By Victor Gischler (writer), Rob Liefeld (pencils), Adelso Corona (inks) Matt Yackey (colors) and VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters & production)
The Story: Following the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em’” school of thought, Deadpool decides to stop fighting Champion, and to enlist his help as a member of the Corps instead. Because what this title really needed, after all, was another Faux-Pool character.
What’s Good: Despite the snarky comment in the story summary section, Champion’s induction into the Deadpool Corps is actually one of the best things about this issue (due much more to the character himself than how clever the idea of making him dress up in a Deadpool costume is, but with this title I’ll take entertainment where I can get it.) Champion is an extremely fun character, and is an excellent straight man for Deadpool’s brand of insanity to play off of. The way ‘Pool tricks him into joining the Corps and becoming their “leader” is very clever and genuinely funny. Champ’s hilariously rigid sense of honor and duty—and the comparatively small amount of common sense that goes along with it—reminds me a lot of the (actual mythological) Hercules: extreme power and will to use that power for good, but easily manipulated because he lacks the brains to back up his brawn.
What’s Not So Good: Pretty much everything else, unfortunately. Although Gischler is a decent writer, I like his take on Deadpool less and less the more I read it. Although fooling Champion was a very good (and very Deadpool) moment, his voice just doesn’t feel right. ‘Pool is a clown who takes very little seriously, there’s no denying that…but there’s also no denying the fact that he’s supposed to be an assassin of some skill and intelligence. Granted, he’s schizophrenic and sometimes makes bad decisions, but he’s not stupid. He’s much more a Fool in the Shakespearean sense of the term (if you’ll forgive the momentary pretension): a character who acts outside the norms of the universe of which he is a part, and is ultimately able to succeed due to his (in Deadpool’s case, rather warped) perspective. Deadpool should be funny of course, and insane, always. But there has to be a balance between that, and showing what makes him one of the most sought-after assassins in the Marvel Universe. This is the only Deadpool book that I feel utterly fails in that regard; ‘Pool is far too much a clown, and almost never a warrior. Or, to use a terrible pop-culture analogy, I feel Deadpool should be something of a cross between Frank Castle and Sonny the Coco Puffs Bird (yes, I went there.) This comic writes him as all Sonny, and no Castle—that deprives ‘Pool of half of what makes him tick, and—where there is NO seriousness for his humor to play off of—deprives even his funny lines of their impact. He’s not acting like a fool, he’s just acting like an ass. That’s not the Deadpool I know and love.
On art…well…it’s Liefeld drawing how Liefeld draws, what more can you say. He is more restrained this issue than he was in the last though, which is a good thing. Champion still looks like the Incredible Hulk, but I can live with that. (He IS supposed to be the greatest fighter of his people after all.) What makes me happy is that Deadpool has gone back to looking like a human being again. Some of the proportions are still off and a lot of the panels seem far to cluttered and busy, but it is a step up from last issue.
Conclusion: Overall, a small improvement. I still wouldn’t advise non-Deadpool or casual Deadpool fans to spend their $3.99 on this—there are FAR too many other ‘Pool titles, all much better, that you could be spending your money on—but for the faithful, it’s a baby step forward. Cross your fingers, spit on your hat, and hope the trend continues.
Grade: C
-SoldierHawk
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Conclusion