Irredeemable #1

Imagine a Super-Hero deified in the eyes of children. Picture the perfect savior of man relied upon by all of the world. Think of the one perfect protector of humanity who allowed us to sleep peacefully at night thanks to his efforts. Visualize a super-powered being who puts his life in constant jeopardy for every human that walks the planet.

Now, ponder on what would happen if that almost omnipotent being, hero, and all-around-good-guy had an inexplicable change of heart.

Suddenly, your iconic savior is committing acts just as horrific, unthinkable, and disgusting as his previous actions where astounding, noble, and just. Your “Mr. Perfect” has become something vile, wretched, and just plain . . . Irredeemable.

This is exactly what Mark Waid presents to us in his new ongoing series from BOOM! Comics: Irredeemable.

We are introduced to Mr. Plutonium, who was the world’s perfect super-hero. A classic protaganist that risked his neck day in and day out to save the world from every disaster imaginable. A supreme being possessing immeasurable strength, uncanny flying abilities and speed, x-ray vision, and the ability to fire beams of incredible heat from his eyes.

He seems like every other caped hero we’ve read about in the past. What sets him apart, though, is the fact that he has turned bad . . . very bad.

The book starts off strong and fast, quickly sucking you into the story illustrated by Peter Krause. Although, it is a nice beginning, I am a little thrown by the artwork of Mr. Krause. It’s not bad by any means, but simply does not seem to always capture the intensity of the moment.

For example, in the beginning a father (who is obviously some sort of super-hero himself) is frantically screaming instructions at the top of his lungs. Krause does a great job of showing the excitement of the moment within the features of the father’s face, however, at the same time the mother his screams are directed toward is sitting calmly and cradling their baby against her bosom. Her dialogue bubble is filled with exclamation marks, but in the panel she looks to be calm and serene.

In the next panel the tension has escalated, yet the mother looks even more relaxed and serene than she did in the previous panel. Perhaps she is under the influence of some major sedatives. Or, maybe she just does not care (which is not the case). Either way, the art seems to sometimes convey a different feeling than writer Mark Waid is attempting to deliver.

Again, the art is not bad, but at the same time it’s not the greatest and may even distract you from the story at times.

Irredeemable #1 does a nice job of introducing us to the cast of characters we can expect to see in this series. There are many questions raised by the story, and intentionally so.

Such as:

1. Why is Mr. Plutonium performing these horrific acts against his own kind?
2. Just how powerful is he?
3. Is he even human?
4. What weaknesses does he possess?
5. What secrets does Mr. Plutonium know?
6. What happened on the day the other heroes vowed to never discuss again?
7. Who is/was Mr. Plutonium’s love interest?

Don’t worry. All of these questions are explicitly asked by the characters within the comic. So, there is no need for the reader to apply any thinking of their own.

All gripes aside, I have to admit that I really enjoyed reading this first issue. My interest has been piqued and I do geniunely want to know what will happen next. What can I say? I love it when the good guys go bad. Especially when they go bad in a really dark and gruesome manner, like Mr. Plutonium.

I can’t say with certainty that this is a story line deserving an ongoing series. After the first issue I feel it could make a really great 12 book mini-series. With great writing, though, I suppose anything is possible.

We shall see.