Irredeemable 5
Irredeemable No. 5 starts off by answering a disconcerting question: What if the people in power could monitor everything we say? I've played around with this scenario in my head before - and I don't think I'm alone - which makes Mark Waid's opening pretty brilliant. What if someone who had power over you and a merciless temper knew, that, oh, you called him an a-hole while taking a shower last night? Right. That's how the Plutonian is. He knows. And he lets everybody know that he knows. It's pretty terrifying. This is my first Irredeemable, so I'm taking this as a very positive sign for the quality of the book.
We move to a flashback scene showing the electrical hero Volt during his mercenary days accepting money for his services. The Plutonian (still the good guy in those days) later convinces him to do hero work pro bono. The insinuation is that accepting money is wrong, that there is a taint attached to doing hero work for money. The part of me that earns a salary and pays the bills - and knows why I'm doing that - just gags on that concept. Moving on . . .
One of the most brutal scenes in this issue shows how the Plutonian cuts off Volts left arm. I hate the Plutonian. This makes me aware that hatred for the Plutonian is the emotional pillar on which this book rests - I'm pretty much willing to buy every issue on the hope of someday seeing somebody give the Plutonian a beat down.
And just like magic, Waid anticipates this thought (maybe I'm giving him too much credit) and presents us with a possibility. Qubit, the brains of the Paradigm - Plutonians former team - attempts to recreate Modeus, the villain who came closest to defeating the Plutonian. The idea is to use Modeus to figure out a way to stop the mad hero. I'm all for that because, as I said, at this point, I'm desperate for the Plutonian to get his ass handed back to him. These Modeus recreants look dangerous enough to accomplish that.
And another thing, one of the Paradigm, Bette Noir, has had an affair with the Plutonian, behind the back of fellow team member and husband Gilgamos. Well it's about time something like this happened. Extremely fit people running around in tight-fitting, sometimes very revealing costumes. Thank you Mr. Waid.
Posted by Pete Albano - February 13, 2011
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