What If Superman Was Evil? is a question that has inspired writers for a very long time. One of the most famous examples out there right now is certainly Homelander from The Boys, designed as an evil version of Captain America and Superman. This is also the subject at the center of the alternate universe of Injustice, a trope explored by Mark Millar in his now-classic story Superman: Red Son, and many many more stories.
This is also the question asked in a way by Irredeemable. To be more specific, the comic asks: what if the world’s greatest hero decided to become the world’s greatest villain? Writer Mark Waid and artist Peter Krause answers this question with Plutonian, the world’s most powerful hero, who snaps and turns into the world’s greatest villain, with only his former teammates having a chance at stopping his rampage. But while on the run from the world’s most powerful and angry being, will these former teammates discover his secrets in time? How did he come to this? What became of the hope and promise once inside him? What happens to the world when its savior betrays it? What makes a hero irredeemable?
And when the more powerful hero goes bad, what happens to the super villain? Mark Waid partnered with Jean Diaz for the companion piece Incorruptible, about a super villain trying to become a superhero.
Irredeemable Reading Order: The Complete Collection
To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Irredeemable and an upcoming all-new series in the saga, a new edition collecting the Irredeemable series and its spin-off has been released by Boom Studios! in deluxe hardcover format with new covers by John Cassaday:
- Complete Irredeemable
Collects Irredeemable #1-37, Irredeemable Special #1, and Incorruptible #25-26, alongside a new foreword by Academy Award nominee Kemp Powers (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and an afterword by comics icon Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman, Klaus). - Complete Irredeemable
Collects Incorruptible #1-30 and Irredeemable #33-34. - Complete Insufferable
Collects Insufferable #1-8, Insufferable: On The Road #1-6, and Insufferable: Home Field Advantage #1-4.
Irredeemable/Incorruptible Reading Order: Omnibus
- Irredeemable Omnibus
Collects Irredeemable #1-37, Irredeemable Special #1 and Incorruptible #25-26.- Available on Kindle & comiXology in two volumes:
- Irredeemable Digital Omnibus Vol. 1
- Irredeemable Digital Omnibus Vol. 2
- Incorruptible Omnibus
Collects Incorruptible #1-30 and Irredeemable #32-33.
Irredeemable/Incorruptible/Insufferable Reading Order: Paperbacks
- Irredeemable Vol. 1
Collects Irredeemable #1–4 - Irredeemable Vol. 2
Collects Irredeemable #5–8 - Irredeemable Vol. 3
Collects Irredeemable #9–12 - Irredeemable Vol. 4
Collects Irredeemable #13–15 and Special #1
This is where the first spin-off begins. Incorruptible is about Super villain Max Damage who had an epiphany and decided to change his name to Max Daring and turned from his formerly selfish ways in order to become a hero. You can start to read Incorruptible at that point, but it’s not an obligation. Despite some events in Irredeemable that are mentioned and affect Incorruptible (and a crossover toward the end), both stories are pretty self-contained and can be read independently.
- Incorruptible Vol. 1
Collects Incorruptible #1–4 - Incorruptible Vol. 2
Collects Incorruptible #5–8 - Incorruptible Vol. 3
Collects Incorruptible #9–12 - Irredeemable Vol. 5
Collects Irredeemable #16–19 - Incorruptible Vol. 4
Collects Incorruptible #13–16
- Irredeemable Vol. 6
Collects Irredeemable #20–23 - Incorruptible Vol. 5
Collects Incorruptible #17–20 - Irredeemable Vol. 7
Collects Irredeemable #24–27 - Incorruptible Vol. 6
Collects Incorruptible #21–24 - Irredeemable Vol. 8
Collects Irredeemable #28–31 - Incorruptible Vol. 7
Collects Irredeemable #32–33 and Incorruptible #25–26. It’s time for the only and small crossover. Again, you don’t need to read Incorruptible beyond those issues if you don’t want to. - Irredeemable Vol. 9
Collects Incorruptible #27–30 - Irredeemable Vol. 10
Collects Irredeemable #34–37
After the end of Incorruptible and Irredeemable, Mark Waid and Peter Krause teamed up again for Insufferable, first digitally published by Waid’s Thrillbent label and in print by IDW. This time, the writer tackles the myth of Batman and Robin, following Nocturnus and his arrogant, egotistical former sidekick Galahad, who are forced to work together for a case… if they don’t kill one another first.
- Insufferable: Vol. 1
Collects Insufferable (2015 IDW) #1-4 - Insufferable Vol. 2
Collects Insufferable (2015 IDW) #5-8 - Insufferable On the Road
Collects Insufferable: On the Road (2016 IDW) #1-6. - Insufferable: Home Field Advantage
Collects Insufferable: Home Field Advantage (2016) #1-4
Coming Soon… a New Irredeemable Saga
Mark Waid and Peter Krause return to the Irredeemable Universe to write a new chapter… Coming Soon! Stay Tuned for more!
Last Updated on September 7, 2023.