Invincible follows up on its debut with a confident refusal to take its foot off the accelerator. The show continues to throw characters, concept and spectacle at the viewer from beginning to end. Spoilers ahead.
1. Story velocity
In the last recap I mentioned how Omni-Man was becoming a monster quick and viciously, which feels like something we can apply to the show as a whole. There was a very gradual but definite tonal shift across the first few arcs of the comic, and that arc is undeniably accelerated in the show. It sort of makes sense, they’re trying to make a strong impression straight away. But in terms of storytelling capacity, 8 40-minute episodes isn’t necessarily less than 12ish issues of a comic.
Still, even if it’s jarring for me, I probably have to admit that’s it’s the better way to go. So much of the early introductory stuff in the comic “Invincible” felt like it had training wheels on, the villains were pretty harmless, Cecil was a pretty reasonable public servant and the only sharp edge Omni-Man really had was a penchant for condescension. At least this way the show immediately feels more like a powder keg, in fact elements like the canned high school stuff which still displays that comic-introduced gentleness feel especially egregious in this context.
2. Contrast in the coming of age
Invincible is a show that doesn’t cushion the corners of its world while Marc grows into his own and bumps against the corners. If the Flaxan invasion proves anything, it’s that this Earth has rough edges, and there will never be a battle without collateral damage. The tonal shift of Marc’s fight against the invasion really felt like a direct response to last episode’s confident “Broken Boy” sequence, with Marc suddenly overcome by the all-surrounding tumult of a war on his front lawn.
It’s probably the only thing that makes the patronising attitude of Teen Team work. They aren’t inherently better than Marc in any way, they’re just desensitized, and in the world of Invincinble, an ambivalence to violence is an asset.
3. Superheroes and Skullduggery worming out of the woodwork
With these expanding attitudes, comes an expanding world for Invincible. Teen Team! Damien Darkblood! Even Cecil Stedman (played by The Man Himself, Wally Goggs)! This show already had such an ensemble and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
The comic was great because it didn’t wait for readers to be spoon fed each new character, they came hard and fast, and let you straighten them out in your own time. I’d argue the show is doing an even better job in that regard by punching up the personality of each new addition and not bogging itself down in crossovers with each of the other superheroes that was rattling around in the Image Comics catalogue at the time (I don’t doubt that was awesome for fans at the time, but it definitely carbon dates the book when read in retrospect).
There are two sides clashing aspects of this accelerated definition of character attitudes however. On one hand it makes them immediately memorable: Cecil is anywhere and everywhere, he doesn’t take shit from anyone and you know the moment you’re in a room with him that there are a dozen different guns pointing at you which you can’t even see. But on the other, you lean pretty drastically towards caricature: Rex Splode is about as much of a prick as you could possibly be. Jason Mantzoukas plays the shit out of the role, but he’s really nothing more than a punchline to score points off of here.
4. Rubble and retribution
After the arguably perfect action in the last episode, “Here Goes Nothing” has a habit of stopping and starting. It starts to feel a bit janky when a lot of stuff is moving all at once, mainly due to a use of more impersonal computer animated graphics, and the personality of each hero and foe gets lost amongst that motion. There are absolutely still highlights to these crowd scenes, the beautifully designed Flaxans all feel like they have a rhythm to them when they swarm on-masse, and watching their offensive just cut through throngs of people is pretty sobering.
The music continues to be one of the best aspects of this show, with Tom Tom’s “Holy Fuck” getting wheeled out pitch-perfectly twice in the episode. The first being Marc’s introduction to the Flaxen invasion, where its confident tempo is swiped away from him the moment he hits the ground, switching to an overwhelming tinnitus that’s a lot more reminiscent of a war movie. Secondly we get a heavier, bass-driven version of the track ones Nolan invades the Flaxan home dimension. This is absolutely the breakout sequence of the episode, starting with Omni-Man’s perfect self summary in “Earth isn’t yours to conquer” before exploding out into this beautifully framed, black and red armageddon. This is such a great moment for Nolan because it shows he isn’t just an unhinged monster, he will spend months on end systematically and thoroughly conquering and destroying a planet in the true viltrumite fashion. Nolan murders like it’s his day job, and that’s what makes him formidable
5. Intoxicatingly watchable
As the show settles into its patterns with its second outing I’m really starting to get excited for the format. Just like ATLA, The Mandalorian or Silicon Valley, every episode feels like its own closed story for Marc, while the narratives outside of him carry weight in the greater advancing narrative. Even when the show is trapped in slower moments it’s easy to stay engaged with because at least one of the plotlines will carry intrigue. So far it has tapped into what animated comic shows could be so resonantly, and I can’t help but get excited for all the stories that we could see in this format years and seasons from now.
Food for thought:
– With all the new character introductions, the show is just emphasising how many of the characters I simply don’t care about. Like I can’t think of a single strong emotion I associate with Marc’s best friend Will, Dupli-Kate, Robot or even Atom-Eve.
– I love that this secret service guy is going from an opening gimmick to this full character arc. Is it just the most emotionally manipulative thing ever? Of course, he’s manufactured to make me love him. Do I resent that? Of course not, I adore this boy, he’s mine.
Next time we’ll be back to look at “Who You Calling Ugly?” Where we will anxiously await the arrival of the pottery king himself, Seth Rogen.
