Of course, Waid can’t sustain it. I mean, this issue reveals what set the Plutonian off and my only question, I think the only question anyone need ask, is… why does Superman need a sidekick?

Sure, the same can be said of Batman, but almost every Batman writer in the last ten or fifteen years has tried to make some excuse for it, like Robin’s Batman’s lieutenant (again, it’s idiotic), but Superman? Superman doesn’t need a sidekick and if the Plutonian is Superman, well, Waid’s clearly got a lot of work to do, right?

He doesn’t do any of it.

The explanation of why he went psycho is lame. This issue’s best part is Waid turning the Plutonian’s married floozy into a scheming husband-killer. It’ll be amusing to read that arc as it unfolds.

I think Waid’s kneecapped Irredeemable.

The revelation had to be perfect and, instead, it’s weak.

Which earlier issue did I say was my favorite? I was wrong. This issue is my favorite.

Waid finally writes the Plutonian as a character–one who talks a lot, almost too much (I’m definitely getting worried the whole thing is going to be a mind trick the Plutonian’s arch-nemesis is playing on him and it’ll all be happy and easy at the end).

But until then….

Now, the humanity Waid is adding to the Plutonian regards his response to constantly being on call. It’s that Superman problem, only in a cynical universe of saved victims (I guess that combination would make it more like Superman in Spider-Man’s world).

The issue also has an awesome cliffhanger; the last couple issues have been a lot less episodic than the first four and suit cliffhangers better.

I can’t forget Waid’s mean-spirited humor: the in-denial, cuckolded Hawkman stand-in.

Here’s the strangest issue of all, only because Waid does something he hasn’t done so far. He suggests the Plutonian can be surprised. Even if the heroes do sneak past him and he doesn’t catch on, it isn’t the same thing. Here he really and truly is taken aback.

Krause’s characterizing on the Plutonian, which I think I noticed before but really here, is interesting–he isn’t supposed to be a good looking guy. In fact, he’s really bland. Some of the other guys are supposed to be handsome, but apparently the Plutonian got by on his superpowers alone.

Again, there’s more here, including a look into the Plutonian’s past. I get the feeling once this one is complete, it’s going to make a lot more sense, Waid’s choice in revelations and narrative developments. I wonder if he always planned on doing Irredeemable indie or if Boom! changed his mind.

This issue went for a buck so I assume it’s suppose to be a jumping on point, but it’s kind of not. At all. There are a ton of characters introduced here–maybe we’ve seen some of them before, but this issue is the first time when, well, anyone is even mildly important in this comic book except the Plutonian.

There are a couple particularly striking moments in the comic. First is the opening, when the Plutonian goes on TV and threatens people for saying negative things about him (in their private lives). Moments like this one really show what a good job Waid is doing with the series. It shouldn’t work, it should be silly. Instead, it’s terrifying.

The second moment is the reveal of the Plutonian’s sanctuary. Not sure if it’s Waid or Krause’s idea, but it looks like an old serial hero’s hideout. It’s a lovely touch.

Even though the pacing is rapid-fire again (is Irredeemable an ongoing, if so, was it always supposed to be an ongoing)–I mean, I’d be mad at four dollars, just because the “cliffhanger” is engaging doesn’t make it worth four bucks for twenty-some pages but whatever, it’s still kind of my favorite issue.

Here we get to see the Plutonian be a bad guy. He’s petty (he destroys Singapore to horrify the United Nations, a bunch of people he could have just zapped) and human. It’ll be interesting to see where Waid goes with that element.

And Krause really gets to shine here. The destruction of Singapore, though a fast read, is a comic book moment unlike many others (and without trying). It’s just so well done, it’s impossible to not be effected. Waid’s playing with some familiar (if generically branded) toys, but I never saw Singapore coming.

There’s no mythology to Irredeemable. Waid’s not spending his time setting up a universe. There’s the Plutonian, there are the major supporting characters and then there’s everyone else and they don’t matter much. Krause’s job, at times, seems to be to come up with interesting looking characters, who could, conceivably, have had adventures, and then to kill them off and make sure the reader recognizes them.

Obviously, I’m oversimplifying. I mean, this issue has the Plutonian forcing people to act out his sexual fantasies under threat of death (gee, I wonder, has Waid seen Sea of Love?). Krause’s other main job is to make sure every moment with the Plutonian is uneasy. It’s not whether he’ll snap, the snapping is guaranteed; it’s dreading the awful thing he’ll do.

Waid also does a small anti-ordinary people rant here. It reminded me a little of Superman III (in a good way).

Once again, maybe not the best-paced comic book in the world, but here’s where Waid starts hitting the mark. He combines a traditional mystery investigation with his Superman-gone-bad thing here, with the outing of Clark Kent as Superman. Or whatever the stand-in’s names are. Sure, Waid makes it a little more politically correct with the Indian girlfriend or whatever, but it’s still Lois and Clark, only on a bad day.

One has to wonder, did Waid come up with Irredeemable before or after DC offered him the Superman monthly and then take it away almost immediately afterwards.

Because the story makes a lot of sense, this story of an angry god–it’s like if the Silver Age Superman were the Modern Age one and went bad.

I just wish I remembered (or knew) all the other characters’ names. They really aren’t particularly important, just the Plutonian.

Now this one’s what I call a fast read.

Somehow, Waid manages to make this rapidly paced comic book compelling the whole time, even though it probably takes place over five minutes.

His trick, near as I can tell, is to make sure everyone is afraid–he opens the book killing women and children–anything is possible. Where Waid’s skill comes in is in how it doesn’t come across as mean. People get zapped matter-of-factly. There’s no Miller-esque torture scenes.

I don’t know if, on it’s own, it’d be worth four bucks though. Waid doesn’t have a protagonist for this issue, something it definitely needs. The pacing feels forced, like he’s trying to pad it out to one issue, when it’d feel better as two (especially given how the comic ends with the bad guy’s only “real” line of dialogue).

There are also some neat narrative reveals.