Comic Info
Comic Name: Irredeemable
Publisher: Boom! Entertainment
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Peter Krause/Diego Barreto
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2010
Irredeemable #10
Reprints Irredeemable #9-12 (December 2009-March 2010). The Plutonian has taken his first beating at the hands of Char (now calling himself the Survivor), but the Survivor’s new powers could pose as much danger for the world as the Plutonian. As the Plutonian and his formerly deceased partner Samsara explore the Plutonian’s childhood, the military decides to launch an attack against the Paradigm by restoring one of their greatest enemies to life. Orian is attacking the Paradigm and Bette Noir’s greatest secret might be revealed!
Written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Peter Krause and Diego Barreto, Irredeemable—Volume 3 continues the collection of Boom! Studios award nominated series. The issues in this collection were also collected as part of Irredeemable—The Definitive Edition which collected Irredeemable #1-12.
Boom! is kind of a weird comic book producer. For the most part, the comic publisher didn’t focus on story arcs and instead focused on affordable collections. With this in mind, Irredeemable—Volume 3 doesn’t really feel like it necessary is a real collection as much as a grouping of issues.
Irredeemable #12
There are some themes that do hold this collection together. The first theme would be the exploration of the Plutonian’s childhood. It is rather creepy and like the series as a whole “anti-Superman”. While Superman had a great time growing up in Smallville, the Plutonian kept his foster families hostage and couldn’t control his own strength. It feels a bit like an Alan Moore story and different than much of Waid’s writing.
The second storyline is kind of dull. It is Bette Noir’s story of betrayal. The story takes almost all four issues to tell and feels rather anticlimactic. It is one of those stories that is supposed to be edgy and shocking with superheroes behaving badly, but it feels cliche in a world where tons of stories have been told about “bad” superheroes.
Irredeemable is Mark Waid writing Alan Moore. It works at points and doesn’t work at points (which is true of some of Moore’s stuff as well). It is a worthwhile read, but now it is getting a bit harder to find the story and the series as a whole could deal with a new collection or could reprint or finish the Definitive Collection bindings. Irredeemable—Volume 3 is followed by Irredeemable—Volume 4.
Related Links:
