Irredeemable 32/Written by Mark Waid/Drawn by Diego Barreto/ Published by Boom Studios
Incorruptible 25/Written by Mark Waid/Drawn by Marcio Takara/Published by Boom Studios
The other continuing story set in the just awful random death from above world of Irredeemable features his opposite number or: Max Damage is “Incorruptible.” And just like in a couple of filmed superhero movies I’ve seen the hero is tied intimately to the villain. Irredeemable 32 gives us the origin of Irredeemable and this story is tied to Incorruptible 25, where we learn that Max Damage and the Plutonian knew each other even as kids when an abused Superboy-like Plutonian nearly killed a younger and very vincible Max Damage by throwing him off a mountain.
The important thing that we learn about the Plutonian in Irredeemable 32 is that he’s really just a ball of energy molded to look like a human. His parents, to borrow from Marvel lore, could have been drawn by Jack Kirby and definitely remind me of the Watchers. Or two gay Watchers who decided to have a love orb, strictly for research purposes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Here’s the definition pic of the race that the Plutonian comes from.
It’s also a very intelligent speculation as to what really powerful beings would look like. “Pure energy” as Mr. Spock would say. On the other hand his parents aren’t much for cunning and it seems like the Plutonian has the upper hand by issue’s end. By the way, his parents read his mind at the beginning and as I’ve requested sent him off to die in some kind of phantom zone or watch his atoms stop slowly at the end of time. But no. He guilt trips them into talking about his origins. Suckers. Double Patricide anyone? Or is it Double Matricide? I really can’t figure out the sex of the Eleos. I’ll give his parents three issues more of life, tops.
The action then shifts to Incorruptible 25 where we find out that a young Max Damage has had a number of life altering exchanges with the young Plutonian, none of them pleasant. Just as a backstory Incorruptible is kind of the opposite story of Irredeemable. Where Irredeemable features a hero gone bad Incorruptible features a bad guy attempting to become a hero. Max Damage is also one of the few people that can go toe to toe with the Plutonian and not be immediately murdered by having his head torn off or thrown into the sun or whatnot.
But this is really a story about Max Damage the petty criminal. We learn that he had exploitive mean spirited parents. We also learn about his attempts at crime which often land him in jail, especially with the Plutonian around. Here’s a scene that features his mean ‘ol dad.
All in all, the two issues offer some interesting back story about both of these characters. I have to confess that I feel a little gypped in that I was expecting a Final Battle when all I got was personal histories featuring both characters. I would give both issues 3 out of five stars. I will keep reading, however. I’m curious as to how it all will end.
Sadly Related: Eduardo Barreto, the father of Diego Barreto, has passed away at the age of 57. The Barretos had seemingly shared the art chores for a number of the last few Irredeemables. The art was fantastic. Heartfelt condolences to the family.
