 Superhero stuff is extraordinarily popular right now, and it has been for a long time, and even before it was this culture-consuming monolith that it is now, they were always pretty big. I don't think anyone's really gonna dispute me on that. Like, comic book superheroes have been around for a really long time, and depending on how you define superheroes, you could even go back into ancient myths about Hercules and stuff and say that they've been around even longer. But as they became more and more popular in the modern day, people have tried to subvert the idea of what a superhero story is like and change it around a little with stuff like The Boys or Invincible or The Reckoners or just, you know, things like that. And I've talked about this phenomenon before. Enter Invincible, which is a comic series written by Robert Kirkman, who also wrote The Walking Dead, and it also recently got an Amazon show, which is pretty good, and that's what brought it into the mainstream, I would say. And a lot of people look at it in this light. You know, I myself thought that at first as well. And they look at it as, oh, okay, this is a subversion of superhero stuff. This is like a little bit darker and it takes a different approach to it, and this is a more realistic look at it. After finishing the comic series, I have to sit here and ask, like, is it really a subversion? It really isn't. It isn't. And so from this point forward, it's just going to be massive spoilers for the whole series, the whole comic series. So if you haven't read it and you're planning to or if you only watch the show or something, just beware of that. My overall thoughts on the comic are that it is really good, really solid. It's just not much of a subversion after a certain point. So for those of you who have not read Invincible or who have read it and just want to refresh her, it takes place in a world just very similar to Marvel or DC Comics. Mostly seems to be drawing from DC though. It's just a world full of tons of different superheroes and tons of different supervillains all going around doing their thing and many of whom are direct parodies or homages to stuff from DC Comics. Like, for example, the Guardians of the Globe are based on the Justice League. They have, I don't remember his name, but he's this fish dude with water powers who's clearly kind of poking fun at Aquaman. Darkwing is meant to be an exp of Batman. That sort of thing and a lot of the villains are similar. But then outside of that they also are in this huge universe which is full of alien civilizations and there's multiple dimensions that they can go into where things are slightly different and just things like that. It's this huge world full of magic and crazy technology and powers that just sort of happen and there's no real reason for it. Like, it's a big world very similar to other superhero stuff. And enter the main character whose name is Mark Grayson, a.k.a. Invincible. And he is, he has superpowers, he becomes a hero pretty early on. His father is a guy named Omniman. Now Omniman is meant to be Superman-esque. You know, he is this godly powerful hero who just goes around saving everybody. He doesn't have all of Superman's powers. Like, he has the super strength, speed, durability, and he can fly. And I think that's about it. He doesn't have super senses the way Superman does. He doesn't have laser vision. He can't shoot smaller versions of himself out of his hands the way Superman could for a while. Like, he's meant to be Superman-esque in that he's godlike and very far above everybody else but he is not completely fucking immortal the way Superman is. But anyways, the point is, after just a couple of chapters in the comic and it's the first episode of the show, we learn that Omniman is just a space Nazi. You know, he's a representative of this empire called the Viltram Empire. His people are called Viltramites. And they came to Earth, or rather, he came to Earth to prep it for being conquered. Like, you know, in fact he kills the Guardians of the Globe very early on in the series because they are one of the most powerful forces on Earth and he needs to soften up the planet. Now, once this becomes public, he and Mark fight really badly and eventually Omniman just leaves the planet. He decides, you know, I can't kill my son. I don't really feel like conquering anymore. So he just leaves. And after that, people realize like, okay, he left but the entire empire is out there. You know, so now what? And this beginning part is definitely a subversion. You know, it's a more realistic look at like, what would happen if this god-like alien came to Earth? Like, he probably wouldn't be here to make friends. You know, it's not like Superman landing and then just being raised as a kid in Kansas and then suddenly it becomes a Boy Scout. Like, it would probably be a lot different. And after that, there's a bunch of different plots that go on. But the main thing, at least for the first half of the series, is about fighting the Viltramites and the Viltramite Empire and trying to prevent them from conquering Earth as well as some of the other places. Now, there are some other story arcs which are also pretty subversive and they do take a different look at the way superhero stories do things. Like, for example, there's a bunch of parts where Mark just screws up. You know, he trusts the wrong people or he thinks he's helping and he winds up just not being able to do anything. Or, rather, he does the wrong thing and it just makes things worse. Or, for example, at one point he learns that a bunch of the villains and stuff that he's been capturing have been going, getting imprisoned by the government, but the government isn't just locking them in a cell. They are actually working with them and using their expertise to help protect the planet. Like, they just go full operation paperclip on this and Mark is pissed off about that. And, yeah, it's an interesting look at it because there's this... It's an agency called the Global Defense Agency, even though it's only part of the U.S. government, but granted a lot of Americans think that we are the entire world, so I guess the name kind of fits. But, anyways, the Global Defense Agency is there to protect the Earth and so sometimes they do some unpleasant things and they aren't just a benevolent organization and Mark is upset about that. And, yeah, that's