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Irredeemable #5-6
Irredeemable Premier Vol. 3
The definitive collection of the Eisner Award winning series continues.
Legendary comic writer Mark Waid ( KINGDOM COME ) takes superhero comics to the next level asking the question, “What if the world’s greatest superhero decided to become the world’s greatest super villain?” Don’t miss the Eisner Award-nominated series that tookthe comic book industry by storm! Volume 3 of BOOM!’s original superhero series from comics legend Mark Waid! What happens to a world when a savior betrays it…and who can stop it? A "twilight of the superheroes"-style story that examines the nature of good and evil from the writer of KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE!
Legendary comic writer Mark Waid ( KINGDOM COME ) takes superhero comics to the next level asking the question, “What if the world’s greatest superhero decided to become the world’s greatest super villain?” Don’t miss the Eisner Award-nominated series that tookthe comic book industry by storm! Volume 3 of BOOM!’s original superhero series from comics legend Mark Waid! What happens to a world when a savior betrays it…and who can stop it? A "twilight of the superheroes"-style story that examines the nature of good and evil from the writer of KINGDOM COME and EMPIRE!
208 pages, Hardcover
Published December 27, 2016
15 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Mark Waid
3,182 books1,272 followersMark 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.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 22, 2018
Great Value Batman (Hornet) makes a pretty heartless deal that comes back to bite Plutionian in the ass!
And here's where we learn even more about how powerful and crazy the Plutonian is, due to his brief (ish) incarceration on a planet for the criminally insane.
Also. As crazy as Cary/The Survivor is, it's looking like Qubit might be even crazier for trying over and over again to 'save' Plutonian.
I have to know how this ends!
And here's where we learn even more about how powerful and crazy the Plutonian is, due to his brief (ish) incarceration on a planet for the criminally insane.
Also. As crazy as Cary/The Survivor is, it's looking like Qubit might be even crazier for trying over and over again to 'save' Plutonian.
I have to know how this ends!
September 8, 2023
An omega powered Superman-like super-being The Plutonium has become the biggest mass-murdered in human history over the space of a couple of weeks, but with the world on the brink multiple concerns are looking at ways to bring him down rom other super powered beings and villains through to even darker forces. The series although still pretty well written and plotted begins to loose some of its innovative feels as it strays into tropes, although it is saved by continuously ploughing back story. 7.5 out of 12, firm Three Star read for this one.
2023 read
2023 read
July 6, 2024
It's time for a all-out assault on the Plutonian by the surviving heroes with the help of a plan put into motion by a dead one.
With the exception of Kaidan, everyone in this series is so broken or dark or shallow I cannot care about their fates. And since this is only the halfway point, anything that does happen, no matter how big, has a temporary feel to it.
With the exception of Kaidan, everyone in this series is so broken or dark or shallow I cannot care about their fates. And since this is only the halfway point, anything that does happen, no matter how big, has a temporary feel to it.
September 12, 2019
The desperate battle to take down the Plutonian takes some interesting turns! I love the developments that are slowly revealed about our main characters as we discover what everyone would be willing to do to stop the former superhero and hinting on what might happen if they actually succeed. I love how this series shows how imperfect heroes can be. Everyone here is crazy!
September 22, 2019
Досі цікаво читати. Марк Вейд зумів грамотно синтезувати «Вартових» Алана Мура та «Пацанів» Гарта Енніса, не втративши якоїсь власної інтонації. Якщо дуже коротко, герої намагаються впоратись із Плутонієм, але тепер не без допомоги інопланетної раси. Поява останньої взагалі змушує підняти брови максимально, але, що цікаво, усе це якось дуже органічно й логічно виглядає. А це означає лише одне: Вейд зумів створити самобутній, герметичний світ. Додам відразу ж, що це не була його основна ціль, бо увесь створений світ слугує лише умовним фоном для обговорення проблем етики й моралі у супергероїв. І людей, звісно ж. Виразна гуманістична складова героїв — фішка цього коміксу. Відмінність від Енніса у тім, що Вейд добре показує зміни, трансформації у персонажах, витягуючи це тільки із їхньої спільної взаємодії. Можливо, у якомусь зі світів, це була би класна п’єса із декількома актами, а поки добротний, непередбачуваний комікс, що доводить: ніщо не вічно, навіть супергерої.
