Deadpool #61 Review

I've been busy with Geek-Girl and The Almighties lately, but it's time to show my boy Wade Wilson some love and check in on what's going on with Deadpool... Following the return of Black Box, Black Tom, the Black Swan and Black Betty in the previous arc (except, not Black Betty), Hit-Monkey is the latest of Deadpool's adversaries to come gunning for him since the Merc with a Mouth lost his healing factor (and got his looks back) during the DEAD arc.

And we kick off this new arc--"The Salted Earth"--with Deadpool squarely in the Shootin' Simian's sights.

In this opening scene--where I was heartened to see artist Ale Garza back on the book (with sharp coloring from GURU eFX)--Wade is trying to reason with Hit-Monkey, telling him how he's changed: his outlook on his own, and other people's lives is different now. The voices in Wade's head try to work out whether the monkey's going for it--but it appears he's not; "He is, after all, a monkey."

From here, we go to another of Wade's adversaries, Interpol agent Allison Kemp, who has decided to take retirement after failing in her mission to capture Deadpool during the 'Evil Deadpool' arc.

Kemp hasn't been given the bullet for her failings because it 'wouldn't look good' due to her being a tetraplegic, and Interpol are trying to dress up her retirement speech in sugar coating--but Kemp's having none of it. We flashback to learn how the ambitious agent wound up paralyzed; which involved her working a case undercover, playing a Serbian arms dealer off against the Kowalski Brothers gang...

It's looking as though Kemp isn't going to get all that she wants out of this play--but then she gets lucky. Then very unlucky, when Deadpool appears as the wildcard on the scene...as it turns out Kemp's not the only one with a vested interest in taking down the Kowalskis.

I won't give away what happens re: Agent Kemp, but this unfortunate incident aside, it's nice to see a bit of old skool Merc with a Mouth bullet-to-the-head smart-assery before we're thrown back to the present--where Deadpool's found his feet against Hit-Monkey, and makes the simian lose his footing when Wade's wackadoodle side enables him to see and reveal something to Hit-Monkey that blows his mind.

Meanwhile, Agent Kemp's giving her retirement speech, before we see her (arguably true) agenda behind taking retirement--and the return of two more of Wade Wilson's old foes...

After the thin read and cartoony artistic stylings of the previous arc, it's good to see writer Daniel Way and artist Ale Garza deliver a denser and more visually satisfying issue in this first chapter of the arc that will lead to the conclusion of Way's run on the character that he started with the first issue of this volume (though he's to be reunited with Deadpool in the pages of Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts).

There's some intrigue, and a powerful motivation for Agent Kemp here, after the general flimsiness of 'Black Listed'; and I'm on board for the rest of Way's ride...

I'm also reviewing for Geeksmash.com now and you can check out my latest--Grant Morrison & Darick Robertson's Happy #1--here!

Deadpool and Death

In Deadpool's 'Dead' arc - written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Carlo Barberi and Ale Garza - now out in Hardcover, Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool: the Merc with a Mouth sets out to find the serum that can beat his super-charged healing factor - so he can die - and be reunited with the love of his life, the female embodiment of Death.

Deadpool's X-Force teammates, his sometime sidekick Hydra Bob, Wolverine's son Daken, The Kingpin, Typhoid Mary, The Hand and more are embroiled in possibly Wade's most messed-up scheme ever, as he tries to smoke out the one thing that'll offer him the sweet kiss of Death!

I'm gunning to work on Deadpool, and wanting to have a little fun in the build-up to 'Dead' whilst showcasing my Merc with a Mouth-writing skillz, I took an existing Deadpool/Death fantasy scene, removed the dialogue and broke it up/remixed it into short funnies with all-new words - to create my unofficial prequel to 'Dead.' For those that haven't caught it yet, you can check out my complete Bootleg Deadpool hearts Death here!

Deadpool #54 Review

So, thanks to Hydra Bob, Deadpool's succeeded in getting injected with the serum that's taken out his healing factor and he can now fulfill his wish to get offed. The complications: Bob got the serum from Tombstone (who had it made in order to kill Deadpool as payback for putting him in the slammer) by promising Tombey that he could be the one to kill Wade Wilson. Only, getting gunned down by a second-rater like Tombstone isn't the spectacular ending the ego-crazed Wade desires, he wants to go out in style--possibly by being destroyed by his team-mates X-Force after playing them and massively pissing them off.



'Fine.' Except, if Tombstone doesn't get to be the one who puts a bullet in Deadpool's head, he's gonna make damn sure he puts one in Bob's.

Wade got into his crazy scheme in the first place after his 'friends' temporarily killed him--briefly reuniting him with the love of his life, the female embodiment of Death--before his healing factor brought him back; Wade surmising that what his friends wanted for him was for him to be with Death, and deciding that this was what he wanted for himself now.



Only, that whole thing--? Kind of a subjective call. Those 'friends' are gone, the only one that wasn't party to it is the only one that's stuck around. Hydra Bob. Wade hadn't thought about anyone else, he hadn't considered what would happen to Bob if he carried out his plan. And he doesn't want his one true friend Bob to die...


*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

We hit the ground running in this concluding chapter of DEAD, as the bulletproof Tombstone comes gunning for Deadpool before Wade's had the chance to come up with a plan to save Hydra Bob's ass. Of course, if he really cares about Bob, he could just take the hit from Tombstone, but with Hydra Bob having shown Wade he does have a true friend, maybe Bob's actually given him something to live for. After all, this whole thing kicked off when Deadpool returned to Earth after saving a planet--to no kudos--looking for some love from his buddies and getting a barrage of gunfire from them instead.


So, now mortal and vulnerable and without a plan, Deadpool goes on the lam with Bob and Tombstone pursues--before being met with a 'temporary fix' that'll buy them some breathing space.

Bob's scared to the point of bordering on suicidal, and in a tense conversation with Wade, Deadpool's twisted mind kind of has a reboot. This was all a game to Wade--who saw the way he played his team-mates X-Force, Daken, Kingpin and co. off against each other as a grand game of Chess--his ultimate challenge--and attaining the lethal serum as the lynchpin of that. But getting it didn't turn out to be so tough for Wade, Bob did the work there, really--and now that Deadpool is mortal as a result of it, there's no challenge. Dying would be easy. And with Death a woman of VERY high demands, dying now wouldn't be worthy of her.



So Wade doesn't want to die now--but there's the small problem of both Tombstone and X-Force being out to kill him. So Deadpool and Bob are going to flee via Grand Central Station (one of the places X-Force have deemed to look for him at), so they need disguises...

But then, upon seeing his newly scar-free face in the mirror--a result of the serum--Deadpool realizes they don't need disguises--no-one now knows what either of them look like without their masks...



Despite this, tension holds as Wade and Bob hit Grand Central Station, only to be met by X-Force--and things don't look good for either of them.

I won't say exactly happens, but--*BIG SPOILER ALERT*--everything gets resolved and tied up in a neat little bow and Wade Wilson is now a blue-eyed pretty boy, complete with stylin' hair (that's come from nowhere) and comes out of DEAD mortal, and with a new lease on life.

Ale Garza's art isn't as strong here as it has been in previous issues--on occasion, I mistakenly thought there were two pencillers involved--and it would have been nice to have regular Deadpool artist Carlo Barberi back for the conclusion of the story he helped kick off--but Garza, inked by Sean Parsons, does a decent enough job.

In the writing, Daniel Way requires you to read between the lines and put things together in terms of the characters' motivations, which asks for a high degree of trust that he knows Wade inside out, given that they're certainly not the most logical or linear of motives.

We have a decent conclusion to the big arc here, though I would have liked to have seen some Deadpool on Death action (not in the biblical sense, that would be gross). If, like me, you find that amiss, you'll be able to find it in my unofficial Prequel to DEAD, Bootleg Deadpool hearts Death, here.



Way will be staying on board as Deadpool: the pretty boy years begins in issue #55, meanwhile, I'm continuing to work on showcasing my MwaM-writing skillz (for which Deadpool hearts Death was the last thing)--having fun along the way--should a vacancy come up at some point. ;)

And you can get a first look at my new thing here:



Meet Wade Wilson, Blind Al and Weasel parodies Wayne Winston, Nigel and Rodent--who will be making their debut in an upcoming Abnormals Special, taking on Grant Springford's little demon Nasty--dynamically illustrated by Sgt. Mike Battle's Graham Pearce.



Stay tuned ;)

Deadpool #52 Review

Part 3 of DEAD. The Wilson wagon starts to shake--and then...

As we begin this issue, Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool is continuing to play everyone in his neo-chaotic game of 'Chess' as he attempts to smoke out the lethal serum that will negate his super-charged healing factor and kill him, enabling him to be with Death. Last issue, Wolverine's son Daken blew up the lab that the serum was made in, and may or may not now be in possession of the final vial.


Having fed Daken information and manipulated him, it appears likely that Deadpool is aware of Daken's actions when he calls him to pass on a--made up--message from Wolverine, telling him to get out of town, whilst planting a bomb beneath the restaurant table he's sat at--severely spoiling Wolvery Jnr.'s meal.

(Right click on images and 'Open in New Tab' to enlarge.)

Meanwhile, Wade's sent his sidekick Hydra Bob back to The Kingpin's HQ supposedly to relay info back on weak spots that Deadpool and his X-Force team-mates can use to attack the Kingpin through--Deadpool having told them that The Kingpin possesses the lethal serum. But The Kingpin's captured Bob and is holding him as bait, as he wants Deadpool to come for him.


Hitting The Kingpin's HQ through something far from a weak spot--immediately ambushed by his ninja The Hand and right-hand woman Typhoid Mary, X-Force engage in a fast-pased battle; and having got away with playing all sides for the first two parts of this arc, now that X-Force--this time, including Deadpool--and The Kingpin's crew are thrown together, Wade's lies start to get revealed and his team-mates smell a rat.

Throwing a barrier in their way so he can go after the escaping Kingpin himself, bypassing the held-hostage Bob, fighting the feelings of guilt the voices in his head throw up over his actions, Deadpool pursues the big guy in the hope that The Kingpin really is now in possession of the serum, and another of Deadpool's 'Chess pieces' takes his place--but then in the final three pages, there are two twists!

Guest art team Ale Garza & Sean Parsons do a nice job, Dommo Sanchez does his usual outstanding job on the coloring, and writer Daniel Way allays concerns I had that the vast majority of this 5-part arc would be spent on build up.

After the end of this issue, who knows what's coming next.

UPDATE 4/6/12: Looks like the end of the ish was no hoax--although doesn't quite mean what some of us may have thought it did--check out a Preview of Deadpool #53 at Comics-X-Aminer! (contains spoilers!)