a little bit more intelligent and a little bit more realistic look at this sort of thing than we would usually get in comic books. And, also, again, spoilers, later when they defeat the Viltramites, they don't do it through brute force, at least at first. Like, they wind up hurting them badly enough that they have to bring them to the negotiating table and then they have to let the Viltramites just live on Earth as long as they agree not to make any trouble. And that's a kind of unexpected. And then the last half of the series is a bunch of other subplots, some of which work, some of which don't, but the point is some of these are actually subversive. But, as it goes on, it just becomes more and more of a regular superhero tale. Like, you know, the bad guys are defeated by punching them really hard. You know, like, you still have these cartoony villains coming in saying, I shall destroy and or conquer everything. And then the heroes defeat them. Like, now, don't get me wrong, this is a style. It's a style that can be done well or it can be done poorly. And I think it's done well in this instance, but it's just, it's not a subversion. It just isn't. And, plus, it actually ends, you know, with most superhero stuff, at least western superhero stuff, it's like, where would you even begin to read Batman comics? Like, there's like 15 different runs of it and some of them are in different dimensions and sometimes it, he goes into other heroes' comics that you have to read in order to get the whole story. Like, who knows where to even begin, whereas with Invincible, just start at chapter one. You know, and it goes on for a while and then it ends. Like, that's the end of the story. So, that is quite a bit different, at least. And that's a positive. But, yeah, most arcs end with the heroes just punching out the bad guys. Like, for example, there's an arc about, there's a character who, at first, they just call him Robot because, you know, he's just an intelligent robot that helps fight crime and stuff, but then later you find out it's actually a drone being piloted by another guy whose name is Rudolph and it's a long story. But basically, Rudolph conquers the earth and becomes a dictator and kills a bunch of other heroes, but then he makes everything awesome like he wipes out crime and hunger and stuff, which I'll get to that in a minute. But then at the end of the series, the way they defeat him is not by, you know, breaking his power base. It's not by showing him or the world that his ways are wrong. It's just Mark kills him. You know, he just kills him. He's like, okay, you can't rule anymore because you're fucking dead. He also has a final battle against the main villain, whose name is Thrag, the leader of the Biltramites. He, like, fights him on the surface of the sun. And it's really stupid but also really cool. But back to what I was saying about Robot. Like, he takes over the world. He kills a couple of other heroes that they don't get in his way. And then he makes everything awesome. And like, I kept reading this thinking like, okay, they're trying to make a point about how even though what he did was wrong, he did make the world better. And even after he's ruling, it's not like he's killing the centers or anything unless they're heroes who violently oppose him. Like, just regular people don't even really realize he's in charge. So for most people, this is actually better. It's really just that he killed some heroes at the beginning that makes him bad. And I kept thinking like, okay, eventually they're going to make some sort of argument against this or maybe it'll turn out that he tries to run it himself and it just doesn't work and it falls apart or something. But no, Mark just kills him. Like, what kind of ending to a story arc is that? Like, I thought you were going to say something kind of profound and you didn't. But what's even more annoying is that, again, it's a dictatorship where everything is awesome and well run and that has never happened ever. Like, no country that has ever been a dictatorship has ever been run all that well, okay? And if you're thinking of like, oh, what about this example? You're wrong, okay? Either you are just ignorant about how things worked or you're buying into their propaganda and they're lying to you, okay? Particularly ideologically motivated dictatorships, like hardline Stalinists or fascists or hardline neoliberals, which are basically fascists. They want you to think that they're super efficient and that they will come in and fix all the chaos and that the economy and everything will be better, but this never happened. Never once they are riddled with corruption and nepotism and just plain incompetence because loyalty is more important than knowing what you're doing when they put people into posts. Like, it doesn't work on any level and it never has. And so it really annoys me when people write that into books and stuff. But with that out of the way, most of these story arcs just end with the bad guys being beaten up and or killed. But that said, it is still fun. There's still some fun fights and stuff and I will give it this. It has weird ideas there and it goes all out with them. It doesn't just try to be all dark and realistic and gritty, like something like The Dark Knight, for instance. I mean, I like those movies, but they are very much trying to be a dark, realistic take on a sort of Batman character so there's no magic or superpowers or anything whereas in this universe there is magic and there's tons of superpowers just like the whole kitchen sink is thrown in there. And so when weird things happen, they just take it and run with it. Like, for example, there's a story arc where this guy has the power to travel between all sorts of different dimensions and goes into different ones where things are a little different but not all that different and then he brings in a bunch of evil versions of Mark, you know, invincible, and then just brings them into our world and they start destroying shit on Earth and all the heroes have to fight them and it's like, well, that's really weird but it's also kind of cool and they just go out all out with it. They don't try and pretend it's realistic because XYZ or anything like that. No, this is weird. Or for another example, the main villain, Thrag, the leader of the Viltramites, finds a planet full of these bug aliens who reproduce really