A solid effort from Bunn and Co.
A medical thriller with touches of horror. The characters could have used a bit of fleshing out, but overall a solid read with tension throughout

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Oni Press for an advance copy of this graphic novel, that combines the loathing that many people have for themselves. the hopes of living forever and the sadism that seems to be rising in American society.

I have been lucky in that the only medical operation I have had, so far, was the removal of wisdom teeth in the seventh grade. I did not like the experience. Going to sleep with everything I had been born with, and awakening with holes in my gums, parts of me taken away. This is my closest experience with medical transformation. I have always been well portly, but never ever thought of going under the knife to fix it. Heck my eyes are terrible, but LASIK would never ever be an option. I"m not fan of elective surgery. I do have to confess something.I have little interest in shows on bad plastic surgery or acne popping, I have always loved movies dealing with body horror. David Cronenberg, and the like have always been some of my favorite forms of horror. Books also, medical wonders, and medical oddities, have found their way onto my shelves. Soon to be joined by this graphic novel. Invasive written by Cullen Bunn with art by Jesús Hervás and Federico Sabbatini is a story about body horror, loathing oneself, searching for answers, and being changed by finding them.

Dr Carrie Reynolds was a trauma doctor of note, able to take the most troubling cases, in the worst conditions and save lives. Reynolds daughter was a survivor of plastic surgery addiction, but was in recovery, untill the night she disappeared, and was later found with vocal cords, taken in a very sloppy procedure. Reynold's daughter is not the only one. Someone is operating on people with or without their permission, taking parts, but not cleanly. This looks like the job more of a butcher than a medical person. Or butchers. Reynolds is approached by a cop on suspension who has gotten close to another survivor, to help find out what is going on. Together the two attend recovery sessions for medical addicts, and getting close to a secret that people are willing to kill for, or commit acts of surgery that might be worse than death.

A grim dark little story that speaks both to the self-loathing of many people, and the dark truth that much of what scientists learn in medicine do need human volunteers. Add in parental guilt, poor health care choices for many, and of course good old obsession, and one has a dark story full of gore. And yes this is a gory little tale. Bunn is a good writer able to set up characters and situations in just a few panels that make the characters seem real and interesting. Bunn also seems to have a fascination with the medicine which also adds to the story. There are plenty of twists and turns, and lots and lots of blood. The art is good, gory, and yet clinical in a way. The art is also both atmospheric and claustrophobic. Even the church rooms where the people met to discuss their medical addictions seem small, and threatening. Like anything could happen. And it does quite a bit.

A nice addition to the genre of body horror, with great art and a story that really moves along. Cullen Bunn has a really good idea about what scares people, and has a very good collection of collaborators to bring his thoughts to the page. Not to be given to one getting their tonsils removed, but perfect for horror fans.

2.5 stars

Eh, not the greatest honestly. There was a lot of gore and little plot. You're just kinda thrown into the middle of the story with little to no explanation and that made the big twist reveal at the end fall pretty short.

In a world where almost any kind of surgery is possible, there are also addicts who can't stop themselves from performing operations on their body, becoming addicted to the procedure. But there are also people who are not willingly patients to a group of surgeons, being used as study subjects and obscure experiments. Two people, an ex-cop and a mother with a mutilated daughter, band together to find the so-called "doctor" and his minions to bring an end to their brutal work. But what they find might be more than they hoped for....
A brutal, hard-on-the-eye (and stomach) story that had me glued to the pages with a queasy feeling while reading. The illustrations are ruthless, repulsive and almost unimaginable, at times giving you a sick feeling of voyeurism though you can't stop looking further. I both wish the story would have been longer with regards to character building and background story, while at the same time being glad it was as short as it was, sparing me from any more of such intense images. While looking like some really exploitive sick stuff at first glance, the story also unavoidably triggers thoughts about the possibilities of modern medicine and surgery when abused by wrong intentions.

A horror story graphic novel about a doctor who is doing some black market surgery. This story has some really creepy parts and a wtf moment that I was not expecting. Would definitely read the next one to see what happens next.

Had a good roll of horror graphic novels from Oni Press this year and Invasive keeps this run going.

It was the cover of this that initially drew me to it as it is so striking, as is that art throughout the work. Dark and visceral, lending a great deal of weight to the story, a lot of the work is in shadow and the horror is caught in glimpses for the most part.

This was a new direction for me though as I’m not usually a fan of body horror, far more comfortable with cosmic and psychological horror.

