Irredeemable #4

[history79]

8 pages of 24

Comments

[starwolf_oakley]

As with many series posted to this board, I sometimes feel a little lost. Was the idea that the Plutonian became a superhero so people would like him, and since people didn't like him, he became a mass murderer? Like Mark Waid was going for Citizen Kane only with mindless slaughter.

[jmacq1]

I more get the impression that Plutonian slowly grew to the belief that humanity was horrible and not worth defending, partially but not totally because of their ungrateful nature. Though my understanding is that Plutonian himself is extremely mentally ill and it gets a little more clear what made him snap and what his "master plan" is later in the series.

[beeyo]

Yeah. Very minor spoiler but Tony has always been extremely unwell. It's actually a pretty interesting look at Superman's "world made of cardboard" problem

[alicemacher]

This, exactly. Although some (not all) of the initial flashbacks to pre-breakdown Tony show him as a genial, altruistic, "just doing my job" ace, subsequent flashbacks reveal that to be a facade he tried his best to impose upon himself, so that everyone would love and accept him.

In that sense, he reminds me of God as portrayed in Preacher. He too is a nearly-omnipotent being who, in the rare times he meets one of his creations face to face, attempts to present himself as kind and all-loving. In fact, Preacher!God is a narcissist whose one motivation isn't to love, but to be loved. By everyone. Unconditionally. Even by those who share in his power. And the moment one of his creations fails to show him that love, he throws a violent tantrum.

The major difference between the two characters is that while Tony, as we see later on, has understandable childhood/adolescent reasons (though not excuses) for his narcissism, Preacher!God has none, other than having been lonely before the Creation. Which doesn't even begin to explain why he'd try to make his creatures love him by manipulating and abusing them so their love would be unconditional.

[captainbellman]

Ooh, non-white people being used as helpless props and cannon fodder while two white men bicker! How brave and controversial!

[captainbellman]

Also, any seriousness Discount Tennant had even tried to amass by this point is instantly cancelled out by his mode of transport being called "The Quantum Jumper", which sounds like a cardigan which unravels itself when you're not observing it.