Invincible - Tumblr Posts
i cant believe i spent my night roleplaying the horrific decline and fallout of a popular band in fortnite. wolverine was there too
gonna draw more of this later im just tired tonight
As much as I love My adventures with Superman, I'm so tired of the show getting a lot of disrespect and backlash lately on Twitter, especially from the Zack Snyder cultist!
First, the whole Lois thing, then Superman actually being Superman, now pretty much crapping on everything that's on the show, it's absolutely disgusting.
It's crazy how this, X-Men 97, The Boys and Invincible got a lot of slack for calling out grifters and people who dumped on their shows and yet somehow those idiot grifters still don't get the message.
Like can y'all just basically get a life for once, you are the mystery on why we can't enjoy good stuff, bringing all your toxicity in everything, with your crappy rants, thumbnails and shit.
Spiderverse Crossover Ideas Pt 1
Below you are a list of ideas for spider-man: Spider-verse crossovers starring Miles Morales. They mostly involve Miles getting sent to different universes and trying to survive in that world making new friends, being a hero and finding a way home. The good news is he doesn't experience cellular decay like the other spider-people, the bad news is that he slowly starts to lose hope of ever getting home. these story ideas are available for anyone interested in writing them or using their ideas as a base. so here they are.
"SPIDER-MAN OF ANIMA CITY" (Spider-verse x BNA: Brand New Animal) plot: Miles Morales winds up in a world with humans coexist with people that can turn into animals called beastmen. He ends up in anima city a place where beastmen can live free from human prejudice. While in anima city he meets up with Michiru Kagemori a human turned tanuki beastmen. they end up forming a friendship with miles trying to help Michiru become human again and her helping miles get back home. Eventually Spider-man has to step up and help Michiru and wolf-beastman Shirou Ogami save anima city from certain destruction.
"SPIDER-MAN OF NEW MERIDIAN" (Spider-verse x Skullgirls video game) plot: Miles ends up in New Meridian in the skullgirls universe. while trying to find a way home he meets many of the unique skullgirls characters. he even makes friends with characters like Umbrella, peacock, filia, and frees painwheel from Brain Drain's mind-control (using his venom blast). it ultimately leads to a final showdown with the infamous skullgirl. will he use the skullhearts wish to go home? or will the price be to great to pay?
"A SPIDER-MAN OF REMNANT" (Spider-verse x RWBY) plot: Miles Morales ends up in the world of remnant and becomes the unofficial fifth member of team RWBY. there he attends beacon academy to learn about being a hunter (which is the same as being a hero but a different title) and fighting monsters called grimm. Will the world of remnant be changed with Spider-man's Prescence? Will miles get a semblance along with his spider powers? And are any of his spider-friends looking for him?
"ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN MEETS INVINCIBLE" (Spider-verse x Invincible) plot: Miles Morales ends up in a world where there are heroes and villains much stronger than the ones in his dimension. he finds friends in Mark Grayson aka Invincible. When that earths equivalent of the Avengers, are brutally killed by one of their own can Ultimate spider-man step up to be the hero that world needs? or will he be crushed like a bug under Omni-Man's foot
There you have it I hope all you fanfic writers out their find my ideas inspiring.
Vagabond was originally concepted as a superhero, and probably will be made into one at some point. But this is definitely an issue with superhero media. Not just punisher and batman-type chatacters, but with the genre in general. It goes off the assumption that the world is basically good and there are bad apples, lowlifes, who are basically evil that need to be weeded out, but in the modern world most people understand that the evil is coming from within and above, and the bad people at the bottom are mostly on response to the evils from above.
sandwiched between dick grayson and mark grayson. that’s it, that’s the post.
My Adventures with Superman theory
Invincible and My Adenturs with Superman Spoilers
In s01e07 "Kiss Kiss Fall in Portal", the interdimensional Loises recognise Superman and refer to him as 'the Clark'.
They are also used to the idea of evil Superman.
But if Kal-El came down to earth to invade it, he never would have gained the name Clark as he was raised on Krypton his whole life. So when the Loises neutralize Superman, how come they refered to him as Clark when the Evil versions of Superman who helped invade earth couldn't possibly have that name?
This could mean that the majority of evil Superman that were shown in the evil superman montage were sleeper agents akin to the Viltrimite strategy from Invincible?
