Invincible #143

[history79]

Comments

[cyberghostface]

The way Kirkman handled Mark’s rape with this storyline makes me uncomfortable.

[blueprintstyles]

the fact that his rapist died horribly makes it a little better for me, but I wish the series was a few issues longer so it could deal with it properly.

[reveen]

Yeah, I'm going to put on an Ermine cape, co-opt my dead enemy's army of child soldiers who know nothing but war in service to a personality cult, and lead my people into the galaxy as a roving force of righteous space warriors looking for trouble. Whats wrong with that? This is a great idea that definitely won't lead to death and destruction on an intergalactic scale!

[zachbeacon]

At least this time around the "Ermine" isn't someone we know.

RIP Battle Beast.

[coldfury]

This is a series that looking at issue #1, I never would've guessed it'd end up here, almost two decades later.

Whether that's a good or bad thing, your mileage may vary, but man did Kirkman never really rested on his laurels for long.

[locuatico]

I do think it does at the very least show the writer wasn't afraid of change and that the characters did grow from where they started (if for the better that is another matter). Not wanting to change ultimately makes a long-runner series be stagnant.

Changing medium, I remember how Regular Show was a pretty simple show and formulaic (if very creative) when it started. but as the series progressed, the characters were allowed to grow: Benson became a much more kinder (if still stern) boss, Muscle man began considering Mordecai and Rigby as friends, Mordecai & Eileen's relationship actually grew, etc. Even if you don't count season 8 and the time skip, the park crew were already different people when season 7 ended.
On the other end of the spectrum, shows like Fairly Odd Parents have refused to grow (ironic, since one of the themes is that Timmy HAS to grow) and in the end their characters have been reduced to jokes with no real depth.

I haven't read any Invincible aside from what has been posted here, but it seems Kirkman understood that for a longrunner to last, characters have to grow with it.

[q99]

I thought the entire *point* of having them on Earth blending in was so they'd, y'know, blend, absorb human culture, and growing up ethically would no longer be dangers on that route. Splitting them off again strikes me as very risky.

[locuatico]

while that was the plan, I think the point here is that said plan has the big flaw that you have a ton of emotionally developing, pre-pubescent kids who will suddenly have enough strenght to kill a normal human and no real way to deal with them. there are just too many.
and if that isn't bad enough, they are also going to hit puberty at some point...

He is probably going to be shown as in the wrong, but he isn't wrong out of idiocy.

[q99]

Flipside, they knew that was coming for years, they have adults with the same power, they have a moon base where they could have kids practice or such... I think they have ways to handle it, and regardless, they should've had a plan years before it came to a head.

[thatnickguy]

On the other hand, they've clearly changed their way of thinking in their relatively short time on Earth. Under Mark's leadership, I'd like to believe that change could continue down the line.

[q99]

Yea, but it seems like more time would be a better way to avoid backsliding. Now they're in a situation much more like they were, a dangerous place.

[thatnickguy]

Despite the numerous bumps in the road and plenty of valid criticisms, I've enjoyed Invincible. Kirkman shook things up on a regular basis and those shake-ups always had a lasting impact. Some stories had interesting explorations into how superheroes operate.

It's had some incredible action sequences. While I partly agree with the criticisms about the gore in said action, I think it also highlights how superpowered fights on this scale would really go if people punching each other had this kind of power. Even if those massive injuries rarely actually killed anybody. But that also goes to show how powerful these people are or how the most intelligent people on the planet would have the life-saving technology. Even if it cheapened those "deaths."

The book has perhaps overstayed its welcome, but I'll still miss it. Personally, I can't wait for the final Invincible Compendium. I have the first two, which collects close to the first 100 issues. By mine and other fans count, the last volume will finish off the series, almost like Kirman planned it that way.

[zylly]

That's a good assessment. I think the point where it really "lost" me was the "Robot conquers the world" story (especially since I was really enjoying most of those incidental characters in Guardians of the Globe/Invincible Universe/Tech Jacket)...

But I give Kirkman some props for not being afraid to make changes and making the decision to deliberately not participate in a lot of standard super hero conventions. I don't think it always worked or was well done, but he's not strayed from his message.

[caivu]

"But I give Kirkman some props for not being afraid to make changes and making the decision to deliberately not participate in a lot of standard super hero conventions."

That's one of my biggest problems with the series, actually. Too often it felt like Kirkman was making narrative choices *solely* to go against the grain, and that became really irritating. Like he had some kind of phobia of being predictable or something.

[zylly]

You're not wrong. Definitely felt that way sometimes. And I think Kirkman has spoken someone disdainfully of certain super-hero tropes, like "joker immunity" (I won't like, to save your day).

[strejdaking]

I wish the one he apparently didn't have a problem with is "enlightened fascism/autocracy is wrong but it totally works otherwise".