If only one word could be used to describe Mark Waids Irredeemable series, then it would surely be unflinching. Irredeemable charts the story of Superman analogue The Plutonian, a man who has all the powers of DCs standard-bearer (and more), but that lacks the strength of character needed to actually be a hero. In some respects, Irredeemable may just be the best Superman story ever told (and certainly the best one not to feature Supes in any way at all). If youve ever wondered whats so special about Superman? then read this story, because we can guarantee that after it, youll see that the MAN part is actually far more important than the SUPER part. Over the course of the 10 previous issues, Waid furnished Tony with a backstory every bit as tragic and harrowing as Clark Kents was idyllic and nurturing. A series of foster homes, failed relationships and constant pressure leads The Plutonian to snap, murdering millions in the process and conquering the Earth in a matter of hours. After that, its up to the remaining superheroes to try to bring him down. What made issue 11 sadder than the others was the visit Tony paid to one of his former foster homes. In this tragic issue, we learned that Anita and Loren Daniels had adopted Tony when he was five, only to return him once he turned seven. Why? Because, unable to control his super strength, the boy had squeezed their baby too hard, causing him to become mentally handicapped and wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. In the same issue, we also saw superheroine Bette Noir reveal that she had cheated on her husband with Tony, (before he was openly insane) and that she had known of a way to kill him all along, but was afraid to confess her terrible secrets for fear of losing her husband. In the issue afterwards, Tony vaporized the Daniels, callously leaving their son Joey (unable to do anything except say the word cheerio), to fend for himself. Through it all, the villain of the piece is shown to be emotionally brittle and desperately unhappy, which only adds to the tragedy on display.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