@madametamma replied with "I'm sure some of them were. There are also those who went "Injustice" or "Justice lord Superman" on them. (Actually I wonder if the Lois that we saw in the Justice Lords episode who was kept under house arrest by Supes escaped and joined the league) or in some fashion was Clark as we know him but something happened to him that ultimately led him to change for the worse. I bet all of the Lois's on that ship have their own stories of "So how did your superman let you down?""
My Adventures with Superman theory
Invincible and My Adenturs with Superman Spoilers
In s01e07 "Kiss Kiss Fall in Portal", the interdimensional Loises recognise Superman and refer to him as 'the Clark'.
They are also used to the idea of evil Superman.
But if Kal-El came down to earth to invade it, he never would have gained the name Clark as he was raised on Krypton his whole life. So when the Loises neutralize Superman, how come they refered to him as Clark when the Evil versions of Superman who helped invade earth couldn't possibly have that name?
This could mean that the majority of evil Superman that were shown in the evil superman montage were sleeper agents akin to the Viltrimite strategy from Invincible?
Top 5 Animated Shows of 2021
Okay so ground rules first: The show must have started airing for the first time in 2021. I don’t want people being confused as to why amphibia or owl house or any other amazing show that aired episodes this year isn’t on the list. That’s a different ranking for a different time. Also this is my list. If you have a different opinion then that’s great. Everyone having their own views and experiences is part of what’s great about media. Everyone connects to different media and different characters and that’s what I love about it :)
I’m gonna start with my favorites and work my way down because the top 2 shouldn’t surprise anyone who kept up with animation this year. The order may shock some people though. I know it shocked me because I thought my #2 had #1 in the bag until this show premiered.
Number 1: Arcane
This show came out of nowhere for me. I really regret not taking it seriously after it was announced because I connected so much with this show and its characters that I get emotional thinking about it. I really thought Invincible had the number 1 spot for this year until this show came out. Both shows are phenomenal but the things that pushed this show over (other than the fact that I relate way too much to Vi) is the fact that Invincible’s weakest episode (episode 6) was weaker than Arcane’s weakest episode (which I don’t even know if I can name which episode is even the weakest of arcane because they are all really airtight) and the fact that I’ve rewatched the entire season of arcane many times while I mostly only rewatch 3 episodes of invincible, not the whole season. I also don’t know if another piece of media has hit me this hard in years. Seeing struggles that I have had to face portrayed so raw and honest has given me a connection that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to shake to this show. This is why I love animation and storytelling. It has always made me feel seen and less alone and Arcane was the piece of media that did that for me during a huge transition in my life. For me everything about this show is a masterpiece. The animation, the writing, the characters, the voice acting, the relationships, the tragedy of it all. Everything was perfect.
I’ve posted quite a lot of long meta about arcane so this may not surprise anyone. Arcane legitimately blew me out of the water and it is far and away my most rewatched series of this year. I’m torn between wanting season 2 immediately and being grateful that the studio is taking its time to make sure the next season is just as polished as this first one was. This made me fall even more in love with the animation medium. (for my more complete thoughts on the series use this link)
The animation in this show is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like a painting come to life and I couldn’t look away. The textures, the lighting, the effects they used to emphasize impacts during fights be it their flashes of white blinding effects or dust being misplaced or the spit and blood that would leave the characters mouth all made each fight scene better and more mesmerizing. The animation alone makes this show worth watching from start to finish. I can’t believe how far so many studios that I never would have expected have pushed animation in the past 5 years alone. They really push what 3D animation can do. It’s astounding and proves what a groundbreaking series this is.
Episode 3 alone is one of the best episodes of television I’ve watched ever. Arcane is a masterclass in writing in general but it especially knows how to build the ending into the beginning. Everything in episode 3 comes around and sets up the finale of episode 9. Silco’s fate, Jinx’s final decision, Vi’s helplessness while watching the loss of her loved one(s), the hopefulness in piltover juxtaposed with the hopelessness in Zaun, etc are all set up and/or in a way mirrored in the finale. It’s incredible and reminds me why I love animation and storytelling. If you haven’t watched this already, what are you waiting for? Start right now! I guarantee you won’t regret it.
