Magic Hammer Fun Time

As I gear up for my latest crack at trying to land a gig working on Deadpool (wish me luck), let's take a look at the new Deadpool book on the block...

Fear Itself: Deadpool #1 (of 3) Review:

Tying in to Marvel's current big crossover event, though you don't need to be following Fear Itself to get this, Wade Wilson's latest mini-series is written by newcomer to the Merc with a Mouth, Christopher Hastings (Dr. McNinja) and illustrated by regular Deadpool contributors Bong Dazo & Joe Pimentel.

This is fun. It kicks off with a nice Juggernaut joke (stemming from the page below), and it had me from there.

Deadpool's latest wheeze is installing supervillain-proof home security systems; only, they're not magical-hammer-wielding-supervillain-proof, so thanks to the Fear Itself event (in which various heavy hitters deemed 'The Chosen' have been awarded these power-augmenting weapons), his scheme is quickly blown apart, and his work-boys bail for a gig in New Mexico.

However, as they're making their exit, a mysterious wolf-man (reporting to an unseen master) blows their van up with a rocket launcher, scattering its contents--including a hammer: smacking Deadpool upside his skull and giving him and the voices in his head an idea...

"If 'A-rated' villain plus 'A-rated' hammer make 'A++' unbeatable villain... then 'F-rated' hammer plus..."

Forgetting all about the workmen (who survived the blast), Wade goes into his supervillain database in search of a sucker he can dupe into his new scheme--and hits 'F-list' gold in the shape of über-moron Walrus!

Wade decorates his hammer to make it look enchanted, tracks down Walrus to the monster trucks track he works at (where he's about to carry out a ridiculously over-elaborate plan to steal one of the drivers' wallets), and then drops the hammer in his path from overhead--strapped with explosives to make its 'falling from the heavens' effect convincing.

From there, super-chump Walrus tries out the hammer in idiotically impractical ways--but isn't sold on the idea that this (pimped-up but actually normal) hammer enhances his abilities.

So Deadpool steps in--in the shoddily put together guise of The Spectre of Mass Destruction--to convince Walrus of the hammer's power and complete his plan: to send the supervillain to New Mexico to wreak hammer-enhanced-havoc, so Wade can then waltz in and save its people from him--at a price.

But there's a twist.

The art team of Bong Dazo & Joe Pimentel do a nice job on this, Deadpool's first new series since Deadpool MAX, bringing the same comical style they instilled the Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth series with (and that they're also bringing to the current Hulk arc in the Deadpool ongoing).

Newcomer Chris Hastings writes Wade well (with the voices in his head even more schizo and fragmented than usual, here) and hits the right tone to carry the book through its comical plot, with some nice gags strewn throughout and Walrus fitting the schmuck-shaped hole Wade was looking to fill well; one of my favorite moments in the book is Walrus's demented power-trip monologue where he fantasizes about taking on Spider-Man with his magic hammer: "I could be like, 'Hey Spider-Man! Hey, don't take my hammer away!' And he'd be all, 'Yes I Will! I'm so clever! Thwip thwip thwip!' Then I'd let him web the hammer, and pull it out of my hands. But he'd just whip it into his stupid unfunny spider-face. And it would be magic, and blow up his head!"

I'm looking forward to more of this comedy double act in the two issues to come. ;)

Deadpool Preview

Having spent the last three months promoting my Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman's color debut in Digital Visions #4--which is still available to download free at the post below--it's time to show my other favorite merc some love in a don't say 'finger-lickin' family bucket-sized Preview!

If you've been following Wade's adventures in the Deadpool ongoing you'll know that he kicked alien bounty hunter Macho Gomez's ass, ditched the idea of trying to be a hero, and jetted off into space, taking Gomez's job as top banana intergalactic merc.

Well, after his space adventures wrap up, Deadpool's back on Earth in Deadpool #36, and so's Gomez--and this time he's brought friends. Deadpool's friends.

One of these, I'd love to see brought back as a fixture. As some of you know, I'm gunning to work on Deadpool and have recently been developing my ideas--and those I've spoken to about this will know who I'm talking about--but right now I'm working on breaking that Merc-with-a-Mouth-shaped door down.

Which of Wade's buddies will feature in Gomez's 'kill Deadpool crew' has yet to be revealed, but all of those present have an axe to grind with Wade, and things seemingly don't go well because following this, Wade wants to die!... which, as any Deadpool fan will know, isn't an easy task because of his healing power... so he has to figure out a way...

