Yesterday it was announced that Robert Kirkman's INVINCIBLE is getting his own movie. And I'm not ashamed to say that when I read that, I had an outburst of joy similar to the day I learned that Spider-Man would be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Why? Not only is Invincible one of the best comic books ever created, but I believe it can add a whole new dimension to the superhero genre of media. Here's why...
- The Concept
INVINCIBLE follows what appears to be a simple premise: Mark Grayson, who seems to be a regular high school student, is the son of the world's greatest superhero Omni-Man. Mark soon dons his own costume and the nom de guerre of Invincible, due to inheriting his father's Viltrumite powers of super strength, speed, flight, and durability.
But the story doesn't stop there; throughout the course of its 100+ issues the series takes massive twists and turns, and either challenges, lampshades, or subverts several tropes of the superhero genre. You never know what's going to happen next. And in order for the superhero genre to survive on both film and television, it has to keep surprising us.
- The Creators
A lot of people groan when they hear Seth Rogen's name, due to the nature of the comedy movies he and fellow collaborator Evan Goldberg have created. But...they're sleeping on PREACHER.
PREACHER is honest to god one of the better comic book adaptations I've seen. (And coming from a guy who dislikes Garth Ennis that's saying something.) And it stems from the fact that Rogen and Goldberg worked with Ennis to adapt PREACHER for television; the fact that they are closely working with Robert Kirkman on INVINCIBLE means nothing but good things.
- The Possibilities
Real talk: the one thing I absolutely HATE about being a comic fan is the stupid, asinine, moronic pissing match between Marvel fans and DC fans. It's only escalated with the rise of the superhero movie in the modern age, and both Marvel and DC establishing their own cinematic universes. Luckily INVINCIBLE will change all that, and be the first major Image Comics property to make it big on the screen. Image Comics has undergone something of a renaissance in the last few years, transitioning from "everything wrong with comics" to "some of the best damn comics out there." Half of my pull list is Image related; as I said before INVINCIBLE-and other titles-are pushing the boundaries of the genre. And while I love both Marvel and DC, ultimately they are cyclical in nature.
In short, I am eagerly awaiting this adaptation, and hopefully other great Image Comics (Black Science, Tokyo Ghost, Jupiter's Legacy, etc) can make the jump.
