100+ Definitions 79

Invincible #79

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  The 79^th issue of the superhero comic Invincible continues telling the tale of Invincible’s adaptation back into the normal superhero life on Earth.  Mark Grayson obtains an alteration on his costume (a set of kneepads find themselves stitched over some knee-high boots) and returns to fighting costumed supervillains in facing three-panel pages stretching from top to bottom.

Invincible #79 (I#79): Don’t forget to note that Mark Grayson learns that his girlfriend, Samantha Wilkins and his mother have become the best of friends, much to his great distress.  The rest of the issue displays the conversations of the Immortal and Dupli-Kate and messy loud behavior of their children. 

L-FL: A scene shift includes the amusing reaction of workers at the Global Defense Agency when they see Omni-Man striding through its hallways.  Shock, and fear, and cringes convince Nolan Grayson (Omni-Man) that he should seek somewhere else to stay.

I#79: The twist of this issue occurs in the final five pages of the issue where Samantha confesses to Mark that she aborted a pregnancy which she concealed from Mark.  Samantha’s situation has weighed very heavily on her throughout many of the past issues.

L-FL: The definition of superhero derives from Mark’s comforting reaction to Samantha when she reveals her past choices to him.  A superhero responds with compassion and comfort to the distress of others.

I#79: Too many issues.

100+ Definitions 78

Invincible #78

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): A Vacation to Disney World doesn’t serve as the aftermath story to the Viltrumite War, but a quite visit to an estranged wife and a girlfriend. 

Invincible #78 (I#78): You make this issue sound so dull, like nothing really happened, when in fact asymptotic relationships become continuous again.  Broken connections mend, feelings kept jailed in the unconscious to allow better focus on more pressing tasks (like saving hundreds of planet from hostile alien control) than sitting on a couch talking. It is for the events in this issue that justify and empower the heroes to stand against the Viltrumites.

L-FL: That sounds like a fine concept on which to base this installment’s definition of “superhero” as a being that possesses and tends relations with a significant other.

I#78: Whatever you do, make certain that I do not die in vain.

100+ Definition 77

Invincible #77

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Two main plot puddles hold the narrative in the superhero comic Invincible written by the same guy who writes the Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman).

Invincible #77 (I#77): I wouldn’t use a puddle analogy, not with the moral choice presented to the young hero, but a dual focus does exist within this installment.

L-FL: In the beginning Invincible, Omni-Man and Tech Jacket rocket back to Earth with Mark Grayson (Invincible) spending the entire voyage allowing his imagination to conjure a season of deaths for his loved ones at the hands of Viltrumite invaders.

I#77: Nolan Grayson (Omni-Man, Mark’s father) encourages his son to relax and offers suggestions for a stoic approach to calm his horror-show imagination.

L-FL: The suggestions don’t work, but when the heroes reach Earth, they find the civilization intact and unmaimed.  The second focus of the story involves Thragg approaching the heroes and offering a deal of the Viltrumites living covertly amongst humans and reproducing secretly for centuries, or the remaining Viltrumites attack and utterly destroy the planet (a threat on which they can follow through).

I#77: It’s not much of a choice, as Nolan immediately recognizes, and he accepts the deal.  After bitter angst and gnashing of teeth, Mark also accepts the proposition.

L-FL: It’s Mark before he accepts the terms of peace that brings forth the definition of “superhero” for this issue.  In the spaceship on the return ride to Earth, as Mark is imagining the terrors of a Viltrumite-revenge attack, he shows readers that a superhero is eager for action and deals poorly with inaction.

I#77: My answer is yes.

100+ Definitions 76

Invincible #76

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  Fist fights in space consume the majority of panels in this issue. Thragg and the remaining Viltrumites duke it out with the Graysons and their allies before retreating from the field of combat.

Invincible #76 (I#76):  After some time to heal, Allen the Alien becomes the leader of the Coalition of Planets, and Tech Jacket, Omni-Man, and Invincible race back to Earth.  The three heroes fear that the Viltrumites have razed Earth as revenge for the destruction of Viltrum.  The issue ends on a cliff-hanger.

L-FL:  This plot brings about the definition of a superhero being able to witness the pain and destruction of loved ones and intrinsically know and feel comfortable with the chosen ethics that, while anguished at the suffering of loved ones, knows the creed that lead to these consequences remain strong and worthwhile.

I#76: That definition provides some comfort even though the Viltrumites have gone to Earth.

100+ Definitions 75

Invincible #75

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  We’re three quarters of the way to 100 definitions of superhero!  The 75^th issue of Invincible has the heroic core of the Coalition of Planets attack the home world Viltrum.  The battle takes a New-Hope turn when Invincible, Omni-Man and Thaedus, with assistance from Space-Racer’s gun, crash through the core of Viltrum and destroy the entire planet.

Invincible #75 (I#75): The planet!  The whole planet is shattered!   Shards of Viltrum float in space!

L-FL:  The issue ends with the Grand Regent of the Viltrum Empire, Thragg, ripping off the head of Thaedus to avenge the death of Viltrum’s former leader.

I#75: Decapitated!  Ripped his head right off!  Thragg then threatened the same for the rest of the attackers!

L-FL:  If nothing else, issue 75 shows that superheroes work and function on grand scales.  Powers of superheroes enhance and move the actions of individuals far far beyond the average.

I#75: And you are next.

