#Invincible is just violent DBZ

[kanohimineka]

Omni-Man Isn't Superman

So, I'm not someone who is super into evil supermen. It can be a fun little gimmick for a single story, don't get me wrong. However, I think there's a problem when in one decade, there are more evil Superman stories in pop culture than there are good Superman stories. It is the single reason I haven't watched the show about boys. I'm sure its great, or whatever. However, I think that the satire falls flat when people aren't actually able to understand the nuances of Superman. It sucks, man. However, I do like Invincible. I know, that seems weird. One of the big two evil Superman edgy bloody superhero series on Amazon Prime. I shouldn't be interested, but I thought it was EPIC! So why. Well, I think I found it out, finally, as Season 2 came out. Omni-Man, for the purposes of this story, isn't the Superman analog. Invincible is.

SPOILERS FOR UP TO S2 EP 1 OF Invincible

Allow me some time to explain. Yes, on the outset, he seems more like Superman than Invincible. He fits in with the Superman spot for the first season's Justice League analog. He has the "Biggest Earth Hero" character archetype, at least at the start, on lock. He even looks more like Superman in costume than Invincible (Though they do both have a letter on their chest, Mark's is just more abstract). However, that's really where it ends. For me, the big sticking point is the amount of age and knowledge at the start of the story.

One of the big elements of Superman is that he is practically unaware of his home world, only really learning from recordings in the Fortress of Solitude. However, Omni-Man is fully aware. He came to earth in his adulthood, he grew up on Viltrum (Invincible's Krypton analog). Meanwhile, for Mark, he grew up entirely on Earth, learning its ways, its culture, its people. You know, like Superman.

However, even more key to this argument, is Omni-Man's actual role in the fucking plot. Yes, he is an antagonist, but I'm thinking deeper. This story is about Mark, not Omni-Man. It's about Mark learning about himself, his role in the world, so on and so forth. But where does Omni-Man fit in. He's his dad.

Yes, I posit that Omni-Man's true satire is being an evil version of Superman's dad...s. For the sake of efficiency, he merges Jor El and Pa Kent, being more Jor than Pa. This is an important as the satire shifts from the usual, "WhAt If SuPeRmAn WaS eViL" shtick, and changing it to more of, "What if Superman came from an evil Fascist family line," Which I find much more interesting.

Mainly, in that it feels much more in line with the original Superman, oddly enough. Many of the evil Supermen ignore the idea that Superman is so cool because, in part, he fights against the idea of the Ubermensch. The idea of someone who is super strong taking power is bucked away by Superman, as he places himself under all those he is stronger than, the ultimate altruist.

Invincible keeps this in mind, and pushes it further. The world has set Mark up to be what the Fascist powers that led up to him want him to be. Heck, season 2 starts with the idea that most Marks team up with Omni-Man. However, that makes Mark even more revolutionary, he is the buck in the trend, the one who shows that Superman can be, and should be a hero. It is wonderful, and makes this show really good.