Story by Mark Waid
Art by Peter Krause
Irredeemable started as the story of the most powerful hero on Earth gone bad, and the stories of how his companions, his enemies, and the world react and adjust to his shift. The last few issues have taken a turn; a solid fly ball into left field. Issue 25 follows Plutonian and his newfound partner-in-escape as they fight their way through the multi-tiered-super-asylum-in-the-center-of-a-star where they’ve been imprisoned, paired with the story of Qubit and Modeus’s attempts to find where the Vespa have taken him.
The current storyline feels out of place, and this issue maintains that status quo. Modeus spends the first five pages explaining Plutonian’s powers, seemingly spurred by the notion that “No humanoid form of that size… is capable of storing enough energy to do what the Plutonian does.” While an interesting conversation that toes the line between science and fiction, I have to wonder if it was really necessary.
As the two discuss, Tony fights, and we see that the interdimensional sanitarium is filled with creatures easily as powerful as he is. In spite of the explanation of Plutonian’s powers (and his true knowledge of them), I can’t help but feel disappointed that Waid introduced us to this place and its inhabitants. Much of the mystique of Plutonian – everything that made him a unique threat – has either been explained or made commonplace.
It feels like the purpose of Irredeemable #25 was that explanation. While it adds a layer of tension to Tony’s mental state, it doesn’t feel like enough to drive the story forward. Tony, Qubit, Survivor and Modeus’s intersecting storylines are interesting in themselves, but are hampered by the outlandish setting they’ve been placed in. I only hope that Waid can drive the book back up out of the mire into which it seems to be sinking.
