I don't know what it is about Deadpool. I saw the nice cover and just grabbed it off the rack, thinking "I like Deadpool, I'll try this again." As I carried it to the register, my buddy at the comic store commented how Deadpool's comics are selling great. He even said that the Cable/Deadpool trades are selling better than they did when the series was being published. I'm happy to hear it, but I'm not sure I understand why. What is it about Deadpool that comic readers are digging so much? The violence? The humor? The horrific scarring? I'm not sure, but I do know that I enjoy Deadpool as a character. Daniel Way has a nice balance going of amusing plot and comedic dialogue. I don't dig on every joke in each issue, but enough are hits that I enjoy the overall comic.This issue has DP arriving on the X-Men's island where he attempts to join the team. They brush him off, of course, but Wolverine quickly warns Cyclops that Deadpool is the kind of guy you'd rather have with you than against you. He's got a good point. DP decides the best way to deal with his rejection is to prove his worth to the team. Cyclops eventually decides to start pointing DP at targets through Domino.
Meanwhile, Norman Osborn has a media-puppet denouncing the X-Men. This guy is the father of one of the young X-Men on the island and he's turning the press against the X-Men by claiming that he's just trying to see his daughter, but the X-folk won't allow it. I like Cyclops and the other leaders' reaction to this guy; they blow him off and promise to look out for their friends, planning to let Angel's legal team handle the father. But Deadpool has other plans. Deadpool's new handler, Domino, quickly reports back that DP is planning to kill this guy. The story isn't a huge threat and doesn't have huge ramifications to the X-universe, but it is a clever, immediate story that shows the reader a lot about all the players involved. It's good stuff.
Paco Medina is still just a bit too cartoony for me. He tells the story competently enough, but I'd love to see someone with a bit less animated take. I think this title would actually benefit from two artists, one handling the real world and the other (probably Medina) handling the crazy animated world inside DP's head.
Fair
4 comments:
I've never actually read a Deadpool comic - he debuted at the time all the Imagey characters were appearing with 'dead' and 'blood' in their name, and looked a bit crap. Is he not, then?
In the last Top 300, this series ranked higher than Invincible Iron Man, better than a Kevin Smith Batman miniseries, and his second book and miniseries both ranked higher than any of the War of Kings material.
The allure is probably the same reason sitcoms work so well. There's a broad appeal that is inclusive--it's lowbrow enough that people that enjoy being idly entertained can get something out've it and even the most cerebral reader can turn off and enjoy some passive entertainment.
As to Way's effectiveness, he's always struck me as a poor man's Garth Ennis. Dark, sardonic humor with plenty of the ol' ultra-violence. It doesn't strike me as particularly hard to do and it's a tried and true formula. He seems to be prolific and timely enough which tends to speak to patching together a living--meaning he's probably cheap talent so the bottom line on the books are probably negligible. Which gives a longer leash and a big upside revenue-wise for what is amounting to stocking a back-catalogue of trades for when the Deadpool movie comes out.
Why else would Deadpool have 2 ongoing titles with a smattering of miniseries?
That'd be my read.
He's definitely not "Extreme" enough to fit in with all the other Image folks, he's much too silly for that. That said, you have to be able to bear the silliness to enjoy the character.
I've collected most of his series, but I feel the character worked best when teamed with Cable in their team-up book. That was a fun comic (and now available in trades!)
Ah, Cable, he's another one. I read a couple of his appearances in X-Force and that was enough. I hate those sassin-frackin' alternate timeline children with freaky eyes and stupidly massive guns.
Post a Comment