Month: February 2021

Invincible: A love letter to superhero comics

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics

Now before I start on my small rant about Invincible, I want to take the time to explain that this blog is going to be the first of many, based on certain comic books. These comic books will be either titles I am currently reading or titles that I have read in the past, even though the series has finished. Sweet?

Ok, I want to talk about Invincible. Why? Well, it’s mainly for two reasons. The first is that the book is amazing and second, there is a certain TV show coming out in March, so I thought I might get ahead of the curve on this. 1

I realise when talking about a movie or book, there tends to be spoilers. So for anybody that has not read Invincible, I will try to make this as spoiler free as I can. Sound fair?

Invincible debuted in Invincible #1 in January 2003, from Image Comics. 2 It was created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, with Kirkman as the writer and Walker working on the pencils. Now you may be thinking “Robert Kirkman? Isn’t he that Walking Dead guy?” Yes, they are the same person, he co-created both of them. 3

Invincible ran for 144 issues, along with some extra issues. Kirkman was the only writer for the series, with Walker being the artist for #1-7, #127-132. All the other issues were drawn by Ryan Ottley, which was 127 issues over 14 years.

Now for the plot. Invincible is about a high school student named Mark Grayson. Mark is the son of Omni-Man, one of the world’s most beloved superheroes. 4 Mark grows up waiting for his superpowers to activate; so basically when other kids are running around pretending they have superpowers, he is annoyed that he doesn’t have them yet.

Eventually for Mark; and also for the reader, his powers emerge. This means Mark can finally become a superhero like his father. Mark now has everything he has ever wanted; superpowers, a costume, a superhero name and even some superpowered friends and enemies. Also, Mark’s costume is yellow, blue and black; which to me, is quite original.

However, because Mark’s powers have emerged, it sets off a chain of events that puts Mark and the reader on a path, that nobody sees coming. Spoilers!! Also, I think I read somewhere that describing Invincible was like if Peter Parker the teenager, had Clark Kent’s powers. Cool concept.

The funny thing is, the first time I had heard of Invincible was in 2006. I was reading Wizard and it mentioned that Invincible was that title for the month. 5

A few months later, I was standing in my old comic book shop, when I noticed the Invincible section in one of boxes. I picked up Invincible #0, then I read the trades through the library and liked what I saw. After going on a national and international hunt for back issues, I officially starting reading Invincible as a monthly title in June 2007 with #42.

I have Invincible #0-144; plus Invincible Returns #1; Image Comic Summer Special FCBD 2004; and Marvel Team-Up # 14, where Invincible meets Spider-Man. I told you I was a geek, so don’t be surprised!

So…why do I like Invincible? Let’s start with the writing. I think Kirkman said at some point during the run, that Invincible was his love letter to the genre of superhero comics. I can understand that, because Invincible has been the longest series I have ever collected, based on a single character. 6 It’s a phenomenal series!

One appealing factor to enjoying Invincible, was the fact that you could enjoy a monthly title about a superhero, by getting on board at the ground floor, so to speak. Having only being published in 2003, you did not have the baggage of 50 years plus of stories to grapple with. No offense to Marvel and DC.

Anyway, the main characters are fleshed out, as well as the secondary characters. From Debbie (Mark’s mother) to Monster Girl to Atom Eve to Oliver and to…Thragg.

This of course brings us to the villains of the series. Mark does have a rogues gallery, but they are different to say Batman’s or Spider-Man’s. They turn up to made Mark’s life a nightmare, however Mark does not have never-ending battles with them. Yes, the likes of Angstrom Levy and Powerplex provide personal battles for Mark; just as collective villains do like the Reanimen and ….spoilers!!!

The fact that the title does break the mould with the villains, does place it as a rare category in the industry.

Since Invincible is a comic book, I need to talk about the art. The thing with Walker and Ottley, was that they were not shy when it came to fights. Don’t get me wrong, having Mark spending time with his family and friends, always to me; gave a sense of normality to the title. Mark had problems and issues to solve, which I think drew similarities to Peter Parker’s life outside of the costume.

