I’ve been very reluctant to talk about “Deadpool” in these reviews—not when he’s on teams because he has turned into a straight up travesty on “Thunderbolts”. No, I’m talking about his stand alone series, the one that is being written by comedic genius Brian Posehn. Let’s just get this out of the way, punch-line: this book is gonna get a super awesome grade from me. And this is why I’ve been reluctant to review “Deadpool”, he is my favorite character so any series I read with his hilarious antics is going to have a bias. Either the series is going to be absolutely atrocious and be completely against his character or it will be brilliant and be an instant classic, there is no go between. Masterpiece or ya dun goofed. So here I am giving a completely biased review of “Deadpool” because I am not going to be forced to read DC’s villain month drivel.
What do we want in a comic book? Do we want action? Explosions? Witty banter? This book has all of these things—well, banter is a bit strong since Deadpool argues with himself. Basically this insane super soldier is designed to be everything the child in us wants. He’s the same reason why we love summer blockbusters, why we buy fireworks, and unfortunately why Michael Bay is a thing. You take the good with the bad. Since Posehn has taken over the series after Daniel Way departed things have only gotten more explosive and butt-kicking. Deadpool has become the ultimate attraction and it is completely baffling that he hasn’t been in a movie yet—SINCE HE HAS NOT BEEN IN ANY PREVIOUS MOVIE, “WOLVERINE: SH%$ STAINS” INCLUDED.
This issue in particular shows off the kick ass skills of Deadpool. The arc so far has been about Deadpool’s origins and involves Deadpool mutant clones, it gets a weird—which is a tent-pole of any good “Deadpool” series. The Merc with the Mouth shooting holes in bizarre stuff with lots of explosives. That should be the title of his Wikipedia page. Anyway, one of the things this story arc is showing off is the serious ass kicking that Deadpool can deliver and it is supremely entertaining to watch Deadpool be good at what he does. Yeah he can be a funny jester and punch up the pages with some crazy banter but with Wade Wilson cutting loose us fans get fantastic treats. Splash pages of action, Deadpool striking some serious awesome poses, and team ups that true fans never get enough of.
A disadvantage to being Marvel’s jester is that Deadpool hasn’t been taken seriously in the past and by that I mean his team ups have been with third tier, rather minor characters. This series throws that out the window. Fan favorites Wolverine and Captain America are teamed up with Deadpool against their will. Yeah, I don’t really care about Captain America and I downright loathe Wolverine but when they are fighting alongside Wade Wilson it is fantastic. With Steve Rogers, there’s the clean cut soldier having to mesh with an insane chaos machine. With Logan, there’s the feral weapon master having to coordinate with the gun happy psychopath. These interactions are like candy, I can’t get enough.
Now, take a series about a gun toting psychopath who is the ultimate PG-13 star and compare him to a Jesus allegory in superhero spandex. Well, that’s gonna be a crappy comparison. Short answer: “Invincible” is way better and you should make sure to read it now, what are you waiting for? Long answer: “Deadpool” and “Invincible” are both commentaries on the same industry. Deadpool does all the crazy over the top action, gun toting that has become common place for comics but he is showing how over the top ridiculous and yet awesome it is. He’ll blow up an entire space station in one comic and shoot twin cannons off a pirate ship in the next comic. Mark Grayson is entirely about conveying a really deep and relevant story within the confines of superhero conventions. When Mark does something over the top it’s all part of the language. Though they are two sides of the same coin, they reflect different messages about comic books and the fans who love them. One shows that a compelling story can be within the confines of this universe and its rules, the other shows you how freaking awesome shooting twin bazookas at a helicopter really can be.