The Psychological Disposition of Atom Eve....Damn!!!
Joseph Watkins Da Watcha
Writers Helen Leigh and Robert Kirkman have single handedly done something only the Kirkman Brand can accomplish. They’ve taken the superhero genre and once again crossed the line by giving them shocking origin stories that bring blood, guts, and psychological distress.
And I loved every minute of it.
The premiere of Atom Eve’s origin to start the soon to be season 2 of Invincible has taken the “superhero origin story (born from a special situation, destruction imminent for the parents, raised by adopted parents and provided with a decent upbringing filled with morals and values)” and turned it into a warped thrill ride in which you can’t take your eyes off the screen. The story’s protagonist, Samantha Eve Wilkins (voiced by Jazlyn Ione), undergoes, for an hour, unsupportive parents, is shunned for liking and knowing science, and interacts with an extended family “raised” by the government trying to kill her. As she navigates these obstacles, she rebels, fights, hurts, and bleeds through this 60-minute psychological torment, and through it all, she still decides to be the good superhero, the one who saves everyone; ignoring the opportunity to go full BrightBurn on her would be enemies.
However, going through what Samatha went through in this episode, I definitely understand if she wanted to be the villain...for a few hours, days, weeks, etc.
Atom Eve is a moving and poignant story that identifies what it is like to be a gifted child in an unsupportive ecosystem, be isolated because of differences and be part of a family that ignores the talents of other siblings because they are less special or weird.
There were also a few lines that really hit me hard emotionally, and that came from the character, Phase Two (voiced by Jacob Trembley):
‘They talk about us like we’re not there. Not real. Don’t matter. All we hear is how perfect you are and how perfect we aren’t !!!’
Those lines, followed by his rage led him and his siblings (Phase 3 and 4) to wail on her. Their full rage, stemming from their scientific-governmental upbringing and dislikes from their creator parents for not being complete, rails down on her, blow after blow. You can almost feel the actual hits given to Sam’s jaw and skull from what it appears to be the side frame or bumper of a gasoline truck and a series of bricks. The last time I felt that much pain was when The Joker beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar, to the point that he [Jason] begged for his life by saying that he would switch sides against Batman and be the Joker’s Robin (Batman #426-#429, “Death in the Family & Batman: The Three Jokers)...
Clip from ATOM EVE - AMAZON Prime
That’s how powerful that line was.
For Eve, that phrase, her fight with her siblings, and her brief interaction with her governmental family; Samantha realizes that compared to her original family, her adoptive psychological gaslighting dad and timid, supporting mother, aren’t that bad at all to live with.
To make it even more darker, Sam knows she’s adopted, the adoptive parents do not, Helen Leigh and Robert Kirkman did not fvck around with this episode and now I’m hooked.
Atom Eve: Origin is deep, raw, and exposes wounds that have you routing for Samantha to survive them. It also has you reflecting on season 1 of Invincible as you try to figure out how she can still be good when so much bad was gifted upon her. Eve didn’t ask for this as she states in the episode, but she realizes she has a long road ahead of her as she is discovering who she is and her “superhero” purpose,...
And I’ll be there watching, rooting for her all the way.
