Comics of the Week

What Mark Waid has created in his books Irredeemable and Incorruptible is a continuity in a world with consequences. Incorruptible #19 has one thread that deals with consequences in one of the most realistic ways I've seen in a superhero comic. Max Damage was a villain who after The Plutonian (think Superman) went insane and started killing everyone in Irredeemable, decided he had to do the right thing. The problem for him has been that he wasn't just a supervillain. Max Damage did some truly horrible, evil things. In previous issues, we already dealt with the fact that his sidekick was an underage girl named Jailbait, who he had a sexual relationship with. In the last issue, Max went looking for the only man honest enough to rebuild the city of Coalville, which is in chaos. The problem is, a few years back, Max killed this man's young son in cold blood. Issues of redemption and forgiveness are impossible in this situation. Instead, this is just the struggle of a man trying to do what he thinks is right, now, and coming up against the brick wall of his past at every turn.

My journey back to Marvel and specifically X-Men is going well. Uncanny X-Men #539, by Kieron Gillen, is a stand alone story focusing on Hope and Wolverine. I don't know much about Hope, but it doesn't matter. This issue gives you enough so you can follow along. Wolverine has been keeping his distance from her, and she doesn't know why. Then, she is kidnapped by The Crimson Commando who wants her to heal him. Wolverine goes in to rescue her, alone. What makes the issue great is the same thing I've been loving from Uncanny X-Force and the Wolverine book. Apparently, Wolverine is interesting again. The reason he has been staying away is because Hope may turn into something horrible (Dark Phoenix?) and he knows he'll have to be the one to take her out. The moments between Hope and Wolverine have me ready to read more X-Men stories. Also helping matters, I have to say the art by Ibraim Roberson had me staring at some panels in awe.

Detective Comics #878 continues the amazing run of Scott Snyder and Jock and ends the arc that started a few issues back about Tiger Shark. That's all well and good and there were amazing moments, like Batman using an ultrasonic device to communicate with killer whales in order to get out of Tiger Shark's death trap. But the real jaw dropper is the last page, leading into the next issue and arc. I can't say this enough, I will miss Dick as Batman. I'm sure Snyder will do well with Bruce on the Batman book, but this is just so good. As I was reading it, I could see this as an episode of a new, gritty, Batman TV series, where the stories can be a little smaller than the Nolan films, but tight and well told just the same.