirkman's Invincible, Power Rangers, Gundam and Ultraman with an intergalactic war and you should figure out approximately 90% of the plot behind this volume. However, there are a multitude of issues that plague this book as a whole. The battles some time last approximately nine panels, there is a tired and redundant "chosen one" backbone plot, cheesy dialogue lines like "Take me to your leader!" and the main characters super quick acceptance of the tech jacket, then his seven panel acceptance of him being the chosen one, agreeing there are aliens around, and there is a war in which he somehow has been prophesized to help end. I think that was a run on. Besides the point... where the heck is the government when he comes in an out of the atmosphere? There are tons of holes, many of which I did not mention, but ones that are easily distinguishable. Believe me, I am not nitpicking as they are easily spotted.

The saving grace of the series is the phenomenal artwork. Obviously a great choice of Japanese anime/manga, E.J. Su, is one great artist. There is an unheard of consistency throughout his artwork. Everyone looks the same, in a good way of course, panel to panel, and there are great story to art transitions. One could also see the prevalent detail in the artists' work, as all the background is filled, with only minor white panels. Just great stuff, if anyone has potential, it's definitely this artist.

This digest edition is very intriguing. It was made to capitalize on the manga-ish artwork and Japanese like content and I must say it does a commendable job. And unlike it's regular sized counterpart, this sucker comes in black and white which only makes Mr. Su's artwork all the more merrier. However, would you really shell out 13 bucks for a Gundam/Power Rangers imitation? It may be a swift read, but it also is one of Robert Kirkman's weakest works. I say pass the ketchup for this under cooked and rare generic brand steak.

- Pawel Goj