Invasive

Invasive is going to ruin your appetite!

Invasive taps into a disgusting and terrifying part of the world. Surgery and those addicted to cosmetic surgery. This horror graphic novel took my brain to some terrifying places and I found myself having to put this story down from time to time so I could get the images out of my head.

Cullen Bunn has done it again by crafting another horrifying adventure that readers are going to love! And the ending is one that readers won’t see coming!

Invasive is an incredibly gruesome and gory graphic novel with incredible art work and a gripping, twisted storyline. I personally really enjoyed this one and will be keeping an eye out for anymore to come in this series!

Very creepy body horror mystery from one of the masters, Cullen Bunn. Dark, gory, funny, sad...wonderful!

Dr. Carrie Reynolds, a master trauma surgeon, faces a nightmare when her daughter, Heather, is found catatonic with her vocal cords removed—one of many victims of gruesome underground surgeries. Beneath the city, a rogue group of surgeons defies medical ethics, turning alleys into operating rooms and murder into medicine. As the body count rises, Carrie is the only one who can stop them.

Packed with blood and gore, this novel isn't for the faint-hearted. I absolutely loved its storyline, illustrations and attention to detail, and give it 5 stars.

Special thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a great gory body horror graphic novel.

This is a collection of all four sections that make up the full story, which wraps up nicely, I am not a fan of stories that end on a cliff hanger.

The Artwork was outstanding, gritty and gory, and fitted the story perfectly.

The story was excellent and hard to put down, interesting characters, and with a good flow.

This is the first book by Cullen Bunn I've read, and I loved it, so now I have to see what else he has done that I can find.

If you like a good mad doctor, body horror Graphic novel, then you will love this.

A great new addition to horror comics! Medical horror is such a fun subset of body horror and I can't think of many comics that explore it. The horror is delightfully grotesque and I love the art style used here. The color red pops so much and I love how it was used for the blood and the eyes of the suits. It feels like a companion to the movie "American Mary" and it's such a fun time. Definitely would reccomend.

I'm 100% a Cullen Bunn fan. The story was great. The entire story gave me Repo! The Genetic Opera vibes - folks addicted to surgery that will do anything to get it? Folks that let elective cosmetic procedures completely destroy their outward appearance? A journey through to the grotesque? Yes, please! The art work was great as well. Good stuff all around.

This one was quite terrifying, but really interesting. It's pretty dark and you really should have the stomach for that and be in the mood to read something that will make you question a few things.

Book title: Invasive #1 by Cullen Bunn

Rating: 💀💀💀💀

Opinion: Thank you @netgalley and @onipress for the ARC of this really cool read! This is my first time rating a comic but I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it!
In a world full of nips and tucks, this is original nightmare fuel. There is definitely no lack of gore throughout the entirety of Invasive. I can’t wait to get my heads on the upcoming issues to find out how this twisted story plays out! 🔪🥼🩸

This quick read, transported me right back to 2008 when I watched “Repo: The Genetic Opera” for the first time. IYKYK and if you don’t know, you need to do a quick google search and watch immediately. Thank me later.

Summary: This story follows Dr. Carrie Reynolds whose daughter suffered from a very traumatic incident while attempting to overcome plastic surgery addiction. Slowly but surely, more and more individuals are being found missing vital pieces of their bodies throughout the city. It appears a new team of underground surgeons has set their sites on unsuspecting victims and will stop at nothing to get their gore fix.

Side note: The cover C illustration is awesome (swipe to third pic to see it)!

A real thrill ride that starts off as intriguing mystery, quickly moves into some great action, and ending on proper body horror. A fantastic read from start to finish.

The art style is polished, and the gloomy almost Noir aesthetic fits perfectly with the themes.

My only complaint is that it was over too quickly.

A solid 4/5

Invasive is probably the best horror comic I’ve read this year.

With its subject matter, part of which consists of crazy pseudo surgeons and people addicted to needless medical procedures just for the thrill of being operated on, it would have been very easy for this story to be one note and schlocky, leaning heavily on its premise and offering little else of value.

Invasive never veers into this pitfall however, and instead presents a compellingly original story with complex characters, stunningly rendered in beautiful line and color work. The result is a thoughtful tale and one I have no problem recommending to anyone with a reasonably strong stomach.

