Book Review: Incorruptible Vol. 3 by M. Waid et al.

Incorruptible Volume 3 created and written by Mark Waid and art by Horacio Domingues and Marcio Takara

Max Damage goes after the girlfriend of his old enemy the Plutonian. Alana Patel is a Lois-Lane type who worked at a radio station where the Plutonian, in his everyday persona Dan, worked. She dated the Plutonian until the day that Dan admitted his love for her and that he is the Plutonian. She wigged out and broke up with him. She blames herself for Plutonian going evil and has let herself be kidnapped by a gang of racists who admire The Plutonian because they think he is targeting minorities (he's actually targeting everybody). Alana had an unpublished autobiography that details a lot of secrets, including how Max's powers work. He doesn't want revenge, he just wants to control the information. This situation leads into a lot of conflict between a variety of characters. Also, Max's new sidekick, a Japanese woman who lost her family to the racists and has embraced the Jailbait identity as a coping mechanism, starts making trouble with her own suicidal tendencies. He's renamed her "Headcase" which she does not object to.

The story is less interesting than before. Max is still trying to figure out how to be a hero, though that has taken a back seat to a lot of the other plot mechanics. Many of the minor bits are interesting, like the police chief who has gotten off the bottle just when everyone else turns to drink to deaden the pain of the situation. Unfortunately, the artists still treat Headcase and Alana as eye-candy (i.e. skimpy outfits and lots of cleavage). 

Mildly recommended. They need to get back to Max's main problem!

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

Incorruptible Volume 2 created and written by Mark Waid and art by Horacio Domingues

Max Damage's original partner Jailbait (real name: Terri) goes AWOL since he's changed from a villain to a superhero. The only problem with her plan is that every enemy of Max will be gunning for her. Max saves a kidnapped woman only to find out it's not Terri. The woman's name is Annie. Annie is grateful to Max for saving her so he has her impersonated Jailbait long enough for him to find Terri and get her to safety. The plan does not go well, leading to more action and drama.

The story takes an interesting turn as Max realizes his impact on others. Annie gets enough story to make her an interesting character and to force her to join forces with Max. A new artist was brought on. The new visuals are a bit more cartoony which didn't bother me much. The art does play up the sexiness of Jailbait much more than in the first volume which I liked less. It's not bad enough for me to stop reading.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Ant-Man Season One by T. Defalco et al.

Ant-Man Season One written by Tom Defalco and art by Horacio Domingues

In a modernizing reboot of the Ant-Man character, Hank Pym travels with his wife Maria to Budapest for a science conference. They are supposed to meet at a restaurant but Hank runs late and gets there just as a terrorist bomb destroys the building. The story jumps forward to Hank with a therapist trying to deal with his issues. He's had a bunch of mental health problems throughout his life, making him a bit paranoid. His overbearing father pulls him out of the appointment and bullies him into working for Egghead Innovations. They want to develop the technology that Maria was working on. Hank suspects the company of orchestrating her death and wanting to monetize her discoveries without giving credit. He's given a lab partner, Bill Foster, whom he suspects is a spy. Bill contributes to discovering how to use Pym Particles (which Hank wanted to name after his wife, but the company already announced it) to make things smaller and larger. After conducting a successful experiment, two security guards burst in. Hank is fired and the company wants all the materials, including the research. They wind up shrinking Hank, who manages to flee. But he is going to get revenge on the company and Elihas Starr, the evil corporate honcho who clearly has no good intentions (though his skull is indeed egg-shaped).

The story follows a very paint-by-numbers plot, which would be okay if other parts made up the deficit. Hank is sympathetically depicted but the other characters are much more two-dimensional, except when they need to provide more drama or a plot twist. These instances come off very unconvincingly, like when the security guards know how to use the miniaturization equipment on Hank, or when Bill betrays Hank but then instantly is back on his side. No wonder Hank has mental issues! The art is just okay and occasional jokes lighten the mood. Overall, this is not a satisfying reboot for Ant-Man.

The book also has the first issue of Avengers Academy, where Hank Pym gathers a bunch of young people with superpowers. They were all taken in by Norman Osborne who tried to develop their powers for his own nefarious purposes. Now, they are training to be heroes. They seem like an interesting enough set of new characters but I do not plan to read more about them.

Not recommended--there's nothing terrible here other than an impression of blandness.