Advance Review — ‘Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man’ #1, Or Of Mice And (Vanishing) Men

Have you ever felt invisible? You walk into a room and no one pays attention? You’re standing there being ignored, even though you’re trying be engaging?

Lab assistant Jack Griffin knows that feeling well. And in Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man #1, he plans to use it to his advantage. Jack experiments with a rare drug and creates a compound that renders a mouse invisible. It soon becomes clear that the serum has driven the affected rodent to become homicidal when it slaughters the others in its cage. But Jack’s own delusions convince him that the mouse did the right thing. After all, the invisible mouse was smarter than its peers. Why should it put up with their inadequacies?

Writer James Tynion IV, who masterfully adapted the Dracula story in an earlier sister series, is again in top form here. He lays out Jack’s intricate and compelling descent into madness. Jack considers himself to be superior to those around him – and with his invisibility serum now has the means to prove it.

Tynion takes the concept of invisibility and expands it beyond the literal. Jack enjoys taking part in conversations where he’s not acknowledged. It gives him the opportunity to fantasize about throttling the others in the chat. In fact, save for a short flash-forward, he’s never literally invisible in this first issue.

His mental deterioration is also on full display before he ever injects himself thanks to artist Dani’s surrealistic visuals. One look at Jack’s maniacal smile and we know exactly the kind of person we’re dealing with. No word balloons are necessary. In fact, the entire issue has a fuzzy, dreamlike look to it – almost as if we’re readying the story through cheesecloth. Given that Dani doesn’t have much action to work with, she does a remarkable job in making the issue a page turner. And a special shoutout to colorist Brad Simpson who gives the artwork a dark, foreboding tone.

Perhaps the creative team’s most remarkable is taking a story’s opening chapter – which is practically all set up and nearly no action – and making it compelling. That’s the sign of an experienced horror writer at the top of his game and an artist who knows how to dangle just enough to engage an audience.

Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man #1 will be available in comic book stores and digital platforms on August 27th from Image Comics.