Invincible: Season 1

"It's about time."

I've got to say, after sitting through three seasons of The Boys, it was refreshing to watch a superhero show that can be dark and irreverent while also functioning perfectly well as an actual superhero show.

Contains Spoilers

Granted, the heroes in Invincible are far from morally pure and its story is not a satire. But while this may still be another prime example of the oppressively cynical era of comic book stories that our culture seems to be slowly worming its way out of, there is enough meaningful pathos here to make me think it could also bridge the gap and be an addition to the slightly more positive trend we're starting to see emerge in the genre now.

Back when his star rose at Image Comics with The Walking Dead, writer Robert Kirkman was given the chance to roll out several new comic book titles for the company. One of those was about a young up-and-coming superhero called Invincible. It had a very successful run, and now there's an Amazon adaptation that I recently got around to binging.

The Skinny

Like the comic, the show takes place in a universe where superheroes, supervillains and various other paranormal entities exist and frequently get into tussles. Invincible rests in a sweet spot between a traditional superhero verse like DC or Marvel and the more realistic versions like Watchmen. There's people dressed in bright spandex with silly names and unbelievable powers, but there's also a lot of cursing, some sex and incredibly gratuitous amounts of bloody violence. It's great.

The story follows Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yuen), who starts off as a seemingly ordinary high schooler. I say seemingly because Mark grew up knowing that he is half-human and half-Viltrumite. His father, Nolan (J.K. Simmons), is Earth's greatest superhero, Omni-Man. Initially, Nolan is a pretty obvious stand-in for Superman: a powerful figure from a distant alien world who has spent years nobly protecting the people of Earth, alongside the Guardians of the Globe, who are clear Justice League stand-ins. In the first episode, 17-year old Mark finally starts to inherit his father's abilities. This includes flight, super strength and speed, and extreme durability. Following in his dad's footsteps, Mark takes on his own superhero identity. But he quickly finds out that "Invincible" is a name he will really have to earn.

This was a well-rendered depiction of a deceptively colorful world with an intense atmosphere. While there is definitely some stiffness to the animation in many parts, the show tends to know where to apply the budget to give the right scenes the proper impact. The storytelling is tight and it moves at a fast pace, even if there are a few plot elements that feel overly cliché and a few others that seem a bit extraneous. It's a fun show with a solid voice cast behind a lot of fun heroes and villains that are archetypal but uniquely handled, with compelling moral conflicts, and plenty of gore to remind us of how high the stakes are. Overall, a very good first season.

I originally knew of Invincible through the comic book. I had the first five issues when I was a kid. It had a unique art style and a decent starting premise, but I never ended up going back for more. This was nearly around the time I stopped buying single issue comics on a fairly regular basis, opting instead for infrequent purchases of graphic novel collections.

Later on, I learned more about the series and had a few plot developments spoiled for me. The most intriguing one being a twist that the comic apparently spends multiple issues building up to. A twist that the show chooses to cap off the very first episode with. Right away, I felt this was a way more gripping intro. Which I will need to get into a little bit in order to discuss this show.

Spoiler Section

I remember that, even in those first few issues of the comic, there were a few hints that Omni-Man wasn't as nice a guy as he presented to the world. The show lets us get to know him in the first episode, as both a dashing superhero and a loving family man. Then the first post-credit scene happens, in which Omni-Man ambushes the Guardians of the Globe in their base and proceeds to wordlessly, brutally murder every one of them. That's as solid of a hook as I've ever seen for a TV series.

It's a twist that blows a huge, bloody hole in this show's presentation of a classic superhero universe. Powerful beings exist in this world, but they are not immune from consequences and they certainly aren't safe from death. The moral spectrum of this show is not black and white, which is something our main hero is slowly confronted with.

The A plot is Mark's superhero origin story, him trying to make a name for himself as Invincible by meeting all sorts of challenges and threats head-on. While at the same time, attempting to mediate his alter ego with his secret identity, which leads to a lot of skipped classes and late arrivals to dates with his girlfriend. We all know the drill.

The B plot focuses on the murder mystery surrounding Omni-Man, slowly unveiling his hidden agenda. Disturbing undertones as we watch his mask of goodness crack and we start to see the monstrous brute underneath.

It's good drama, Mark the idealistic young hero training to be just like his awesome dad, as we watch the layers of subterfuge peel away to reveal Nolan's viciousness. You know for most of the season that a conflict is coming between father and son, but the road getting there is intriguing and suspenseful. And it hits like a truck when it gets there; the last two episodes of the season are quite gut-wrenching.

Of course, there's a lot more going on. Mark's mother, Debbie (Sandra Oh), is another strong figure. As an ordinary human, she's one of the more relatable characters. While Nolan teaches Mark how to master his powers, Debbie is the one informing his sense of morality, offering wise and rational advice. She's also among the first to suspect Nolan is secretly a bad guy, the others being: Damien Darkblood, a red demon in a trench-coat and fedora who is investigating the murdered Guardians. More importantly, there's Cecil Stedman, an old G-man with a scarred face who runs the Global Defense Agency (GDA). He's like all the most ruthless parts of Nick Fury, Amanda Waller and Batman combined. Cecil, along with his right-hand man Donald Ferguson, oversees a variety of superheroes, including Omni-Man, who quickly becomes their top priority.

