Review: Invincible “You Look Kinda Dead”

 

Overview:

Mark wakes up from his beating from Battle Beast to discover his relationship with Amber on thin ice. He hopes to rekindle things by joining William on a trip to Upstate University. Unfortunately, Mark cannot escape his duties as Invincible. Especially when sinister things are happening right under his feet.

Meanwhile, Debbie uncovers the evidence she needs to identify who killed the Guardians of the Globe. But Nolan is not going to be happy when she confronts him about his misdeeds.

 

Our Take:

Invincible was one of the most definitive comic titles of the 2000’s. As such, fans have kept a stern eye on the new animated series, hoping it will follow the source material as closely as possible. For the most part, Amazon’s Invincible takes many liberties with the direction of the story. Specifically, where and when important events occur in the plot. 

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for fans, old and new alike.  

There has been a significant restructuring of the Invincible story. For the most part, it makes things exciting for the adaptation. Comic books are structured for long developing storylines happening simultaneously. The individual books themselves do not have to have any major events go down, nor do they need to establish the whole plot beginning to end.

For television, an episode needs to offer more of a well-rounded plot. Thankfully, Invincible offers up hour-long runtimes to fit it all in. More importantly, each edition has given us something to sink our teeth into. Whether it is multiple alien invasions or a trip to another world, they have all included a significant event.

This episode takes one of the early ongoing plots of the comics and allows the whole plot to play out. 

In one piece, we are introduced to Rick Sheridan, evil genius DA Sinclair, and his zombie robots, the Reanimen. Instead of having another ongoing plot, as this show offers many, the story of how Rick gets his powers all plays out here. But the good news here is William has become aware of Mark’s secret, which is invaluable for the story moving forward.

These stand-alone pieces are great for getting viewers hooked. And shows that the series intends to hit as much as it possibly can. It lays the groundwork for the show to tell the complete story adapted from the comic books, with however many seasons they intend.

At the same time, there is some frustration. If you hope to see how things play out from the aftermath of the previous episode, prepare for something else entirely. Mark’s recovery from his beatdown is completed in the first few minutes, and he is on to other things. And the aftermath of this episode will likely be brushed aside for something even grander in next weeks episode. Although, they do keep us coming with more than enough ongoing storylines.

This episode does manage to ramp things up for Omni-Man’s storyline. Debbie full-on confronts her husband about the murders of the world’s greatest heroes. A primary setup for the last two episodes. Omni-Man can no longer hide the truth, and he is going to have to make his reveal sooner rather than later. Which is fortunate, as none of us can hold our breath any longer.

For fans of the comics, the reformatting of the story for television could not be any more impressive. For new fans, the show continues to lift each episode’s stakes and leaves things open just enough to insinuate the more prominent things at play. It is nothing short of a masterpiece and the ideal way to adapt such a chronicle.  

As the title card continues to get bloodier and bloodier with each new episode, so does the anticipation. The more time we spend in this universe, the more invested we become. This edition may have taken another sidetrack when it comes to the ongoing plot, but once again, it adds to the franchise’s depth. We can only hope that Amazon signs a contract soon for a hundred more episodes.