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The final issue of Mark Waid and Peter Krause’s terrific Irredeemable hit this week from Boom! Studios and, like so many other finales, it’s hard to understand if you haven’t been on board for the last few issues. As a trade-waiter myself, I’m a bit behind on Irredeemable and while most of it made sense, there’s obviously a bit of “obviously you read #36, or you wouldn’t be here” going on. So if you’re someone who loves these characters but isn’t caught up yet, do yourself the favor of reading up before you tune in for the series finale.It’s a plot-heavy issue, too, and not artist ‘s Diego Barreto best work. It frankly looks more like a John Romita Jr. book, but lacks the quaint, epic feeling that makes Romita’s pencils work. Admittedly, though, there’s some widescreen storytelling on a grand scale at play here–but the character moments are all reserved for the conclusion, with most of the first fifteen or so pages just a brief showdown between The Plutonian and Qubit that sets the stage for the rest of the issue followed by Tony’s last-ditch attempt to redeem himself by containing and expelling the radiation that threatens the planet.Without spoiling the end, it’s safe to say that there’s a bit of a meta-text twist that kind of eats its own tail a bit, borrowing from All-Star Superman‘s conclusion and establishing The Plutonian as arguably the most important character in the history of American popular fiction–at least in its own canon. It may, in fact, be a little too self-reverential; it’s hard to say. Ultimately it’s a fascinating look at the mythology behind Irredeemable, and a fitting end to the series, even if it’s hard to imagine that the book is really finished, and even if Waid seems to be determined to build a through-line between his Boom! stories and his new webcomic that thematically ties them all together.
