Comics Reviews

Comic Book Review: The Complete Irredeemable

July 5, 2023

by Joe Schickman, Reporter

Official Synopsis:
When the Plutonian, the world’s greatest superhero, snaps and turns into the world’s greatest villain, only his former teammates have a chance at stopping his rampage. But while on the run from the world’s most powerful and angry being, will these former teammates discover his secrets in time? How did he come to this? And what happens to a world when its savior betrays it? The iconic team of writer Mark Waid (Kingdom Come, The Avengers) and artist Peter Krause (We Only Kill Each Other), along with some of the most acclaimed creators in comics, challenge everything you think you know about superheroes by exploring the good, the bad…and the irredeemable inside all of us. This comprehensive volume collects Irredeemable #1-37, Irredeemable Special #1, and Incorruptible #25-26, alongside a new foreword by Academy Award nominee Kemp Powers (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and an afterword by comics icon Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman, Klaus).

Creative Team:
Creators: Mark Waid and Peter Krause
Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Peter Krause, with Diego Barreto, Paul Azaceta, Emma Rios, Howard Chaykin, Marcio Takara, Damian Couceiro
Color Artists: Andrew Dalhouse and Nolan Woodard, with Zac Atkinson Archie Van Buren
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Cover: John Cassady and Laura Martin

The Plutonian is Earth’s most noble hero, or at least he used to be. Bestowed with a myriad of powers including, but not limited to, flight, invulnerability, strength, speed, heat vision, and ice breath (sound familiar?), Plutonian is unequaled. Also gifted with a wide array of enhanced senses, he can hear a whisper almost anywhere in the world, detect lies by checking your vitals, track a person’s scent over continents, and much more. His god-like abilities are dwarfed only by his seemingly unwavering virtue, alleviating what would otherwise be a terrifying power imbalance for everyone else in the world. Instead, the world has seen Plutonian use his gifts to continuously and constantly save lives, and readily defeat almost every enemy who came to call. And though the Plutonian has no true rivals, he has made allies and formed his super team, the Paradigm.

Qubit is a brilliant techno-kinetic, who would rather win battles with a teleporter than a weapon and who’s resourcefulness and compassion could determine the fate of all humanity. Charybdis and Scylla are brothers who share the same energy manipulation and projection powers, and together may even be a match for the Plutonian’s might. Charybdis, or Cary, is shy and timid, while Scylla is assertive and boastful and in a relationship with fellow team member, Kaiden. Kaiden, like all the women of her family, has the hereditary ability to summon spirits to do battle, and she comes with an arsenal to call upon. Bette Noir is an expert marksman, with augmented artillery, and enhanced gravity warping powers she’s barely begun to tap into, making her capable of taking out buildings with a single shot. She is married to Gilgamos, an ancient winged immortal, possessing long lost knowledge and inhuman strength (though not on the scale of the Plutonian). Volt has electromagnetic powers which allow him to fly and emit powerful energy blasts, but at the expense of being able to use technology without destroying it. Samsara is the Plutonian’s sidekick, and his mystical crystal creates energy constructs and protects him from mortal harm so his body can heal. Lastly, Hornet, who considers Plutonian his best friend. Hornet has no powers, but proves his worth time and again as a brilliant inventor, and tactician. Plutonian, or Tony as his teammates affectionately call him, earned the trust and adoration of the public battling villainy for years alongside the Paradigm, and each in turn loved and trusted him as a true hero and friend.

But that was before our tale begins. We enter the story after the once placid paragon of these heroes has changed with devastating effect. He is now mercilessly attempting to annihilate his former companions with the opening pages of Irredeemable introducing us to the Plutonian as he vaporizes the Hornet and his entire family without remorse. This immediately clues us in to how far the once hero has fallen, but we are quickly disabused of the notion that we have any idea where the bottom is. What follows is an intricate exploration of the redemption tale in reverse, overrun with perilous twists, devastating betrayals, and heart wrenching tragedies. As his former friends work to stop Plutonian’s rampage, we learn more about the appalling events which incrementally led us here. Then things barrel ahead and go from bad to worse for the Paradigm and the world. Themes of virtue are challenged by the compromises necessary for practical applications, while nobility is slowly pecked to death by the pressures imposed by a ceaseless expectation of perfection. Throw in love, rejection, pride, corruption, abuse of power, and a host of problems one couldn’t imagine without being a demigod with major emotional issues, and there is an exhausting labyrinth of rabbit holes for this tale to follow down. But through it all there is hope as we find that true heroism survives, and opportunities for redemption are ever present.

