Book Review: Irredeemable Vol. 2 by M. Waid et al.

Irredeemable Premier Edition Volume 2 written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Peter Krause and Diego Barreto, colors by Andrew Dalhouse, and letters by Ed Dukeshire

After a mad rampage of destroying things and people, including some of his ex-teammates (they were called the Paradigm), the Plutonian is laying low because one of those ex-teammates, Cary, had his power boosted when his brother was killed. He's now a seeming equal to the Plutonian, so the team is making plans to take the Plutonian down. Unfortunately, the U. S. Government is initiating a panic-driven plan to take down both the Plutonian and the other superheroes since they clearly can't be trusted. They teleport in a demon who gave the Paradigm a very hard time in the past. Judging by his behavior, he's still a villain. More of the Plutonian's dark secrets come out in this issue, showing just how delicate his mental state was.

The plot developments are interesting but I can't help feeling the Plutonian is clueless about human psychology at some very basic levels. The backstory in this issue describes him as always trying to contain and suppress his powers, though he is also clearly dishonest with himself about how he uses his powers and what impact they have. No wonder he eventually cracked under the pressure. The rest of the team is not faring well--Cary is developing a monomaniacal stance very similar to the Plutonian's; Bette Noir admits she had an affair and she knew of a way to take down the Plutonian but didn't mention it because of the affair; other team members wind up in jail or banished to other dimensions. A lot of action is shown but also a lot of pessimism.

My interest is waning but I will continue with another book to see where the story goes.