Comic Review: Incorruptible #2 (BOOM! Studios)

Mark Waid brings a story of a supervillain on the path to redemption in Incorruptible. In issue 2 Max Damage is meeting with Lt. Armadale to ask him for help taking the high road. Not surprisingly Armadale is a little skeptical, but he needs help defending his city against Plutonian (see Waid’s other BOOM! series, Irredeemable), who has reduced it to rubble. For the uninitiated, imagine if Superman, the most loved and revered superhero in the universe, suddenly went berserk and started destroying Metropolis and killing other members of the Justice League. Got the picture? Good.



Also finding it hard to believe that Max Damage is on the up-and-up is Jailbait, Damage’s former accomplice. She’s looking to cause a little trouble, and like most teenage girls, taking it personally when Max doesn’t take the bait. He tells her to dry her tears and come along for the ride. Waid does a great job of making her the perfect mix of drama queen and underage temptress. She’s old enough to know she can use her looks to get her way, but she’s young enough to act like a tired schoolgirl when she gets bored. Most interesting to me was this dynamic—a man who has done unspeakable things surrounding himself with his former enemy (Armadale) and his old partner in crime, both of whom are tagging along in disbelief that Damage is actually remorseful and on the straight and narrow.

The other element of this story is that of Orjean. He’s claiming that he can make regular people superheroes to combat Plutonian, and it’s one of the reasons some of the normal citizens are losing their minds. That, and the fact that they have limited water and food supplies, and life as they know it is now reduced to huddling around trash cans amid the crumbling buildings. I suspect in future issues Orjean will be the focus, and I’m interested to see how that plot unravels.

The cover art duties are shared by Dennis Calero, Rafael Albuquerque, and Jeffrey Spokes, and all feature Jailbait. I for one was crazy about Albuquerque’s cover, as I’m a fan of his art. Jean Diaz is the artist for this book, and the art is good. It’s traditional comic art, which totally fits this book. This book needs good solid penciling to help drive the story along.

I don’t really feel that I need to tell you to pick this book up. It is, after all, Mark Waid, and let’s face it, the man’s name should be enough to convince you to pick up the book. But if you need encouraging, then here goes—I encourage you to ask your local purveyor of fine comics to put this on your pull list. It’s another fine BOOM! title that doesn’t disappoint.

Written by Mark Waid
Drawn by Jean Diaz

Stacey Rader
Senior Reviewer