It’s time once again for a Conner’s Critique and this time, as we get ready for Invincible, we talk about the Atom Eve special that was released earlier this year. Atom Eve is a character within the world of Invincible and one of the high powered characters who has a romantic relationship with Invincible in the comic book series.
I’ll be honest, this special was kind of out of nowhere, but we were all for it and we can’t wait to share our thoughts with you. As always, we break down our views by story, acting, and overall. So let’s jump on into it.
Story 9/10
Picking up way in the past, we see the birth of a character whose very existence appears to be a military secret. The agency was clearly trying to create a perfect weapon.
But regardless of their intentions, the main scientist is able to spirit away the prized test subject within their mother who is about to give birth. Another set of parents at the hospital have just lost their daughter. However, through his treachery the scientist is able to convince the staff that while they thought the child had died, shortly after it started breathing again. Unbeknownst to the government, the deceased baby’s parents, or even the baby, the child was the genetically designed offspring.
What follows next is the journey of Samantha Eve Wilkins, Atom Eve, and her life as she realizes she’s different from other kids due to her inability to communicate in the world traditionally. She feels alone until a babysitter accidently lets her see his chemistry homework and Eve notices her love of atomic bonds and structures.
Believed to be a prodigy, her family ships her to a specialty school, but only fuels her constant fears of never fitting in.
Upon the discovery of her powers, everyone views it as a freak ability and it further ostracizes her from any friends that she has made. Her drive to use her powers for good though forces her to go out and make a change, but the scientists who risked his life to keep her safe returns to warn her. If she pulls the attention of the secret organization, they will come after her.
You can’t keep a good hero down though, Atom Eve continues to put herself directly in the crosshair of the people that the scientist was trying to keep her safe from.
I know the story feels like it’s got a lot of the same tropes from a lot of sci-fi or superhero stories, that’s why it’s important for it to be backed up with solid writing and the character to have specific motivations as to why they’re doing what they’re doing.
The special does a great job to prevent it from feeling flat. The characters do a great job making this world feel solid, and giving greater insight into the history and past of Atom Eve, who stands out as a solid figure in the first season of Invincible.
Acting 9/10
This is an animated series, and the voice acting in it is really great. The actors are able to convey their feelings without any actual physical form.
All the people in this series specifically Aria Kane and Jazlyn Ione who play Atom Eve and Stephen Root who plays the scientist, Dr. Elias Brandyworth, is great at their job at conveying the feelings that they have in these moments, and the desperation that Brandyworth feels in trying to keep Samantha safe.
Additionally, as one of his last roles, Lance Reddick takes up the mantle as the leader of the secret Government agency that created and wants to recapture Samantha.
Overall 9/10
The journey is impressive, fun, and gives a lot of background for such a major character for the show and comics. I only hope they continue this, and give all the other characters these specials because it really was well done, and Kirkman has gone above and beyond on this comic book series.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
This was a nice return to the world as we seemed to have been waiting for forever with this season even cut in half and another gap forced upon us.
If you haven’t seen the special yet, and want something to hold you over during the separate parts of the new season, you can always save this special for that time!
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