INCORRUPTIBLE #5
Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Horacio Domingues
SC, 24pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
COVER A: Rafael Albuquerque
COVER B: Dennis Calero
Diamond Code: FEB100756
The origin of Jailbait unfolds, and her story’s not at all what you think it is! Is she really a dim little slip of a girl or does she have some sort of power over Max Daring heretofore unrevealed? A not to be missed issue of BOOM! s all-new bestselling superhero ongoing by multiple-Eisner-Award-winning KINGDOM COME and IRREDEEMABLE author Mark Waid.
Check out my thoughts after the jump, and keep in mind spoilers are discussed.
Well, unless I read the wrong issue, I’ll say flat out that the origin of Jailbait isn’t really revealed. We saw a glimpse of it in the Irredeemable special when Max “rescued” her from a whore house, but the majority of this issue actually focuses on Max as he attempts to save his lost friend/partner. In doing so, he rescues a girl named Annie from a bunch of thugs and forces her to dress as Jailbait as he runs around the city. The reason for this is because he believes that if he has witnesses who see him with her, his enemies won’t be looking for the real Jailbait, who Max definitely does not thing is ready to be out on her own, which is understandable given the fact that she is under age and ultimately powerless.
It’s an allright issue, overall. The plot doesn’t move forward as much as it has in previous issues, if only because Max is really just looking for Jailbait. It’s kind of a filler story from the previous opening arc to what I am assuming will be the next arc. One thing that I really do like, though, is how Mark Waid tells the story – he basically assumes that you know all the characters as well as he does, and he just drops names and faces like we’ve known them for years. It’s definitely a cool way to tell the story. Other than that, though, nothing really happens.
The art isn’t really fitting for the book. It feels like a downgrade from Jean Diaz, and I’m one who usually believes that the art on the inside should look just as good as the art on the outside. What I really don’t go for, though, is that Domingues doesn’t really capture the same feel that has been present in the book. It’s a very dark story, as our main character is technically a villain, and that feeling is never really captured. It’s a little creepy that Max forces some young girl to dress up in black latex, but other than that there is no real sense of darkness in the artwork.
So far, Incorruptible hasn’t really matched up to the power house that is Irredeemable. That’s mainly because we’re ultimately reading two different comics, and it’s hard to put them together. Irredeemable is a disaster story with massive shock value and lots of death. Icorruptible is the flip side, in which we follow the story of an unlikely character trying to be a hero. So when given the option of reading a crazy story about one man destroying the world, or the story of a man seeking redemption, initially I go for Irredeemable. Incorruptible does act as a very nice companion piece though – it just doesn’t reach the same heights that Irredeemable did/does.
Yet.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Buy/Browse