That being said…the fight scenes. Wow. I say again. Wow. Invincible was one of the first comics that I had seen, that gave readers brutal, bloody and gory superhuman fights. I’m talking about some awful violent scenes like somebody punching through a person, limbs being ripped off, and intestines. A lot of intestines.

For me, the fights were amazing to look at, for the pain staking detail that was applied to each panel; but at the same time, there was a sense of “anybody could die in this book.” And characters did. A lot.

Anyway, without going to much into spoilers, I started reading Invincible at a strange time in my life, and as I grew older, I noticed that Mark and I were on the same journey towards family, not superhuman powers; though that would have be nice.

When it was announced that Invincible was ending with #144, I turned to my wife and started explaining how strange I felt about that. She humoured me, by allowing me to talk about how long Invincible had been in my life and that it was always the very first comic I would read, when my mail orders arrived.

I guess one of the legacies of Invincible for me, is that I currently hold no desire to read any monthly superhero comic book anymore; as in a title named after the protagonist. To me, you can’t top Invincible, though if the right title came along, I would stand corrected. 7 I feel stupid because writing this blog and talking about Invincible, has reminded me what an amazing series it was and the fact that I still miss reading about Mark’s failures and triumphs.

We finally arrive at the point of the Invincible TV series on Amazon Prime Video. When I heard a TV series was going to made, I assumed it was going to be a live action adaptation. After watching the two trailers, I am so happy for three main reasons.

The first reason, is that the show will be animated. This means they can travel to Mars, Viltrum and other worlds, as well as different locations on Earth; and meeting crazy powered characters, without them looking cheap, shoddy or shitty.

The second reason is the animation is based on Walker and Ottley’s art. It’s honestly like reading the comic; I am so grateful, because it looks gorgeous! The third reason is the fight scenes. If the comic is a gauge to measure the fights, then the TV series will blow people away!

As for watching the series, I probably won’t just yet. This is because I can’t afford two streaming channels; but also, it gives me time to wait for the “Second Age of Middle-Earth” series, so I can watch them on a trial. Maybe.

For what it’s worth, I think Invincible is one of a small group of elite comic books and manga, that have stamped their mark on the 21st century, for actually adding to superhero culture, and not taking anything away.

There are many problems in the world right now: climate change, racism, poverty, child abuse, COVID-19 and sadly, the list goes on. Reading a comic book like Invincible will not change or solve any of these issues, but it will put a smile on your face. It’ll make you happy and isn’t that one of the points of life?

So go visit your local comic shop or library and fall into a rabbit hole of half human/Viltrumites, brutal fight scenes and the coolest one-eyed orange alien named Allen, you will ever meet.

Thanks for reading and see you in a fortnight!

Image by Some Geek Told Me

1 Just to be clear, I am generally not ahead in many things, especially fashion or music.

2 Technically the first appearances of Invincible was in Tech Jacket #1 with a preview and a cameo appearance in Noble Causes: Family Secrets #3.

3 Useless piece of information for you: Invincible and The Walking Dead both came out in 2003, but The Walking Dead #1 was released in October, while Invincible #1 was in January.

4 Omin-Man aka Nolan Grayson is a Viltrumite, a native of the Planet Viltrum.

5 Am I the only person to miss that magazine?

6 Though to be fair, the wielder of the Right Hand of Doom, might say something about that.

7 This does not include manga, because One Punch Man and Ultraman kick all different kinds of arse.

The ABCs of the DMZ

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Geography

I want to talk about the Korean Demilitarized Zone or as it’s most commonly known as the DMZ. Why? Because it’s one of the most heaviest protected border regions on the planet and I’ve actually been there.

Ok, let’s back up a bit shall we? So what exactly is the DMZ and why is it so unique? Let us once again enter our own TARDIS and travel backwards in time to the year 1953, to the beautiful Korean Peninsula. Just like Semisonic’s “…every new beginning, comes from some other beginning’s end” our lesson begins at the end of the Korean War. 1

Originally the boundary between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK aka North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (ROK aka South Korea), ran along the 38th parallel, which cuts the Korean Peninsula in half. After 3 years of fighting (1950-1953), the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27th July 1953. It brought a long term ceasefire between the North and South Korea.

