Redemption, Part 1

[arbre_rieur]

Four pages from IRREDEEMABLE 32, the first part of the IRREDEEMABLE/INCORRUPTIBLE crossover.

Comments

[q99]

Wow, for one brief moment it seems like a beautiful origin, and then...

[kd_the_movie]

Wow. Pretty crazy shit.

[thatnickguy]

Geez.

Though, I'm a little confused about what the "she wished for redemption" panel is showing. I assume she accidentally (or purposely?) killed her own baby?

[golden_orange]

Yep. If you look closely, you can see a baby's hand in the shadow of the the chair the mother is sitting on.

I think the implication is that she's murderously insane and the baby allows her to act on her impulses.

[glprime]

*long whistle* That is fuuu-uuuuu-uuuucked UP.

Though inevitable in a world with enough super babies being born.

Hell, think if a Flying Brick who finds his true love, and they're an SM fanatic. Probably a whole social networking scene around those kinds of hookups between fetishists and supers with the powers to fulfill their kinks (as seen in Top 10 and the new Bulleteer).

But I'm getting off track... That woman is nine kinds of fucked up.

[tpsreports]

Suddenly the Plutonian makes sense. I can see where having your mother repeatedly try to kill you might lead to some issues.

[pyrotwilight]

So he was granted to his mom in a near Wonderwoman fashion, but for the purpose of reminding her over and over again about how she tried to kill her own child before. Haha oh wow Mr. Waid.

[icon_uk]

More than that I think.

As I read it, she had wished for a second chance at motherhood, having been more than a bit... not good at it the first time. What the aliens didn't understand was that this wasn't an isolated incident (though it would have been had they not interfered), this was the start of a pattern of behaviour; She was a woman with homicidal impulses, given a child that was essentially immortal.

[pyrotwilight]

Yeah, I see. Though I'm kind of interpreting it as she started to see little Tony as some sort of taunting figure to her constantly there to remind her of the cruel things she did to her child (if she killed her baby intentionally, which kind of seems like the case). But heck, either way, what a creepy way to go.

[captainbellman]

As I read it, upon discovering that her replacement baby is invulnerable to pain, she comes to terms with the fact that it's not her baby, nor even human, and is repeatedly trying to kill it to free herself of this strange monster that she's adopted.

[q99]

She killed her first baby too. I don't think it's because baby-Plutonian isn't human, but rather like the caption indicates because she can live out her first act over and over.

[crabby_lioness]

Note to writers: this is how you do "disturbing". No need to sensationalize it; a low-key approach packs more of a wallop.

[fifthie]

low-key

She literally lights a baby on fire

[q99]

But the only one we explicitly see have stuff done to is the one who isn't hurt by that stuff.

[silverzeo]

Would you feel the same if it was a guy?

[crabby_lioness]

My first thought was, "Once again we see the importance of the mother."

But no, it could have been a father as well.

More importantly, where were the other people in this story? It's hard as hell to rear a baby in total isolation. Someone had to be bringing them supplies.

[silverzeo]

It's just been on my thoughts since Superman Grounded, where he confronts that guy who beats his son to near death. Not to sound insensitive, as child beating should be taken seriously and be stop, but the whole story came off like a after-school PSA special. The dad was pretty much EVER single stereotype of any abusive father/husband (like the one from Family Guy who beat up Quagmire's sister) you have no sympathy for the guy and felt like he should be separated from his wife and son. Yes, there are men who are THAT bad; but then we had the story of Impulse, where Bart kinda accused his best friend's dad beating him but ends up walking in a room where his friend's mother was beating him, and "aftermath" within the same issue, the Bart's friend is still willing to see his mother again, cause she is his mom and the reason why she was abusive because of psychological problems. I like the Impulse story better because it took a serious problem and gave it some more depth than what other PSAs had at the time, but I wonder if it would still be the same if it was the father beating Bart's friend.

I think she IS alone. She had her.... is it her original baby in the shadows there... under the table I believe and she lighted the Plution on fire in her backyard... those things tend to be noticed by neighbors...

[kaete]

It's not that hard to bury a baby's body, especially if you have another baby right there at the right age and look that it could easily be your own. People might notice a baby in the neighborhood that suddenly goes missing - they're not as likely to notice a baby that is replaced by a similar baby, especially if the mom is a bit of a loaner.

As for the back yard, some people try to build their yards with tall fences so neighbors can't see in, or she could be in a more rural area where no one can see anyway. Do it at a time of year when people are burning lawn debris or leaves, and no one would bat an eye at the smoke.

[avantre]

There's one panel (not in the scans above) showing the garage where you can see a hedge that's taller than a nearby firefighter on one side of the garage, and behind it you can see a wooden fence that's around the same height. So yeah, it was probably hard to see onto her property.

[lonewolf23k]

This explains... so much...

Something else in the issue

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Tony a superhuman baby goes from the suicide mom, into social services, where he bounces around from family to family.

Truth be told, I actually think it's one of the more realistic takes on Superman's origins. People don't know what to do with him, so they either bury their head in the sand or pass the buck.

[big_daddy_d]

...wow...is all i can say.

[fifthie]

Hahahahaha

this fucking comic I swear

[fifthie]

Hey guys who wants to read ten thousand words of Mark Waid whining about Comics These Days Bein All Gloomy An' Shit

No, for realsies!

[fifthie]

At this point I can't figure out if he's trolling us, or just himself.

[arbre_rieur]

He mentions several times in the interview that he doesn't see anything wrong with dark and depressing superhero stories, just that he thinks they should be the exception rather than the norm.

[baihu]

So he's a Cosmic Cube. With severe, severe mom issues.