Review: Irredeemable, Vol. 4

Irredeemable, Vol. 4 by Mark Waid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Irredeemable volume 4 includes the Irredeemable Special (which wasn’t really all that special) and then continues on with the core story. The “Special” had some mildly interesting prequel stuff that focuses on Hornet, Kaiden, and Max Damage (of Waid’s other related series Incorruptible). And nope, I haven’t read that one yet. Some spoilery stuff to follow, but I’ll try and keep it to a minimum.

The next part of the book picks up with what’s left of the team following their run in with Uncle Sam at the conclusion of the last collection. Desperation is really starting to set in and the reality that they’re fucked is becoming more and more apparent.

Gil’s still dealing with what a dirty meat-socket his soon to be ex-wife is. Bette goes lookin’ for anybody that’s willing to overlook her shockingly selfish admission from the last book. Good luck with that.

A brawl with the Plutonian does even more collateral damage than expected, somebody learns Modeus’ secret, the Survivor continues to act like a douche, and another member of the Paradigm bites the dust.

Diego Barreto gives Peter Krause a break and handles the art chores in this one. Better? Nah, I actually like Krause better (and I’m not really a fan of him either). Still serviceable though. Paul Azaceta, Emma Rios, and Howard Chaykin all contributed about 5 or 6 pages to the “Special”. They were alright.

I’m continuing to enjoy this title and it’s still a recommend. You know Waid’s holding my attention when the next volume marks the halfway point for the series and I’m still down. Diggin’ out volume 5 right now.
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Review: Irredeemable Vol. 3

Irredeemable, Vol. 3 by Mark Waid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Minor spoilery stuff for those that haven’t read up to this volume yet. What are you waitin’ for?

Finally. The U.S. Government has had enough of the Plutonian’s rampage and is stepping in to do something about it. Yep, the same guys that fucked up the economy, social security, and continue to try and dilute the Constitution to the point of irrelevance are on it. And they’re not gonna fuck this up. Turns out they have a very unique weapon on standby for just such an emergency. This isn’t going to end well.

Qubit gets his BDSM on and it actually leads to a little information as to what happened to Modeus before he went missing. Turns out Modeus might have actually earned that dangerous reputation, the clever shit. Certainly didn’t see that twist coming.

A new hero is born. “The Survivor” is here and what a douche-bag he is. Could be the cure is as bad as the disease in this case. Hysterical that the media was about as impressed as I was at his “coming out” party. Toolbox.

Gil and Bette finally have that sit down about allegations of her infidelity. I was wonderin’ how long Bette was gonna be able to put this one off. Nice guys finish last Gil. But there’s more to this than Bette just going on a trampage. She knows something you don’t know.

The Plutonian continues to impress with just how much of a malicious degenerate he really is. Yep, he’s hit an all-time low in this one kiddies. He’s takin’ to the handicapped. And how about those adoptive parents. Crazy shit.

I continue to enjoy this series more with each volume. Peter Krause’s artwork remains consistent and, while I won’t be seeking out other titles based solely on his work, it’s respectable. Waid ends this collection on a cool little cliffhanger. On to volume 4. This title’s got legs.

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Review: Irredeemable Vol. 2

Irredeemable, Vol. 2 by Mark Waid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Waid wastes no time kickin’ it up a notch in the second collection. This is where Irredeemable really starts to gain some depth. Mark starts to flesh out his characters and even manages to throw in a few surprises for this jaded comic geek. Loved the twist towards the end. Should’ve seen that one comin’.

Vol. 2 reveals which straw finally broke the camel’s back for the Plutonian. He really goes off the deep end in this one kids. As if annihilating cities was enough, he starts in with a psychological warfare campaign that speaks to just how shit-house rat crazy he’s become.

What’s left of Paradigm takes a field trip the Plutonian’s crib. Should have called him the Stalkenator. And if that’s not weird enough, how’s about a day-care of death too. It’s like the Fortress of Solitude on bath-salts. Freak.

