Comic Review: Irredeemable #5

Irredeemable #5

Creator and Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Peter Krause
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Matt Gagnon
Covers: Gene Ha and Art Lyon; Dennis Calero; Dan Panosian; Jeffrey Spokes
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Cover Price: $0.99 (Can you believe it!)

What of Superman was evil? No, seriously evil. You know how nice and benevolent Big Blue is now? Make him just as malevolent. DC's looked at that a little from time to time with like Ultraman and General Zod and Bizarro, but they never really explored just how evil he could become and how much terror he could cause. But Mark Waid doesn't back away from the dark depths of an apparently unstoppable force of evil. I love it!

The Pltuonian spent years defending the people of Earth but then, inexplicably, turned on them, turned on everyone, and has caused death and destruction the world over...with no explanation. This issue starts with the Plutonian giving a world wide broadcast answering "fan mail"...questions he's heard as he terrorizes the world. In so doing he lets everyone know that there are no secrets from him and he could be anywhere. After explaining that, like the gods of myth, he disguises himself to walk among the people and he could be anyone, the people of the world turn against each other.

Qubit, leader of the remaining heroes of the Paradig, meanwhile, waits for his Modeusbots to determine where the original Modeus has gone into hiding because Modeus was the only person about whom the Plutonian ever displayed any amount of fear. But when the Modeusbots come to a conclusion, it reveals that Bette Noir has had a secret.

Will the Paradigm tear itself apart like the rest of the world before they can find an answer to Plutonian's rampage?

This is a great book. One of the few villains ever to show no remorse, no regret. There seems to be no end to his evil deeds, and I can't wait to see what Waid comes up with next.

Irredeemable: Volume 1 Available at Amazon.com