Archaic Rehabilitation

Archaic Rehabilitation counts as a small but critical turn in the series, staging the first clash between Invincible and the augmented scientist Dinosaurus. The event opens the longer stretch of story known as The Savage Savior and finds Mark reeling in the wake of the Invincible War, his battles with Conquest and Angstrom Levy still fresh.

Two weeks past the devastation, Mark, his rapidly aged brother Oliver as Kid Omni-Man, and Eve keep answering threats, including a living-furnace villain, while Mark moves through the fights hollow and joyless. At home, Oliver longs to head back, relax, and disappear into video games the way any ordinary kid would, and Debbie urges Mark to slow down and recover, only for him to insist that heroes never get time off. At the GDA, Cecil rebuilds Earth's defenses, naming the veteran Brit to lead the Guardians of the Globe and restoring the Teen Team to active duty.

An anonymous tip through Invincible Inc. draws Mark to a construction site, where he meets Dinosaurus, a hulking humanoid Tyrannosaurus. The creature telepathically shares a cold utilitarian creed, insisting Earth is overpopulated and that thinning humanity is necessary for its survival. Mark dispatches him without much trouble, but the defeated monster reverts to a frail, terrified scientist who swears he cannot control his murderous alter ego. Gripped by bloodlust and grief, Mark comes close to killing the defenseless man before barely pulling himself back and sparing him.

The Guardians of the Globe arrive just as Invincible stands over Dinosaurus, stopping any execution as Mark leaves the scene, and they take the creature into custody. The confrontation introduces Mark's newest nemesis and marks the dawn of the darker chapter to come, with Invincible also lending his strength to rebuilding the cities his own war had leveled.