Stories with believable characters will always capture the audience’s attention. While a Mary Sue who always does the right thing and is rewarded for it can be entertaining, what really sucks the audience in is someone who makes realistic decisions. While The Boys certainly achieves this, it feels too real. What happens is entirely believable, and to such a high degree it can be disheartening. Where Invincible shines is a middle ground of believable characters in a believable world while keeping things from straying too far.
If you thought the idea of The Boys was cool but the level of the gore and violence or the tone put you off, Invincible might be your cup of tea. Calling it a watered-down version would be disingenuous as I believe they are attempting to accomplish two different goals. Invincible feels like an adult superhero show. You still get the comic book art style but you forgo the horse shit of a traditional kids’ animated super hero show. People fucking die, and pretty gruesomely at that. The last episode made me cry.
Shit’s good. Watch it.