Incorruptible, Vol. 3

Incorruptible #3

by Mark Waid, Horacio Domingues (Artist)

The flip side of Mark Waid's Eisner Award-nominated series IRREDEEMABLE Supervillain Max Damage had an epiphany the day The Plutonian destroyed Sky City. When The Plutonian turned his back on humanity, Max Damage decided to become the hero the world needs. He has become... INCORRUPTIBLE. Now Max is figuring out what it takes to be superhero while struggling with a reluctant sidekick, a sarcastic police commissioner, and a world who still believes he's Enemy Number One. Volume 3 of this super-powered hit series

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction, Dark

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

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 3 out of 5]

I’m in the minority on this, but I just don’t find this series as compelling as Irredeemable.

In Irredeemable you had the Superman-esque Plutonian go bananas and go on a destruction spree. Here, you have Max Damage, formerly a villain, have a change of heart after watching the aforementioned Plutonian go on the aforementioned destruction spree. Reformed villains aren’t new to comics and Mark Waid hasn’t, so far, given him much of interest to do.

In this volume, Mr. Damage hunts down the Plutonian’s ex-girlfriend because she knows the secret about his powers – the longer he stays awake the more invulnerable he becomes, the catch is the longer he’s awake the less clear-headed he is, so he has to take a nap which would then leave him vulnerable to an attack.



The girlfriend wrote it all down in a memoir, but it’s a superhero apocalypse, so, really, who’s going to have time to read it anyway and exploit the situation.

Max also goes up against an evil racist senator, who’s taking a cue from the Plutonian’s rampage to drive his own white supremacist nuclear truck to the city of Coalsville in order to blow it up.



It’s a one way trip and the truck doesn’t stop for bathroom breaks…

Finally, Max has sidekick issues.



Sure sidekicks have value, when they’re sober.



Solution: Change your sidekick’s name from Jailbait 2 to Headcase.

Bottom Line: I loved Irredeemable, so I’m going to continue on the Incorruptible path.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie earns the name Headcase, and Max teams up with Plutionian's ex, Alana Patel.



The white supremacists from the last volume, known as the White Diamonds, are holding Plutionian's ex-girlfriend (Alana Patel) hostage.
This gets Max's attention.
They also have a giant robot tank that shoots nukes (or the equivalent) and are threatening to take out Coalville.
This gets Max's attention, as well.



Alana & Max both have some issues to work out when it comes to their pasts, but it looks like they might be able to work together for the common good.
We'll see.
Of course, the villain of the piece in this volume is just catering to the lunatics to hide his true agenda, so I guess we'll have to wait for a future volume to see if Damage can figure out who is behind all of this.




I think the series is picking up!

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know... This one is starting to lose me...

[Jesse A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is the companion series to Irredeamable I find this series much more compelling. While Irredeamable is squandering it's premise, this is just having fun!

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The manuscript for Alana Patel's unpublished autobiography is causing problems for Max Damage, so he goes looking for her in the ruins of Sky City only to find himself mired down in white supremacist plot to take out his hometown, Coalville.

I think this is supposed to be a dark humor series, but it's just silly superhero antics in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Personally, I went cold turkey on the news 4 years ago. The media can be your best friend, inform you on the stuff you want to hear, or your worst enemy and manipulate you into going crazy.

This story was okay, but the villain must have been modeled after our current president, Donald Trump! 😄

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes it take a bit to get traction.

World: The art is good, with the staple artist coming in it will get so much better. The world building here is better than the previous arc, effort was made to introduce the main baddie and the racists so it made the story that much more deeper and the world more fleshed out. Alana also helped with that.

Story: It was a bit too heavy. The first part was quite good with a lot of character and world building, creating an interesting scenario. The second part was choppy and ended rather quickly. It was okay.

Characters: Strong once again. This is the best part of the book and it continues to prove it. Max is deep so is Alana and Headcase and I still forget the cop's name. It's good. There is a lot of depth and potential story there. These characters deserve a better story.

It was aight, some great so mundane and some chop.

Onward to the next book!

[Printable Tire · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a scathing, subversive tract you've written, Mark Waid! For who can truly say now comic books are a second-rate form of mindless entertainment, teenage pulp for pulpy teenagers? In the brief span of a few glossy pages, you've uncovered the dark secrets of America's political system nobody's been brave enough to expose before: politicians lie! Especially white, southern politicians! Oh, those guys are the worst! They'll lie and manipulate the stupid, racist masses, and when the going gets tough they'll change sides! Oh, the spineless worms! If only I'd known before!

But you've shown me the light, Mark Waid, you little, under-appreciated genius you! God Bless your poetic, misunderstood heart!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max continues to fight the good fight here, and finds himself some unlikely allies...the original Jailbait is gone, but her successor is something of a Headcase. Also, a former victim of his in his battles with the Plutonian ends up being the next person he saves from the White Supremacist group trying to take control in the ruins of what's left.
Great storytelling where Max starts to really open up more than we've seen before and with the unlikely band of allies, remains a wanted man, but is working for the greater good now.

It's hard to give too much info without spoiling it, so suffice it to say, the Max we see by then end of this issue is a much different man than we first met in Volume 1.

Great series, love it, look forward to the rest.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this has always been the stronger of Mark Waid's two titles for Boom! Studios. Max Damage remains on his quest for redemption in this dystopian tale. Now though he is joined by a recovering alcoholic cop and the girlfriend of the man who destroyed the world. Alana Patel is actually some character, and the white surpremacist society storyline is pretty much wrapped. There remains a generous dose of big screen action too.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things got a little more interesting in this volume. Instead of Max's origin, a new character is added to the mix, creating a triangle between Max and JailBait, I mean Headcase. The third leg has an intriguing background with Max which should prove for some good conflict, although the end of this volume almost seems to wipe that opportunity away. This volume also takes a peek at the "bad guys".

Forgot to mention there is one piece of information revealed that ties directly to Irredeemable.



Reading this on graphitecomics.com.

[Terry Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first five star review of the series so far finds several story threads connecting from the previous volume, along with the question of "What happened to Lois Lane surrogate Alana Patel?" Interesting to make her a major supporting character in a series devoted to a villain (now reformed) who spent years kidnapping her to use against arch foe the Plutonian. While some aspects of the doomsday device on display are silly, I just enjoyed this collection from start to finish. Great pacing and snappy dialogue. Hero cops. A rare victory. Good stuff.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continues to be quite a strong series. Watching Max's continuing work to be a hero is terrific, but here it's his relationship with Headcase and with Alana which really shines. Overall, a quick reading and enjoyable book.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twists and turns! More to this series than meets the eye.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is seriosuly great. I think it is better than Irredeemable, so far. Maybe because it's more focused. But really, can't get enough.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying this little series. Fills in parts of the Irredeemable series.

[Joseph R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Damage goes after the girlfriend of his old enemy the Plutonian. Alana Patel is a Lois-Lane type who worked at a radio station where the Plutonian, in his everyday persona Dan, worked. She dated the Plutonian until the day that Dan admitted his love for her and that he is the Plutonian. She wigged out and broke up with him. She blames herself for Plutonian going evil and has let herself be kidnapped by a gang of racists who admire The Plutonian because they think he is targeting minorities (he's actually targeting everybody). Alana had an unpublished autobiography that details a lot of secrets, including how Max's powers work. He doesn't want revenge, he just wants to control the information. This situation leads into a lot of conflict between a variety of characters. Also, Max's new sidekick, a Japanese woman who lost her family to the racists and has embraced the Jailbait identity as a coping mechanism, starts making trouble with her own suicidal tendencies. He's renamed her "Headcase" which she does not object to.

The story is less interesting than before. Max is still trying to figure out how to be a hero, though that has taken a back seat to a lot of the other plot mechanics. Many of the minor bits are interesting, like the police chief who has gotten off the bottle just when everyone else turns to drink to deaden the pain of the situation. Unfortunately, the artists still treat Headcase and Alana as eye-candy (i.e. skimpy outfits and lots of cleavage).

Mildly recommended. They need to get back to Max's main problem!

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're reading the Irredeemable series, and want to include the Incorruptible storyline into your reading, this is the volume to start with. While it's not quite at the caliber of the main series, it is several steps up from the first two volumes of Incorruptible.

The story is more directly related to the characters from Irredeemable, as opposed to "taking place in the same universe", and here, at last, the main character seems to be somewhat likeable, and the rest of the cast becomes more distinctly good or evil as Irredeemable's cast's good and evil associations become less clear.

I recommend this to fans of Mark Waid's Irredeemable, Vol. 1, people who liked the DC comics-based cartoons of the early 21st century, and anyone who somehow finished reading the first two volumes in the hopes that it would get better.

[JB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost really good, ultimately feels like wasted potential. Intended to be a limited series, but comes off as though there was not an intended direction for the series. Spends way too much time on an antagonist that makes no sense for the setting. Mainly fun for the clever world-building. Has really no effect on the primary series this is a spin off of, so you can read Irredeemable in its entirety before starting this series (there was a crossover, but it carries nothing from this series over to it, except "The main character of this book was the Plutonion's primary villain").

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Damage is still trying to be good and its not with its complications. Mark Waid tells the flips side of evil Superman story and its fun. Here, Max deals with more of the Plutonian's aftermath and learns some disturbing news. These collections are always super fast reads and feel light. I'm sure they read better in larger collections. The art here was subpar. Overall, a decent read that keeps pushing the story forward.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is by far the best Incorruptible book yet in that things happen, and there's a clear beginning, end, and middle. Still, I think these books suffer from pacing issues in addition their not-quite-strong enough worldbuilding.

And the female characters don't seem as developed as the main character and the Detective Gordon stand-in.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when you thought you could keep a bad guy down…

…Max Damage is back in the third volume of Mark Waid’s “Bad Guy Goes Golden Boy” sister title to the Eisner Award-nominated series, IRREDEEMABLE…INCORRUPTIBLE, and it would appear that writer Waid and artist Marcio Takara perform some considerable damage control to keep this particularly unique series up to speed with its critically-acclaimed ‘adversary.’

Readers unfamiliar with the first two volumes of this series—and a single collection of IRREDEEMABLE—read no further: The words of praise that this critic has for INCORRUPTIBLE will fall on deaf ears, as Greek as the praise (and the concept) sounds.

The third volume of collected stories continues to follow ex-super-villain Max Damage, who’s on a mission of re-inventing himself, with his new underage partner (replacing the original, more lascivious one), Jail Bait. Once a formidable enemy of the Plutonian (who’s got some ethical issues of his own over in IRREDEEMABLE), Max Damage is discovering how difficult it is to be a hero. In the pages of this particular collection, Max isn’t faced with nigh-unstoppable super-villains; Max’s nemesis would appear to be public perception itself, as he attempts to win over the trust of the American public with two obstacles standing firmly in his way: a corrupt & racist senator and a skeptical police commissioner still grieving over Sky City’s destruction at the hands of the Plutonian.

What catapults this series to greatness so early in its tenure, though, is the manner in which it becomes much more significantly married to the events transpiring in IRREDEEMABLE. Until recently, the connection (and the long-term implications) between the Plutonian and Max Damage were summarial, at best. But as Alana Patel becomes a central figure to the INCORRUPTIBLE cast, so too does she become a bridge between the two ‘worlds’ of the Plutonian and Max Damage. As time continues to run out for the world at the hands of its once-greatest hero, so too does it become more and more apparent that the worlds of Max Damage and the Plutonian may soon collide.

And as fresh as the storytelling remains (and INCORRUPTIBLE has always been a title rooted most firmly in the story), the accompanying artwork is consistent enough under the workmanship of Marcio Takara. The voice of Takara’s pencils remain as playful as this particular chapter of Max Damage, without contradicting the tone or detracting from the characterization and dialogue that ultimately sell Waid’s series.

Yet at the risk of comparing INCORRUPTIBLE to IRREDEEMABLE (and it’s difficult not to, any reader of both titles will tell you), the pacing of INCORRUPTIBLE already appears to be delving into the major themes and questions that will permeate throughout the series for the long-term. Perhaps writer Waid found it necessary to establish his stage of characters in IRREDEEMABLE before addressing the ethical quandaries that will resonate most strongly for readers of the series, but the adventures of Max Damage are already (in the series’ third volume alone, but even before now) confronting what it means to be incorruptible. Max Damage claims (sometimes ad nauseum) to be a “new man,” and he’s certainly possessed with the potential to embrace his dark side. Once accompanied by his underage sidekick (and child-lover) Jail Bait, Max’s rehabilitation would not be easy. And faced as he will be with new & old nemeses and brand new obstacles, it would be easy for Max to roll up his sleeves and resolve conflicts in the violent manner to which he was once accustomed. But it is the supporting cast of the series that begs readers most to ask if humanity—in this case, senators and law enforcement officers—are truly incorruptible. Those, like the Plutonian, that the public would consider beyond reproach challenge readers’ understanding of morality and ethics. And perhaps just as the Plutonian responded violently to the world because of mankind’s behavior, so too will Max Damage’s behavior be guided by the people and events that by which he finds himself surrounded.