With the Armistice Agreement, both countries moved their forces back 2 km (1.2 miles) from the front line, so the DMZ could be made. Through the centre of the DMZ is the Military Demarcation Line or MDL, that separates North Korea from South Korea.

Image by Rishabh Tatiraju via Wikipedia

The DMZ stretches from one side on the peninsula to the other. It is 250 km (160 miles) long and 4 km (2.5 miles) wide. There are no active soldiers in this area, apart from the Joint Security Area (JSA). There are barbed wire fences and military posts dotted along the area, to keep people out.

Because of this, the area inside the DMZ had become a somewhat of a conservation reserve. Because very few people actual interact within the DMZ, it has created by accident, a type of biodiversity bubble. Over 65 years of nearly unmolested attention from humans, has resulted in over 2900 species of vegetation and over 70 species of mammals can be found within this bio-bubble.

The red-crowned crane and the white-naped crane, are two endangered species of crane, that now live in the DMZ. It is also to be believed that the Asiatic Black Bear, Amur Leopard and Siberian Tiger; which are all endangered species, may all be living in the DMZ as well.

So what else is interesting about the DMZ? The border separating North and South Korea is actually closed to everybody. What this means, is that if you wish to North Korea from South Korea, you must travel through Russia or China to do it; and vice versa.

There is however a meeting place at the JSA called the T1-T3 conference rooms, or also known as the blue houses. These buildings are where negotiations can take place, because there are located on the MDL. Inside these buildings, you can step from one country into the other and back again. 2

T1-T3 conference rooms

Image by Driedprawns via Wikipedia

I was fortunate enough to visit the DMZ in late 2005, so this was over 15 years ago. Some of the routines, systems or protocols may have changed over that time, so I can only talk about my experience when I was there and what I can remember.

I was working as an ESOL teacher at the time, in a city called Jeonju, located south west of Seoul. I had traveled to Seoul before, but on this particular trip, the aim was to visit the DMZ. I had a Lonely Planet guide book, which explained where in Seoul I could catch the tour. 3

Anyway, I found where the tours started from and caught a bus to the JSA, which was at the village of Panmunjom, which is north of Seoul. 4 Once there, we were taken into a building for a lecture. An American officer working for the United Nations Command proceeded to explain what was going to happen and where we were going to be taken.

Before that point, I had been in a constant state of curiosity during the bus ride, which I think lasted something like 1hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. I had been reading about the history of the area and when I finally arrived, I was very excited. That all changed during the lecture.

The officer basically said, because of where we were, we needed to sign a waiver. This was because if anybody did anything stupid that would result of somebody getting shot, injured or killed by the North Koreans, the UNC would not be liable. When I held the wavier in my hand, things became a lot of more real to me. I mean, how would I explain to my Mum about why some North Koreans decided to try and shoot me? I decided from that moment to dial down the curiosity and dial up the self-preservation.

After signing the waiver, the tour group was led from the room by the officer. Now I can’t 100% remember the order of these events, but I can remember that they happened. We were told about the 1976 Hatchet incident or Axe Murder incident and shown it’s location, along with the Bridge to No Return.

While we were walking around inside one of the buildings, a ROK soldier came walking to towards us, so the American officer told us to stop and listen. As the ROK soldier walked past, we could hear a small metallic noise. After the soldier had left, the officer asked us if anybody had heard anything.

A few people raised their hands, so the officer asked another question: What was making that sound? The group had a few guesses, before the officer revealed that the sound was a ball bearing inside the heel of the soldier’s boot.

This of course led to the reason why, not just that particular ROK soldier had one, but all of the ROK soldiers at the DMZ had ball bearings in their heels. The answer left me gobsmacked! The reason the ROK soldiers had ball bearings in the heels of their boots…was quite simply to annoy the DPRK soldiers with the noise! I found that quite funny and fascinating at the same time.

