Graphic Novel Review: Irredeemable, Vol. 1 by Mark Waid

Irredeemable, Vol. 1 by Mark Waid
You tell a man he's a god enough times, and he'll start to be believe it. You strip away his humanity by worshipping him, and eventually he'll think it's his right to lord over you. Continuously mention that his powers are the only reason the planet still turns, and one day that virtue that compels him to save you will turn into the vice that causes him to decimate whole cities without remorse.

However, despite that recipe for disaster, there's still one more key ingredient. The inner struggle that a person like this would face. Someone who struggles with difficult decisions everyday in regard to the safety of others. Out of millions of people, who do you save and who do you let die? How do you deal with humanity's capacity for ingratitude when you don't save them in the manner they wish to be saved? How do you deal with people who try to marginalize your feats by calling you a "pervert in underwear?"

The answer is simple in the case of Plutonian. You've ignored that he is human (or humanoid) and has human weaknesses and emotions. You've rejected his attempts to be normal, to give him something that anchors him to his human side. There's no longer any need for him to act like a mere human. You've made him a god, and now, he becomes a god. He has every right to judge anyone--hero, villain, and civilian--because he's your god, a monster of human creation.

I know I'm still in the early stages of this series, but the above is what I gathered from the first volume. These opinions may change as I continue to read this series, and I'll acknowledge that when the time comes. Once Plutonian turns, he doesn't discern between friend and foe--taking some lives, leaving others alive to suffer his carnage. Making a hero, a hero who questioned Plutonian before his heel turn about how it felt to be responsible for so many lives, choose ten people out of millions to save and then killing the rest before that same hero's eyes while telling him: "This is what it felt like."

While Plutonian is inarguably the greatest super-powered being on earth (I know Max Damage from Incorruptible is pretty strong himself and can, at the very least, withstand Plutonian's abuse, but I'm not sure yet if he could actually beat Plutonian at this point), this story for me isn't just about the greatest superhero on earth becoming the greatest supervillain. It's a story about a man who wasn't allowed to be human, so he became a god instead.

Waid has also taken some traditional superhero tropes and turned them on their ear such as what if a hero did confess his identity to someone one close to him, expecting their inexplicable acceptance of who he is and forgiveness for hiding his identity all this time to protect them. Yeah, this ain't Superman, honey. What if a hero didn't get all the acceptance and support he needed from the people around him? What does he do then? Waid is addressing things that I've questioned in comic stories.

And I really love this about the story.

However (you knew a HOWEVER was coming), I'm not as drawn into the story as I'd like to be even though I do like the foundation of it. And maybe this partly by my own design because instead of focusing on this series first I read the first volume of The Boys which I really, really enjoyed. When I love something and I start moving on to other similar media/genres, I expect them to keep my enjoyment buzz going. That isn't this comics fault, and as I said, it's not a bad comic. I probably should've waited a few more days when I wasn't thinking about The Boys anymore. I have a tendency to ponder things long after I've read them.

Another problem I'm having is with Volt who is an African-American superhero with electricity powers. Most of his panels include switching into AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) to prove how racist the white people are and how little they expect of him, which was true in a couple of panels. Other times, it just seems kind of random and unnecessary. He also enjoyed pointing out a black superhero with electricity powers is a cliche when nobody said anything about it, but what can he do about it? The only thing he really said that spoke to me, something that I’ve spoken about with other comic book fans of color, is the need to add BLACK to the beginning of some black or ambiguously brown heroes’ names. He’s Volt, guys. Not Black Bolt. Just Volt. PREACH, Volt!

I’m hoping Waid does better than this with Volt because as it stands he feels silly, forced, and unnatural at times as if Volt is incapable of being a normal person while facing issues that concern his race. It seems he can only be one or the other, but not both at the same time. So far, instead of pointing out why such behavior is problematic, Volt would rather sarcastically respond to their micro-aggression by slipping into jive talk and leave them to their “accidental” racist tendencies. And while I think Waid is an exceptional writer when it comes to showing the moral standings of heroes, I’m not sure if I think he is capable of providing an adequate portrayal of how an African-American superhero deals with racism as a person and as a hero because this can be a tough issue for anyone to grasp.

This was an interesting beginning, though, and I'll move on to the next volume, but only time will tell whether Waid handles the complex issues he's setting up expertly or not.

Final Verdict

3 of 5 stars

Tiara's Weekly Comic Stack - 04.17.13

Even though I've only listed 3 comics, it's a pretty big stack since I'm doing a complete read of Waid's Irredeemable (37 comics) and Incorruptible (30 comics), which run parallel of each other. This will be my first dip into Waid's creator-owned projects. I've read some of his Marvel/DC stuff with Kingdom Come probably being a surprise favorite of mine.

Irredeemable by Mark Waid

I've been meaning to read this for a while now. The premise: What if the world's greatest superhero became the world's greatest supervillain? Who can stop him? This should be an interesting read. I plan to review the overall story instead of doing each volume.