May 31, 2021
Irredeemable Premier Vol. 3 collects issues 16-23 of the series written by Mark Waid and art by Peter Kraus.
As the Paradigm struggle to being Plutonian to Justice, a safeguard out in place by fallen hero the Honret arrives in the form of an alien empire who captures the Plutonian. Meanwhile the Paradigm start fall apart with infighting.
This continues to stays fresh and you begin to really wonder if there are greater villains out there that are worse than the Plutonian. I have really been enjoying this series and would recommend it to superhero fans.
As the Paradigm struggle to being Plutonian to Justice, a safeguard out in place by fallen hero the Honret arrives in the form of an alien empire who captures the Plutonian. Meanwhile the Paradigm start fall apart with infighting.
This continues to stays fresh and you begin to really wonder if there are greater villains out there that are worse than the Plutonian. I have really been enjoying this series and would recommend it to superhero fans.
May 23, 2017
Still loving this series, wish my library had the next volume!
August 19, 2023
3.5 With Volt dead and Gil wingless, the Paradigm is down to it's last resources. But Cary is convinced he has the power to stop Tony. Cary has promised the world he'll protect everyone even better than Tony did. When Qbit tries to help people find ways to rebuild from the wreckage, Cary sets him up for failure by disclosing g it was Qbit who stopped the assassination attempt on Tony.
Meanwhile, Modeus-as-Sam tells Tony he has a plan to undo all of Tony's past errors. But when it fails, Tony reveals that he learned Modeus was obsessively in love with him - and that he knows Modeus has usurped Sam's body.
Qbit reveals that Hornet left a message before he died that included a contingency plan for if Tony ever lost control - he made a deal with the alien Vespa to come and use their superior forces to take Tony away.
The Vespa arrive and take Tony prisoner, trapping his mind in a paradise and his body in shackles made from Tony's own DNA.
Tony, locked in a mental prison of his own making, is used by the Vespa as a robotic miner.
With Tony gone, Cary offers a blanket pardon to anyone with powers who helps start rebuilding the world - ink using murderers the Paradigm has stopped in the past.
A mining incident gets the Vespa to re-imprison Tony amd send him off-world.
Modeus, acknowledging his feelings for Tony for the first time ever, and having stolen Scylla's vegetative body, tries to recreate his feelings for Tony, but to no effect. So Modeus swears to reunite with Tony.
The Vespa send an entombed Tony into the heart of a star - which is actually a high security insane asylum for the most powerful beings in the universe.
Cary tries to use the mind reader Burrows to see if the former criminals he is pardoning are actually planning to help rebuild the world, much to the detriment of Burrows' own mind.
Modeus uses Scylla's to hold Kaiden hostage, preventing her from telling any stories to get free. Modeus then makes a deal with Qbit to go to Tony after Burrows tells Qbit what he saw in Cary's twisted mind.
There is still some wheel-spinning 8n the storytelling that feels like unnecessary filler, but the story has finally picked up the pace!
Meanwhile, Modeus-as-Sam tells Tony he has a plan to undo all of Tony's past errors. But when it fails, Tony reveals that he learned Modeus was obsessively in love with him - and that he knows Modeus has usurped Sam's body.
Qbit reveals that Hornet left a message before he died that included a contingency plan for if Tony ever lost control - he made a deal with the alien Vespa to come and use their superior forces to take Tony away.
The Vespa arrive and take Tony prisoner, trapping his mind in a paradise and his body in shackles made from Tony's own DNA.
Tony, locked in a mental prison of his own making, is used by the Vespa as a robotic miner.
With Tony gone, Cary offers a blanket pardon to anyone with powers who helps start rebuilding the world - ink using murderers the Paradigm has stopped in the past.