100+ Definitions 74

Invincible #74

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Issue 74 narrates the return of the Grayson trio to active combatants in the Viltrumite War.

Invincible #74 (I#74): The planet headquarters of the Coalition of Planets, the force opposing the oppressive Viltrumite Empire, endures an assault by enemy forces.  The dramatic return of the Graysons tilts the Viltrumite attack into a retreat where their auxiliary forces surrender.

L-FL: The issue ends with the Coalition members lamenting the destruction done to their planet, confronting the traitor, and preparing to press their advantage and attack the Viltrumites on their home world.

I#74:  So, give us the superhero meaning.

L-FL: Superheroes arrive when the situation seems most hopeless and through their mere presence push victory to the side on which the superheroes support.

I#74:  No—can’t risk it.

100+ Definitions 73

Invincible #73

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Fate turns an odd twist for the role of the Grayson family at the beginning of the Viltrumite War.  After Mark Grayson, Invincible, suffers gut-wrenching injuries, his father and brother take him to a planet for months of recover.  Nolan and Oliver, Invincible’s father and brother, sit out the Viltrumite War to bond and care for Invincible.

Invincible #73 (I#73):  The war still continues, and Robert Kirkman conveys the progression of the battles between the Coalition of Planets and the Viltrumites through the roles of Allen the Alien and Tech Jacket.  The issue closes by revealing the communications worker who has been leaking information to the Viltrumites. 

L-FL:  The definition of superhero for these pages is the training of a hero involves not only physical trials, but also caring for the injured, how to adapt to new situations, and having close ties and connections and affections with a father.

I#73: Who are you talking to?

100+ Definitions 72

Invincible #72

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Fights continue in this issue as five heroes face off against three villains and their host of henchmen.

Invincible #72 (I#72): The heroes are Invincible, Omni-Man, Young Omni-Man, Tech Jacket, and Allen the Alien.  The villains are three Viltrumites, a super-powered colonial conquering race working on expanding their control through the universe.

L-FL:  This issue marks the first battle of the Viltrumite War, the opening moves of the Coalition of Planets battling against the Viltrumite army. 

I#72:  The focus of the issue remains fixed on the contention between Invincible and Conquest.  A lot of blood, violent jokes, and head-butts bounce between the characters.  With gruesome grisliness, Invincible keeps his hands clamped around Conquest’s neck while Conquest extracts his intestines and then expires.

L-FL:  Gross.  Alas, though, this scene births the definition of superhero for this installment.  A superhero maintains her or his grip and never lets go until the goal is accomplished.

I#72:  Such determination still could make one cry for help.

100+ Definitions 71

Invincible #71

The Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL):  The 71^st installment in the chronicles of Invincible begins with the heroes of Earth combating yet another invasion of the entire planet Earth, this time from the Flaxans, other-dimensional beings who previously launched invasions of Earth in issues 3 and 14.  After overcoming this threat, Invincible, along with his father, brother, and Allen the Alien depart Earth to join ranks in the Coalition of Planets’ war against the Viltrumite Empire.

Invincible #71 (I#71):  Before departing, Nolan Grayson (Omni-Man’s civilian identity) speaks with his estranged wife in an attempt to mend their relationship.  The mending proceeded poorly.  Mark Grayson speaks with Samantha Wilkinson about his possible mortality.

L-FL: Mortality continues surfacing as a theme in the past several issues of Invincible.  Other writers noted how superheroes serve as metaphors for wish fulfillments of power, but instead of power, the pages seem more akin to wish fulfillments for immortality and stasis.  In the panel where Samantha and Mark talk, Samantha interrupts and silences her boyfriend before he can even voice the word “die.”  This verbal maneuvering can be understood as a representation for the avoidance of death.  A common-heard critique against the superhero genre is that nothing ever changes.  While Invincible generally sidesteps the forever-status-quo plaguing other superhero titles, this issue returns to an invasion by a previously seen species, the return of a heroic father, the return of the same Viltrumite attackers, and a purposeful avoidance of speaking “death.”

I#71: This speculation is great and everything, but how about you save it for an essay.  Give us the short version.

L-FL: Oh yeah, sorry.  A superhero and the genre in which superheroes exist serve as a wish-fulfillment metaphor of immortality in a utopia as promising and problematic as the Republic of Plato.

I#71: No.  Not him.  How?

100+ Definitions 70

 Invincible #70

Low-Frequency Listener (L-FL): Spilling forth from the pages plotted and scripted by Robert Kirkman is another invasion of Earth…

Invincible #70 (I#70): …another invasion that is nearly successful.  The Sequids from Mars (tiny squids, not spiders) strive to escape the force field containing them and enslave the rest of Earth’s population. 

L-FL: It’s a similar story that you’ve read before dear reader, multiple times.  Invaders menace, heroes work together, good guys triumph.  The uniqueness of this story arrives when Invincible kills, on purpose, the innocent alien-host Rus Livingston.  Justifying his actions with the rationale that killing one person will save thousands of others, Mark Grayson experiences tough emotions in dealing with the consequences of his first conscious homicide.

I#70:  Such moral fallout hints at a superhero as a being bound to an ethical life where individual lives possess worth and deserve protection despite the false promise of a superior pragmatism through selected murder.

L-FL: Such a definition calls for larger discussions involving multiple others and much more time and…we really need to talk….