Volt gets an origin story in this one. Pretty fun. You’re also gonna find out why he’s stuck manglin’ his midget with his right hand from here on out. No more “strangers” for him.

Peter Krause’s art is consistent. Again, not my favorite in terms of style or panache’, but certainly functional. It’s growing on me and it definitely hasn’t taken away from my overall enjoyment of the series so far.

Great 2nd volume. So far among the best stuff I’ve read by Mark Waid and absolutely worth checking out. For those of you that enjoyed the carnage of the first book. Plenty more to enjoy here. This collection adds in one dismemberment, a few more dead kids, and a fetish alert that’s probably gonna leave you one satisfied customer.

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Review: Deathmatch by Paul Jenkins

Deathmatch Vol. 1 by Paul Jenkins
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

***Note: To be fair, I didn’t finish this one. That being said, read enough of my reviews and you’ll see I almost NEVER leave a comic unread. That’s testament enough.***

This one sucked goat boners.

Total ripoff of Avengers Arena, which I didn’t really think was amazeballs (as the kids like Kat say) as others did.

Yawn. Boring facsimilies of real characters, fighting, mysterious badguys, supposed relationships being destroyed…been there, done that…much better as well thank you very much.

Don’t waste your time.

Sam did a perfectly splendid job on telling you why this book is utter tripe, so there’s no point in me rehashing, other than to agree, ’tis Shite!

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Review: 3 Guns

3 Guns by Steven Grant

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2 Guns , both the book and the movie, were a guilty pleasures of mine. Never a big fan of Steven Grant, I was pleasantly surprised by the first title. A buddy/action flick that worked for me. Not great, but good. 3 Guns, not so much. Grant seemed to struggle with breathing genuine life into his characters with this one. They lacked the personality that Walberg and Washington brought to them on the big screen and that was a little more palpable in the first book. I actually read the first book before seeing the movie, so I didn’t have anything to compare that one to. Maybe that’s why the 3 star review. I don’t know, have to re-read it down the road. This one, however, just never got off the ground for me. And believe me, I wanted it to.

Review: Suicide Risk Vol. 3

Suicide Risk Vol. 3

by Mike Carey (Goodreads Author), Elena Casagrande (Illustrations)

4 out of 5 stars

Carey continues to peel back the layers of his story with Suicide Risk Vol. 3. I drew comparisons to Powers and Incognito in past reviews, and while I still feel they’re pretty accurate comparisons, Carey is really starting to make this something a little more unique.

Much like the last collection, the first issue in the trade is an origin tale of sorts. It explains what’s up with Jed, Hailey, and their P-wand. (Heh, P-wand. Sounds like it should be shaped like a dong and take a couple of D batteries. It isn’t and it doesn’t.) This chapter also gives a little more insight into why the P-wand only works for some people and not others. The Guardians (not “of the galaxy”) also show up and they’re not playin’. Jorge Coelho provides the art and it’s decent.

Review: Suicide Risk Vol. 1

Suicide Risk Vol. 1

by Mike Carey (Goodreads Author), Elena Casagrande (Artist)

3 out of 5 stars

Suicide Risk is an interesting mix of Brian Bendis’s Powers and Ed Brubaker’s Incognito set in Mark Millar’s MillarWorld universe. I don’t think that makes this book as original an idea as some of the other reviewers on Goodreads seem to think it is. However, this does make Suicide Risk a reasonably satisfying cocktail consisting of a few of my favorite comic series and themes.

Mark Carey establishes the groundwork for his new series in this collection of Suicide Risk issues 1 through 4. It follows a “normal” cop, Leo Winters, as he looks to get payback from a bunch of super-powered villains that done him wrong. This takes him down an unexpected road that leads deeper into where these supervillains came from and forces him to take a look into his own clouded past. Not wanting to give too much away, I’ll leave it at that. Carey is taking his time laying the foundation for his world in this collection and it took me a couple issues to really buy in. This one certainly picks up towards the end and concludes with a cliff-hanger, so I’m definitely curious to see where Carey is going with this series.