A mining incident gets the Vespa to re-imprison Tony amd send him off-world.
Modeus, acknowledging his feelings for Tony for the first time ever, and having stolen Scylla's vegetative body, tries to recreate his feelings for Tony, but to no effect. So Modeus swears to reunite with Tony.
The Vespa send an entombed Tony into the heart of a star - which is actually a high security insane asylum for the most powerful beings in the universe.
Cary tries to use the mind reader Burrows to see if the former criminals he is pardoning are actually planning to help rebuild the world, much to the detriment of Burrows' own mind.
Modeus uses Scylla's to hold Kaiden hostage, preventing her from telling any stories to get free. Modeus then makes a deal with Qbit to go to Tony after Burrows tells Qbit what he saw in Cary's twisted mind.
There is still some wheel-spinning 8n the storytelling that feels like unnecessary filler, but the story has finally picked up the pace!
November 15, 2020
I am going to slug this out to the end but after an excellent start this series has become what I feared. Something stretched out waaaay too long, becoming convoluted and losing the original feel of a "Twilight zone episode" and now becoming more like the series Lost - let's just get to the ending already.
So, the army stupidly imprisoned the remaining heroes last volume so we pick up from there. And ... I should put spoilers in this volume it turns out a) one of the Plutonian's biggest villains had the hots for him b) one of the heroes that was first killed arranged, years ago...oh my god this is sick...to stop an alien invasion and save his life by giving away the coordinates of all the nice worlds the heroes had visited in their past as long as the aliens spared Earth and agreed to capture the Plutonian when he went bad. Wow. The "hero" saved Earth by sacrificing every other world. And he somehow knew the Plutonian would go bad. Okay. Nice to share that with other people. Mark Waid is really dark for writing this. c) the last half is Plutonian going mad while being held captive (a lot of padding of his fantasies. And the new top hero Suvivor freeing all the old villains and...oh wow it is painful to summarize because I have no interest in the story anymore
Why am I continuing a story I no longer care about - well I do want to see it to the end and it is free on Hoopla :). But yeah, my instincts were right. When everyone was saying "must read series of the year" I looked at the premise and thought "this will just be a dark tale of things going bad" and it is. Those kinds of stories offer no interest to me. Anyone can write a story of horror and despair. A good writer can write one of hope. Waid is NOT my favourite writer.
I truly suggest people reading Astro City by Busiek instead. He is a great writer. Both of these series take an alternative view of heroes...Busiek made one of hope with interesting stories that were the perfect length. Waid took a dark idea and stretched it thin for 37 issues.
So, the army stupidly imprisoned the remaining heroes last volume so we pick up from there. And ... I should put spoilers in this volume it turns out a) one of the Plutonian's biggest villains had the hots for him b) one of the heroes that was first killed arranged, years ago...oh my god this is sick...to stop an alien invasion and save his life by giving away the coordinates of all the nice worlds the heroes had visited in their past as long as the aliens spared Earth and agreed to capture the Plutonian when he went bad. Wow. The "hero" saved Earth by sacrificing every other world. And he somehow knew the Plutonian would go bad. Okay. Nice to share that with other people. Mark Waid is really dark for writing this. c) the last half is Plutonian going mad while being held captive (a lot of padding of his fantasies. And the new top hero Suvivor freeing all the old villains and...oh wow it is painful to summarize because I have no interest in the story anymore
Why am I continuing a story I no longer care about - well I do want to see it to the end and it is free on Hoopla :). But yeah, my instincts were right. When everyone was saying "must read series of the year" I looked at the premise and thought "this will just be a dark tale of things going bad" and it is. Those kinds of stories offer no interest to me. Anyone can write a story of horror and despair. A good writer can write one of hope. Waid is NOT my favourite writer.
I truly suggest people reading Astro City by Busiek instead. He is a great writer. Both of these series take an alternative view of heroes...Busiek made one of hope with interesting stories that were the perfect length. Waid took a dark idea and stretched it thin for 37 issues.
