When Invincible was announced as an animated series, I was game. I have read the adventures of Mark Grayson way back and it is wonderfully written by none other than Robert Kirkman of Walking Dead fame. Both the comics and the TV show.
Who is Invincible
In the comics Mark Grayson is a teenager who’s told by his dad, Nolan, at the age of seven, that he is half Viltrumite. The race his biological dad, known as Omni-Man is. Mark however is half human because his dad married an Earth woman named Deborah. Nolan added to that that one day Mark will develop powers of his own.
One night at Mark’s afternoon job, he takes out the trash and his powers manifest when he throws a bag of trash into space. Happy as he can be he goes home to tell his parents. His powers, which increase in power with use, are: super strength, speed, flight, some invulnerability and fast healing. Add to that able to lift in far excess of 100,000 tons and fly at light speeds. Also almost fully invulnerable. And you got yourself a great superhero with barely any weakspots. I guess that makes it hard to write.
With his newfound powers, Mark also makes a lot of new friends that are a group named The Teen Team which consists of obot, Dupli-Kate, Rex Splode, and Atom Eve. Mark realizes that he is going to school with Atom Eve and at some point they start dating. And they are pretty much endgame.
And then there is his dad. Is he really the Superman we all want or is there something darker behind his appearance. Mostly, the answer is that he is not the spirited person who he appears to be. Sure, he cares for his son Mark and and his loving wife Deborah. But in reality Nolan was sent to earth to win over the people by saving the planet and rid it of its’ evil and then call in the troops for a hostile takeover. And by that I mean with a lot of big warships carrying soldiers who to an extend have the same kind of powers of Nolan. So the big question is: What will Mark, also known as Invincible do? Will he join his father or choose his friends. And for that answer, it took Robert Kirkman no less than 144 comics. The series is well worth getting. And although the Invincible universe resets itself about every 30 comics, the comic stayed fresh by adding new relationship themes and other dynamics.
Robert Kirkman did not shy away from taboo topics such as eating disorders, abortions and miscarriage either. The comic was wonderfully written
The Invincible TV Show
The Invincible TV show is pretty true to the comics. There are some minor differences but those are marginal. What makes the TV show so good so far is that the violence, and boy is this show violent, is very well portrayed. I do condone violence BUT for this show it is so fitting. You see faces, limbs and teeth flying around. So like I said: no different from the comics at all. So Cory Walker, who penciled the Invincible comic, also had a big hand in bringing the characters to life on your TV screen. And it shows.
The TV show does delve into the father / son connection and their Viltriumite background and Nolan does give his son training in especially flight and some combat. But who needs combat techniques when you are superstrong and invulnerable to all known substances? And even if you do get hurt, there is your healing factor to regenerate as soon as you can.
Which is also my biggest criticism on both the show and the comics. Omni Man and Invincible are so powerful that nothing can stop them. There is no Kryptonite for instance or is there magic to stop them. No weapon has ever been built to stop them if they get out of hand.
The best part is that the show also shows the first signs of the Viltrumite invasion that has been planned for ages. Or did you really think that Omni Man was going to be all nice and cozy and say that he’s the best option to protect earth? And you can pretty much guess who that is. Along with his friends, The Teen Team, Mark stops the Viltriumite invasion pretty much and gets his dad to join him to stop the Viltriumites in their tracks to takeover the galaxy.
While this is the case in the comics, they may change that in the animated series which I sincerely hope. It would break the cycle of going back and forth to status quo where Mark basically starts all over with minor references to events that happened in the past.
What my issue with the show is, like it was with the comics, is the teeny angsty dating stuff that would be best suited on the CW. Don’t get me wrong, I like the CW and I applaud them for being daring and bring DC heroes to the small screen but sometimes the love triangles were pretty cringe. The CW started back in 2008 with Arrow and now in 2021 we finally have a mature relationship in the form of Superman & Lois. So let’s hope that Invincible doesn’t fall into that trap. With that being said, the show is about a 17 year old kid who just found out he has got superpowers so there is that.
The other issue I have with the show is the introduction of so many characters and plotlines at once. For instance: We get to know the Guardians of the Globe who then get killed. Which is fine, we don’t really need to know them going forward. But then we get quite a few characters that form the Teen Team each with their own issues. I fear that that’s not going to end well.
The voice cast is impressive
The animated series has great animations, let me say that first. But what makes the show extra great is the amazing voice cast that they manage to get for the show.
The list of name is endlessly long but let me start with this:
- Steven Yeun
- J.K. Simmons
- Sandra Oh
- Seth Rogen
- Gillian Jacobs
- Andrew Rannells
- Zazie Beetz
- Mark Hamill
- Walton Goggins
- Jason Mantzoukas
- Mae Whitman
- Chris Diamantopoulos
- and more…
Quite an impressive list, don’t you think?
The voice acting on this show is what brings this show to life. Include that with the great animations, storytelling and music and you got yourself a great show that actually questions what it means to have a superhero in society where there barely are none without being as cynical as The Boys.
Watch the trailer of Invincible:
