Irredeemable Vol. 4

Irredeemable #4

by Mark Waid, Diego Barreto (Artist)

A comic book industry event continues: Volume 4 of the new original ongoing superhero series from Mark Waid! IRREDEEMABLE dares to ask the question: what if the world's greatest hero decided to become the world's greates villain? A " twlilight of the superheroes "-style story that examines super-villains from the writer of KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comic Book, Science Fiction

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2010

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilerish review for those who haven’t read the series.



He didn’t mean that. Honest. What with losing his marbles and killing a gazillion people. Cut the guy some slack.



Unless, of course, you’ve been incinerated, fallen 1000 feet to your death or been ripped limb from limb or had your head torn off and thrown into orbit around Saturn. Then, it’s game over. No more alphabet themed plans.

Aside from trying to get into Bette Noir’s pants, does every hero have some sort of secret agenda? More plan B’s from the so called heroes here, with the plan A’s not quite going the way they were intended.



Ooops! Take out a few states. At this point in the series, who would notice?

Bottom Line: Waid continues with the double and triple cross zaniness, including a few character flashbacks to kick off this volume. Diego Barretto’s art is the only thing that drags this series down. And for once I feel bad for a Hawkman-like (-esque?) character. Poor Bastard!

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good culmination of the story from the last few volumes. Plus a slobberknocker of a fight. Loved the backgrounds of most of the Paradigm members too. It's about time. I wasn't even sure of some of their powers. Looking forward to see where this heads next.

[Jokoloyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume is getting what usually taking place that usually take i the middle of soap opera. Predictable but with pretty good execution.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This was my least favourite volume so far. Both the story and the artwork weren’t up to their usual standards (Peter Krause was replaced by Diego Barreto for this volume and while Barreto did a good job, it wasn’t as good as Krause’s in my opinion). So even though the story’s quality dipped a bit, I think it was one of those volumes that sets things up for the volumes to follow. I’m especially curious to see what will happen with “Samsara” and Kaidan. I think Kaidan is so interesting and she’s definitely my favourite character.

I would recommend this series and I can’t wait to read more.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is getting ridiculous - I’ve read four books in this series now and for the life of me can’t find a single thing wrong with it. Most series tend to sag somewhere around Book 4 but this book is brilliant like the previous 3. I cannot fault it, Mark Waid is just doing all the right things in this series.

This book turns the focus on the team-mates of Paradigm, the book opening with brief stories about 3 of them and their backgrounds drawn by different artists. Then the main story resumes with a flashback to the day Plutonian lost it and turned on humanity before returning to present day as Paradigm deal with being imprisoned by the US Military and head for a showdown with Plutonian, their secret weapon in tow.

Oh, here’s a critique: Peter Krause’s wonderful artwork is absent from this book with Diego Barreto taking up art duties in his stead. Barreto does a fine job but Krause’s style is perfectly suited to this series and I’ll be glad to see him return in Book 5 (already ordered along with Book 6 - why stop now?).

“Irredeemable” is shaping up to be one of the finest superhero stories I’ve ever read. Every aspect of it is bulletproof, the writing is superb, the ideas are fresh, the art is brilliant - everything about this series makes it worth reading. It’s a morality play and a character study within the superhero genre - and it’s just fun to read too! I am in awe of this work and can’t wait until Books 5 and 6 are delivered to me.

[Lono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irredeemable volume 4 includes the Irredeemable Special (which wasn’t really all that special) and then continues on with the core story. The “Special” had some mildly interesting prequel stuff that focuses on Hornet, Kaiden, and Max Damage (of Waid’s other related series Incorruptible). And nope, I haven’t read that one yet. Some spoilery stuff to follow, but I’ll try and keep it to a minimum.



The next part of the book picks up with what’s left of the team following their run in with Uncle Sam at the conclusion of the last collection. Desperation is really starting to set in and the reality that they’re fucked is becoming more and more apparent.



Gil’s still dealing with what a dirty meat-socket his soon to be ex-wife is. Bette goes lookin’ for anybody that’s willing to overlook her shockingly selfish admission from the last book. Good luck with that.



A brawl with the Plutonian does even more collateral damage than expected, somebody learns Modeus’ secret, the Survivor continues to act like a douche, and another member of the Paradigm bites the dust.



Diego Barreto gives Peter Krause a break and handles the art chores in this one. Better? Nah, I actually like Krause better (and I’m not really a fan of him either). Still serviceable though. Paul Azaceta, Emma Rios, and Howard Chaykin all contributed about 5 or 6 pages to the “Special”. They were alright.



