Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Irredeemable #4

It's tempting to dismiss Irredeemable as Mark Waid's version of "Superman becomes evil."

On the face of it, that's how it feels. In each issue, we see Sup- uh, I mean, The Plutonian (you can call him Tony) performing more sadistic acts, and the surviving heroes and villains seem powerless to stop him.

We also get a short flashback to his heroic days, which seem to be lifted straight from the Silver Age.

But we're also starting to get the sense that there's a lot more at work here than just a good guy gone 'round the bend. There are hints that Tony may have been planning his turn long before he donned a dark version of his costume and started killing people.

Certainly the art by Peter Krause continues to be excellent, and definitely has a Howard Chaykin flavor to the action.

I have to admit that the story was starting to lose me - a bad guy on a murder spree can only carry things so far - but given the turns the story is taking, I think I'll stick with it a while longer.

Grade: B+

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