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arbre_rieur (arbre_rieur) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-05-07 22:22:00

Entry tags:

creator: mark waid, title: irredeemable

Irredeemable #2: More backstory on the Plutonian
Mark Waid brings up one of the chief complaints people have about the way Superman's secret identity is handled (no, not the glasses), as he provides a little more backstory on the Plutonian, the man who went from the world's greatest hero to its worst villain.

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	sailorlibra 2009-05-08 12:38 am UTC (link)
	This sort of thing goes so much more smoothly for Superman. Mostly because Lois Lane isn't an idiot. She would be pissed, but she wouldn't freak out and ruin Clark's life like Alana did to Dan. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	xammax 2009-05-08 01:11 am UTC (link)
	Kinda like what happened. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	perletwo 2009-05-08 12:57 am UTC (link)
	Wait, what? Not a dream, not a hoax, not an imaginary story? That actually happened in series canon? Whoa. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	aulayan 2009-05-08 04:07 pm UTC (link)
	That's the point of the series. It's entitled Irredeemable. It's basically "What if Superman went evil." Not was evil, but Went evil. And this is one of those events that drives him that way. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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aulayan, 2009-05-09 12:43 am UTC

	ulf_boehnke 2009-05-08 01:34 am UTC (link)
	He couldn't have just destroyed the 15$ mike instead of the multi-million dollar satellite? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-05-08 01:44 am UTC (link)
	It was too late for that. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 03:23 pm UTC

	Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... seriousfic 2009-05-08 01:43 am UTC (link)
	Me: Hey, Future Me, how's the future? Future Me: Weird. Mark Waid is trying to be Garth Ennis. Me: Stop using your future knowledge to mock me! That'll never happen! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... aulayan 2009-05-08 04:09 pm UTC (link)
	... I wouldn't say he's trying to be Garth Ennis. I'd say Mark Waid's trying to write something new (for him). Now if rampant nudity and violence and swears come about, then we'll say it's Ennis. Oh, and sexual fetishes. You can't try to be Ennis without sex. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 05:53 pm UTC

Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... -

aulayan, 2009-05-08 05:57 pm UTC

Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... -

box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 06:03 pm UTC

Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... -

aulayan, 2009-05-08 06:05 pm UTC

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box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 06:09 pm UTC

Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... -

ashez2ashes, 2009-05-08 09:18 pm UTC

Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... -

box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 09:37 pm UTC

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ashez2ashes, 2009-05-08 09:40 pm UTC

Re: Hmmm... this takes me back a few years... -

box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 09:47 pm UTC

box_in_the_box
2009-05-08 01:44 am UTC (link)

For a guy who's such a strong supporter of the Lois/Clark/Superman "love triangle," Mark Waid really shows why it's a 100-percent horrible concept here - unless, of course, the point is that ~~Superman~~ the Plutonian's only mistake was in TELLING ~~Lois~~ Alana his secret, which fits with Waid's track record that a) when female characters keep secrets, it's always a BAD thing, but b) when male characters keep secrets, it's always a GOOD thing.

Of course, at the same time, he also manages to demonstrate Mark Millar's skill for portraying all of his characters as being as stupid as possible.

Still not seeing any redeeming virtues in this title whatsoever.

And the more I look at Waid's career as a whole, the more creeped out I am by his writing of every female character who's not named "Linda Park."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-05-08 01:53 am UTC (link)
	"b) when male characters keep secrets, it's always a GOOD thing." Batman in JLA: Tower of Babel? Martian Manhunter in JLA: Year One? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 05:45 pm UTC

(Anonymous)
2009-05-08 03:51 pm UTC (link)

I don't believe that he's portraying the mistake as TELLING her - she's rightfully pissed off that he'd been hiding something for so long. It's understandable why he did, because that's not something he wants to get out, but seriously, you seem to be overreacting to the reveal. You can find plenty of examples of women keeping secrets and it not being bad, and men keeping secrets and it blowing up in his work - there's no trend there.