(As both series progress, perhaps Waid also intends to take an Austen-like move by positing the question of irredeemability and incorruptibility to both titles and both protagonists. Just as Austen’s classical novel demonstrated characters possessed at all times with both pride & prejudice, so too may the Plutonian & Max Damage demonstrate to readers that a thin line exists between being truly irredeemable and ultimately incorruptible.)

In the midst of these questions of character, INCORRUPTIBLE remains a very necessary addition to the modern library, whether readers tackle this series alone or alongside IRREDEEMABLE. Paced a bit more lightning-quick than its “hero gone bad” adversary, INCORRUPTIBLE entertains with its decidedly lighter tone, a marked contrast from the pervasive doom & gloom that makes IRREDEEMABLE similarly successfully.

And where IRREDEEMABLE does not, INCORRUPTIBLE possesses hope.

Here’s hoping that when it comes to ‘going good,’ Max Damage never discovers the error of his ways, for his lapse in character—in a world where being bad is so entertaining—is nothing short of refreshing.

[Sebastian Song · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know what's worse.
1) The ten pages of artwork by guest artists are more enticing than the entire volume; or
2) The story that drags itself on its feet and the reader along as well.
More importantly, should I carry on reading...

[Samuel Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the best volume yet. The art is better, Jailbait has been replaced with two new characters the story has a lot of fun with, and it gets to have a pretty novel Lois Lane/Lex Luther team up sorta thing.

[Josie Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread, as i collect this series i read digitally a few years ago. Fun take on superhero shenanigans

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of redemption and constant misunderstanding. There are some things that people will never forgive you for.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: next in the series

Volume Three is all action! Max Damage and the new Jailbait set off to take out the crazed "skinhead" followers of Plutonian who are armed with nuclear weapons and causing much damage. Max and J. meet up with an old friend of Plutonian's who joins their group and the new Jailbait is given her own new superhero name. From the old friend we learn a lot more about Plutonian's past from a different angle but mostly this volume is action scene after action scene with a fair amount of dry humour added for relief. Just what was needed at this point in the storyline. Domingues returns as the artist for the first two chapters and as I stated in my review for volume 2 I do not like his portrayal of M.D. The occasional downright goofy looks on his face are just not in character at all. What a thrill it was to see a new artist take over for the last two chapters, Marcio Takara, who incidentally is the only artist credited on the cover. Takara's style is much more raw, and Max is back to his masculine, powerful, dangerous looking character. A happy ending as we see our new trio running off together.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this more of a statement about the writing specifically, about stories in general, or about me as the reader, but so far (volumes 1-3) I'm not finding this tale of a villain's redemption nearly as captivating as the companion tale of a hero's fall.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first nine volumes of Waid's Irredeemable, about the unexpected, unstoppable, murderous rampage of ultimate superhero The Plutonian, so when supervillain Max Damage was introduced as one of his nemeses in volume 9 I decided I should read his story before moving on to the series-concluding tenth volume. So far, this story of Max's attempt to mend his ways and fill the void left by The Plutonian is a good one, but I'm not sure I'd continue reading at this point if I wasn't trying to see how it all turns out. But at least this way I get a chance to see if it grows on me.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Damage teams up with Alana Patel, who has been kidnapped by a bunch of white supremacist thugs in an attempt to lure/thank/?? the Plutonian. They're trying to save the city, which is now under attack from forces within (human beings suck). Alana exposes the senator behind the power snatching attempts, and Damage emerges from a particularly bad publicity stunt unscathed (it helps that he's nearly invincible). No sign of the Plutonian. Lots of explosions. Jailbait is actually "Headcase."

I probably should have re-read the others before reading this one, just for continuity's sake. But, I didn't have time.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Damage and his story continue to be more entertaining than the Irredeemable counterpart. In the thrid installment, Max and his newest sidekick Annie are on the lookout for Alana Patel - the Plutonian's ex-girlfriend. Discovering her at the center of a racist cult seeking to gain favor with the psychotic former hero, Max and Annie must rescue Patel and prevent the White Diamond groups from sacking the city. Damage continues to evolve as the layers of his personality drive this redemptive story forward, while secondary characters Alana and Detective Armitage play keys roles in Max's reformation attempts.