by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley & Bill Crabtree
collects Invincible #1-13 [Ultimate Collection]
Invincible is one of Image Comics’ most popular series, co-created by Robert Kirkman of The Walking Dead fame with a runtime of 15 years and 144 issues. I read the very first issue a few years ago and wasn’t hooked – I’m glad I returned to it, especially with an Invincible animated series coming to Amazon in 2020 and a phenomenal voice cast to boot. An imperfect book with some serious gender issues, Invincible attempts a humorous take on the superhero genre with a story that started off slow, but became more intriguing after the first arc.
The story follows Mark Grayson, a high school kid whose relatively normal life ends when his superpowers emerge. Mark takes up the mantle Invincible alongside his father Nolan, alien protector of Earth with a mustache that would make Tom Selleck proud, known as Omni-Man. (The two will be voiced by Steven Yeun and JK Simmons respectively, which is just perfect).
Invincible is first and foremost a superhero story, but it also never misses an opportunity to tease and subvert superhero tropes – Nolan’s saving-the-world career is old hat to Mark and his mom Debbie, which makes for some funny scenes. Nolan whizzes off in the middle of dinner to save the earth from a nuclear explosion, while Mark and Debbie barely bat an eye between bites. Nolan and Mark “play” catch by tossing the ball around the world, airborne above their house.
This expands to the rest of the story too. Mark accidentally tells his best friend about his powers, who then requests a joyride, Lois Lane style. Mark deescalates a fight with a one-eyed alien in space by talking with him – and his name is Allen. (Fry is lucky Leela never met him.) There are scores of hilarious villains poking fun at classic counterparts, and asshole heroes with terrible names like Rex Splode. And there are CLEAR parodies of superheroes (and one DC team in particular) and other nerdy shows, which might have been funny for some, but honestly pulled me out of the story.
But like most great superhero stories, Invincible’s strength is that it’s really about relationships. Well, one relationship at the moment – this is a father-son tale and a parallel coming of age story for Mark. Interestingly, Nolan and Mark get most of the conversation time – necessary for the story being told – but Nolan lets Mark figure out his powers for himself and doesn’t do much direct coaching. He is both constantly absent saving the world, and completely trusting of Mark too – which is somewhat explained later.
However this first volume doesn’t actually spend a lot of time getting to know Mark, and aside from his quick wit and comic book reading (…he really is like Peter Parker) there isn’t much to give him a strong personality. He’s so…stable. Mark has a few good friends, including Eve (also a superhero and 100% the MJ of this story, but with Starfire’s powers and hair); he’s a nerd but he dates a girl who basically throws herself at him; he has no discernible insecurities; he does his homework and saves the world without big screwups. And unfortunately, we are also introduced to a large cast – Mark’s family, friends, a main superhero team and a teen team, several villains and other side characters. Perhaps part of the satire is how normal Mark is even though he’s got a superhero dad – but the character didn’t seem very strong to me, especially when the shit really hits the fan. (more on that in spoilers below.)
You know the writers watched Star Trek: TNG when they gave Deanna a useless line and Allen encounters them during a season without Wesley Crusher.
I hope you enjoy ANGRY FEMINIST rants because here comes one!
Even as a father-son journey it was disappointing that Debbie, Mark’s mom and the only non-powered member of the family, has barely any role, agency or personality in all thirteen issues. She is basically just a housewife who makes dinner, sleeps with her husband as many times as he wants (and calls him an “animal”), and launders Mark’s costume.
Similarly Eve has very little personality – “Mary Jane Love Interest” is basically where it ends, but without the MJ sass and with far more victimhood, pouting when her jerk boyfriend cheats on her (she reacts in the most weak way too) and Mark gets involved with Amber – as if Eve didn’t have any friends or a life before she met Mark. Eve has far less character than badass preteen Monster Girl who appears in only one scene but almost steals the entire book in it.
All the adult women sport large chests and elastic waists (INCLUDING THE ALIENS); Mark’s “girlfriend” Amber has no speaking lines, and only serves to hit on Mark and drive a wedge between him and Eve; the “Wonder Woman” character is the only Justice League member who is sexualized, waking up naked and proclaiming she will be sleeping over at her partner’s more often. (Kirkman, a queer relationship doesn’t count as diverse when it’s clearly just for the male gaze.) Eve and Amazon lady are the only female superheroes but instead of being defined by their powers or as people, they are defined by their bodies, as the love interest and sex object.
Even with the subversion of superhero tropes, Kirkman doesn’t change this trope that has existed since the birth of superheroes from the late 30’s: it 100% feels written for straight guys, by straight guys.
It doesn’t have to be this way: see Paper Girls, among many other great comics with great female characters, written by men. But with Robert Kirkman it’s a troubling pattern, not just with The Walking Dead comics, but some all-out sexism claiming that women are “scientifically weaker” than men. All of these gender issues now make sense – and if the series continues in this vein, I won’t read it anymore, full stop.
The angle of Eve’s landing, (an underage character, don’t forget), plus the fact that she didn’t immediately dump Rex Splode’s ass after that “oh what’s that your school friends are being murdered ok byeee” kind of says it all about her character. Also, who smecks? Gross.
SPOILERS. On that note of the Big Reveal of this first arc – Nolan’s true origin, purpose and multiple murders – was brilliantly set up and told, as Nolan tells the truth to Mark in altered panels from issue two. The superhero deaths (and misdirection leading up to it) were shocking and quite graphic compared to earlier moments which just added to the “oh shit” moment that sets the tone of the series. Nolan and Mark’s climactic fight was so well done in its scale and dialogue, but things suddenly patched up after the fallout, with little to no development from Mark. Time passes without us seeing Mark struggle to accept that his father has completely betrayed their family and Earth, has left – but of course we’ll see him again. Not to mention Mark’s role in thousands of deaths.
And on the spot he accepts Probably Evil Government Guy And Mr Burns Twin’s proposal to step into his father’s shoes without even consulting his mom. How is he so trusting? Wanna bet Debbie is happy her son (who is still in high school) is now Earth’s top line protector? Oh wait, she’s just heading off to bed. Like Eve, Debbie crumples into victimhood instead of doing anything useful. Hopefully we’ll get more development from Mark and Debbie in the next arc (and this is a looong series) but for something as devastating as this reveal, I was surprised that the dialogue went to Mark and Allen exposition, not Mark and his mom processing all of this.
Finally, I was not crazy about the art. Walker and Ottley’s pencils got much better after the first five issues or so, which can happen as an artist finds their footing in a series, and the style is very strong during action or movement oriented scenes. It has a Saturday morning cartoon quality to it, as it does encourage the reader, like the content, to not take things too seriously. But personally it just isn’t my favorite, and sometimes the broad, sketchy nature led to some awkward faces and body angles (especially, as I mentioned before, when it came to women). Walker and Ottley’s faces are very expressive and use multiple identical panels for excellent comedic timing in many scenes. This leads to some great meta humor when Mark meets a favorite artist who apparently uses the same device in his own comics. (PS: Walker and Ottley definitely sounds like a law firm.)
Overall, I’m not completely floored like some who are totally obsessed with Invincible, but I definitely enjoyed the second half of the story more than the first half. There is so much potential here and now that the story has finally gotten started, I’m willing to see what the rest of these eleven giant volumes have in store. Unless Kirkman keeps writing Eve and Debbie as weak.
Reading Art 