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arbre_rieur, 2009-05-08 04:42 pm UTC

	sandoz_iscariot 2009-05-08 01:45 am UTC (link)
	I'm guessing that he takes some kind of horrible revenge on her? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-05-08 01:55 am UTC (link)
	He tells her he forgives her. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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cmdr_zoom, 2009-05-08 03:18 am UTC

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cainofdreaming, 2009-05-08 03:28 am UTC

	aulayan 2009-05-08 04:13 pm UTC (link)
	She's ever fearful he will. But so far, nothing. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	volksjager 2009-05-08 08:18 am UTC (link)
	I didn't reallu care for the first issue so I didn't pick this up. hmmmm.... (Reply to this)

	starwolf_oakley 2009-05-08 10:31 am UTC (link)
	The whole "lying to your face for years" can be rather unsettling. Foggy Nelson finding out Matt Murdock was Daredevil is the best mainstream "in continuity" example. Matt had also faked his death, so finding out Matt was alive boosted Foggy's anger. (Reply to this)

irenem
2009-05-08 10:35 am UTC (link)

Hmm. I read the other post of this first, and I can't quite form an opinion. The art is not quite right to my eye (it reminds me of a lower-rent Greg Land, somehow, with the odd facial expressions) and the writing is stiff, but it's still doing some doing things early on.

Of course, this could be good or bad. Open question to anyone who's read the full issues: would you recommend it?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	stolisomancer 2009-05-08 04:52 pm UTC (link)
	I never know how I feel about an arc of Waid's until it's over. I've read the first two issues, and they make me anxious for a theoretical trade. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	starwolf_oakley 2009-05-08 12:06 pm UTC (link)
	The Astro City pastiche, the Samaritan, does something similar. He wears glasses and he changes his hair color. It's dark blue as the Samaritan and white as 'Asa Martin.' (We do not have the Samaritan's real name.) Of course, the Samaritan never went "outhouse rat crazy." At least not yet. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ulf_boehnke 2009-05-08 02:41 pm UTC (link)
	Alan Moore's "Kid Supreme" from his Supreme run does the same thing. As Kid Supreme he colors his white hair black and in his civilian ID he removes the color and puts on glasses. He stopped coloring his hair as an adult. The pre-Moore run of Supreme was retconned as Supreme acting crazy in a different universe. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cmdr_zoom 2009-05-08 01:46 pm UTC (link)
	Also? All you have to do to that cover to turn it (back) into MIRACLEMAN is to replace the clock tower with Big Ben. (Of course, Waid probably figures that no one reading comics today has heard of Miracleman...) (Reply to this) (Thread)

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box_in_the_box, 2009-05-08 02:21 pm UTC

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psychop_rex, 2009-05-09 04:43 am UTC

	greenmask 2009-05-08 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	I was right! Almost everything about this story makes me feel sad. Poor everybody! :[ (Reply to this)

psychop_rex
2009-05-09 03:59 am UTC (link)

While Alana is overreacting just a tad, I think this is a classic example of 'where NOT to reveal your secrets to somebody'. This is why one generally does the 'I have something important to tell you' thing someplace PRIVATE, so that if there are complications in the conversation, they're not then broadcasted all over the place (literally, in this case). Don't do it at WORK, just a few doors down from where all your coworkers are. Yeesh!
That being said, this is a convincingly horrifying scene. It does a pretty good job of communicating how such a situation could spiral wildly out of control in just a few seconds, and all your secrets could be laid bare. That face the Plutonian makes - it sums things up perfectly. I think I actually cringed a bit in sympathy.

(Reply to this)

	gamerguy 2009-05-09 10:19 am UTC (link)
	After reading this issue, really [i]anything[/i] he does to [i]anyone[/i] else I can understand and sympathize with. Her, I'd leave alive so she can understand that everything that happens to everyone else in the world is her fault, completely. (Reply to this)

	proteus_lives 2009-05-10 04:02 pm UTC (link)
	I'm liking this series. It will be interesting to see where it goes. (Reply to this)