Number 2: Invincible
I know I already gave away that this was number two but like I said the top two shouldn’t surprise anyone. Invincible was my most anticipated animated show of 2021. I had already read all the comics and was a massive fan and I was so excited for other people to be introduced to this incredible series by Robert Kirkman. And this adaptation does not disappoint. It even managed to improve on the father and son fight from the comics significantly. I wasn’t a fan of the Amber and Mark romance though. I kinda wish they had skipped the Amber romance and gone straight for the Mark and Eve romance with how they played it out. (I think they were both wrong in certain ways. And I just wasn’t a fan of their scenes together. I don’t hate Amber like a lot of people do. I just don’t think she had as much chemistry with Mark as the writers intended and they made their relationship dysfunctional to a ridiculous degree to where I think they were both better off staying broken up.) Everything about the family struggles of Mark’s family was amazing though. Every interaction between the members of Mark’s family was amazing no matter who was paired with who. The family drama was the highlight of the series.
Invincible also does an excellent job of subverting classic hero tropes just like the original comic. As a comic fan knowing what is to come for this series I’ll just say it gets even better from here and I can’t wait for the 2nd and 3rd seasons. I’m so happy that so many people got to be introduced to the series and enjoy it just like I did even if it is in a different medium.
I think my criticisms may give people the idea that the show is worse than it is, which isn’t my intention. This show is amazing and I absolutely love it. I was just wanting to explain why arcane beat it out for the top spot for me. This was a really close call and I think it could be argued that Invincible’s best episode is better than Arcane’s best which should tell you the quality of the show. When this show wants to give you an emotional gut punch it doesn’t hold back and goes for the KO. It’s also an adult animated show that goes all out with the gore but never feels gratuitous. Too often I think adult animation takes its rating as the go ahead to put cursing, sex, and gore everywhere just because it can but arcane and invincible know how to use these adult aspects and themes correctly. The train scene, which had everyone gasping and going crazy on social media, was gory and extreme but it served an important purpose in the episode. You take it out and I think the episode loses something. For another example episode one doesn’t really have any gore at all until the mid credits scene. This decision was perfect to shock viewers with the reality of who Omni-man is and the seriousness that the show will embrace which directly juxtaposes what people usually think of a superhero origin story. Honestly I’d say that adult animation should take notes from these two about when and where the mature rating should be used to enhance the experience.
2021 was amazing for adult animation and I think did a lot for changing the perception of what an adult animated show could be. Invincible and Arcane were both integral to this shift and I am very grateful for it and I love them both.
Number 3: Maya and the Three
I was a little late to the party for this show but I’m glad I got around to it. I had a complete blast. Jorge Gutierrez is a creator I have nothing but respect for and I really like his other works so I was looking forward to watching this show. He brings his unique storytelling style, art direction, and heart which is all I can ever ask for from a creator. You can feel his passion and love for the story and characters and it gives me an even greater appreciation for this show.
It’s another show that’s “for kids” (aka has a TV-Y7 rating) that deals with heavy subject matter such as infidelity, racism ellegories, death, mourning, etc and I feel like it handles a lot of it with the tact necessary for its target audience. I especially liked how it handled Maya’s non-biological mother and how they assert that she is her real mother and, while Maya was a product of infidelity, she couldn’t hold it against the baby that she saw and came to raise. It’s not how it always plays out in real life but it was touching how it was explained and handled. It does an excellent job of tackling grief and all the different ways in which it can manifest. The characters and their individual journeys were all great.
The top two entries are in a league of their own if I’m being honest but that doesn’t detract from this entry or the next two. This is a very good series that I think would be great for the whole family to watch together. It may hit you emotionally in the way Arcane and Invincible did for me. All the characters are strong and could easily carry their own show and I think that’s the most you can wish for from an ensemble cast. I respect the ambition and care that went into this show and hope that it reaches an even wider audience than it already has.
Number 4: Centaurworld
I already wrote about my overarching thoughts on Centaurworld here if you want to read it. This has got to be one of the most unique shows I’ve seen in years. This is a show I think shouldn’t work as well as it does. From the wildly clashing tones to the unique and over the top characters to the surprisingly dark, twisted, and yet sympathetic villain. This is a show that if given the broad strokes sounds like it shouldn’t work but somehow it all comes together to create an unforgettable and wholly enjoyable experience.
Centaurworld wasn’t a show I was expecting. I had seen the trailers but didn’t know what to think of it. It wasn’t until I saw Sarcastic Chorus’ review that I decided to give it a shot. And I wasn’t disappointed. It managed to cover unexpectedly heavy themes about depression, suicide, grief, and loss. It was a bit of a shock to the system because of the bright, colorful, toony, place that most of these themes were explored in. Wammawink and Horse are some of the most fun and complex characters I’ve seen in a while that aren’t angst fests (don’t get me wrong I love an angst fest. I just haven’t seen a character I loved that wasn’t an angst fest this year until them). The music is all good but I agree with sarcastic chorus. It's “all bops but no bangers”.
