Irredeemable Special #1 (Boom! – Waid / Chaykin / Rios / Azaceta)
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!
If you look at my last couple reviews, you can see that while I still stand in awe of the epic icon that is Mark Waid and his creative forces, I am getting really frustrated with Irredeemable as a series.
The overall plot (superman gone mad) would intrigue even the harshest curmudgeon of a reader. But as the statement goes, the devil is in the details… and the long, drawn-out details of the last few issues that seem to go nowhere indeed put the devil horns on the legendary Mr. Waid. As the Plutonian’s secret tryst was revealed, the secret pasts of different heroes are brought forth, the military brings in an inter-dimensional devil as an ally – I found myself with the feeling that I was spinning my wheels as a reader and not going anywhere. This one-shot special did nothing to change my feelings about this.
This issue has three parts. Part one is the flashback origin of the Hornet – interesting, but nothing of real pertinence to the present except for the last line of the foreshadowing narrative referring to the Vespa making the Plutonian pay. Part two is the flashback origin of Kaidan, which was nothing short of an emotionally-laden manga trip – the only bonus here is that it is drawn by the incredibly talented Emma Rios. Part three is a flashback origin of Jail bait (the sidekick of Max Damage), and I think the only reason this was put in was so that Mark Waid could introduce the idea of a super-powered whore house.
This one-shot doesn’t add anything really to the overall mythology of Irredeemable or Incorruptable. And while it isn’t poorly done (in fact some of the art is very good – go Emma Rios!), it’s just not worth the cover price.
Issue Grade: C