quickly and then he just fucks all of the bug women that he can find and makes an army of half-viltramites like just thousands and thousands of them and uses them to try and conquer the Earth. Like... Okay, that's weird but... it's... it just... at least it's putting it in there. You know, it's creative and I didn't see it coming. Or how about how the Guardians of the Globe are just straight up led by Abraham Lincoln? Like, that's not even a joke. Like, at the beginning of the show and the comic, they kind of hint that maybe this dude was Abraham Lincoln a long time ago but then later in the comic they just come right out and say it. Like, he just says, yeah, I felt kind of bad for John Wilkes Booth because he had to be executed for killing me but, I mean, I didn't want to blow my cover and I wasn't even dead. Like, it's... it's just so strange but, you know, I'm glad that it just went all out with it and it does bring up some smart ideas at a few points which seem like they might be subversive like, for example, after a while Mark starts wondering, like, why don't heroes actually fix anything? You know, all we do is hang around and then wait for bad guys to attack and then we go and defeat the bad guys as they are, like, why don't we try and fix anything like climate change or try and come up with any systemic problems to fix crime or anything like that and that's a really good point but it doesn't really go anywhere you know, it's mostly just, oh, Mark tries to fix things and then it falls apart again. Now, overall like I said earlier this is still a good, fun, dark series, you know, like, even if it's not subversive and dark and gritty after a while it's still well done superhero stuff. You know, there are some solid characters that develop and change over time, you know Mark goes from being kind of unsure of himself and not sure how to be a hero to being kind of an arrogant git and then as time goes on he becomes a better person and a better hero and it works really well and then his girlfriend Adam Eve, you know she goes through her own arc she's not just invincible's girlfriend she has her own personality, her own feelings their relationship goes through a lot of ups and downs they have some serious issues like at one point she has an abortion and it's not really shown to be good or bad I don't think it's really making a statement on being pro or anti-abortion in this series but it's mostly focusing on how it affects her and how was the right thing or the wrong thing it's just it was difficult for her or hell how about Rex otherwise known as Rex Splode he starts off as just a major major douchebag to everyone around him but then as it goes on we learn about his backstory and it kind of explains why he is the way he is even if it doesn't excuse all his behavior it's still interesting and then some bad things happen to him and he grows up and he becomes a better person and he gets one of the most badass deaths in the whole series it's when he's fighting one of the evil other dimensional invincibles and his power is that he can basically charge up things and then throw them and they explode and he just runs out of stuff to use and the other invincible points that out he's like haha you can't fight me now and Rex just super charges his own skeleton and then blows himself up along with the evil invincible and half the city they're fighting in it's really cool and the characters in this grow and develop even the minor ones and I think that's great there are also some amazing fights like I already mentioned the multi-dimensional invincibles that part's great but then there's also the Viltramite named Conquest who comes to Earth long after Omni-Man left and Mark is supposed to be preparing Earth for takeover by that point because of some other plot things that happen and then Conquest is like well you haven't been preparing it so I gotta kill you and I get to conquer the planet now and then they just fight and it's fucking cool like by the end of it Mark has shattered both of his hands so we can't use him anymore so he just headbutts Conquest to death and it's whoa like that's that's cool or how about another point where they're fighting the Viltramite Empire and Omni-Man, Mark and a couple of others get together and they just bunch up and they fly really really fast towards the planet and they just punch through one side of the planet and come out the other and destroy the entire thing like these are some really cool fights and it just activates my inner 14 year old boy that makes me go oh that's so awesome that's so cool man like I really I really loved it and sometimes this series is funny too like in fact a lot of the time it's really funny there is one running gag which got really old after a while which is just some people have sex a lot and when other people are nearby it is disturbing to them and they're like no stop making so much noise and like it's funny the first couple of times but it's really obnoxious after a while and you know what that's about all I have to say like invincible it's not always a smart series but overall it's not a dumb one either it's just not really a subversion of superhero stuff at least not overall you know there's parts of it that are especially at the beginning but after a while it kind of just becomes more of that but I would still recommend it to people because even if you're a little wary of that superhero thing because this does still feel somewhat different because of the few bits that it does differently and again it does eventually end even something like the MCU never ends but I don't know invincible is pretty good you should check it out a huge thanks to everyone who bothered to watch this far for whatever reason I don't know who would want to listen to me talk for half an hour but especially a huge thanks to all my patrons whose names are on here including the ten dollar and up patrons Oppo Savilainen, Olivia Rayan, brother Santotis, Buffy Valentine, Carolina Clay, Christopher Quinten, Dan Antsiliovic, Echo Joel, Carcat Kitsune Liza Rudikova, Lord Tiebreaker, Madison Lewis Bennett Marilyn Roxy, Microphone, Sad Martigan, Tobacco Crow, Tom Beanie and of course as always Vaivictus y'all are the best really let me let me tell you that if you were here I'd kiss you I wouldn't actually kiss you but you know you're all pretty cool anyways so just don't take my okay yeah goodbye