What if a costumed superhero who looked and acted like Superman broke bad in a really terrible way? I mean, like, just started setting people on fire for no reason and shit? That’d freak you the hell out, wouldn’t it? It’s all right here in Irredeemable #1, written by Mark Waid, drawn by Peter Krause, colored by Andrew Dalhouse, lettered by Ed Dukeshire and published by BOOM Studios.
Her daddy wrestles alligators, Mama works on carburetors. Her brother is a fine mediator for the president. Those are some of the lyrics to Train’s “Meet Virginia,” a song that has very little to do with a girl inheriting her father’s demon-killing legacy. But maybe alligators are some kind of demon? Find out in We Have Demons #1, written by Scott Snyder, drawn by Greg Capullo, inked by Jonathan Glapion, colored by Dave McCaig, lettered by Tom Napolitano and published by Comixology/Dark Horse.
He was a good boy. But all dogs might not go to heaven … especially if they find themselves at the wrong roadside motel in Hotell Vol. 2 #4, written by John Lees, drawn by Dalibor Talajic, colored by Lee Loughridge, lettered by Sal Cipriano and published by Artists, Writers and Artisans, which is totally the name of a real publisher.
Will Nevin: Ian, you ever really let something sit in the fridge too long? Like, I’m talking beyond the funky smell stage — like when colors and textures start to go. I kept some fresh cut watermelon for my pet possum (no lie, that’s a thing, his name is Pablo and he’s precious) until it turned into a watery mush. Why I tried it at that point, I can’t tell you. It did, though, immediately go outside. So, yeah, Ian — what’s your Hoarders-level fridge crime, and please tell me you’re not an idiot like me and you didn’t give it a taste test.
Ian Gregory: My partner and I have been experimenting with pot pies. The first one we made was a total mess — we tried to use this drop biscuit mix, and it only kind of worked, but neither of us really wanted to finish it. So we left half of this pot pie sealed up in these glass Costco leftovers containers. And we left it. And we left it. And eventually, it wasn’t about eating it or throwing it out — I was just afraid to open it up and see what we had cultured. Eventually, with a great deal of bravery (and a desire to get that container back), we tossed the pot pie, sight unseen. So no, I didn’t eat it; I was too cowardly to even look upon it.
Will: Some things are so hideous, they have to bypass the kitchen trash and go straight into the dumpster or — if you’re like me — into the backyard and most assuredly away from the house. That former pot pie sure sounds like a contender for the biohazard treatment. Anyway, I ask because we’re going into the frigid depths of the Frigidaire, friend. Past the box of baking soda. Past the remains of a sixer your friend with terrible taste in beer left behind. And, yes, past what used to be watermelon.
We’re reaching all the way back to 2009.
Irredeemable #1: Oh Shit, It’s the Plutonian and He’s Murdering *Everyone*
Will: Let’s play my favorite game: Make Will Feel Ancient. In the spring of 2009, I was in my second year of law school, and I’d turn 24 that fall. (A full third of my life ago. Jeeze.) What about you?
Ian: Well, in the spring of 2009, I was in my second year of middle school.
Will: Motherfucker. *dies, turns to dust* [Grote’s note: I’M OLDER THAN BOTH OF YOU FUCKS. I BOUGHT A HOUSE THAT YEAR.]
Ian: I had just turned 13, and I was an avid reader of J. Michael Straczynski’s Thor (and pretty much nothing else). I received Thor by way of my father, who would go to the local comic shop (The Comic Swap in State College, Pennsylvania) to pick up his books. I was fascinated by what he brought home that year: the last issue of Planetary, the first issues of The Unwritten, and not-yet-Netflix’s Mark Waid’s Irredeemable.
Will: Funny you mention that last one, because we’re talking the past and books of old because Netflix announced last week it was picking up Mark Waid’s Irredeemable and Incorruptible for a turn at the #content farm, and I thought it’d be a gas to read the first issue of the former and write it up with our other two books this week, especially since we’ve had so much fun taking the piss out of Netflix over King of Spies. Aren’t I hilarious?
