Broken Frontier

For the first time since this series' launch, I find myself having doubts about sticking with the title.  When news broke of Mark Waid's Potter's Field series a few years back, I needed no other solicitation apart from the credit line of Waid as the scribe and the story did not disappoint.  While his Irredeemable has only blossomed and evolved through every installment, the same cannot be said for Incorruptible since issue #5.  The publication of Incorruptible #7 does little to improve this interpretation.  Lacking the consistent vitality and energy of its sister BOOM! Studios tile, Incorruptible's vision of a world without the Plutonian may lead some readers to ask whether such an exploration is worth their continued time or investment, especially in this economic climate.

Although still miles above the pot-boiler superhero stock that dominates the comic store shelves, audiences expect more from Incorruptible.  Due in large part to Waid's outstanding track record within the industry and the stellar performance of Irredeemable, Incorruptible should be a better book.  It is well-written, it is usually well-paced, but as a sequential narrative that relies upon visual representations to reinforce the plot, it has taken several detours in recent issues, leaving some readers to ask what has happened to Max Damage and company.  Every book has its low-points; however, for a series that is still only in its infancy, Incorruptible requires some resuscitation back to the atmosphere that audiences experienced in the first major arc.

This latest offering finds Max Damage tracking down the Diamond Gang, who he recently discovered only in the previous issue.  Readers see the horrors this gang inflicts upon its victims as they are all targets of racial discrimination.  Is their cruelty and widespread racism intended to be shocking?  Is the brutality they subject their victims to designed to increase our own loathing of them as villains and thus increase our own championing of Damage's brand of vigilantism?  Sadly, Incorruptible #7 fails on both accounts as these sequences are nothing out of the ordinary.  Sure, seeing Damage enact revenge and punishment is fun, but the sequences lack any of the power or resonance fans have seen Waid create with similar encounters in Irredeemable.

One of the continued problems Incorruptible faces is the inconsistency of Horacio Domingues' artwork.  The scenes feel flat and emotionless, and any of the pain, trauma, or danger Waid is attempting to showcase within the story is largely obscured or severely undermined by the art.  The covers to Incorruptible #7 do more in their single displays to depict the "meat" of Waid's story than what the interiors accomplish in twenty-two pages.  It is not that Domingues is a bad artist, and having little of his previous work on hand to compare with his recent illustrations prohibits further analysis.  But, his style and approach to the medium appear far too "soft" and much more akin to the type readers would expect in an upbeat, brightly-colored team superhero book rather than the solitary, isolated world of Max Damage.

The one bright spot of Incorruptible #7 is in Waid's further development of Damage's powers and their limitations.  At first, readers may be taken aback by the staccato dialogue of Damage towards the second half of the book, but rest assured, his measured speech is an innovative device employed by Waid.  In terms of character progression, however, Waid succeeds even more with the reappearance of Jailbait as he expands on her relationship and feelings towards Damage.  While the final splash image will be enough to entice fans back for issue #8, catchy cliffhanger endings may not make up for the pitfalls the series has encountered thus far.