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Advance Review: Incorruptible #9

By | September 1st, 2010
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Horacio Domingues
COVER A: Christian Nauck
COVER B: Peter Nguyen

The Post-Plutonian society has begun to degrade even further, and super-villain turned super-hero Max Damage is preparing for the fight of his life. Max is under the microscope of a Mad God and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Especially when you’re Earth’s unlikely champion. Don’t miss this companion series to Mark Waid’s Eisner-nominated series IRREDEEMABLE.

Check behind the cut for what I thought of the latest issue of Mark Waid’s superhero disaster epic’s companion series (oof, what a mouth full)!

I really enjoy Irredeemable, but after the initial first three issues of Irredeemable, I haven’t felt as much at home. I suppose it’s mainly because despite Max Damage being described as one of the Plutonian’s primary enemies, we’ve never really heard much of him in Irredeemable or even really seen him. So here is this character that explodes onto the scene for his own book with a reverse theme, and I’m left saying, “well, where is the real connection between the books?” It kind of felt like Incorruptible was a mini written by another author that is supposed to go along with the “event” of Irredeemable.

This issue decidedly changes that feeling. Now Irredeemable really doesn’t feel so much as a companion piece as it does a connecting entity that should be read at the same time as the main book. Why? Well, this is the first time we’ve actually had to deal with a character from Irredeemable — the Plutonian’s Ex-Girlfriend! She was a character that we had very briefly seen in the other book as Waid was extrapolating one of the various reasons why the Plutonian snapped (in a very anti-Superman way), and then this character who could have been a huge element disappeared. Thankfully, Waid has brought her back, and she’s flipping crazy!

Incorruptible hasn’t really done a good job of standing on it’s own too feet until now because I never got the feeling that it was ready to tell it’s story. First we had to meet Max Damage and then, for whatever reason, we were getting a new Jailbait. It just felt awkward in the larger context, but as the new Jailbait is put under fire and Max Damage is given a real shot at redemption, the story feels more organic and I’m enjoyed this issue much more. I really want Max Damage to interact with characters from the Irredeemable story, because that makes it fit into the context more and gives it a more justifiable reason for being buy-worthy. This is precisely what that issue does, and I am so happy Waid finally got it in.

Unfortunately, I still don’t really care for the art. I feel like maybe I’m spoiled in Irredeemable and the first arc of Incorruptible, but I can’t really move easily into the more hardcore and dark style of Jean Diaz to this more cartoonish feel of Horacio Domingues. I mean, this is a dark book essentially, and I really feel the art needs to reflect it more. Domingues is a tad too uneven with his character designs for me and then I look over at Irredeemable where Peter Krause is really nailing the dark vibe of this horrific story, and it just leaves me a tad bummed. I don’t mean that Domingues is a bad artist in any way. He’s not – I just don’t think he’s the right fit for this book.

So the writing shot up ten fold this issue in story, but I’m still waiting for smoother art. All that’s really left for Incorruptible is to get someone to hit the appropriate mood of the book visually and I’ll be 100% sold on it. Until then, the Plutonian will continue to cast his daunting shadow over Max Damage and his honest attempt to go good.

Final Verdict: 7.9/8.0 – Buy


Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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