As far back as their inception, comics have been seeking recognition as something more than trivial and childish. Periodically a book comes along which helps to prove the genre’s worth to a wider audience. Examples of these vast strides forward would be too numerous to name here, and would certainly leave many crucial things out by default. That said, one such comic that would certainly be on that list is Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ 1996 collaboration, Kingdom Come. I have always believed that project perfectly encapsulates the best that comics can be. When I first read Kingdom Come, with its complex heroic themes, elegant structure, compelling narrative, and beautiful artwork, I felt like I had the proof in my hands that comics deserved recognition; that they could be the best of art and literature rolled into one. That was also my introduction to Mark Waid, and just like the world in Irredeemable did to the Plutonian, it set the bar of what I expected from him (and this book) impossibly high.

When I got the opportunity to review The Complete Irredeemable in its full thirty-eight issue glory, I was ecstatic, though somewhat daunted. I knew that I had to shed whatever preconceptions I carried as best I could so that I would not be viewing this story through a skewed lens. That was my first challenge, but with the story’s long and dynamic timeline both moving forward and looking back, not to mention the intensity of the subject matter, it would certainly not be my last. How do you sum up such an eventful and dramatic story? How do you analyze world building when it walks hand in hand with shocking revelations (at least without a million spoilers)? How do you rate a story that turns your stomach over and over, but still compels you to find out what’s coming next and how it will end? When a tale this dark is told this well, how do you not lament when it finally does end, and how can it possibly do so in any way other than depressingly?

Taking these elements one at a time… this story is engagingly nuanced, rivetingly suspenseful, tragically heroic, depressingly fateful, and fraught with tumultuous surprises littered carefully throughout and used to maximum dramatic effect. The world boasts a pantheon of heroes, each with an identity and origin efficiently woven in, though with little room to spare. The dynamic between world powers and the Plutonian is established twice, once in harmony when he acted as benevolent guard and then again after he became a ruthless oppressor. The shifting social dynamics of the team humanize the larger than life characters and act as an anchor as we delve into the descent from hero to villain. By the end the Plutonian isn’t the only one whose actions and motives we are left questioning. There is an expert use of foreshadow and allusions which lays the groundwork for future consequential disclosures and impactful cliffhangers issue after issue. This ensures that no matter how dark it gets, you are urged to keep going, obligated by your own morbid curiosity to see what happens next, and given just enough lingering light to hope for a happy finale. In the end we are left wondering, is redemption somehow still even possible?

Every component of The Complete Irredeemable is exceedingly well crafted and displays the combined skill of the outstandingly talented creative team. Mark Waid once again tackles an intimidating topic and grapples with the most universal yet complicated tropes of great literature. Ill-content with telling the same kind of story heard before, Waid pushes the envelope once more, imploring the reader to not only follow his hero’s fall from grace, but to learn empathy for a megalomaniac bent on worldwide destruction along the way. Drawing parallels between the Plutonian and Superman is inescapable by intention, and Waid utilizes this comparison to demonstrate the knife’s edge on which the Kryptonian walks so that we may better understand his Sisyphean struggle through the Plutonian’s failure. This is shown through several events mirroring those experienced by the man of steel, but with different outcomes crucially morphing the landscape and exposing an increasing number of ominous cracks in the Plutonian’s perfect facade. In Kemp Power’s forward he posits that it is not the question “What if Superman were evil?” that Mark Waid is asking, but rather “how could anyone burdened with the powers of Superman NOT be evil?” This is investigated in detail as we witness the Plutonian exhibit very human faults in circumstances that perhaps we have come to expect Kal-El to transcend, but your average human would likely blunder, driving home the nearly omnipotent character’s surprising relatability.

With the art of The Complete Irredeemable Peter Krause takes the laboring ore in bringing the world of Plutonian and the Paradigm to the page, designing the comic’s initial look and many original characters, and beautifully illustrating an impressive number of issues. Diegot Barreto and several other wonderful illustrators lend their prowess to this collaboration, adding their unique flair to the expanding new world. Colors pop out of the panel, and especially accentuate the various heroes’ disorienting powers. The combined use of contemporary techniques with classic styles engenders instant nostalgia for these novel characters, while grounding the outlandish in believability. The creative team utilized standardized heroic imagery and body language while portraying the atrocities committed by the plutonian to represent the juxtaposition between his current and past identities. What is generated is a vast and visually cohesive narrative that draws its readers along page after page and makes them bear witness as each character’s trauma unfolds.

The Complete Irredeemable starts right out of the gate as a white-knuckled thrill ride that keeps you at the edge of your proverbial seat from start to finish. This book combines the superhero genre with classic high tragedy, making it a compelling if dark read you won’t be able to put down. However, it is not for the faint of heart, and it is not always an enjoyable read. Each character hides their own secret trauma, and everything has a greater chance of ending in tragedy than triumph. Time and again you think you’ve witnessed the lowest point only to have the floor fall through beneath you. Throughout everything, perpetually more depressing and depraved elements assault your sensibilities. But as hard as it can be to power through those parts, the journey is incredibly interesting, and the analytical conversations over ethical dilemmas it fosters are well worth it.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives The Complete Irredeemable by Mark Waid SC – 4/5 backstabbing betrayals