Diamond in the Rough – Irredeemable Value

Plot proposal: What would happen if Superman went bat-s$&* crazy?
No, scratch that.  That was covered by red kryptonite.

Plot proposal: What would happen if Superman became evil?
Wasn’t that Ultraman?  Or Bizzaro Superman?

Plot proposal: What would happen if Superman became emotionally unstable?
Getting warmer.  I don’t know if we’ve ever seen him go completely off the deep end emotionally.

… Wait! I got it!

Plot proposal: What would happen if Superman was not emotionally equipped to handle the stress of saving the needy, ungracious, and petulant collective known as humanity time and time again?
Result: he’d become emotionally unstable, evil, and a bat-s&*$ psychotic narcissist with a chip on his shoulder.  Oh yeah, then he’d wipe out Singapore because their U.N. representative lied when he said he loved him.

Welcome to Irredeemable.

Writer: Mark Waid

Artists: Peter Krause, Diego Barretto

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

ISBN: 1934506907

Mark Waid is one of my favorite comic book writers.  His stories have a vast depth of feeling and breadth of topic that facilitate the exploration of emotion.  They pull you in and shake you up just enough, forcing you face questions you might never have asked yourself otherwise.  Kingdom Come, arguably his greatest work, is exemplary in this respect and Irredeemable stays true to that form.

One of many great aspects to this book, is the discovery of what went wrong.  How did this icon of right and good become so twisted and horrific?  What could possibly have damaged this invulnerable person?  The process wasn’t sudden.  Time erodes everything and the Plutonian, our antagonistic star of the story, is no exception.  While wind and water chip away at stone, impossible responsibility and self-loathing chip away at the Plutonian.  And whereas a stone might wear away to discover a gemstone beneath, the core of the Plutonian is filled with all the repressed feelings of anger, disdain, hurt, fear and everything else he had to hide to be the perfect person.  When it’s finally unleashed, you can imagine the “Uh-oh” factor is dialed up to 11.

!!SPOILER!! — !!SPOILER!! — YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED — !!SPOILER!! — !!SPOILER!!

I normally try not to discuss the specifics of the story if I can, but the fourth issue has a great exchange that I think perfectly describes the feel of this title.  At the beginning of the issue, Qbit – a fellow hero that works with the Plutonian in their super-team – relates how when he first met him, he asked “What does it feel like to have all that power?  to be able to do anything, save anyone?”  The Plutonian simply gave him a weak smile and flew away.  Fast forward to the end of the issue, the Plutonian is sinking Singapore into the ocean.  Qbit and the other remaining members of the Paradigm are struggling to teleport out as many people as they can.  In a blur, the Plutonian takes the teleportation device from him and says “Pick ten.”

“Ten people of millions?!”, Qbit shouts back.

“Pick. Ten.”

Qbit, unable to do anything else, choses 10 people from the crowd at random.  When he’s done, the Plutonian then kills everyone in the crowd.  Turning back to Qbit, he simply says, “That’s what it feels like.” and gives the device back to him.

!!END SPOILER!! — !!END SPOILER!! — ALL CLEAR — !!END SPOILER!! — !!END SPOILER!!

This book is multi-faceted.  We’ve only touched on one aspect but there is much, much more to be enjoyed.  Interpersonal stories, societal commentary, human nature, even a little bit of whodunnit.  This must-read series is on-going with two TPB out already.  Also, there is a sister series entitled Incorruptable that examines the flip side of the coin, but that’s another article.