Written by Mark Waid art by Peter Krause

Mark Waid is Evil! According to the tagline used to promote Irredeemable, a story of a superhero gone bad.  Actually bad is an understatement, this superhero has gone so far over to the dark side he makes Darth Vader seem like Kermit the frog. 

Irredeemable dares to ask the question:  what if the world's greatest hero decided to become the world's greatest villain?  In Irredemable that's exactly what happens to Plutonian, a character with Superman’s abilities and Lex Luthors sensibilities, here’s what Waid had to say about Plutonian…

“The beauty of Superman is that he can deal with that level of adulation without it going to his head, without it warping him, but he's a very special individual. We presume, whenever we write superheros and we come up with superhero origins, that anybody who gets the powers of a superhero — even if they are like Spider-Man and they've got things they've got to work out that issue and responsibility and power and responsibility — we assume that they eventually have the emotional makeup it takes to overcome these things. Well, what if you gave that level of power to someone who, at heart, didn't have that emotional capability?”   

Plutonian certainly doesn’t have the emotional capability to handle his powers, saying he’s insane would be an understatement!  He was once earths greatest hero, but killing his sidekick and thousands of civilians has turned him into the worlds deadliest threat.

Picking up the trade I expected the first couple of issues to focus on Plutonian’s change from hero to villain.  Instead the story kicks off with him already causing mass carnage.  Very little is given away to explain why he’s gone insane, instead the story focuses on the aftermath.  This is great storytelling by Waid, little nuggets of information help suggest why Plutonian went psycho but more time is spent exploring the universe Plutonian’s threatens, this gave me a real sense of how powerful and feared Plutonian had become. 

Peter Krause on art duties does a great job of making Irredeemable feel like a superhero comic.  It would have been easy to give this story a darker look and feel but instead Krause is an artist with a style familiar to the gloss and polish of a JLA or Superman comic.  I’m guessing the familiar art style was intentional as a way to win over fans of superhero comics.  My only criticism with Krause (and I don’t know if this was down to him) is the logo on Plutonian’s chest.  Sounds like I’m picking holes here but the logo just looks dull, he’s such an interesting character and deserves something cooler on his chest.

Overall: Irredeemable is a comic with an original story that will capture your attention from beginning to end, all for the bargain price of £5.  If you’re a fan of superhero comics, heck if you’re like me and just a casual fan of superhero comics, you should pick up this trade.

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