By Daniel Way (writer), Carlo Barberi (pencils), Walden Wong (inks), Marte Gracia (colors) and VC’s Joe Sabino (letters)
The Story: Deadpool runs into some limb regenerating robbers while trying to buy a snack from a gas station mini-mart. Things seem to be at something of a stalemate: un-killable regenerating Deadpool vs. un-killable regenerating baddies, but then the Secret Avengers show up to even the odds (which would have been an AWESOME surprise had this very fact not been advertised rather haphazardly on the front cover of the book.) Also: terrorists!
What’s Good: I say it every single month, but I’m gonna say it again: Way knows how to write Deadpool. It gratifies me to no end that there is at least one Deadpool book out there that I can truly look forward to without any fear or reservation. Is it deep? Hell no. But does it provide action, excitement, and laughs? Oh hell yeah. Everything from ‘Pool’s attempted burrito transaction to his reaction upon seeing Steve Rogers is note-perfect and very funny indeed. Stupid (this is ‘Pool we’re talking about after all) but funny.
I’ve got to give Carlo Barberi a lot of credit. Drawing a protagonist who (almost) always wears a mask is a very, very difficult thing to do—particularly when said protagonist is supposed to elicit laughs from the reader. I don’t know how, but he has, in fact, managed to find a way to give that mask the (quite nuanced) ability to emote. Whether he’s shocked, in love, playing the tough guy or playing a fool, you can always tell exactly what he’s thinking, and these expressions add tremendously to the story, the humor and his character.
While guests in Deadpool’s books usually aren’t my favorite thing, the Secret Avengers hit the right notes here, and their offer at the end gives ‘Pool’s longstanding quest to become a hero some great potential for culmination. How this will affect his character (if at all) for the long term I’m not sure, but I’m very, very interested to see where this is going to go next.
Plus, Deadpool, Steve Rogers and Moon Knight all working together? That’s a hat trick of awesomeness that I could never say no to.
What’s Not So Good: Honestly…no real complaints, aside from the action sequences being a little too manic and confusing to follow at times, but hey, this is Deadpool. That’s not an excuse for sloppy visual storytelling I know, but given ‘Pool’s default mental state, the hyper and overly exaggerated action actually works well, at least for me.
Conclusion: If you’re a Deadpool fan, you should already be reading this book. If you aren’t, this is a great issue to give the character a chance with.
Grade: B+
-SoldierHawk
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