Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man #2 – Insidious Invisibility

James Tynion IV (Detective Comics, Something is Killing the Children) is well known for weaving a layer of unspoken dread into his comics. From the award-winning eerie ambience of “Something Is Killing The Children” (BOOM! Studios) to the even creepier than usual shadows of his Detective Comics run, Tynion creates the feeling of an unknown threat. A skill that makes him perfect for a 4-issue stint on the Invisible Man.

In the second issue of Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man, we pick up several months into Jack Griffin’s insidious experiments, which began back in Issue #1 with the invisible rat. Jack works his magic through a mixture of weird science and the all-important Monocaine substance in the dark shadows of the night in his laboratory. A lab that he shares with his competitive colleague Dr. Arthur Kemp, much to his chagrin.

As the reader, we see what Griffin hides from everyone else, what he himself keeps invisible. He hides a thinly disguised relationship with his boss’s daughter, Flora Cranely. He makes unscrupulous use of various animal test subjects. And most chillingly, his inner thoughts of murdering everyone around him. Throughout the second issue, Jack becomes increasingly morbid and detached from the world around him until his competition with Dr. Kemp pushes him over the edge.

James Tynion IV draws us into the character of Jack and makes the people around him come alive with clear flaws. Where the “horror” truly shines is how Jack perceives these flaws as death sentences rather than individual quirks. The idea was planted back in the first issue, but issue #2 practically confirms that Jack’s obsession with power combined with his irritability will ultimately lead to his doom and everyone else’s.

DaNi (Coffin Bound) was a perfect choice for a slow-burning horror comic series. Their art captures the dark persona of Dr. Jack Griffin and the time period environment so well that the comic’s status as only a four-issue limited series is regrettable. The way DaNi draws the face of Griffin as unassuming but vaguely intimidating really sells the scenes where Griffin shifts between his agreeable outward persona and his invisible inner monologue.

The colors by Brad Simpson (The Amazing Spider-Man) are cold and detached in the moments where Griffin turns darker or his rivalry with Kemp reaches a fever pitch, but bright and full of vitality when Griffin must put on his social mask, such as when interacting with Flora or his boss, Dr. Cranely.