From a transatlantic perspective, Invincible is "Bloody Brilliant". Let's Dive-In To An Irish Review
"Bloody" is a great swear word here in the UK. It doesn't get bandied about (used) so much in America and it's a shame because it's up there with my favourites.(you can already see my Irish-ness coming through). If you've ever watched any Guy Ritchie film before, you're familiar with how we use it...but most of us do NOT talk like Brad Pitt in Snatch, I assure you.
Let's go over a little linguistics lesson. I swear it'll be short.
adjective
1. INFORMAL - BRITISH
used to express anger, annoyance, or shock or simply for emphasis.
"you took your bloody time"
Similar: blasted, damn, damned, flaming, precious.
But of course it also has the more traditional use.
adjective
1. covered, smeared or running with blood.
"his bloody hands"
Similar: bleeding
2. involving or characterized by bloodshed or cruelty.
"a bloody coup"
Similar: gory, bloodthirsty, vicious
Using informal British slang to swear about Invincible, the new adult animated series based on the Skybound/Image comic about a teenager whose father is the most powerful super hero on the planet is perfectly acceptable because it's both bloody, brilliant and "Bloody Brilliant."
This show is from the creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and his co-creators of the Invincible comic book series Cory Walker & Ryan Ottley. Let is be known that this show is absolutely not suitable for younger viewers. Whatsoever. Like not at all.
When we first meet Mark Grayson, he is your average everyday school kid. Trying to get dates, getting beaten up by the school bully for trying to defend a girls honour. As we soon find out though Mark isn't just an average every day kid. His father is Omni-Man, a member of the Viltrumite alien race who has chosen planet Earth as his to "protect". Mark as his son will inherit his powers..or at least he should, by the time he reaches maturity. In the first episode they just haven't turned up yet.
So what we get in the first few episodes is Mark Grayson's origin story, which in my humble opinion is he best part of any comic book and really helps you connect with the character.
Invincible gives great character development and world building. Within maybe 2 episodes you know the world we are in and who the players are. You find yourself rooting for Mark as his powers develop, learning to fly, exactly what his powers are, trying to come up with a name, his relationship with his father as he trains him and you can't help but want him to succeed.
Each forty minute episode(love that) gives lots of time for development...then the after credits scenes. These are mini episodes in their own right and where that Bloody part I mentioned really comes into it's own. This is so overly not for kids I can't even do it justice.
Invincible is very violent, but it's mostly contained in the post credit scenes. I mean literal "head-exploding" violent. It really catches you off guard. The majority of the episodes are moving along at a fair old pace. Mark is chatting with his mum about her lack of powers or Mark is having a chat with the girl in school and you think to yourself I like how this is going. Boom end title screen and someone is getting their head cleaved off with a Mace.
As gratuitous as it is, it doesn't feel like its just there for the sake of it. It services the story. There is a huge shock in the first end title sequence, that changes where you think this show is going entirely. In the comic books this huge jaw dropping moment took a little longer to come along, but here in the TV show BLAM it hits you in the face right at the end of the first episode. I knew it was coming but to see it on the screen still shocked me.
The animation style is great, and truthfully I'm not a fan of some modern animated shows. They visually don't appeal to me. This though while remaining faithful to Cory Walker's and Ryan Ottley's design and art work manages a real 1980's vibe. I don't mean in how it looks because its as clean as crisp as any animation can be, but how it feels. it feels like I could be watching a show from when I was a kid. With people being torn apart though which never happened on a Saturday morning in 1984 while I sat in front of a TV with a bowl of cereal.
The voice talent in Invincible is just staggering. Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, J.K Simmons, Zazie Beetz, Walton Goggins, Zachary Quinto, Clancy Brown, Mark Hamill, Mahershala Ali...I could sit here all day and list the talent in this show. The performances are just great. Not to mention, J.K.Simmons as Omni-Man is a comic book fans wet dream.
Like the voice cast the sound track and score on this is fantastic. I'm listening to the Season 1 official playlist on Amazon Music as I type this and the opening credit and closing credits score are suitably epic.
I make no bones about thinking Invincible is bloody brilliant. If you have read every single issue of the Invincible comic book this is a fairly faithful adaption. If you have never so much as picked up a single issue this still is going to blow you away. It's almost that rare occurrence where you are better off not knowing the source material, because that shock in the post credits scene of episode one is an absolute doozy.
Invincible is available to watch on Amazon Prime
Stevie Robinson is a Staff Writer for Kulturepopped who always loses one piece of Lego and then finds it again at the bottom of the bag once he's finished. You can follow him on Twitter at @JohnnyUtah66 and follow his musings, obsession with American Pop Culture and his burgeoning sea glass art company.