Mark Waid’s brilliant Irredeemable is more or less based on a What If question:
What if Superman went mad and became a supervillain?
It’s a close look at the psychology of superheroics, starting from the unexamined assumption in most comics that anyone who gains powers will also have the right kind of personality for being a hero. The Plutonian is a Superman-analogue who isn’t up to the pressure…
…and Incorruptible is a companion series featuring one of the Plutonian’s arch-enemies, Max Damage, who has an epiphany and decides to become a hero in response to the Plutonian’s turn to villainy. His problem is that the only way he can think of to be a hero is to do the opposite of what he did as a villain…
- Irredeemable, vol.1
- Reprints Irredeemable #1-4 (April 2009 – July 2009).
Begins one week after the Sky City incident.
- Irredeemable, vol.2
- Reprints Irredeemable #5-8 (August 2009 – November 2009).
Follows on directly from the previous volume.
- Irredeemable, vol.3
- Reprints Irredeemable #9-12 (December 2009 – March 2010).
Follows on directly from the previous volume.
- Irredeemable, vol.4
- Reprints Irredeemable Special #1 (April 2010) and Irredeemable #13-15 (May 2010 – July 2010).
Begins five weeks after the Sky City incident.
- Incorruptible, vol.1
- Reprints Incorruptible #1-4 (December 2009 – March 2010).
Begins 37 days after the Sky City incident.
- Incorruptible, vol.2
- Reprints Incorruptible #5-8 (April 2010 – July 2010).
Follows on directly from the previous volume.
- Incorruptible, vol.3
- Reprints Incorruptible #9-12 (August 2010 – November 2010).
Follows on directly from the previous volume; must occur before the events of the next Irredeemable volume.
- Irredeemable, vol.5
- Reprints Irredeemable #16-19 (August 2010 – November 2010).
Follows on directly from the previous volume of Incorruptible.
- Incorruptible, vol.4
- Reprints Incorruptible #13-16 (December 2010 – March 2011).
Overlaps slightly with the previous volume of Irredeemable, but mostly occurs and is best read after it.
- Irredeemable, vol.6
- Reprints Irredeemable #20-23 (December 2010 – March 2011).
- Incorruptible, vol.5
- Reprints Incorruptible #17-20 (April – July 2011).
- Irredeemable, vol.7<
- Reprints Irredeemable #24-27 (April 2011 – July 2011).
- Incorruptible, vol.6
- Reprints Incorruptible #21-24 (August 2011 – November 2011).
- Irredeemable, vol.8
- Reprints Irredeemable #28-31 (August 2011 – November 2011).
- Irredeemable, vol.9
- Reprints Irredeemable #32-33 (December 2011 – January 2012) & Incorruptible #25-26 (December 2011 – January 2012).
- Incorruptible, vol.7
- Reprints Incorruptible #27-30 (February 2012 – May 2012).
This is the final volume of Incorruptible.
- Irredeemable, vol.10
- Reprints Irredeemable #34-37 (Febryary 2012 – May 2012).
This is the final volume of Irredeemable.
