By Ryan Riley, Contributor
I had been hearing a lot of buzz about the comic Irredeemable by Boom Studios of late. Quite a few people I speak with on a regular basis about comics have been raving about the book, which features Superman-archetype the Plutonian inexplicably going from being the world's staunchest defender to its most implacable menace. I've enjoyed pretty much all of what I've read by Mark Waid in the past, so I figured that this comic would be a sure thing. I went over to Pulp Fiction (yes, that was a shameless plug) to buy the graphic novel collecting the first four issues the week it hit shelves only to find that, like the single issues of the book, it had sold out rather quickly. I eventually managed to pick up a copy, and while the book was enjoyable overall, it wasn't quite what I had expected.
The premise of Irredeemable (Superman snaps) is pretty solidly handled for the most part. When the story begins, the Plutonian has already launched attacks on both his former heroic allies and millions of random normal humans. His sudden personality shift has shocked everyone he used to call a friend, and for much of the story his former running buddies are alternately running for their lives and digging up information on his past to find out what set off his rampage and find a way to stop him.
There are moments where the story is supremely inventive. In the fourth chapter, the United Nations gathers in a special session to discuss what to do about halting the Plutonian's assaults. While the U.S. predictably wants to fight until the end, just about every other nation recognizes the futility of fighting the world's mightiest being and start to squabble over who will get the privilege of surrendering their country to him. An interesting twist to be certain, but it gets even more intriguing when the Plutonian crashes the proceedings to see just what each delegate will offer in exchange for his good graces.
The Plutonian's actions during his rampage range from the diabolical (destroying the city he protected for so many years) to the twisted (forcing two actors to dress up as himself and former teammate Bette Noir and watching them while they're in bed). The motives behind his actions are shrouded in mystery, and as his former teammates find out more about him, they begin to wonder whether they truly knew him at all. His alienation from the humans he swore to protect is evident even in the flashbacks where he was still Mr. Nice Guy, but it is likely only a part of why the Plutonian turned to villainy.
There are two complaints that I have about this book. The first complaint would be the supporting cast of the book, the Plutonian's former teammates in the Paradigm. Now I'm all for archetypes of established comic book characters being used if they are creatively utilized. Astro City and Planetary are prime examples of stories that have unique takes on tried and true character types. Unfortunately, the concepts and visual look of the other heroes from the Paradigm and the supervillains from chapter three seem like an afterthought compared to the Plutonian. The only member of the supporting cast that has any potential is Mr. Qubit, a hero with powers that are a cross between Brainiac Five from the Legion of Super Heroes and Forge from the X-Men comics. He is the only principal character that has shown even a hint of a fleshed-out personality thus far.
The second complaint is the artwork by Peter Krause. I'm not saying the artwork is (forgive me) irredeemable. Krause's style is reminiscent of Brent Anderson's work on the aforementioned Astro City, and the facial expressions of each of his characters are nicely rendered. The art during action scenes is not as flawlessly handled, and the main culprit is the awkward action poses each character makes whenever they are called upon to do more than walk. If it weren't for that distraction I would have zero issues with Krause's artwork. As it is, between the askew action poses and the fact that there were covers of the individual comics drawn by the likes of John Cassaday and Barry Kitson, I felt just a little let down by the interior art.
One of the biggest things that Irredeemable has going for it is its extremely reasonable asking price. The first four issues of the series are collected in a trade paperback going for $9.99, and the cover price of the individual comics just got reduced to $.99, so Boom Studios is really looking to get as many new readers as possible.
The problems I listed are rather minor things that are likely to improve as the story of Irredeemable progresses, and the lower price of the books will ensure that I will continue to follow this series.
