Invincible - Season 1

Amazon's attempt to bring Robert Kirkman's comic Invincible to the small screen has been a success as far as I'm concerned. The animated series seamlessly combines standard superhero work with hard satire. Writer Robert Kirkman is an influential figure in comics today. He has a number of major titles to his name, especially at the publisher Image Comics, including The Walking Dead and Outcast. After these have already been made into a film, it is now time for his third major comic to come to the small screen: Invincible. Amazon has cast this series in the form of a sleek-looking animated series consisting of eight episodes.

Seventeen-year-old Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun, The Walking Dead) is the son of Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons, The Legend of Korra), the most powerful superhero on earth. When he begins to develop powers of his own, he must learn what it means to be a superhero. There is a lot involved, from taking responsibility, to working with other heroes, to coming up with a cool hero name. But while his father helps him with this, he appears to harbor a dark secret.

A comparison with The Boys is not far away

Based on this description, you'd say this is standard superhero work. And in the first episode it seems to be heading in that direction. A young superhero learns to use his powers, receives lessons about responsibility and has to look up to the greats of the earth. But in the last few minutes of the first episode, the game board is completely turned upside down and the tone is set for the rest of the series. From that moment on it is bloody, violent and hard. A comparison with The Boys is therefore not far away.

And Invincible knows how to combine these two elements very well. On the one hand it is a typical teen series, but on the other hand it is an adult satirical look at the superhero genre. However, Invincible knows how to switch between those two genres very skillfully and quickly. This switching happens in such a subtle way that it is not noticeable. The storyline fits in very well. With an animated series based on a comic strip, it is tempting to adapt the source material one-on-one. Fortunately that doesn't happen. Instead, it takes the right elements and mixes them together, creating a layered and complex whole.

Invincible has a talented group of voice actors

In addition, there is a talented voice cast who brings the characters to life in a beautiful way. In addition to Yeun and Simmons, we hear voices from Sandra Oh (Killing Eve), Gillian Jacobs (Community) and Jason Mantzoukas (The Good Place). The members of the superhero team Guardians of the Globe (a nice parody of the Justice League from the DC comics) are voiced by a group of (former) actors from The Walking Dead. The characters are given fantastic dilemmas to work with. The bond between Mark and his father is well shown, but I think the best moments are how Mark's mother Debbie (Oh) has to deal with the fact that both her husband and her son are in constant danger and have to live with a secret identity.

The third series adaptation of a Robert Kirkman comic is a success in my opinion. The animated series Invincible moves effortlessly between a sincere superhero series and a hard-hitting parody of it. In addition, the sleek animation and talented voice actors only further increase the pleasure of watching this. Amazon has not yet agreed to a possible second season, but I think they can.