Wednesday, October 10, 2012

[Book Review] IRREDEEMABLE: VOL. 1 by Mark Waid


Fiction/Graphic Novel

Jason reviews IRREDEEMABLE: Vol. 1 by Mark Waid and Peter Krause (Boom! Studios, 2009-)

  *Spoilers from the first few pages are in the first paragraph*

 The book opens with a costumed superhero rushing into his young daughter’s room and yelling for her to get her things together because someone is after them.  He tries to rush his wife and his baby outside but first a costumed man rushes in and proceeds to vaporize the wife and child.  The sobbing hero rushes outside with his only remaining daughter and pleads for her life when confronted by the pursuing man.  The man vaporizes the superhero and leans in to tell the young child that he is a “superhero.”

Needless to say, this book is…intense…

This graphic novel is dark and features superheroes trying to figure out how to stop their former friend and team member from his bloody rampage.  The novel shifts back and forth from past to present while the team remembers their shared past in order to find a way to stop this rampaging former hero.  As the audience, we also get a glimpse into the subtle events that begin to turn this former hero, but not much is really explained in this first volume.  The pace moves quickly, but there are a few points in the story where things aren't explained very well.  I had to go online and search for the answers and it sounds like at least most them are explained in some way later, but it would be nice if there was a bit more clarification in the first book.

I’m eager to know how the story will end, but I’m also a little afraid of what I’ll find.  Several superheroes and millions of people have died in the first volume alone. 

I’ve always been a sucker for a happy ending but with a title like Irredeemable, I’m not convinced that’s an option.  I’ll post a series review when I am able to finish it, but in the meantime, if you want a thrilling graphic novel not designed for children, it’s definitely worth a read.

Jason Sharp, Whitehaven Library

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