I’m continuing to enjoy this title and it’s still a recommend. You know Waid’s holding my attention when the next volume marks the halfway point for the series and I’m still down. Diggin’ out volume 5 right now.
Get this review and more at:

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

Unfortunately, this is where the story ends for me - try as I might, my library system apparently stopped at volume 4. I had hoped it would give a decent ending; maybe I’ll try an inter library loan.

Anyway, this one took me awhile to read. The first issue seemed to be pop out of nowhere, with focus on new characters, like Hornet, Max Destruction, Kotex (I’m sorry, Kortex) and Jailbait. These characters don’t reappear in this volume. Also, some of the art in this volume is pretty atrocious (the brothel scenes were garishly bad, and Bette Noire looks pretty different than she appeared in earlier issues).

Other than the first issue, we get back to the story we’ve been invested in. Bette lives with guilt for her lies, the Survivor is now twisted to revenge, no one will listen to Qubit and another member dies. It leaves it on enough of a cliffhanger I do wish I had the subsequent volumes to finish off this story - and even though I've heard it does precipitously decline in quality, I've read worse series (Black Science *ahem*) to the end.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume picks up the pacing and a lot of shit happens in a small amount of time.

So we get a lot more background, a lot more history, and I love it. I enjoy watching characters grow, it's my favorite part of reading, so this offered a lot. More into why this Superman like hero became a killer, why certain people didn't tell the world their secrets, and most of all someone finds out who someone else is. I really dug this volume, the action was great, and the twist were fun. Who's the real baddie here? WHO! ?

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover shows The Plutonian standing tall, holding earth over his head. He's staring at the reader.

SECRETS ARE REVEALED! The battle continues between Cary/Survivor & Tony. Sam is actually Modeus. Plus we learn how Max Damage found Jailbait.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 4 keeps up the great pace...
the Paradigm is falling apart, one of them dies, one of them is exposed for a failure, and the team has a chance to defeat Plutonian, but inexplicably, one of the team prevents that from happening...will we find out why?

Honestly these are all going at such a great pace, I can hardly keep them apart, as I usually read back to back volumes.

The Plutonian is obviously angry, but I like that they show how he's been holding all the rage in his whole life and was always bubbling up. I also cannot wait to see what happens with the Mobius angle, a clever ploy to involve him in the story.

I just want to know if Max Damage is going to show up in this series or not...

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific climax to several volumes worth of stories, every bit as bloody as expected, plus some nice backstory on a variety of characters.

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok. This volume bored the shit out of me. This series has one more volume to pick up or I'm probably out.

[Aldo Haegemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the premise of this series is an original enough – pushing the concept that not only does power corrupt, but that absolute power corrupts absolutely – my interest started to wane for the very first time with this latest volume. At first I thought it was because of the split narrative structure. But since it worked so brilliantly in the first several volumes, I then realized that it wasn’t that.

What it clear is that Waid has a long-term endgame in mind. But it is taking too long, with seemingly unnecessary subplots that are detracting from the over-arching premise. If Waid – who penned such masterpieces as Marvels and Kingdom Come for the big two (Marvel and DC, respectively) – does have a winning hand here, he needs to play his cards a little more quickly. Or more consistently.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this installment we get some payoff from the plot threads laid down in volume three. Bette Noir's marriage is on the rocks, but so is her sanity and chances for redemption. Bette wants people to forgive her for not revealing that she had a likely weapon for killing the Plutonian when this all started and she failed to reveal it because to do so would reveal her affair with the Plutonian. We get some Plutonian unnecessary nastiness towards the foster family that raised him, as he again shows what a psychopath he is. Another plus are short stories that show off more about Max Damage, Jailbait, Kaiden and especially Hornet (yes a story about a dead man that foreshadows future events).

[Joe Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Waid - writer
Peter Krause - artist

5/5 stars

The Paradigm escape from prison and make a deal with the extra-dimensional demon Orian in order to take out the Plutonion. A weapon that can damage the Plutonion is created, and the heroes stage a desperate attack on their former ally. More exciting stuff from Waid and Krause.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was good, as always, and a couple important-for-later plot points were made, but overall it felt kind of slight. Too much rehashing of stuff that happened in earlier volumes.

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting arc that loses a bit of momentum.

World: The art is good, it's real and sets the tone wonderfully for this grim dark tale. I wish there was more sense of motion but that's just me. The world building is strong and tied to character building. Waid is good with it, he does not info dump but gives you enough for the characters to have a fully fleshed out world to play in.

Story: The continuation of the Bette story and the conclusion of the Orion one. It was tense when it happened and was paced well. However I'm starting to feel the same setup and format coming into play from the previous arcs, I feel the repeat nature of the story. I'm not saying it was bad but it didn't really offer anything memorable and in the grand scheme the confrontation was lacklustre. It was rather the character developments that elevated this story.

