Irredeemable: Volume 1
by Mark Waid
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark WaidBrand: Boom! Studios
Illustrator: Peter Krause
Illustrator: John Cassaday
Afterword: Grant Morrison
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-10-06
ISBN: 1934506907
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Book Reviews of Irredeemable: Volume 1
Book Review: Decadent fun
Summary: 5 Stars
The Plutonian used to be the world's greatest superhero. What a fearsome superhero he was indeed with limitless strength, immeasurable speed, anti-gravity, impervious skin, enhanced senses, ocular radiation, and rumored telepathy... Unfortunately, Mark Waid's hero doesn't stay a hero. Something happens to corrupt Plutonian and he becomes the world's most terrifying enemy rather than its steadfast protector.
Mark Waid says in an introduction to this first graphic novel installment of Irredeemable that:
"In superhero comics, pretty much everyone who's called upon to put on a cape is, at heart, emotionally equipped for the job. I reject that premise."
Sure, the idea isn't wholly original (although I'd argue that it's relatively unimportant in this case). What better example than that of Watchmen to demonstrate a history of super heroes completely emotionally unprepared to have the power to "protect"-and worse, to even decide for themselves what the populace needs protection from. So the tradition of the "perverted" superhero is there already. However, I think Mark Waid takes the story a different direction. Whereas Watchmen is concerned with morality, humanity, and different types of power, I'd say that Irredeemable is concerned wholly with power and psychology.
What do I mean by "power" and "psychology"? Well, I mean that Irredeemable is actually a story that plays with the idea of what went wrong and the very humanity of that error. Of course, power plays into it-quite a lot-but the focus is on perverted humanity. And I totally dig that.
In a way, it's hard to talk about Irredeemable without addressing two previous comics, at least for me. I've already mentioned Watchmen, so that's out of the way, so I may as well get to the other: Superman. As far as I could tell-and please keep in mind that I'm not at all a Superman fan, so I'm just going by what I view as general knowledge-there were a lot of Superman references. Such as the scene in which the Plutonian dances with his girlfriend while floating above the ground. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's a direct reference to Superman. And it makes total sense to have these references. In a lot of ways, Irredeemable wants to engage with the idea that Superman began. Superman is the hero that can save everyone and a man that can be ultimately trusted with that power. The Plutonian is what Superman might be if that trust was not well-founded.
Really, I could gush about Irredeemable a long time. It's decadent fun. The art is gorgeous and well suited to the story. The plot and characters are grotesque, but all the more fun for that grotesqueness. The darkness is delicious. Honestly, I can't wait to begin the second volume.
Summary of Irredeemable: Volume 1
A comic book industry event: a new original ongoing superhero series from Mark Waid! IRREDEEMABLE dares to ask the question: what if the world's greatest hero decided to become the world's greatest villain? A "twilight of the superheroes"- style story that examines super-villains from the writer of KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE!Mystery Books
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