There’s some very good stuff this issue. Not all of it, but some of it. Bechko and Hardman have get a couple good surprises in—the most impressive aspect of Invisible Republic (so far) is how thoughtful and controlled their narrative moves. It almost reads like an adaptation of something else—a novel—thanks to that thoughtfulness. There’s…

The present continues to be a problem in Invisible Republic. Dystopian, otherworldly newspaper stories just don’t have much potential apparently. Especially not when the solution is simple–either Maia dies (regardless of how) or she lives. She might be some kind of mythic figure or a rich lady or a poor lady, but there are limited…

Little bit too much future stuff going on this issue of Invisible Republic. There’s a whole action sequence with the reporter. Hardman’s art is intricate for the action sequence, which has two parts in the issue and is bigger than anything in the flashback. The flashback’s somewhat stronger, but opening with the reporter in a…

This issue of Invisible Republic has a little too much flashback and not enough with the reporter in the present. The problem is how little the flashback stuff actually matters; sure, the girl is sympathetic, but only because she’s in an unfair situation and she has a psycho future-dictator for a cousin. The stuff in…

I’m going to be cynical for a second and remember Orson Scott Card did a spin-off of his Ender’s Game novels where he told the story of the brother turned benevolent dictator. Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko’s Invisible Republic does the story of the cousin turned regular crappy dictator. It’s not, from what I can…