The Calm Before...What?
An indeterminate amount of time has passed since Max Damage was in Bellamy's clutches, but he appears to have come out of the incident feeling reclusive to a degree unseen before. Jailbait disappeared after saving him, Head Case is seeking professional help, and Alana's betrayal is still stinging. So he's building. What is he building? Why? Don't know.
This issue is meant to start a new arc, so it's light on action or groundbreaking events. We do get some interesting dialogue between Armadale and Max, but that's about all that Max does. Instead most of the focus is on how Safeword has become the hero Hate Crime (great joke) while a sinister entity has arrived.
Waid's writing is solid here. Nothing too special, aside from his Hate Crime joke. The plotting does effectively build tension toward the arrival of the new guy and Hate Crime's vigilante crimes play out humorously, but there's no oomph to the book.
Marcio Takara's art is expertly colored and I'm a huge fan of his line work. I can't quite remember how many artists have been on Incorruptible, but Takara's art is my clear favorite and it's a nice break from Krause's more traditional superhero art in Irredeemable.
The problem with Incorruptible is that it's lost steam while Irredeemable has gained tremendous ground. I don't know if that's intentional, but it's a shame. I hope that this next arc is more interesting than the last. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fantastic book, but I find myself more interested in what's going on with The Plutonian at the moment.