August 31, 2018
I previously reviewed the first two hardcover volumes of Irredeemable as a unitary work, and wouldn't have picked up the third volume but for its availability at my local library. No need to reiterate my general esteem for Waid as a comics writer, but will briefly note my disappointment by Irredeemable Premier Vol. 2 due to laggy plotting and weak characterizations.
The plotting in Volume 3 is a lot of things, but laggy ain't one of them. It runs from crazy to batshit insane with a bit of psychedelia thrown in for good measure. The underlying conceit is what would happen if Superman went insane, and it seemed that Volume 3's tone owed a lot to silver-age Superman, perhaps with more than a hat-tip to Grant Morrison (blurbs much).
That said, the characterizations have gotten weaker with this volume. None of the characters' motivations really make much sense, other than a pervasive sense of psychotic desperation: let's say "irredeemable" isn't just a single character sketch but the theme of the whole damn book. Which creates the problem that, as you get deeper into the plot, you care about the characters less and less.
Hang it all on a frame of workmanlike but not notable art, and you've got a dryly subversive but not particularly interesting superhero book. Will only read Volumes 4 and 5 if they pop up at my local library. Recommended only for hardcore readers of non-juvenile superhero comics.
The plotting in Volume 3 is a lot of things, but laggy ain't one of them. It runs from crazy to batshit insane with a bit of psychedelia thrown in for good measure. The underlying conceit is what would happen if Superman went insane, and it seemed that Volume 3's tone owed a lot to silver-age Superman, perhaps with more than a hat-tip to Grant Morrison (blurbs much).
That said, the characterizations have gotten weaker with this volume. None of the characters' motivations really make much sense, other than a pervasive sense of psychotic desperation: let's say "irredeemable" isn't just a single character sketch but the theme of the whole damn book. Which creates the problem that, as you get deeper into the plot, you care about the characters less and less.
Hang it all on a frame of workmanlike but not notable art, and you've got a dryly subversive but not particularly interesting superhero book. Will only read Volumes 4 and 5 if they pop up at my local library. Recommended only for hardcore readers of non-juvenile superhero comics.
May 8, 2017
The Plutonian's mad rampage of destruction has stopped now that his old partner, Samsara, is back from the dead. He doesn't realize that Modeus, his greatest foe, has secretly had himself transferred into Samsara's corpse as a way to protect himself from Plutonian's wrath. What better hiding spot than in the faithful sidekick? Unfortunately, Modeus can't maintain the facade forever.
Meanwhile, Plutonian's ex-teammates are still looking for a way to take him down. One member, Cary, has combined his powers with those of his dead twin-brother and now is as powerful as the Plutonian. He's reimagined himself as Survivor. When the team discovers a plan to remove the Plutonian that actually works, Survivor takes on the role of world restorer. In his monomania to be the new greatest hero, he makes an awful lot of promises, like allowing super-powered criminals to help out in fixing the Earth, thus gaining a pardon for previous crimes. The planet may have traded one crazy ex-superhero for another.
The story takes many wild turns and twists, some enjoyable, some smart, some disturbing, some disappointing. I still appreciate it enough to finish the story with volume 4 but I find it less and less recommendable.
Meanwhile, Plutonian's ex-teammates are still looking for a way to take him down. One member, Cary, has combined his powers with those of his dead twin-brother and now is as powerful as the Plutonian. He's reimagined himself as Survivor. When the team discovers a plan to remove the Plutonian that actually works, Survivor takes on the role of world restorer. In his monomania to be the new greatest hero, he makes an awful lot of promises, like allowing super-powered criminals to help out in fixing the Earth, thus gaining a pardon for previous crimes. The planet may have traded one crazy ex-superhero for another.
The story takes many wild turns and twists, some enjoyable, some smart, some disturbing, some disappointing. I still appreciate it enough to finish the story with volume 4 but I find it less and less recommendable.
March 18, 2018
Cheap comics have a technique where they spring a shocking reveal on you and then flashback to something you haven't seen to explain the weird, out-of-nowhere turns.