I like that there's a robust stable of characters and potential plotlines that, even when not directly utilized, are addressed in a way that makes the world of Invincible feel broader and more nuanced than it might first appear.

A particularly fun character is Allen the Alien, a brawny space cyclops in a leather jacket who can speak to people telepathically and tests the skill of planetary champions. There's also a few really cool members of Teen Team, a superhero group Invincible befriends early on: Atom Eve is a fellow student at Mark's high school, she has relatable drama and powers that are creative and badass. Then there's Teen Team's leader, Robot, a mysterious super-intelligent android who has motives beyond simple heroics.

I'm also glad that this show doesn't fall into the same trap as The Boys, where everything is centered around the one main villain and every other scene of his has to be a meme.

Omni-Man is a great and effective (and well-memed) villain here, but he's not hogging all the action. You've also got recurring villain(s) like the Mauler Twins, superhuman tech geniuses who are constantly plotting mischief and arguing over which of them is a clone of the other. You've got a trash-talking cyborg gangster named Machine-Head and his ambitious hired muscle Titan. You've got two different mad scientists wreaking havok and three different alien races plotting to conquer Earth. I was particularly impressed with the otherworldly and ridiculously hardcore mercenary, Battle Beast.

Invincible might start off with a bit of a tired teen superhero premise, but it quickly sheds that in order to develop a deeper, more powerful story. And it goes to some truly raw places, but it's not just senseless mayhem. I think this show's got heart.

Bits and pieces:

* Love how the title sequence gets bloodier with each passing episode.

* Invincible has an impressive cast of people who've been successful on TV and the big screen. In addition to the Grayson family actors, we've got Walton Goggins, Gillian Jacobs, Zazie Beets, Zachary Quinto, Mahershala Ali, Jeffrey Donovan, Seth Rogen, etc. A few of them — J.K. Simmons, Clancy Brown, Kevin Michael Richardson, Michael Dorn and the ever prolific Mark Hamill — were frequent voice actors for Justice League/Justice League Unlimited and various other Marvel/DC animated works.

* I also really like that the late Guardians of the Globe are voiced almost entirely by former cast members from The Walking Dead: Lauren Cohan, Ross Marquand, Chad L. Coleman, Sonequa Martin Green, Michael Cudlitz.

* It's a good thing Mark's Viltrumite DNA grants him a major healing factor, because this kid's teeth get knocked out a lot. In addition to all the other injuries.

* I'm not in love with the soundtrack, but I did really like Cage the Elephant's "Broken Boy" playing during Mark's first flight as Invincible.

Quotes:

Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man: "Kids your age think they're invincible, and it holds them back. Makes them careless. The thing is, you're different. You actually are invincible."

Samantha "Eve" Wilkins/Atom Eve: "Oh, that was you! In the blue and the yellow."
Mark Grayson/Invincible: "Yeah, that was me. I'm uh… (whispers) Invincible. God, that sounds dumb when I say it like that."
Eve: "Sounds a little optimistic, maybe."

Cecil Stedman: "There's a hundred supervillains who don't leave a trace. Who turn into smoke. Or living electricity. Or only exist in dreams."

Nolan: "What do you want?"
Damien Darkblood: "Same as you. Discover clues, catch killer, bring to justice."
Nolan: "And buy yourself a few more years out of Hell. Don't pretend you do this because you care. You just don't wanna go home."
Darkblood: "Maybe one day you'll know why."

Nolan: "You don't seem to understand. Earth isn't yours to conquer."

Mark: "I can't believe I still have to exercise."
Nolan: "What, you thought being a Viltrumite was easy?"

Mark: "How do you breathe in space?"
Nolan: "That's the neat thing. You don't."

Debbie Grayson: "Why would you tell Mark that saving lives is beneath him?"
Nolan: "Other people save lives. Mark saves millions. He needs to think big, and you're not helping."
Debbie: "I'm not helping?"
Nolan: "You don't understand the choices we have to make, you're not a superhero."
Debbie: "When you first came here, you didn't know anything. About humans, about our society, about anything that was important to us."
Nolan: "And?"
Debbie: "I taught you all that. I showed you how to be a hero, here. And suddenly, you don't think I can do that for Mark?"

Battle Beast: "I was promised that this world offered worthy opponents! But oh, how you disappoint. Killing you is an act of mercy."

Robot: "Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to be the only one in control of my body."

Cecil: "400 billion dollars for the world's most expensive nosebleed…"

Nolan: "Did seeing that man lose his life disturb you? Did it hurt? Well, let's see how you handle THIS."

Allen the Alien: "What are you gonna do, Mark?"
Invincible: "Finish high school, I guess."

Four out of five superheroes bloodied and bashed.

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