Irredeemable #4

July 2009 | Boom!

Creator: Mark Waid
Writing: Mark Waid
Art: Peter Krause
Colour: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover: Dan Panosian

Qubit tells his story of first meeting The Plutonian. Nations of the world gather to discuss this global crisis and almost every country is willing to offer the fallen super his every desire.

Another issue blows me away. Every time I ask myself, how could this get better? Each time I read the next, I’m left in awe gaping the last page.

This is brilliance. Everything I’ve ever wanted from an oversaturated genre and I don’t want it to stop.

There is a specific scene in this book that keeps haunting my mind. The scene where Qubit finally gets his answer to a question he asked when first meting the Plutonian. It was a beautiful moment that made me sit back in my chair and release a contented sigh.

If I were ever to meet Mark in person, I’d probably be filled with such joyous emotion, tears would spill down my cheeks.

And the art. The story wouldn’t have the deep impact without Peter’s wonderful art. And how about Dan’s cover? So beautiful. I’d love a poster of that to put on my wall.

I’ve used all the words left in me. This series is wonderful. Just read it. Go to your local comic store, or online seller, and just buy it. Right now.

Irredeemable #3

Jun 2009 | Boom! Studios

Creation: Mark Waid
Writing: Mark Waid
Art: Peter Krause
Colour: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover: Dan Panosian

The Plutonian is still having issues and the bad guys want to know if he’s on their side now and how they could use him. They find the secret hideout of Inferno and start snooping around. What they don’t expect, is The Plutonian.

Right off the bat I’m reminded why I love this comic so much. How delightfully disturbing that whole rape was. You really see how low Plutonian has gotten. Some classic behavioral issues there. I can’t wait to see more of them.

When The Plutonian talked with all those villains, I was almost fearful this comic would turn to crap. I could see the nose starting to tilt downward and the plane starting to teeter downward. And I was so delighted to be wrong when what followed happened.

This is everything I’ve ever wanted in a supers book. A good-guy turned bad for very valid reasons I can identify with and the results are far from family friendly. And it’s better off that way. This is something I’ve needed for a long time and hopefully the start of a trend. I want more books focused on villains doing unspeakable things. The only way the series will fail, is if the good guys win. Then I’m seriously going to have to go on a manhunt and beat a few people with rubber hoses.

Let me tell you the kind of world I live in.

It is a world of miserable, bitter, ungrateful paramecium who lash out at you in a state of perpetual rage for not solving their problems fast enough.

*Sigh.* I’m in love. I’m in love the words. I’m in love with The Plutonian. I’m in love with story. I’m in love with everything. This series has become an obsession. I need it like a junkie needs a fix. I just can’t function without more, or other books of equal caliber and artistry. And those are hard to come by. This is my top series this year with Crossed following close behind.

This is hands down one of the best supers comics I’ve ever read and likely will ever read.

Irredeemable #2

May 2009 | Boom!

Created By: Mark Waid
Writing: Mark Waid
Art: Peter Krause
Colour: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Ed Dukeshire

The Plutonian destroyed Sky City in half an hour two weeks ago causing a death count of millions and Kaidan’s making a house call to his girlfriend in hopes of getting some clues as to why he went rogue.

I’ve been anxiously looking forward to getting my hands on this and seeing if the momentum keeps up and I’m still pleased. This book has me under it’s control cover-to-cover. Not much happened, though. Just some back-story information gathering.

Kaidan. I don’t like her. I don’t like the concept of her powers, reciting ghost stories to invoke the spirits to fight for you. I think it’s dumb. Just attack her before she’s done babbling and you’ll be fine.

His girlfriend is so selfish. He cares for her so much to actually reveal his secret identity and she gets all pissy and blabs to her co-workers who immediately attempt to broadcast the news over the radio. How stupid could they be? Seriously. And despite him destroying the satellite and giving them the lecture they deserved, the girlfriend still stood on her high horse and rejected him. She deserves whatever she gets.

Ever? You’ll never breathe a word of this? Not to anyone, ever? Not even in your sleep? Or when you’re drunk, or tired, or lonely? And even if that’s so, what about him? or him? Do you trust them to never drag you into this ever, for as long as you live?

Your lives are worthless now. They’re over.

Even I can’t save you.

On another note, it was satisfying to hear that her co-workers all succumbed to the pressure and paranoia and committed suicide. And it’s all that rotten chick’s fault. I bet she still sleeps good at night.

All this suffering. I could turn into a supers fan yet.

Irredeemable #1

Apr 2009 | Boom!

Created By: Mark Waid
Writing: Mark Waid
Art: Peter Krause
Colour: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Ed Dukeshire

Holy crap! This comic is dark. So dark and wonderful I can almost feel a happy dance coming.

Here we have the Plutonian, a super-hero, that totally wipes out another super-hero and his entire family, burning them to a crisp leaving only their skeletal remains – Mom, Dad, Baby – dead, dead dead. And he’s not stopping with them. He’s hunting other supers as well.

This possibly might grow into my favorite supers book merely because it’s the first book actually following a bad guy doing really bad things. Not the usual candy-coated semi-sweet darkness we typically get from the genre. The scene at the graveyard dealing with his partner was wonderful. It proved that the violence we saw at the beginning wasn’t a one-off. This is not a happy tale.

The art is great. It goes very well with this tale of a fallen super. It has a classic supers style that makes me feel like I’m finally reading something breaking out of the DC and Marvel mold, a story that can finally be told without any kid-friendly-silver-lined rubbish engraving ideas of evil always loosing and every conflict ends in cheesy wit, smiles and laughter into our grey matter.

There are no smiles and laughter here. The best, most loved super has gone bad and he’s taking names. His former allies are desperate to not only stop him, but stay alive. We see this in the wonderful art and in the smart writing. All the events in this issue are believable. They are portrayed and written in a way that their behaviors are dead believable.

I can only hope that this ongoing retains it’s darkness and we continue to see the horrors of a world where one of it’s own forsakes them and seeks their demise. I’m going to hate waiting for this one.