Irredeemable - Mark Waid

Irredeemable - Mark Waid

• Vol. One - The Plutonian, a straightforward Superman analogue, has turned bad, and not just bad, but genocidally murderous, ruining entire cities and killing his former teammates.  What made him lose his faith and good heart?  And how can the other heroes and villains, who are all dramatically less powerful than he is, stop him?  In this volume, which only collects four issues, the first question is hinted at, a bit, although it's not clear yet, as it's not likely that mere ingratitude and learned helplessness by the people of Earth could turn a saint into a murderer of millions.  The answer to the second question seems to be: they can't.  This is by-the-numbers comic book trope inversion that has been done before, as early as Miracleman, but Waid's machine gun story telling had my pulse pounding.  [4.5]
• Vol. 2 - The Paradigm, or what's left of them, race to find out what happened to Plutonian's deadliest enemy, Modeus.  Meanwhile, more fragments of Plutonian's past come to light: he was having an affair with a teammate's wife; and far worse, his accidental inaction was behind one of the worst events to happen before his turning.  This series just keeps on thrilling me, with twists and reveals that keep me reading.  Waid takes the Samaritan and Miracleman and combines them into a much more flawed character.  If I have a complaint, it's that Waid stuck too closely to his JLA pastiche for me; I'd like a little more originality in the characters.  [4.5]
• Vol. 3 - Dang, son!  What if Superman had never been adopted by a loving family, but bounced from foster home to foster home?  And then he tried to do right but everyone was scared of him anyway?  We also learn what happened to Modeus, and it isn't good.  The quality of this dystopian super world doesn't diminish.  However, I do think after the big reveal of what Bette Noir did and how she blames herself is a bit over the top, and, from what we know so far, it still doesn't explain such a drastic change in Plutonian's personality.  [4.5]
• Vol. 4 - This volume contains a few standalone stories about Max Power, of whom this is the first we've seen, Hornet, and Kaidan. Then it continues with the main story, where Plutonian fights the Paradigm and a demon along with his resurrected and highly sus sidekick.  They have him where they want him, but Qubit plays his own hand, ruining their shot.  So many twists!  [4]
• Vol. 5 - Plutonian and his resurrected sidekick, actually Modeus, try to make things right by using a magic gem, while Qubit reveals what he alone knew: Hornet, the first hero Plutonian killed, had years earlier set up a plan in case Plutonian ever snapped.  Unfortunately, it involved making unsavory deals with vicious alien invaders.  Two things on finishing this volume: one, the pace of the story is still whirlwind, but the revelations aren't as shocking and fresh, simply because that kind of intensity can't last as things become familiar; and Hornet's deal with the aliens seems to be a big plot hole since there doesn't seem to be a cover explanation for how he got the fleet to leave Earth.  [4]
• Vol. 6 - Oh snap!  With Plutonian in a coma-like state in the hands of alien tyrants, back on Earth the egotistical Survivor steps in to replace him.  Qubit wonders if his intentions aren't as suspect as Plutonion's, and what they're going to do with all these supervillains.  Meanwhile, Plutonian seems to be getting psychic help, in some way, from Modeus.  The Plutonian plot had me rolling my eyes a bit, as Waid obviously can't off his big bad, reason-for-the-whole-story so easily, but "mental asylum on a sun" is a bit out there even for comics.  I enjoyed being surprised by the story on Earth more.  [4]  
• Vol. 7 - With the help of a motley crew of powerful aliens (shades of Planet Hulk), Plutonian escapes the Sun Asylum, through a helpful McGuffin Hole (there's a guard station at the core?  Why oh why would there ever be one?).  Oh, and it wasn't Modeus helping him after all, I was wrong about that.  Meanwhile Qubit and Modeus work together to track down Plutonian, using the teleportation tech Hornet gave to the aliens.  What ensues is lots of bad news all around for everyone on Earth.  [4]
• Vol. 8 - Some big reveals take place in this exciting volume, setting up expectations and then dashing them to the ground.  The people and governments of Earth just got finished celebrating the defeat and exile of Plutonian when he comes zipping back, making his mark literally in North America in a big way.  Faced with the total destruction of anything resembling law and order, the new president (who inherited the job when everyone else died) makes the huge decision to rouse a couple of nuclear-powered monsters whose powers apparently dwarf Plutonian's.  Meanwhole, Survivor goes to get help from another source of power, who refuses to cooperate.  Bette Noir remains a pawn of Plutonian, but things are not what they appear to be.  And Kaidan and Gil apparently destroy any hope of getting Survivor's power increased.  Truly thrilling twists and turns here; I particularly enjoyed Bette's analysis of Plutonian, and how deep rooted his self hatred is.  This is grim but very well put together material.  [4.5]
• Vol. 9 - The radioactive aliens take Plutonian through a series of flashbacks, showing his true origins, then effortlessly imprison him at the heat death of the universe and depart.  And that's a wrap for this series, as the world begins to hea -- no, not really.  At the last moments a helping hand reaches out!  Then it's the origin story of Max Power, last seen in volume 4, who knew Plutonian when they were both boys and wants to destroy him.  [4]