Ian: Well, it’s certainly true that no one on ComicsXF has ever covered Irredeemable before. As far as I’m concerned, that means it’s within our remit.
Will: Spawn #1, Savage Dragon #1 and all you other Image-firsts: You’re officially on notice. But before we really dig in, had you read this before?
Ian: I have very vague memories of reading the first graphic novel when it was released, but basically all I’ve retained is the premise. I’m excited to see what else shakes loose!
Will: Reading this — and the recent World’s Finest #1 — I’m struck by how good Waid is at really getting to the action in a hurry. Say what you will about the first issue, but the thing flies — the Plutonian shows up, murders the functional equivalent of Batman (and his family!) and thereby establishes the premise of the series without getting bogged down in a lot of exposition aside from a flashback scene. And speaking of the flashback, that was unsettling as fuck, right?
Ian: I agree — this is a very expedient first issue. Waid does what everyone should do when releasing their Superman riff and just assume the audience gets the drift. No long exposition about what it was like when the Plutonian first appeared, or details of his exploits over the years, or what happened when he first turned. It’s Evil Superman — it was already old hat in 2009, but Waid knows that and brushes past the obvious stuff. In fact, it’s pretty much the exact opposite of what Waid did when he revisited the concept in 2016’s The Rise and Fall of Axiom.
Will: Hmmm … I’ll have to give that book a look. But, yeah, Plutonian is obviously a Superman analog. The guy who was a charred skeleton by the end of the first issue was a Batman stand-in. Did you notice any other superhero archetypes in the heroes still standing?
Ian: Samsara struck me as a sort of magic-youth Justice Society character: Johnny Thunder or maybe even something like Klarion the Witch Boy. We see a sort of Hawkman type, some people dressed like Iron Man or Cyclops, and a woman who vaguely reminds me of Silk Spectre. As with all the best conceptual take-offs, there isn’t a really strong one-to-one connection for anyone except the Plutonian / Superman, just vaguely familiar elements combined in new but recognizable ways.
Will: And, finally, what did you think of this overall? Read this and Incorruptible long enough and you’ll get to some spots in which Waid well and truly fucked up, but aside from the graphic violence which seemed to be the thing in 2009, I can’t say this isn’t a good comic.
Ian: I have to appreciate that the ultraviolence is washed out in all the heat vision. Characters being laser-beamed to death and leaving behind skeletons is practically a Saturday morning cartoon, especially in comparison to Invincible, which at the time this was released had already pioneered the “bags of blood” approach to comic book violence. I think this is a pretty strong issue. It’s not top-heavy, it moves quickly and it sets up an interesting question (or at least, as interesting as the premise can allow). I appreciate that the Plutonian’s “snap” is unknown to the cast. It’s not like, say Injustice (which, according to its naming convention, is clearly the secret third part of the Irredeemable, Incorruptible trilogy), where everyone knows why Superman went mad. That mystery element is what makes this issue have any compelling hook.
Will: I’ve always thought Waid made these books ’cuz he couldn’t have made Injustice (at the time?). If only he had waited!
We Have Demons #1: We Might Have Demons, But We Also Got a Slow Book
Will: This is in the interesting spot of being both a moldy oldie and something fresh, with it dropping on Comixology in October and in print via Dark Horse for the first time this week. Synder and Capullo are obviously a legendary team in the modern era, but I don’t know how much of that Batmagic transferred over — and if I’m gonna be honest, it’s not Capullo’s fault that I found this to be a largely tiring bore. Too much exposition (in interesting contrast with Irredeemable), not enough action and not enough of me giving a shit. What did you think?
Ian: I kind of liked that Snyder made a gag out of the exposition. But if even your characters are saying “This is too much to explain right now,” maybe it’s too much to explain right now! I think there’s greater pressure on series to completely explain their concept in the first issue. Irredeemable got by largely on genre familiarity but actually explained very little. Snyder, here, feels compelled to explain everything right from the get-go. It’s almost a waste of a character: Lam is a new initiate to the demon-hunters. She naturally doesn’t know everything that’s going on. Why would you go out of your way to not have the reader learn about the details along with her? You could probably get away with just showing her growing up, her father’s death, and her being told about the demons and demon hunters (without all the cosmology stuff) and cut this issue down to a much more manageable 24 pages.
