Prime VideoAtom Eve helps Mark against Conquest in Invincible Season 3 Episode 8, and she almost pays the ultimate price – and the comics reveal exactly why she survives.
Any Invincible fan who watched the Atom Eve special should know just how powerful she could be. Even now, she’s one of Invincible’s strongest characters; after all, she can manipulate atoms, allowing her to fly and conjure extraordinary weapons from pure energy to fight her enemies.
She puts her powers to the test in the Season 3 finale, defending Mark with a full-on barrage of energy blasts (she even increases the air density to slow Conquest down).
Alas, Conquest gets the better of her. However, just like in the comics, this paves the way for Atom Eve’s greatest moment. Major spoilers for the comics to follow…
Does Atom Eve die in the Invincible comics?
Prime VideoNo, Atom Eve doesn’t die in the Invincible comics.
That’s not to say she doesn’t have some close calls; Conquest is the nearest she comes to death, her leg gets ripped off by… another villain, and she almost succumbs to old age (more on that later).
Just like you saw in the finale, Atom Eve is on the brink of death after being disemboweled by Conquest. However, her body starts glowing like a pink sun, healing all her wounds – and, more importantly, turning herself into a weapon that fires a scorching hot blast that burns off Conquest’s skin.
In the wake of the fight in the comics, Eve explains, “It’s kind of complicated. When I was being engineered by the scientist who created me… well, I wasn’t like a test-tube baby. I was given powers while I was still in my mother’s womb.
Image Comics“When they gave me my powers, they installed mental blocks – that’s the only reason I can’t use my powers on organic matter. There’s something installed in my brain that stops me. They were making a weapon – and they didn’t want me to be too powerful.”
Think about it: if Eve could manipulate the atoms of sentient beings, she would effectively be omnipotent.
There’s a lot more to come, but Eve’s biggest weakness isn’t anything tangible: it’s herself, whether it’s her actual limiters (put in by the scientist to prevent her from becoming omnipotent) or her fear of hurting people.
Is Atom Eve immortal?
Prime VideoYes, Atom Eve is immortal! This is confirmed much later in the Invincible comics.
Specifically, it’s revealed in Issue #144 – literally the final comic in the series. I won’t go into any other details about what happens in the last issue, but there’s a substantial time jump by the end. Mark ages a little, but Eve is still human, so she ages just like the rest of us.
We see an elderly Eve lying in bed, saying her final words to Mark… and suddenly, her body starts glowing pink again. She doesn’t die: she returns to her younger form. “Wow, I guess I’m essentially immortal,” she says.
Image ComicsBasically, Eve needs a traumatic event or near-death experience to allow her to bypass her mental blockers and unlock her full powers. Even though her passing would have been completely natural, her body doesn’t allow her to die – she exists beyond the circle of life.
Cast your mind back to Issue #65. “When something happens, a kind of intense trauma… it overrides those mental blocks and for a short period of time I can use my powers on organic matter,” she explains after surviving the Conquest fight.
“So basically… being near death was stressful enough to allow me to rebuild my body.”
After the finale, find out what happens to Conquest in the comics, and if you want to spoil more for yourself, you can read the Invincible comics for free.
You can also find out when Invincible Season 4 is expected to release, and until then, keep tabs on the show’s soundtrack and find out why Mark’s blue suit is so important. In our interview with Robert Kirkman, he also explained why Spawn couldn’t appear in the Invincible War and why there may not be a Rex Splode special anytime soon.