This show is very much an acquired taste. It’s so subjective on whether or not you’ll like it that it’s hard to know who to recommend it to but I’ll just say I think you should give it a shot if you’re reading this for some reason and haven’t seen it.
Number 5: Inside Job
This is another show this year that I think helped change the perception of adult animation. Inside Job is really fun and I wasn’t expecting to have such a blast with this show. It’s animation isn’t as inventive as Arcane’s or Maya and the Three’s but that doesn’t mean it’s anything to scoff at. It’s nice and fluid and the simplistic designs work well for the overly expressive faces and body language of the characters. In a weird way its animation reminds me of star trek lower decks and it’s also similar to lower decks in its ability to play with established tropes for its genre to create a unique, fairly episodic experience.
This show was my relaxation show for this year. I’d turn it on and turn my brain off and just let myself just have fun. Considering everything that happened for me this year I needed this but that’s not to say that it’s a dumb show. That is far from the case and it actually had me invested in the ideas and characters in a way I wasn’t expecting. I really want season 2 especially after that cliffhanger. I think this was the show I had the most pure fun with out of all the shows on this list and in a year like 2021 that is a complete win.
Animation in 2021 was fantastic! So many of my favorite shows came out during this time and all it’s done is make me even more excited for animation in 2022 and 2023. I don’t really think this list expresses how much all these shows helped me this year. I know it’s probably cheesy but they gave me a lot to look forward to during a time in my life when I was having a hard time even just putting one foot in front of the other. Animation has always helped me get through hard times and I hope that any of these shows were able to do that for someone else out there :)
Top 5 Animated Shows of 2021
Okay so ground rules first: The show must have started airing for the first time in 2021. I don’t want people being confused as to why amphibia or owl house or any other amazing show that aired episodes this year isn’t on the list. That’s a different ranking for a different time. Also this is my list. If you have a different opinion then that’s great. Everyone having their own views and experiences is part of what’s great about media. Everyone connects to different media and different characters and that’s what I love about it :)
I’m gonna start with my favorites and work my way down because the top 2 shouldn’t surprise anyone who kept up with animation this year. The order may shock some people though. I know it shocked me because I thought my #2 had #1 in the bag until this show premiered.
Keep reading
Best of Animation 2021 - Where I Really Come From (Invincible)
“Finish high school I guess”
When I read that line in the comics for the first time I thought it was meant to sound defeated or unsure. Mark had just been beaten within an inch of his life by his father, who he loved, and wasn’t sure what to do with his life. I thought Mark was feeling defeated. But when Steven Yeun spoke the line in the show there is a much more hopeful tone to his voice that I think brings so much to the character and this moment that my initial interpretation lacked.
Mark is unsure of his future and he is hurting from his fight with his father but his spirit isn’t broken. He still has hope for the future and he still wants to do good. Mark’s spirit and drive are unbreakable, or invincible if you will, just like the title of the show. It brings new meaning to the moment and his actions that will follow.
The voice acting, animation, music, etc all come together to create an unforgettable experience that improves upon the source material. That final line reading by Steven Yeun blew me away in hindsight because it’s something so little but it has such a massive impact on the story and Mark’s characterization that I personally didn’t get when I read the comics (The comics are phenomenal and I highly recommend reading them so saying the show improves certain aspects of the story is high praise).
One rather impressive feat is how well the show translates how the invincible comics portrayed violence.
The invincible comics were well known for their bloody and visceral fights and translating that to the screen could have been a tricky task. Violence is something that could easily become gratuitous and be purely used for shock value if used incorrectly. The show sidesteps this by having every use in this episode serve a purpose. At no point does it distract from the personal conflict that drives the episode- the clash of ideologies and upbringing between a father and his son.
For example, seeing the destruction in the city after Mark is punched through a building. We see Mark pulling a severed arm from the building rubble after he fails to save the building and a daughter soaked in the blood of her crushed father. All this shocks and horrifies you in the same way it does Mark. That is the arm of a mother he failed to save and it happens right after he tells the mother’s child not to be afraid. We are being faced with the same hard truth that Nolan is trying to beat into Mark. That Mark can’t protect himself let alone anyone else.
