Comic Review: Incorruptible #1

Incorruptible is a new ongoing series written by Mark Waid, with interior art by Jean Diaz. The series features two covers in a 50/50 split, featuring art by John Cassaday and Tim Sale, and also a 1-in-10 incentive cover by Jeffrey Spokes.

Last year, Mark Waid and BOOM! released Irredeemable, the story of The Plutonian, the world’s greatest superhero turned the worlds greatest Supervillian. Now, in Incorruptible, Waid looks at the flipside of the coin, and asks the question: What Happens When A Villain Becomes A Hero?

Incorruptible showcases super villain Max Damage, who had an epiphany the day The Plutonian destroyed Sky City. That day, when The Plutonian turned his back on humanity, Max Damage decided to step up. Now Max Damage has changed his name to Max Daring and turned from his formerly selfish ways to become… Incorruptible. The flip side to this year’s break-out smash hit Irredeemable, examining the hard, difficult road to changing your ways and making a difference in the world…

The Story [Spoilers]

The issue opens on a scene of Max Damage’s nefarious gang of super-powered vigilantes traveling together in the back of a van. It seems that Max has been missing for a month now, and the gang have decided to pull a heist on their own. Suddenly, the vehicle skids to halt, and the gang find themselves confronted by a police road block. The police demand that they come out with their hands behind their heads, and when they fail to do so, they open fire on the van. Things go from bad to worse, as one of the gang members emerges from the truck with a massive super-weapon, and takes aim at the police chief. However, luckily his shot does not hit its target, as it is deflected at the last minute by Max Damage himself!

Max’s gang don’t know what to think, unsure whether their boss has returned to do the job right, or if he’s here to punish them for going out on their own. The gang are shocked though when max hands them over to the police. Not hanging around to explain his actions, Max heads off to find the real brains behind this little stunt, his second in command, ‘Jailbait’.

Max catches up with Jailbait in his secret underground lair (you’ve gotta have a secret lair!), and he brought a surprise with him – in the trunk is his car is the chief of police. Max then explains to Jailbait and the police cheif that he’s going straight, and to illustrate his point, he torches his entire stash of tainted money. Why’s he suddenly decided to turn over a new leaf? Well, an encounter with the The Plutonian on the day that he destroyed Sky City made his realise that he’s been playing a game, and now it’s time to wise up. If no superheroes are going to save the world, then it’s up to him!

The Rating

The above synopsis really doesn’t do this story justice, as the plot is far more subtle and nuanced than I could outline in a mere couple of paragraphs. Did I just say Subtle and nuanced? More like packed to the brim with action, explosions and madness!

This is one of the wildest things that Mark Waid has ever written! And when I say wild, I mean, this feels just a few steps away from some of Mark Millar’s crazier material. Okay, it’s not quite that THAT mad, but there is definitely a bit of a wild streak in there, with references to Max’s love of underage girls, and his scantily-clad teenage girlfriend being named ‘Jailbait’; hell, there’s is even a line where one of the gang members tells another to shut Jailbait up by sticking something in her mouth, and the other-one replies that last time he did that she knocked his tooth out.

Another thing that Waid does on this book, is that he has fun with supervillain archetypes and clichés. He’s got gangsters with ridiculous looking super weaponry, underage girls in tight clothing, a cool looking supervillain who has a secret base and drives a tricked-out fast car. A lot of people will no doubt see these elements and think that Waid is just writing a clichéd story, but really he’s just embracing these elements and having some fun with them. In this respect it’s quite similar to Grant Morrison’s work on Batman & Robin, and All-Star Superman.

The artwork on the series is by Jean Diaz, and I have to say, it’s remarkably similar in style to the artwork of Peter Krause on Irredeemable. Not that that’s a bad thing, in fact it’s a great thing! The artwork on both books is astonishingly good, and seeing as they are both set in the same world, it only makes sense that they would look similar. Diaz has also designed some great looking costumes for the supervillains, which look edgy without looking cheesy, as most supervillain costumes end up being. Jailbait wears a simple black catsuit with a domino mask, and Max doesn’t really even wear a costume, instead he just wears a jeans and a leather jacket, with his only real distinguishing features being the letters ‘MD’ written on the backs of his gloves, and the bright stream of white running though his otherwise black hair.

I love the fact that this book is set in the same world as Irredeemable, something about that really appeals to geek in me. Mark Waid has created a really interesting Universe here, and I think it supports multiple storylines really well. Could this be the first sign of more BOOM!-verse books to come? I hope so, Mark Waid is great at world-building, hell, DC are still milking his Kingdom Come world today, with characters like Red Robin, Magog and more running around the DC Universe!

Incorruptible #1 is an incredibly strong debut issue that gives me high hopes for the rest of the series. This is Mark Waid embracing his inner-crazy and delivering an action-filled story that really packs a punch. If you’ve enjoyed Irredeemable, you will adore this series, it’s rather similar in its approach, and is even set in the same universe! Make sure you get in on the ground floor on this series, because you’ll really be kicking yourself in a couple of months when everyone is talking about it.

Highly recommended for fans of Mark Millar and Grant Morrison. Trust me, Mark Waid is going to blow your mind!

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