Characters: Strong character development once again. The characters feel real and deep. What they go through is interesting and the choices they make feel earned because they are developed well. Good stuff.

A cyclical story that feels more like a middle and filler than an actual arc.

Onward to the next book!

[Centauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whatever Gil is, he is persistent, and a bit mad. His determination may be what finally wins the day? I think psychology is what will determine the final battle. Plutonian will not be defeated by brute strength or raw power. It will take a mental attack of great magnitude, one that resonates on an emotional level. This is what I figured after reading this volume. Why? Plutonian is so emotionally guided (rage, revenge, fear, loathing, lust, jealousy, etc). He is so distraught he has no idea that his closest friend (which he had killed) is not whom they appear to be.

[Zec · Rating 4 out of 5]

16 issues in and the story shows no signs of slowing down. Mark Waid has created a superhero lore with such inventiveness that it’s always a treat when he gives just a little backstory or exploration of another new hero. Kaidan’s powers of being able to bring stories to life is one of my favourite Super powers ever. The potential just makes your head spin. I’m probably missing out on the nuances of the story, but this is too good to put down so I’ll continue speeding through the series.

[Sonic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to get Mark Waid and Mark Millar mixed up. They both do write for independents and they both have a flair for the diabolical.
Then I started to think that Waid is a watered down Millar.
(Yeah I know, I'm a jerk, ...)
But now I am certain of it.

As the story continues it seems like it is getting stretched really thin, and the artwork is just embarrassing.

...

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sort of touch-and-go with this series. This volume made up for the last one so that momentum will probably carry me on to vol. 5. Still, just seems like this series goes on and on. Not sure I can hang in there for the whole thing. Maybe Incorruptable will help the interest level. You're still my boy, Waid.

[Corey Thibodeaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bette Noir's super power is being very uncool, apparently. She's not good to Gil, dishonest to her teammates, and generally immune to making situations better.

I'm glad her dad told her off. She's sitting here asking the world for forgiveness, and I'm thinking, for what?! Girl, pull yourself together and do something about it. She finally did, but I give her 1% credit.

While that was all infuriating, the Plutonian's rage, Modeus's deception, and the magic bullet all made this a 5/5.

[cloverina · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much is going on within this series to write critically about it without giving away all the secrets that are exposed in the fourth volume of Mark Waid’s IRREDEEMABLE, so here’s what readers absolutely need to know:

1. The plot thickens in more ways than one here. For those readers who may imagined that IRREDEEMABLE wouldn’t get a lot of mileage out of a story devoted to “Superman Gone Wild” and the hodge-podge of heroes devoted to saving the planet, they’re still mostly right. Just as Waid generated a shopping list of ethical questions he hoped to answer over the course of his post-apocalyptic superhero series, so too did Waid somehow imagine a conclusion to this titanic narrative (which can be traced, in some respects, here and in IRREDEEMABLE’s sister title, INCORRUPTIBLE), and readers might be catching a glimpse of it in this volume.

Put simply, absolutely too much is now happening too fast (a marked contrast from the series’ first two volumes) to imagine that the curtain isn’t prepared to fall on this adventure. Read the fourth volume of this series and decide for yourself.

2. Artist Diego Barreto takes on the art chores full-time with this particular volume, which includes, as a prologue of sorts, the IRREDEEMABLE SPECIAL #1 (with three different artists). For the foreseeable future of this series (however long that might be), which might not be too bright for both our heroes and our titular villain (demonstrated even more suggestively in the pages of INCORRUPTIBLE), readers can hope to see more of Barreto. Read the fourth volume of this series (and any volume of INCORRUPTIBLE) and decide for yourself.

3. Readers looking for a jumping on point to this series will (once again) have to look earlier in the library of IRREDEEMABLE collections than this one to capture the full spectrum of the series. Fortunately, the IRREDEEMABLE SPECIAL #1 will fill in some more missing pieces never before revealed in the pages of the monthly title, as well as introduce readers unfamiliar with INCORRUPTIBLE to Max Damage and his sidekick, Jail Bait. So far, this brief story is the closest readers have come to an origin story for the dastardly duo (before Max Damage chose to come clean and become Earth’s greatest hero), but readers should take what they can get, especially when it comes to revelatory back story, a concept writer Mark Waid isn’t too fond of, based on the fact that IRREDEEMABLE has read more like a superhero motion picture that begins in the third act of the entire mythology. Read the fourth volume of this series (and any volume of INCORRUPTIBLE) and decide for yourself.