Incorruptible by Mark Waid

On the flip side of the same question presented above. What happens if the world's greatest supervillain became the world's greatest hero? How does he find redemption? I didn't even know that this book existed until right when I acquired Irredeemable, so I figured why not. They're both finished, and both present an interesting dualism:

Super villain Max Damage had an epiphany the day The Plutonian destroyed Sky City. When The Plutonian turned his back on humanity, Max Damage decided to step up. Now Max Damage has changed his name to Max Daring and turned from his formerly selfish ways to become Incorruptible. The flip side to this year's break-out smash hit, examining the hard, difficult road to changing your ways and making a difference in the world.

The Boys Vol. 1: The Name of the Game by Garth Ennis

This comic is my random comic read for the week. I've had people recommend it before, but you should see my comic pile. It's obscene and terribly managed. I read whatever I just happen to land on for the week, and this just happens to be it.

Don't miss this dark, twisted look at superpowers, super - people, and the men and women who make sure the world's "heroes" never go too far.

Graphic Novel Review: Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid

I'm trying really hard to raise this review to three stars, but I can't. I just don't like Superman and for all of Birthright's efforts to make the kryptonian more human, I still don't like him. So be prepared for a fully biased character unappreciation post, thinly disguised as a review!

This is a retelling of Superman's origin story, updated to suit our modern times. It opens with the destruction of Krypton and baby Kal'El's parents' difficult decision to risk shipping him off to who knows where. Move on to Clark Kent in Africa reporting on the violent conflict between two neighbouring tribes. Clark frequently but secretly uses his powers to protect Kobe Asuru, the Ghuri tribe's leader. He ultimately fails to protect the man, but succeeds in saving his legacy when he reveals himself to fight the opressers. He comes to understand that his purpose, to do good and be a good man by giving his all, as taught by his parents, is limited by the need to keep his heritage a secret. When he returns to the Kent farm in Smallville, he decides that its time to take up his birthright - the "S" symbol and whatever it means. With the help of internet savvy Martha Kent, he puts together his costume as well as his disguise as the mild-mannered reporter - much to Jonathan Kent's disappointment.

Clark's motivations are somewhat questionable. Is he saving the world because he cares about it and wants to be the good man his parents raised him to be? Or because he gets a thrill from it? Either or both is fine, but I'd rather the book have allowed him to figure that out and let him be more than just the proverbial boy scout. A friend and I had a discussion comparing Superman to Captain America and we concluded that Cap was a better "boy scout" because he did good because that was who he was and he empowered and encouraged people to do the same. Superman has always seemed to do the right thing basically because he was taught to and has the power to do so. However, Clark did show a lot of anger and even hatred in the scenes when he was confronting bad guys. It implied that there was an edge that Clark could step over.

Otherwise, there just wasn't enough of a personality defined, beyond the one he and Martha formulate for his mild-mannered reporter role. This is one of the two places where Superman fails for me: he really has no personality beyond the boy scout. Reason number two is the fact that he is pretty much a god in human form and he does not relate to me in any way. I have similar issues with Wonder Woman. Sure she's a female and has to deal with sexism, but she's also invulnerable and hangs out with gods and is made from clay. Does she even menstruate? How do I truly relate to her? Maybe it's because I started with Marvel first, but I just have never been able to get into these two iconic DC characters because I could not relate to them in any way. They are above humanity, no matter how much they try to blend into it with their concocted alter egos. (Batman is similar, but perhaps his humanity makes me give him a pass.) Meanwhile, in spite of the out of this world powers the X-Men have, Marvel has always maintained their humanity as something readers can completely relate to.

But I digress.

I read this for the Gender through Comic Books course, so I will touch briefly on some issues related to that. As Superman, Clark Kent is supposedly the epitome of manly manliness. In physical form, Leinel Francis Yu's art certainly maintains that image, often making him larger than life, but we did get a few moments of Superman showing non-kryptonite induced weakness, such his sappy resignation letter where he felt he'd failed to do the good he intended. Waid even allows Superman to cry, which, I understand, has been a cause for contention among fans. Real men don't cry! I did appreciate this attempt to allow Superman to have and openly express sadness, loneliness and loss.

In the female corner, we have Lois Lane, the feisty, stubborn reporter. I'm not sure if she's changed much in her personification. I've always known her to be this way and appreciated her depiction here, even if it seemed to be the standard for her. She remains a strong, independent female character, but I like that her dominant traits aren't associated with being a "bitch." She is, first and foremost, a reporter intent on getting her story and a person who is unwilling to let bullies get away with anything.

Plot-wise, I really did not enjoy the forced connections between Clark and Lex. I understand that in Smallville , Clark and Lex had a relationship. That is brought up here, but then I'm forced to believe that, on top of everyone's inability to see the similarities between Clark and Superman, Lex, his friend, has some how completely excised everything about Smallville from his memory, including his friendship with Clark. Lex has, however, been working diligently with the kryptonian information and materials he found and uses it to bring down Superman, for whom he has a deep, deep hatred. Why? Well, because. He sets about to discredit Superman and his motives, culminating in an elaborate hoax involving a kryptonian "invasion," but the people see through it and fight at Superman's side.

