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Advance Review: Irredeemable Special #1

By | April 13th, 2010
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Hot on the heels of my interview with the legendary Mark Waid I have an advance review of Irredeemable Special #1, which will be available at your local comic shop this Wednesday. This issue seemingly aims to set up the next years worth of stories by providing 3 individual stories focusing on three different characters. So what did I think about the issue? Well first check out the solicitation and then if you haven’t already checked out the preview we put up of the title. Lastly, click on the jump to find out what I thought!
IRREDEEMABLE SPECIAL #1
Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Howard Chaykin, Emma Rios, Paul Azaceta
SC, 24 pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
COVER A: Paul Azaceta
COVER B: Dan Panosian
Diamond Code: FEB100758

The first year of IRREDEEMABLE came to a cataclysmic resolution, and before the jaw-dropping second year starts, Mark Waid is delivering an original stand-alone issue! Join the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN team of Mark Waid and Paul Azaceta, along with legendary comics creator Howard Chaykin, and BOOM! Favorite Emma Rios for the IRREDEEMABLE SPECIAL! Showcasing a never-before-seen glimpse into the Plutonian’s heroic beginnings and insights into his former teammates, the once-great Paradigm. Secrets will be revealed! Clues will be given! Threads will be tied up! This is a not-to-be-missed chapter in Mark Waid’s twilight of the superheroes masterpiece!

Now that you know what’s going on let’s get to that review shall we?

This book does exactly what is set out to do. It fleshes out individual characters and stories a bit more all while laying the foundations for the next year’s worth of stories. It does so in a way that isn’t quite unique or flashy but where it lacks pizzazz it comes through with solid storytelling.

While the story wasn’t too high octane and didn’t provide any profound moments of awe the title serves as the perfect jumping on point for the title. While I argue this title is an easy one to jump into and catch up on this issue makes it all the more accessible. If you haven’t been sure about this title then this is the issue you’ve been waiting for. It recaps a bit in the beginning then introduces you to some of the players while cleverly introducing you to more bits of the story in the background.
Each story provides you a different character with starkly different backgrounds. Each story also is given a different artist each fitting their story perfectly. The last story with Howard Chaykin was a perfect fit for an artist I don’t tend to enjoy. Yet coupled with the writing and the particular story it centered on I found Chaykin accentuate the story rather than detracted from it as usually is the case for me personally when viewing his work.

I would be remiss to not point out that the final story of this issue in particular should be one that fans of this title will no doubt enjoy. While it’s not something I expected going into the title I was stoked when I got to the story. I’m not sure whether this was an advertised portion of the book and if it is then I missed it but the implications it has should please some and shock few who read my interview with Waid just a few short days ago. It seems to give a wink and a nod that a connection between two things is finally going to happen. What that is you’ll just have to read and find out.
While this wasn’t my favorite Irredeemable title of all time it was still a good read that excited me for the potential stories coming down the pike. So if Boom! was looking to release an issue to whet readers appetite for the year to come I can honestly say I left this book hungrier for new issues then I was going into it. If this issue is any indication it should be a delicious year ahead.

Final Verdict: 7.5 Buy it!


Brandon Burpee

Burpee loves Superheroes, Alaskan IPA, 90's X-Men and is often one more beer away from a quotable.

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