And the same can be said about the train scene. This scene is easily the goriest and most brutal sequence of the entire show (which is saying something) but it very effectively gets across how fragile humans are to Viltrumites. Mark comes out of the ordeal physically unscathed while hundreds of people die. They splatter against Mark almost like a bug does on the windshield of a car (though much more mentally scarring). Nolan even compares humans to pets and talks about humans being lesser than viltrumites further accentuating this point.
There are a lot more examples but anyone who’s seen the episode I think understands. These scenes are gory and intense but they are used very effectively within the context they are being used. If you were to remove any one of them (at least in this episode) something would be lost.
JK Simmons is excellent at getting across that Nolan is trying just as hard to convince himself of these lessons he’s trying to beat into Mark. Each step he takes is him trying to prove to himself that he sees these people as inconsequential collateral in the viltrumite’s conquest like his upbringing taught him to believe.
The photo above may have become a meme but it is an excellent scene that puts Nolan’s desperation on full display. It conveys the conflict between who he’s become from his time on earth and the loyal viltrumite he was so well. And it leads into the best moment in the entire episode.
“What will you have after five hundred years?”
“You dad. I’d still have you.”
This whole episode was amazing. It is easily one of my favorite episodes of television ever but it was this moment that hit the hardest.
Even after everything Nolan has done- all the people he’s killed and how brutally he’s beaten Mark- Mark still loves his father.
This episode manages to expand on what was ultimately a single issue fight and really dig into the core tragedy of it.
The one moment I think the comic does better is the moment when Nolan flies away, leaving Mark alive, and crying once he reaches space. I don’t think it was clear enough that he was crying. A lot of people I know didn’t catch on to that fact and a few reviewers didn’t either. In the comics it was very clear and purposefully put into stark contrast so that no one could miss it. This is a little moment but it is one thing I wanted to point out due to how significant that tiny moment is for Nolan’s character.
I’ve seen a lot of people trash Invincible’s animation online and while I do agree there are instances of noticeable CGI that can take you out of it there are also incredibly beautiful and breathtaking sequences of animation as well. A lot of this episode has amazing animation. They spared no expenses on the fight. Here are a few of my favorite moments.
This episode isn’t short on spectacle but it also hits all its smaller moments as well. I’ve mentioned a few above but I want to shine a light on a smaller one near the end of the episode.
The moment I’m talking about is in the hospital when Debbie tells Mark she’s proud of him. She goes to touch his face and he turns away. There’s so much pain in that small moment. Mark is hurting because of the betrayal, the trauma of the events, and because he failed and lost his father even though he tried his best. It’s these smaller moments in the aftermath of the fight that works really well.
When it is trying to set up future events it distracts a bit from what the episode is trying to do but I’m grateful it takes the time to have the quieter moments that get across the heartbreak of the characters, especially Debbie and Mark.
Despite everything going on Invincible never loses sight of the vulnerability and humanity of these characters.
I can’t wait to see the rest of the Invincible comics animated and brought to life for a new audience. Trust me this is just the beginning. It gets even better from here.
Extra Thoughts
I love the way JK Simmons emphasizes “believe” when he’s telling Mark the truth about Viltrum. “But I believe in our cause” He’s talking about the past but he makes sure to emphasize that this is a present belief which I think plays into how a lot of JK Simmons’ performance hints that Nolan is also trying to convince himself of the rhetoric that he’s spouting at Mark.
I really like how the Viltrumite’s uniforms are white. White is usually associated with good and purity. It’s typically seen as heroic which can be seen in the rhetoric that Nolan is regurgitating to Mark. He’s speaking of the Viltrumite’s actions and conquest as a good thing. It’s all painted in a positive light. There’s a dissonance between how the history is relayed to Mark and how it is seen on screen. Everything Nolan says is sanitized and belays the bloody reality of everything that happened. I just really like this detail.
The score for this episode was fantastic and I really hope it gets released at some point.
I didn’t want to put this above due to the fact I want to stay positive but I wasn’t a fan of Mark and Amber getting back together. With how the show did their relationship I would have preferred them staying broken up. I don’t hate Amber’s character and would actually like to see her friendship with Eve explored and I would have been interested in seeing her be friends possibly with Mark instead of a relationship. I just don’t think they wrote the relationship well enough to get me invested and it’s pretty clear even without reading the comics that they aren’t meant to be endgame. (If you like their relationship then great. It just wasn’t for me)
I know I already said this but I can’t wait for season 2 and 3!
It is such a joy to look at this artwork. Inspiring, motivating.
