Incorruptible is an American comic book series written by Mark Waid and published by Boom! Studios. The series follows former supervillain Max Damage in his quest to become a superhero. The book is a spin-off of another Waid comic, Irredeemable, which follows the transformation of a superhero into a supervillain. Incorruptible #1 was published on December 16, 2009, and the series ended in May 2012, after thirty issues. Marcio Takara is the longest-serving artist on the series, having provided art for sixteen issues since Incorruptible #11 in October 2010. The series concluded alongside Irredeemable in May 2012.
Publication history Initial pre-publication publicity for Irredeemable, the parent series of Incorruptible, utilized the tagline "Mark Waid is Evil! Mark Waid is Irredeemable!", which culminated with the release of a limited edition "Mark Waid is Evil" t-shirt at the 2009 New York Comic Con. Promotion for Incorruptible follows a similar vein, with the use of the tagline "Mark Waid was Evil, Mark Waid is Incorruptible"
Incorruptible #1 was first released in December 2009 with pencils provided by Jean Diaz, ink by Belardino Brabo and colors by Andrew Dalhouse. Two alternate covers were provided for the issue: the first by John Cassaday, with colors by Laura Martin, and the second by Tim Sale, with inks by Paul Azaceta and colors by Matthew Wilson. A third limited-edition cover drawn by Jeffrey Spokes was also made available, appearing on one in every ten copies of the book.
Diaz and Brabo left the series after issue four (March 2010), with Horacio Domingues taking on art duties for Incorruptible #5 (April 2010). Starting with issue six (May 2010), Domingues provided pencils, with inks by Juan Castro. Incorruptible #10 (September 2010) saw the departure of colorist Dalhouse, replaced by Nolan Woodard, and the addition of Michael Babinski on inks. Issue eleven (October 2010) saw Babinski, Domingues and Castro leave the series, replaced by Marcio Takara as the sole artist.
On February 3, 2012, Waid announced that he was bringing both Irredeemable and Incorruptible to an end with issues #37 and #30 respectively in May 2012. Waid stated that he was "stretched thin right now both personally and professionally", and that Max Damage's character arc was reaching its end.
Development Incorruptible was developed as a spin-off to the comic series Irredeemable that follows the premise of what happens when a supervillain becomes a superhero. In September 2009, newcomer Neil Edwards had been announced as artist on the series, but by the time of release of the first issue, he had been replaced by Jean Diaz. Before the launch of the series, the central character of Max Damage had been intended to rename himself to Max Daring as a superhero. In a November 2010 interview, Waid confirmed that the name change had been abandoned as he felt that, unlike the Plutonian to whom branding would be important, Max "could not possibly care less what anyone else in the world thinks of him" and he would not be interested in adopting a heroic moniker.
In August 2010, Waid stated that he preferred writing Incorruptible to Irredeemable, saying "Max is just funnier. There's just no humor in 'Irredeemable.' To make 'Irredeemable' work well, I have got to look into ugly, ugly parts of my soul.".
Starting in Irredeemable #19 (November 2010) and continuing through to Irredeemable #27 (July 2011), the Plutonian is finally defeated by an alien force, captured, and taken off world. Waid wanted to remove the Plutonian from Earth in order for Max to be able to "establish himself as the law" in Incorruptible. Waid confirmed that the Plutonian would make his debut in the Incorruptible comic in Incorruptible #22, the Plutonian's return leading to a confrontation with Max. In August 2011, Waid confirmed a new sidekick for Max, "Hate Crime", the reformed villain "Safeword"—Max's third sidekick after "Jailbait" and "Headcase".
Plot Volume 1 (#1–4)
In the month since the former superhero, Plutonian, began his rampage across Earth, supervillain Max Damage has disappeared and is presumed dead. After his gang commit a robbery, Max suddenly reappears and subdues them for arrest. Max returns to his base and destroys all of the possessions and money he stole, and refuses to have sex with his underage lover, Jailbait. Max tells Lieutenant Louis Armadale that he wants to go straight and asks for his help. Max first goes after Origin, a supervillain offering to empower ordinary humans in exchange for money. Origin requires money to buy a teleporter from the villain Amberjack to escape Earth. Later, Max tells Armadale about why he decided to become a hero. On the day that Plutonian began his attack, Max was about to unleash a deadly plague that would kill billions, out of anger against ordinary people who possess the ability to taste, smell and feel - sensations his powers prevent. However, before he could release the plague, Plutonian attacked, killing millions. Max realized that without the Plutonian, the world needed a new hero. In the present, Max goes after Amberjack. Amberjack uses his giant robot to attack Max. Max throws Amberjack's teleporter at Jailbait who knocks it towards the robot, sending it away. Jailbait realizes that Max intended to send her away and leaves, disregarding Max's protestations that he wanted to send her somewhere safe.