4. Did you hear that the plot thickens in more ways than one here? At least one hero dies. At least one hero is betrayed. At least one villain is revealed. And at least one solution to stopping the Plutonian’s swath of destruction is both exposed and then stolen. There’s simply so much going on in this particular volume that writing more critically about it would require re-writing the story that Mark Waid has provided and illustrating the pencils that Diego Barreto have already provided, and they’ve both done an exceptional job of doing that already, despite the fact that readers will ultimately judge this entire series on the conclusion itself, not upon the journey along the way. Read the fourth volume of this series and decide for yourself.

5. It’s a grand venture at best, but it appears to be working in the series’ favor, a fact that readers simply cannot deny.



Read the fourth volume of this series. Rinse. Repeat.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm at the point where I have hardly any sympathy for Plutonian. I'm sure that's the point. His nuclear-level, over-the-top temper tantrum has cost the lives of millions of innocents, and his homicidal impulses are unchecked. I mean, get over it. I think many of us have lived through being unpopular and didn't turn into mass murderers. The remaining members of his former team Paradigm are working to stop him. Bette has to face her demons about her massive betrayals of her husband, the other team members and the world for her omission in not volunteering crucial information about stopping Plutonian because of the way she gained the information. We also learn about how Kaidan came into her abilities. That was very cool.

I am still sucked into this book. I think it's harder to read because more and more is revealed about Plutonian and while I can understand how lonely his life must have been, he makes all the wrong choices and decides instead of being accountable and holding to the high standard that comes with abilities like his, he'll just go the other way. Yes, there is mental illness involves, but many of his acts are willfully cruel in their execution. Also, there is a traitor among the ranks, and that's hard to read for me. Actually reading about a hero turning into such a horrible individual is quite devastating. He relishes in his meanness and the level of distress he is causing others.

This story gets more twisted as it goes along. While there are some very wrong characters, each character is flawed in their own unique way. And more heroes fall in the quest to bring down Plutonian.

I'll definitely keep reading, but I might take a short break between volumes.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of recap and history in this volume - who were all of these superheroes before they met and hooked up with the Plutonian? And how much have their lives changed since he blew his top and went rogue? In the last installment, we learned that Bette Noir had the means to defeat the Plutonian all along - the final remnants of a candle that renders him powerless. When Bette comes clean about that, she also has to admit that she slept with the Plutonian (a fact which her husband is loathe to accept). She's embedded the candle in a special bullet, which she intends to shoot into the Plutonian (to kill or subdue him, it's not clear). But, at the last minute, Qubit knocks her shot wide - and right into the demon Orian whom Cary enlisted to help them defeat the Plutonian. No more demon, it seems, and the bullet seems to have passed through him as well - to potentially be used again against the Plutonian (who has flown off with Sam - Samsara - who seems to be housing the consciousness of another entity, Modeus. Uh-oh. Who's controlling who?

Another compelling read. I liked the background information about all of the characters, though it seemed a little bit like stalling for time/plot developments, since the only *new* thing that really happens is the showdown between the Plutonian and his old gang - and the bullet missed him! Are we going to keep seeing this setup over and over again?

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The potential good news is the Plutonian's sidekick appears to be OK. The bad news is the sidekick isn't really, since the Plutonian's greatest enemy, Luthor to his Superman, is possessing the body. Volume 4 goes from there, showing the Paradigm's escape from military custody, and backstory for the three characters the reader is told could stop the rampaging former hero. One is a reformed villain, soon to get his own series. One is the former teammate who can conjure ancient ghosts and legends. And the last is the Batman-like Hornet, who died in the first issue. As for the rest of the story, we start to see the various weaknesses of the team, the last moments of some guys who died before the series started while trying to stop the Plutonian's rampage in a school (the guy had no compunction about killing children when he went bad), as well as showing what may be the biggest weakness defacto Paradigm leader Qubit has, namely the idea that there is something in the Plutonian worth saving. Much of the problem seems to be the Plutonian wanted to be loved...unconditionally and completely. Since not everyone did...

[Ryan Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only problem I had with this one was the little mini-arcs/issues didn't add much, and they threw me off a bit as I went from the third trade to the fourth. Also, as I've decided to not read Incorruptible until I finish this, the Max Damage stuff didn't resonate with me, despite knowing the bare minimum about him.

Other than that, Waid is still right on with pretty much all of his instincts and actions. The pacing is incredible. Plot and character develop at a quick speed, but I never feel lost. Trying to figure out what The Plutonian desires is getting easier and harder: he wants to go back and have the normal life he never got to have, and though everything about that is impossible, he doesn't destroy the future to spite the past.

Highest of recommendation.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of Irredeemable Premier Vol. 2