A downward spiral into a world of mutilation and surgery, self harm and elective changes, but in this bloodied town we have something even more sinister going on.

Following a mother and a detective ‘on leave’ as they try to get to the bottom of the more sinister side of this world of blades and blood, both with personal reasons to try to find out the truth. For the most part this really worked, especially the weird gas masked surgeons.

Pay off for the whole story was a bit unexpected but still worth the read.

I received this from NetGalley and Oni Press in exchange for an honest review.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review) undife
Lately (which is an undefined period of time from years to weeks), reading a comic by Cullen Bunn feels like participating in a raffle; you do not always get what you want.
Invasive is kind of a middle prize. It could have been better, for sure, but it could have definitely been worse. The idea is a simple but bizarre one: someone is targeting people and performing horrifying surgery on them. A detective and the mother of one of the victims team up to find out what is happening and apprehending the bad guy once and for all.
Mild body horror (bearing in mind the topic at hand), good pace and with a kind of twist at the ending, Invasive is a fast reading that, sadly, I do not think it would be chosen among Bunn’s finest work.

I love the art style and the concept as a whole and if this were to be a series I would continue for sure, but I think it really could’ve benefited with some more length, if I had gotten to know the characters better and become more attached to them then that betrayal would have hit so much harder I did really love the ending though.

Okay, yes this comic was quite graphic and terrifying.

The truth is that at the beginning I didn't understand anything and although I had read the synopsis and knew where it was going to go, I felt quite lost.

The illustration is tremendously intense and has a very macabre touch that makes it unique. I saw that it has several more volumes and this is interesting because you can really go into a lot of depth, not only with this story but also with what happened in society.

Thank you Oni ​​Press for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a huge fan of Cullen Bunn, but Invasive didn't impress me. The novel is brutal and extreme, filled with graphic body horror. While I'm okay with disturbing content if it serves a purpose, I'm not sure it did in this case.

Too rushed, graphic for the sake of being graphic, and with no actual answers. It's usually a good thing for me lose track of time when reading, but this time it wasn't the case: the script was too busy trying to be shocking and mysterious at the same time, and I realize it is because of Cullen's style. It doesn't work for me, to the point that I didn't underdstand the ending or even part of the development.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advanced copy of this graphic novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I rated this book 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.

Invasive follows this former cop who is investigating people who have either been maimed or murdered by this psychopathic plastic surgeon. The surgeon preys on people addicted to plastic surgery, but he himself is addicted to performing the grotesque surgeries. Tagging along with the cop is a mother of one of the surgeon's victims, seeking vengeance for her daughter.

I absolutely loved the gritty, graphic artwork in this novel. It was extremely disturbing and gorgeous all at the same time. The story also held a lot of promise, but did fall a little flat. I think if there was some more character development/backstory, this would have been fantastic. It would have been nice to get more of a motive from the surgeon, and the ending was abrupt. Not sure if there will be more installments, as the ending could have gone both ways. I also wish the ending was a bit more fleshed out instead of the very quick conclusion.

All this being said, I did enjoy this one a lot, it was easy and simple to follow, and it was very disturbing and horrific - which in the end, made it a very enjoyable, quick read.

This was more frightening than I anticipated! Invasive surgery as a fear does make sense though. I wish the ending hadn't felt so abrupt, I really wanted to know more.

A gruesome story about surgery addiction. Very graphic and unsettling. Full of gore with a heartbreaking story, it was an interesting and horrific read.

I was not expecting any of this and I was pleasantly surprised. I loved how raw and how the art work had commentary on current beauty standards. It reminded me so much of hostel. I just wish we had more of it.

Really good drawings and the story was pretty exciting. Gruesome with some sharp characters. I really enjoyed it!

An enjoyable read although the ending was a little abrupt. The writing kept the story interesting and the artwork really drove the whole thing. Would recommend.

Thank you so much net galley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review! This is my first Cullen bunn graphic novel and it did not disappoint ! Review in link below

Well, that's the creepiest thing I've read for a while. I read body horror sometimes but there's something extra here, because the illustrations really bring the "ick" factor to a whole new level. This isn't very long but there's tension the whole time. It felt so real.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I'm a fan of many other Cullen Bunn books and though this had me interested the entire time, the ending fell flat for me. It explored an interesting body mutilating surgery concept that I haven't seen in other comics I've read and it was certainly creepy in my aspects, which I enjoyed, but it felt very fast and that ending left me with confusion that I feel could have been explained away much better.