Book Review: Incorruptible Vol. 1 by M. Waid et al.

Incorruptible Volume 1 created and written by Mark Waid and art by Jean Diaz

Max Damage is a super-criminal in Sky City, the home of superhero The Plutonian (a Superman knockoff). Max's newest problem is The Plutonian losing his mind and turning into the worst supervillain ever (see Irredeemable). After spending a month thinking about the situation, Max has decided he needs to step up and become a hero. He has a hard time convincing people like his sidekick Jailbait (an underage female who likes the wicked lifestyle) and the police commissioner. Max starts off by letting the police know about his gang's next job, leading to their arrest. Also, he gets rid of all his ill-gotten gains. That includes torching his vault with 4.2 million dollars in it. The commissioner and Jailbait have a really hard time with that one too. Max wants to be on the up-and-up. He starts working his way through problems as they come, like an ex-associate who is profiting off of his "get superpowers quick" experiments that don't work so well but are easy to market to the desperate populace.

Max is a very interesting character. While Irredeemable told the story of why a Superman-like hero would turn to evil, this book takes on a more interesting and, to me, plausible challenge...how would a villain turn over a new leaf and become a hero? Even after a month thinking about it, Max still makes some mistakes here and there. Turning himself 180 degrees is not easy, especially when everyone thinks he's playing some sort of game or lost his mind. The reader has an easy time rooting for Max, especially when he does the right thing in little situations like not sleeping with his underage sidekick anymore. The story is a nice twist on the hero's journey.

The art is not the best. Max's face sometimes looks different from issue to issue. The book has some nice splash pages for big scenes, though the rest is fairly standard comic-book fare. Even though Jailbait has a skin-tight outfit and wants to be exploited, the artist treats her with more respect than she has for herself, so there are good aspects to the art. 

Recommended--this is a more intriguing premise than the original series.