"It has to be big. It has to be powerful beyond description. It has to be... green?..."

The Hulk also features in 3-part crossover event Identity Wars--running through the Amazing Spider-Man, Deadpool and Incredible Hulks annuals in April-June.

Written By John Layman (Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness, Chew) and illustrated by Lee Garbett (Judge Dredd, Batgirl), this sees Spidey, Hulk and Deadpool thrown into an alternate reality, facing--and switching places with--alternate versions of themselves, where Spidey is the world's most popular and powerful hero, The Hulk wields magic, and Wade is a super-sane criminal mastermind!

Talking about the event at Marvel.com, Layman said the Deadpool Annual is "bonkers chaos;" "the great fun to the Deadpool story is pitting cold, calculating, ruthless sanity against Deadpool’s trademark goofy madness."

And speaking of 'goofy madness', in Marvel's big crossover Fear Itself, Wade gets his Hammer on.

Written by Christopher Hastings (the creator of webcomic Dr. McNinja) and illustrated by Merc with a Mouth's Bong Dazo, in 3-issue mini-series Fear Itself: Deadpool--coming in June--Deadpool decides the Marvel Universe being gripped by fear is a great way to make money--but when he's chosen as one of 'the worthy' and granted an enchanted hammer, fate may have other plans...

Marvel Fear Itself

Marvel held a Press Conference earlier this week in which Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada and editors Tom Brevoort and Axel Alonso--with a special appearance from writer Matt Fraction holed up in a bunker ;)--talked about the Marvel Universe's next big event: Fear Itself.

You can check out the conference video here, as well as the Fear Itself trailer and Fraction's broadcast--both pulled from the half-hour-plus conference.

The conference event was designed just to light the touch paper for Fear Itself and understandably didn't give much away; the main thing I took away from it was just how many times they said 'Fear Itself;' there is no-one that watches that conference that will forget the name of the crossover; and in the spirit of that--and getting this blog high up in a Google search for Fear Itself--I'm gonna be slipping that name in as many times as I can here. ;)

So what did they give away in the Fear Itself Press Conference? Well, the crossover is going to tap into the anxieties felt in the current climate of the real world and is going to kick off with a Fear Itself Prologue one-shot in March, written by Ed Brubaker (Captain America) and illustrated by Scott Eaton (X-Men). Similarly to Secret Invasion's retcon wherein The Illuminati (a secret cabal of Marvel's big brains, including Mr. Fantastic and Professor X) pissed off the Skrulls and effectively caused the Invasion, here in Fear Itself Prologue, Captain America and The Invaders, back in the day, are going to do something that produces a dark secret and introduces a big gun character that will play a huge role in Fear Itself.

The main Fear Itself event will be a 7-issue mini-series written by Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man) and illustrated by Stuart Immonen (New Avengers), crossing over into a number of books but, like Civil War, you'll be able to comfortably enjoy Fear Itself from the main mini-series alone.

It was stated that all the Marvel big gun characters will be involved, with the X-Men playing a key role--and that a bunch of heroes will be chosen as 'The Worthy' to take on the main villain. The image above teases that Fear Itself will see some characters' worst fears become reality; whether the character that debuts in Fear Itself Prologue will cause this remains to be seen, but it was stated that the villain in Fear Itself will feed off--and become stronger from--fear (itself).

It's been awhile now since Marvel did a big crossover--though, as they stated in the Fear Itself conference, after going straight from Civil War to Secret Invasion to Dark Reign to SIEGE, we did need a break before having another one. Having said that, and much as many people, including my favorite podcasters Mike Hoffert Jnr. and friends (check out their always entertaining It Came From the Longbox podcast), have been digging the current Marvel Heroic Age, personally I've felt it to be lacklustre, and I'm looking forward to Fear Itself.

Also, though obviously he won't be the big bad, I hope Norman Osborn will have a role to play in Fear Itself; with his Richard Nixon-like qualities, he seems a shoe-in and I really dug him in Dark Reign--my favorite of Marvel's most recent crossovers--and I was disappointed with SIEGE when we didn't get to see him turning batshit-crazy Green Goblin--instead the climax becoming all about The Sentry.

Maybe Fear Itself will rectify that.

What are your thoughts on this one? A No-Prize for whoever mentions Fear Itself legitimately most--not just writing Fear Itself Fear Itself Fear Itself--in your comments.

;)