One of the reasons I enjoy this series is that Waid gives you a piece of new information, and THEN the reveal happens. It's not as shocking, but it makes for better, more believable storytelling. In a superhero comic that includes alien invasions.
I would recommend this to fans of Warren Ellis's Stormwatch/Authority/Planetary series, people who watch Starship Troopers like it was Rocky Horror so they can shout out BUGS! during the alien scenes, and people who like aliens named after tiny cars.
One of the reasons I enjoy this series is that Waid gives you a piece of new information, and THEN the reveal happens. It's not as shocking, but it makes for better, more believable storytelling. In a superhero comic that includes alien invasions.
I would recommend this to fans of Warren Ellis's Stormwatch/Authority/Planetary series, people who watch Starship Troopers like it was Rocky Horror so they can shout out BUGS! during the alien scenes, and people who like aliens named after tiny cars.
August 5, 2019
Similar to BKV's EX MACHINA limited series: not only is it a novel take on superheroes free from historical baggage from Marvel/DC universes, it's also using its middle volumes to jam a million more ideas into the mix. This is a common problem in comics because frequently the writers don't know how much longer they've got for their comic, and it leaves this volume feeling a bit cold and overstuffed, like a microwave dinner you've forgotten about after cooking. It's very possible the remaining two volumes wrap everything up well, but this sags under the weight of being the middle point of the series - it either needed to be a lot longer, or a lot shorter.
April 28, 2018
Mark Waid finally takes the story into a new direction, adding a cosmic element. The writing and story telling is on par with what pulls the reader in with Volume One, but expands the universe of Irredeemable.
Absolutely a refreshing read from what I had feared would simply be more of the same. The new direction is entertaining and allows the story to split into multiple storylines, which doesn't let go of the readers attention.
Absolutely a refreshing read from what I had feared would simply be more of the same. The new direction is entertaining and allows the story to split into multiple storylines, which doesn't let go of the readers attention.
December 10, 2018
This is book 3 of 5 and it definitely serves as a bridge for the first and second half of the story. Characters and the status quo changes a lot in this book and it's almost too fast and too much. I was a bit lost and confused at times but the start was amazing as well as the ending. I'm excited to see where it goes
July 13, 2022
So I finished this a while ago and forgot to write a review. Now I'm not sure exactly what to report on other then I know I enjoyed it and found it interesting, intriguing and like it was going in fun directions and being allowed to grow more complex and strange as the story went on. Looking forward to reading more.
April 17, 2024
The main plot to take down Plutonian reaches a climax half-way through this collection, which is also the half-way point of the entire series. Makes me wonder where the story will build from here.
I guess my biggest complaint about this series is that it feels dated and derivative… and it’s only 15 years old.
3.5/5
I guess my biggest complaint about this series is that it feels dated and derivative… and it’s only 15 years old.
3.5/5
January 5, 2017
3.5 stars
I enjoyed the first half of this book but then Waid brings in a major deus ex machina, and while it is used in a useful way, further developing a few of the characters, it's very "jarring". Otherwise, the story is still excellent and I'm curious to see how this will end.
I enjoyed the first half of this book but then Waid brings in a major deus ex machina, and while it is used in a useful way, further developing a few of the characters, it's very "jarring". Otherwise, the story is still excellent and I'm curious to see how this will end.
January 4, 2021
Ok, so now it feels like Waid is overstretching his narrative with daemons! monsters! army! aliens!
Just throwing everything to see what sticks. Still, the main character is intriguing enough that you gotta push on forward just to find out what was it all about.
Just throwing everything to see what sticks. Still, the main character is intriguing enough that you gotta push on forward just to find out what was it all about.
May 29, 2019
Continuing saga. Really good. Plutonian is taken by aliens and the Paradigm have to figure out if The Survivor is worse than Plutonian ever was. Really building up here. Little less melodrama.
March 8, 2020
Pretty sweet, but jumps the shark in the second half.
June 12, 2024
How is it just getting worse
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews