Tuesday, June 10, 2014

100+ Definitions 10



Invincible #10



Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): This Tuesday brings the events of Robert Kirkman’s and Corey Walker’s superhero comic Invincible #10.  We’ll let the issue speak for itself about what occurred.

Invincible #10 (I#10):  The story begins with Invincible fighting the super villain Doc Seismic. Mark defeats him and receives accolades from the watching crowd at Mount Rushmore. Mark goes to a comic shop. Mark’s dad fails at talking with his son; Damien Darkblood demon detective continues to investigate the murder of the Guardians of the Globe. Omni-Man defeats a squid monster at an amusement park and then battles the resurrected Immortal, whom Omni-Man kills in front of Invincible. 

Superhero definition: The adoration and appreciation of the public and onlookers serve as sufficient reward for the superhero instead of monetary compensation.

L-FL: In regards to the definition of superhero, Andrew Smith, a contributing editor to The Comic Buyer’s Guide for over a decade, notes how the superhero is a key ingredient in villains in his article “Supervillains Who Need Superheroes (Are the Luckiest Villains in the World)."

Smith contends, “…a number of villains are hero specific.  They’re usually referred to as arch-enemies or nemeses of their corresponding heroes, and they are usually mentioned in the same breath as their opponents (e.g., ‘Superman and Lex Luther’).  The motives and background of these characters vary, but what they have in common seems to be a need for an opposite number to complete or construct their own identity.”

(I#10):  Omni-Man, while a villain to everyone on Earth, is the core villain to his son Invincible and carries all the metaphorical meaning of children opposing their parents.  It is of interest to note that it is the alien that alerts Mark to the less desirable traits of his father.  Outside of fiction, it is the break in the routine, the differences, the alien, that reveals the true character of individuals we thought we knew.  Superheroes retain their admirable core values when confronted by the unfamiliar, even when the familiar becomes unfamiliar.  Hmm, I think I’ve found a pattern here, get me Kirkman, “…We need to talk.”

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