Invincible is an animated superhero action-adventure TV drama streaming on Amazon Prime Video. This review covers Invincible S01E01 – S01E03, which were released recently on the streaming platform. The series is based on the Image Comic of the same name, created by writer Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and artist Cory Walker.
Now, while dark and hyper-realistic superhero narratives are old hat for comic books and have been around for at least 40 years, in mainstream media, viewers and critics seem to find these kind of stories strange or unusual. Hence, the resistance in some circles to Zack Snyder’s deconstructive treatment of DC characters (which basically riffs off classic tropes from Alan Moore and Frank Miller from the 80s) and the general bemusement with a series like The Boys.
Like we said, nothing new in comic books. Yet already, we have read reviews of this Invincible adaptation that references the influence of The Boys, when in actual fact the Invincible character debuted a full four years before The Boys! Furthermore, when one considers the sheer number of Superman analogues out there, Invincible can be considered a unique deviation with the main character basically being the Son of Superman.
Based on S01E01 – S01E03, we can safely say that this Invincible adaptation is very faithful to the original, even down to the artwork, and thus is immensely satisfying. It makes perfect sense that the producers decided to go the animation route as this would keep costs down and maintain total faithfulness to the source material. Essentially, Invincible is the story of Mark Grayson, the teenage son of Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on Earth and the series follows Mark as he begins life as a superhero under the guidance of his father, who unbeknownst to him is hiding a dark secret which will prove devastating to Mark, his mother and all mankind.
In that light, the smaller production budget probably allowed the producers to put together a stellar voice talent pool which includes Steven Yeun (Invincible/Mark), Sandra Oh (Debbie Grayson) and JK Simmons (Omni-Man). The series is good fun and comes across like a enjoyable comic book reading experience. We would highly recommend Invincible S01E01 – S01E03.
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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