Volume 2 (#5–8) Max rescues a young girl named Annie from her kidnappers. He forces her to wear Jailbait's costume and accompany him on patrol, eventually revealing he is using her to convince his enemies that Jailbait is still with him, fearing that otherwise she will become a target. The ruse fails and Armadale gives Max a box containing Jailbait's finger, sent by the villain Deathgiver. Max confronts Deathgiver and distracts him while Armadale frees Jailbait. Max fights with Deathgiver and his henchmen while Armadale tries to stop a distraught Jailbait from leaping to her death. Armadale fails but Max manages to catch her in time, though she suffers injuries. Meanwhile, Annie returns home to find her family murdered by the racist Diamond gang. Max and Armadale take Jailbait to hospital. Annie, there with her family, recognizes Armadale and realizes that the young girl is Jailbait. She steals Jailbait's costume and flees. Max confronts members of the Diamond gang who reveal they have been told his secrets by someone who survived Plutonian's destruction of Sky City. Max falls asleep in the hospital and when he awakens, he is shot by a Diamond gang-member, his powers revealed to reset when he sleeps, rendering him temporarily mortal. Annie, dressed as Jailbait, takes out Max's assassin. She makes Max promise to protect her forever before injecting him with adrenalin to keep him alive long enough for his powers to activate and heal his injuries. After attacking the Diamond gang members that sent Max's assassin, Max and Annie discover that they knew his vulnerability through a manuscript written by Alana Patel, the Plutonian's former girlfriend.
Volume 3 (#9–12)
Max and Annie travel to Alana's apartment, but find only Diamond gang members who tell them that Alana is at their skyscraper. Max sees Alana bound at the top of the building and climbs up to her while Annie sneaks in from the ground floor against Max's wishes. Max finds that the "Alana" on the building is a mannequin, while Annie is attacked by the real Alana. Annie convinces Alana she is not the real Jailbait, who had tortured her in the past, and ends up getting drunk with her. Max attacks the Diamond gang, led by Senator Swain, who have sent a massive assault vehicle named "Retribution" to destroy Coalville, Max's home city. While travelling to face "Retribution", Alana reveals that she blames herself for Plutonian's rampage after outing his secret civilian identity, Dan Hartigan. Max tells her that it is not her fault and asks her to help him do good. Meanwhile, Swain goes on television and accuses Max of leading the Diamond gang and sending out Retribution, asking everyone to work together to kill him. Alana informs the news that Swain leads the Diamond gang, causing Swain's boss, Hayes Bellamy, to detonate an explosive in Swain's building, killing Swain and his followers. Max meanwhile faces Retribution, managing to lift it. The vehicle activates legs to walk, but they are less protected than the body and Max is able to break them. Retribution's operators threaten to activate a nuclear device, but Armadale uses confiscated supervillain weapons to breach the vehicle's armor and the drivers are arrested. Alana and Max agree to work together.
Volume 4 (#13–16) Alana confides her current situation in Hayes Bellamy, unaware of his involvement with the Diamond gang. Max has been working on a plan to stop Plutonian, forgoing sleep for days and becoming erratic. Annie sneaks away and fights the villain Arsonol, defeating him but really attempting to get herself killed. Max arrives and goes with her to visit her family's graves where she reveals a gravestone in her own name, declaring her old life dead. Max reveals his plan to stop Plutonian, which Armadale and Alana agree will work and will gain Max his redemption. Before he can enact it however, the Vespan, an alien race, telepathically announces to the world that they have captured the Plutonian and he is no longer a threat. In the wake of Plutonian's defeat, the world celebrates. Max chases after and captures Joe Bonn, a pickpocket, but he is confronted by the Paradigm, a group of surviving superheroes, who want to arrest him. After a brief fight, the Paradigm offers Max a membership to help rebuild the world. Max chooses to refuse unless they can repair Coalville first. They agree to create a machine to purify the local water for drinking. Annie arrives, but is accused of being a poser by Paradigm member Qubit and Max tells her that they cannot be partners, causing her to run away. After meeting up with Armadale, Annie incapacitates him and steals the powerful gun he had previously used against Retribution. Meanwhile, Hayes reveals his plan to distract the poor and hungry from his life of wealth and luxury by creating incidents such as the Diamond gang and now he intends to use Max. Max and the Paradigm successfully create the water purification device, but Annie returns and shoots Qubit, killing him. Max tells Annie that he is taking her in for murder. Qubit's ally Kaidan summons a water deity to revive him and they finish building the water purifier. When it is activated, the water turns to blood. After tasting it, Max recognizes it as goat blood, part of a spell by Nebuchadnezzar Grass and his mother Loretta, sorcerers hired by Hayes to cause disruption. Max defeats the pair. Annie is imprisoned for murder.
Volume 5 (#17–20)