Oct 31 2008
Deadpool #1 - #3
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Today is Friday, October 31st, 2008. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Are you interested in a comic book but not sure you want to shell out the cash? Let me know and I’ll review it for you - letting you know if it’s worth your hard earned money!
Today’s Issue:
Deadpool #1 - #3, the latest arc about the merc with a mouth published by Marvel, written by Daniel Way (Ghost Rider, Wolverine: Origins) with pencils by Paco Medina (New X-Men, New Warriors). This first arc launches Deadpool’s new series with a Secret Invasion tie-in. Today I’ll be talking about the arc as a whole - check out Saturday, September 13th, 2008 for my detailed review of issue #1.
Premise:
Deadpool fights in the Secret Invasion! But whose side he’s really on will surprise you! (At least, that’s how Daniel hyped the book at Comic Con!)
Awesome Parts:
Daniel really pulled it off. He actually managed to surprise me. I assumed that what he meant was that Deadpool would be on the Skrulls’ side. That’s not so hard to believe given Deadpool’s unstable character and mercenary nature. And of course - at the end of the first issue - it looked like that predictible surprise was coming true. But nope - there’s all sorts of other stuff going on inside Deadpool’s head and whose side he was on remained a surprise right up to the very end. Daniel did a great job of getting inside Deadpool’s crazy head - I enjoyed watching him have dialogues with himself. I could totally relate to that - wait, does that make me insane, too? Anyway, I also had the biggest laugh I’ve had in a LOOONG time in issue #2. Deadpool explains that all of his pouches are great for picking up his body parts, “Right, Rob?” He is of course breaking the fourth wall and talking to Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld. But one of the confused Skrulls promptly asks, “Who’s Rob?” I love Deadpool’s crazy sense of humor.
Less-Than-Awesome Parts:
Issue #3 had a nice surprise that could have given this book huge implications for the Secret Invasion. But I’ve read Secret Invasion #7. And what happened at the end of this arc was completely irrelevant. I wish the creative forces had worked together a bit better on that one. Also - I didn’t feel that the action lived up to Deadpool standards. Maybe it was the way he was over-using his healing factor, but I just didn’t feel that Deadpool was ever in any danger, so there was no suspense. Good action needs suspense. Deadpool got a bit over-talkative for a while, too. But I was kind of okay with it because he made a joke about being delayed by an “exposition heavey scene.” I really love it when he breaks the fourth wall. On that note, one other thing I noticed was that Deadpool reverted to a bit of a Spider-Man type humor for a while. Spidey’s quips about how his opponents are stupid and incompetent are great for Spider-Man - but Deadpool’s humor has always come from a more completely random pop culture reference place. Daniel is clearly capable of making those types of jokes - so I feel like he dropped the ball on that one.
My Recommendation:
If you’re looking for a good laugh mixed with a bit of action, pick up this arc. If you’re looking for some character development, don’t pick up this arc. If you’re looking for a story relevant to Secret Invasion, don’t pick up this arc. However, if you like Deadpool, chances are you’ll enjoy this arc on a whole. I’m less certain now than I was after just the first issue that Daniel Way has what it takes to write Deadpool consistently well. On the flip side though, I find myself anxious to read issue #4 to see what happens to Deadpool next.
That’s it for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time. And don’t forget to let me know if there are any comic books you’d like me to review for you - I take requests!
-Searnold, SuperSearnold@yahoo.com, www.myspace.com/SuperSearnold
