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.