The plot, a lean and competent premise, is that a former detective and doctor team up to seek justice after the doctor’s daughter barely escapes the clutches of a mysterious group of murderous surgeons whose operations bring only mutilation and death to their unwilling patients. The daughter remains unresponsive in a comma and with no other leads detective and surgeon search for answers in support groups for people addicted to medical procedures and in back alley operating theaters headed by unscrupulous, partially trained doctors.

This story succeeds ably as a narrative and within its pages are stunning examples of gorgeous, if grotesque, artwork. The horror is definitely there, but it’s doled out with judicious restraint, making it all the more effective and shocking. This lesson is one many authors and especially creators of horror graphic novels, would do well to emulate, effective scares are often as brief as they are terrifying. The world Invasive creates is believable yet slightly askew, a shadowy, paranoid place that evokes nothing so much as an episode of the Twilight Zone written by Clive Barker.

If there isn’t more of this story in the works, then there certainly should be. Albeit, fans of a short, standalone tell won’t be dissatisfied in the least.

Cullen Bunn is the writer of comic books such The Sixth Gun, Shadow Roads, The Damned, and Helheim for Oni Press. He has also written titles including Harrow County (Dark Horse), Uncanny X-Men, and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe(Marvel). Cullen claims to have worked as an alien autopsy specialist, rodeo clown, pro wrestling manager, and sasquatch wrangler. He has fought for his life against mountain lions and performed on stage as the world’s youngest hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime and he'll tell you all about it. His newest graphic novel is Invasive, illustrated by Jesús Hervás and Federico Sabbatini.

Invasive follows the tale of Dr. Carrie Reynolds, who is a skilled surgeon. However, there is a new type of “hospital” in town, one that will perform the most horrible surgeries. Her daughter, Heather, is addicted to plastic surgery to the point that she is now comatose and hospitalized. She’s not the only one, as the police are currently investigating a series of murders and mutilations, all of which are linked to this unknown hospital and its doctors. Dr. Reynolds and the police pursue their leads to the end, discovering a cult of surgeons who believe they can remake the world, one incision at a time.

This is a violent and bloody graphic novel. It reads like a noir plot, with lots of intrigue and false leads, but the bulk of the book is based around the simple idea of addiction to surgery. These addicts are portrayed in ways meant to both shock and horrify the readers, drawing parallels between current addicts and the way they’re ignored and marginalized by society. The socio-political critique is thick in this book, and Bunn examines not just the medical ethics behind plastic surgery but the effects it has on patients, their ideas about themselves, their body images, etc.

This plot is evocatively illustrated by Jesús Hervás and Federico Sabbatini. The images are very stylized, with the scars and infections visible and on display. This is meant to be splatter or body horror, and lots of red ink was used to color these pages. But nothing is so over-the-top or bizarre as to be inconsistent or unreasonable, which is what makes this book so much more terrifying. There is nothing in this book that could not happen. There are no fantastic monsters or aliens, simply human beings caught up in their own egotistical madness, and the results of their insanity are gorgeously, but disturbingly, inked and painted for readers to thrill over.

Cullen Bunn is no stranger to inventive horror and graphic novels, so it should be no surprise that this novel is equally as impressive. The psychological horror of this book, rooted in the nature of addiction, is disturbing. The layers of body and splatter horror, expertly illustrated, simply add to the discomfort for the reader. Ultimately, this is disturbing graphic novel about surgery addiction, and horror readers will absolutely want to check this out immediately.

Dark and weird, twisted and disturbing. This graphic novel is a brutal exploration of the underbelly of wellness culture. There is a lot of subtext to unpack. Fast paced and thought provoking. Great narrative art that propels the story and mirrors the horror of the events.

I was hooked right from the start.

Just a heads-up. There is a lot of blood and gore in this graphic novel, as well as potentially triggering topics: plastic surgery addiction, assault, self-harm, body mutilation, dismemberment, and death. I wont be surprised if this one actually gives me nightmares.

This body horror comic is perfect for Halloween season. It’s super creepy and has a beautifully grotesque art style. I enjoyed my time with it and I can’t wait to see how it continues in the next parts of the series.

It is viscerally gorey and while at a glance the people look like they’ve been turned into zombies it’s actually the work of a plastic surgeon turning people into monsters. I can’t imagine the horror of paying someone to make me feel and look beautiful in my own eyes and instead my body becomes completely butchered.

It’s a horrifying prospect and I very much enjoyed reading. It’s a scary prospect to be the one trying to stop this maniacal doctors and the fight is a gorey one. This action horror comic is a great read!