Even though it’s very obvious, I made the observation of what some of the ROK soldiers were doing. I saw some ROK soldiers that were guarding buildings on their side on the MDL, were staring directly at their North Korean opposites; for hours!

However, what was truly amazing was that some ROK soldiers were standing behind a building, with half their body exposed and the other half unseen; from the North Korean side. When I asked the American officer why were we looking at, he replied that there were two reasons the ROK soldiers were only exposing half their body. The first was that the ROK soldiers could still observe and watch the North Korean sentries, while the second was that the each ROK soldier was only giving the North Koreans half a target to aim at!

I was also shown and told the story about the two flag poles, representing the flags of North Korea and South Korea. So the story goes that, during the 1980’s, the South Koreans constructed a flag pole on their side on the DMZ, at a place called Daeseong-dong. The flag pole was built to a height of 97-98 m (323-325 ft). I need to point out that at the top of the flag pole was the South Korean flag and weighed 130 kg (287 lb).

Now the North Korean government was not to be out done for this. Their response was to build an even larger flag pole, standing at a massive 160 m (525 ft) and flying the North Korean flag, which weighs 270 kg (595 lb) at the village of Kijŏng-dong.

This leads me to talk about the two villages. Daeseong-dong and Kijŏng-dong are known as “peace” villages, because they are the only settlements allowed to be in the DMZ area, under the Armistice Agreement. The funny thing is that they are quite odd.

Take Daeseong-dong on the South Korean side, it is protected and administered by the United Nations Command and residents are expected to live at least 240 days per year in the village. The village had a population of 218 people in 2008. At 11pm, there is a curfew and headcount every night in the village and residents are exempt from military service and paying taxes. Nice deal eh?

Kijŏng-dong on the North Korean side, is something else entirely. Also known as the Propaganda Village, Kijŏng-dong appears to be fake. On one hand, the North Korean government has previously stated that the village is home to over 200 families, where they work on a collective farm.

On the another hand, the South Korean government and western media state something crazy! They claim the buildings in the villages are concrete shells, because they lack glass windows or rooms; a small crew of caretakers sweep the empty footpaths; and some lights are turned on and off at set times, to try and give the impression the village is a hive of activity. Sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.

To reinforce how crazy the pettiness of the two countries have been, they have used loudspeakers to pump out various propaganda to each other, 5 as well as using balloons to drop leaflets on the neighbouring country.

Now one thing I haven’t mentioned are the tunnels. From 1974, several tunnels have been discovered running into the DMZ, from North Korea. The great thing is that as part of the tour, you can descend into one of the tunnels. 6

As we walking into the tunnel, the tour guide explained the history of the tunnels. It went something along the lines of the tunnels being discovered by the South Koreans; North Korea would claim that South Korea was responsible for their construction; then North Korea would later claim ownership of them, because it was stated they were coal mines.

It’s an interesting story, especially when you are hearing about it and actually standing in the tunnel. It was at that point when we were shown the craziness of the situation. The tour guide pointed out the blast points, which indicated they were made from the North Korea side.

However, the best thing about it was that the walls were black. As in black paint. The North Koreans painted the walls black, to give the illusion that it’s coal!

Over the years, diplomacy between North and South Korea has increased. This has resulted in many changes within the DMZ; the biggest have been the removal of landmines and guard posts, but also the reintroduction of transportation.

If you ever get the chance to visit the DMZ, please take it. You won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading and see you in a fortnight!

1 I need to point out that technically North Korea and South Korea are still at war, they are just in a frozen conflict.

2 Granted there are DPRK and ROK soldiers staring at each other and you, inside the building. It’s a surreal setting.

3 My South Korean Lonely Planet book went everywhere with me, it was amazing! (Not a sponsor).

4 Because the JSA and Panmunjom are so close to each other, the two names can and have been indistinguishable. It’s also mentioned in Billie Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

5 Again, just another way to piss off your neighbour and their family.

6 I think it was either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th tunnel.