Will: I know there are another two issues in this first arc, but I get the sense that Synder has so little to say or express creatively in this series that it’s a waste of time. What’s his big idea here? A girl gets estranged from her father (for, let’s be honest, reasons that seem like a stretch) and she grows up to kill demons who swear a bunch? Again, this did not have any juice for me.
Ian: Don’t even get me started on the first page “trigger warning” about faith. It felt like an after-the-case justification, as if Snyder had the content down but wanted to make sure there were “themes” in there somewhere. In fact, the estrangement between Lam and her father made the issue less interesting, rather than more; I’d love a series about a supernatural demon hunter raised in an open, stable and supporting environment. At least then we’d be seeing something new.
Will: But Capullo … he was good, right?
Ian: Oh yeah. Capullo was great.
Hotell Vol. 2 #4: Where Good Dogs Go to Die
Will: Let’s be honest with ourselves, Ian — this series is not high art, and it won’t make anyone’s Eisner short list. But that’s not the goal of every comic, now is it? (Also, fuck the Eisners — if Ice Cream Man can’t get a nomination, they’re not to be trusted.) For what this is — a grindhouse-ier version of The Twilight Zone — I think it’s pretty goddamned good.
Ian: This is a nice, solid single issue. I love little horror stories like this, and Hotell has such a nice framework that I haven’t run into any fatigue in the concept. Anyone, for any reason, could need to stay for the night. I like the simplicity of the anthology format, but I also like how the running plot introduces just enough complexity that you’re rewarded for never skipping or skimming an issue.
Will: Maybe the story here just hit me the right way. A guy trying to hold on to his dog for a bit too long stops at our favorite damned hotel, wherein his dog crawls through a hole in the wall to maybe die. Tale as old as time, really. But seriously, it might have been a bit cliche, but I think it’s a story that speaks to all of us — or at least the ones of us who’ve watched pets grow up and old. (Love you, Pablo.)
Ian: Exactly. Nathan is a kind of ideal horror protagonist. We’re on his side, we empathize with his goals, but we recognize that he has made a mistake in some way. This issue stands out because Nathan is largely misguided and is not either a complete victim or totally amoral, as other characters in Hotell have been. We want to see him succeed, and while his confrontation with Dyno is tragic, it’s also cathartic. It’s nice to see a moment of pure character growth in an otherwise bleak setting. It also sets Nathan up nicely to be a major figure in the climax of the arc.
Will: Finally, where do you see this volume ending? A biker gang bloodbath? Or does the whole hotel slide into some hellmouth?
Ian: I’ve said before that I love the way that Hotell culminates in a single massive issue where all the stories come back into play. I also like that the Roaring 66’s are trying to claim the hotel. Do they know its mystical value? There’s ironic value in the biker gang trying to take control of a rest stop meant for everyone in dire straits — what does ownership over the hotel mean? Even Jack, the concierge, doesn’t seem to act like the “owner.” If anything, the clown portrait owns the hotel. I’m eagerly looking forward to how this volume ends.
Does This Smell OK?
- Note to Deadline: When you write in your story that Irredeemable and Incorruptible ran for 37 and 30 issues respectively, it’s clear you’re not talking about the “graphic novel series” of your headline. I will punch the next writer who doesn’t understand that floppy comics =/= graphic novels. “Comic book” is not a dirty phrase, dipshits.
- Reading Irredeemable this week really made me nostalgic for all the half-remembered graphic novels of the 2000s. Will, stop tempting me with more reading projects.
- Just wait until we get to Incorruptible with the lead hero’s sidekick Jailbait. (Yes, they really did that.)
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
Ian Gregory is a writer and co-host of giant robots podcast Mech Ado About Nothing.
