Incorruptible #26
Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Marcio Takara
Colored by Nolan Woodard
Lettered by: Ed Dukeshire
Published by: Boom! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Note : This review is for the digital version of the comic available from Comixology.
Summary (contains spoilers): Last issue ended with Max Damage starting his criminal career, but finding himself easily foiled by Plutonian. Max decides to reach out to some of Plutonian’s enemies to figure out a way to defeat him, including Modeus who sets up Max Damage to meet Dr Origin.
One of Dr Origin’s assistants, the S+M loving Nurse One experiments on Max and manages to give him superpowers. His powers will get stronger the longer he stays away, and he’s most vulnerable in the hour after he wakes up. The negative side effects are that Max can’t feel any kind of physical contact when his powers are active.
Max goes after Plutonian who easily defeats him again. Max realizes that the only way he can ever beat Plutonian is by staying awake as long as possible, but he ends up driving himself into a delusional state, remembering Plutonian as the “wolf boy” who attacked him earlier and thinking of Alana Patel (this universe’s Lois Lane analog) as a friend he had when he was a child, Katy.
Last issue, Max had been writing letters to Katy about his guilt over his actions, but had not been sending them, using them as his own private confessional. In the end of this issue, he does send Katy one last letter confessing all his crimes, and deciding to try and move his life in a more positive direction.
Review: I have to admit, while reading this crossover between Incorruptible and Irredeemable, a few times I wondered “how exactly is this a crossover?” It’s even odder since Plutonian actually played a much bigger direct role in Incorruptible 23 and 24 than he actually did in the crossover issues, Incorruptible 25 and 26. But the more I let the stories sit in my head for a while (something that seems to happen whenever I read either of these series), I realized that the reason these issues are labelled as “a crossover” is because of how vital these four issues are to understanding exactly what makes this universe, and more specifically Max Damage and Plutonian, tick. Seeing their origins, and understanding how their lives have impacted each other, really is something that was a long time coming in both of these books.
One of the things I loved about this issue was that we get to understand exactly what happens to Max’s mental state as he’s awake longer and longer. The hallucinations and Max’s intensity help explain a lot of what we’ve seen him doing as a hero. He’s pretty damn unstable. I wonder if Plutonian ever does try to become a hero again, would that completely shatter Max’s hold on reality.
I also like that we basically got two origin stories for Max. How he became a villain in the first place, and what started him on the path to becoming a hero.
Waid has been one of my favorite writers for a long time. He’s got such a terrific range, being able to bring Daredevil back to being a fun hero while at the same time producing some of the most introspective superhero(ish) comics I’ve ever read like Kingdom Come, Empire, and now Incorruptible and Irreemable. Waid is easily in my top three favorite writers of all time…and I don’t just mean comic writers.
Something I didn’t like about this issue is that we’re never really given an explanation on how Max recovered from his traumas at the hands of the young Plutonian. It just feels a little convenient. Last issue, he’s in a full body cast, family not wanting to support him…and two panels later he’s a criminal mastermind without any real explanation. This just seemed strange and rushed to me.
It’s also a little strange how many artists have passed through Irredeemable and Incorruptible, but Marcio Takara has been on this book for a while now thankfully. Marcio Takara’s art is a great fit for Incorruptible. It just has a real gritty look that brings this book’s craziness to life. I especially loved how he drew the hallicinations when Max was fighting Plutonian. A lot of artists might have gone too over the top, but Takara gives it a perfect balance of reality and dream. I found myself really paying extra attention to these awesome sequences:
Last week, Waid announced that Irredeemable and Incorruptible would both be coming to an end in May. Considering what’s been going on in Irredeemable (more on that later, working on a review for the new issue of that), it seems like a logical place to start winding down. But I think Incorruptible still has a lot of stories left to tell. Max Damage has been a great character, and his story of redemption has just been great. I actually like Incorruptible just a little more than Irreedemable most months. It feels more grounded in reality and has some great characterization.
I actually kind of blame myself for the cancellation (Yes, I have a huge ego). I only got into these series about two months ago, and pretty much went on a comic shopping bender to catch up. As soon as the series becomes same day digital release, they announce that it’s ending. I truly am a curse to great comics. That said, I enjoy these books and hope that Waid does more with these characters and ideas even after these two great books end in May.
Final Score: 8.5 – Incorruptible is a solid series every issue. Since it’s ending soon anyway, you might want to wait for the trades, but I highly recommend checking it out.