Frankly, I could have done without this completely. I understand that Lex is supposed to be a big part of Clark's life, but I really did not enjoy this depiction. It demeaned Lex's intelligence and just made him come off as crazy with undefined jealousy. Oh and somewhere in there, Clark got a brief insight into who his birth family was and why they sent him away. This was also extremely disappointing because, with this supposedly being about Clark wanting to embrace his birthright, he is the only person who didn't put any effort into researching his origins, even when Lex started broadcasting images from Krypton. Excellent investigative reporting there, Clark.

2 of 5 stars

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

I should have read this a long time ago, but I’ve always had issue with DC comics. Their heroes have always been untouchable gods. Sure they have their flaws, but even Batman seemed to be above humanity thanks to his money and abilities. In comparison, X-Men, my biased favourites, were far more human, even with their more elaborate powers. They were character you could imagine yourself being, if something happened to mutate your genes.

Kingdom Come acknowledges the god-status of DC’s heroes, and then brings them down several notches because of it. X-Men choose to defend mutant kind and humanity, but anyone who wishes not to be a part of the men in tights brigade is free to try to live a normal life. Kingdom Come infers that it is the absolute obligation of superhuman beings to use their powers to this purpose. Furthermore, it is their responsibility to inspire us regular folk to do better.

And so, it begins with none of this happening because Superman has selfishly abandoned humanity after another superbeing, Magog, took justice into his own hands, killing the Joker, and being acquitted of it.

I’ve never liked Superman. Just too boyscout for my liking. But this series acknowledges that and calls him out on it. In fact, his own peers, particularly Wonder Woman, forces him to see the reality of his actions – and more importantly, the reality of his inaction.

Meanwhile, humans, some led by Lex Luthor and some our own world leaders, seek to take matters into their own hands, with plans to take back the world from superbeings. I have some issue with the fact that even the world leaders were willing to go to such major steps to stop the superbeings, but this was the only flaw in the story and it was not even enough to drop my opinion of the story.

Towards the end, there was a moment that surprised me. Surprised me because I actually cared about, or at least felt sorry for Superman in that moment - something I never thought I'd be able to say.

5 of 5 stars

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

Never have I respected Superman as much as I did after reading this comic. Superman and I have a rocky relationship. I have never been a big fan of his because he’s just too perfect. And I have a hard time caring for perfect characters. I won’t go into that rant again. This isn’t about that.

This is set in an AU (alternate universe). Superman has retreated to solitude after a hero named Magog is acquitted of killing Joker—who went on a killing spree in Metropolis, a bender that resulted in Lois’ death. When humanity expresses that Magog is where superheroism should go, Superman leaves them to that, seeming to lose quite a bit of faith in people.

Shortly thereafter, humanity learns that heroes left unchecked terrorize the just and the unjust alike and aren’t too different from the “villains.” They only care about fighting and destroying what they personally perceive as threats to the people (such as one “hero” attacking immigrants), much of which is personal prejudices and biases.

Then, Wonder Woman appeals to Superman to come back after a devastating battle between the “good” guys and the “bad” guys leaves Kansas in ruins and millions dead. Reluctantly, Superman returns, but things don’t go as smoothly as hoped when he’s faced with opposition from this new school of heroes, enemies, and even old allies, namely Batman.

This seemed to be a commentary on old school superhero comics versus today’s ultra-violent, grim “heroes” who seem more intent on destroying half the city than saving human lives with Superman representing how heroes used to be and Magog representing these new “heroes.”

I thought it was interesting (and superb storytelling) that the story isn’t told from any of the heroes’ point of views. Instead, the story is told by Norman McCay, a minister and a friend of Sandman who has “inherited” Sandman’s powers after his death. McCay is struggling with his faith and, like Superman, has lost some faith in humanity. Before his death, Wesley Dodds (Sandman) had apocalyptic visions that most people thought were the result of senility. He passed these visions on to McCay.

A being known as Spectre uses McCay to bear witness to the madness unfolding between the heroes and tells him that he must ultimately pass judgment on them, to decide who is right and who is wrong, a decision that proves difficult because both sides start making rash decisions in this “war.”

And while logically, readers know that Magog is wrong (and even that plays interestingly into the story), you can’t say the old school heroes are completely “right” either. Some of them, such as Wonder Woman, have their own reasons behind that fight as well, causing them to be as brutal and decisive as the new heroes. And you can even somewhat see the new heroes reasoning for their actions.

Superman is presented very human here, making it hard for me to hold a grudge against him. He’s a man who has lost a lot, and even though he won’t admit it, he’s living in some kind of bubble that filters out the rest of the world. He reluctantly comes out of retirement and makes tough decisions, while questioning if this is really what it’s come to.

And the ending, wow. I actually got a little misty-eyed there, and I’m not even that familiar with Shazam or his exploits. And the art really was able to pull out a lot of emotion in this story. It was breathtaking, enhancing an already well-written tale. Overall, this was a great read. Definitely goes on my favorites list.

Final Verdict: 

5 of  5 stars