Mark Waid, best know for his writing duties on The Incredibles and X-O Manowar…(sound effect of record needle dragging across vinyl)…uh, wait, I meant The Flash and Kingdom Come. I’m sure that most of you are familiar with Kingdom Come, the collaboration between Mark Waid and some artist named Alex Ross. If you’re not familiar with Kingdom Come then this next statement isn’t going to mean much to you. Irredeemable is the best Mark Waid writing since Kingdom Come. It’s hard to live in the shadow of a work beloved by so many comics fans, but that’s exactly where Mark Waid has been. However, Irredeemable breaks him out of that shadow and gives us something raw and unnerving.

On the surface it’s a simple story of what happens when a god like Superman character, the Plutonian, goes nucking futs and starts killing off his teammates and millions of innocents and sinking entire continents. Many similarities can be drawn to what if Superman started killing the members of the JLA. The story, while clearly meant to be a DC story, could not be done because DC editorial probably would not have allowed it. But that’s OK. BOOM! Studios is the perfect outlet for Waid to let loose with a Twilight of the Superheroes like tale without the annoyance of editorial staff worrying about the impact such a story would have on a major license character.

The bad news is that the early issues, #1-#4, sold out rather quickly and did not go into additional printings. The good news, is that BOOM! Studios has released the first four issues in an extremely affordable trade paperback for a mere $9.99. In addition, the 5th issue is available for only 99 cents. That means that you can get completely caught up on one of the best stories of the year for $11.98 plus tax, title, and license. In fact, it’s good enough for our money back guarantee. Buy it. You’ll like it. Nay, you’ll love it.