REVIEW: ‘Invincible:’ A superhero story as it ought to be told

After a year of excited anticipation, Amazon Studios’ “Invincible” has returned to the small screen after months of fans wondering when it would come back. It was an arduous journey, but it is finally here. 

People have been growing weary of the superhero genre. Since “Avengers: Endgame” it seems the Marvel Cinematic Universe has began losing its luster and the live action DC films were doomed from the start. “Invincible” shows what a great superhero story should be, with fleshed out characters, (mostly) fluid animation, and a star studded cast of veteran voice actors, as well as Robert Kirkman alumni such as Steven Yeun and Ross Marquand.    

From the moment this season starts with a wordless montage of Mark Grayson attempting to process the extremely traumatic events from season 1 with Radiohead’s “Karma Police,” we were guaranteed that this would be yet another excellent season of television. While the many subplots may have some audiences worried that the season may become bloated, somehow “Invincible” manages to keep the ball rolling while never losing sight of our main character’s inner struggles. It’s impressive how much the writers and animators managed to pack into this season so far without losing the main story threads. The subplots prove to be as compelling as the main plot, as we see minor characters such as Cecil Steadman’s right hand man Donald gain some depth too. 

The animation also proved to be superb, and it has improved some of the wonkier aspects from last season, though there are still the occasional hiccups. All the characters look distinct from each other, while also being faithful to Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s original designs for the characters from the comics. There are even some who declare this adaptation to be superior to Kirkman, Walker, and Ottley’s original comic. But if there is one thing that is absolutely certain, it is that this adaptation is a loving tribute to the original story that the comic book originally told, and it proves to be a fitting adaptation to the original story.

For those worried that superhero stories have been played out, “Invincible” paves the way forward!