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| DEADPOOL No. 2, January 2013 |
Tucked away in a corner of this comic’s competent
though rather unexceptional cover by Geof Darrow and Peter Doherty are two
printed words that rather nicely sum up the utterly insane gore fest which
awaits the reader inside this book. These simple words are parental advisory,
and this offering from the writing partnership of Brian Poshn and Gerry Duggan will
undoubtedly have the ghosts of the 1954 Comics Magazine Association of America
turning in their graves. Certainly it’s the first comic book in a long time which
has caused me to cry ‘Urgh’ out loud in disgust at the horrific fate which has
befallen the title's hero. Not that it actually seems to phase Deadpool, who simply continues
to throw punches and kicks as his intestines flail and flop about
from out of his perforated belly.
Gruesomeness aside however, this edition of
“Deadpool” is extremely well written, as the “Merc with a Mouth” continues to
throw about some terribly funny one-liners whilst battling the undead corpse of
President Theodore Roosevelt in a zoo. References to George Lucas and his
science fiction movie series “Star Wars” seem to be particularly popular this
time around, although the elephant jokes towards the end of the comic are
cringingly well-delivered too.
Needless to say all of this action and banter is
superbly visualised by Tony Moore and colorist Val Staples. The fisticuffs
between Wade Wilson and Roosevelt are captivating, and full of energy, and the
pencil work on the menagerie of zoo animals gives the creatures a cartoony feel
that seems highly appropriate for the tongue-in-cheek storyline. The zombie
President duking it out with an enormous grizzly bear being the highlight in my
mind.
Unfortunately Moore does not appear quite so good when pencilling a full-page
panel. This slight weakness in his artistic skill can be seen both within the
single page devoted to depicting an angry elephant skewering the anti-hero on
one of its tusks, as well as the final panel of the issue when SHIELD calls
upon Doctor Strange for help.
This edition also features one of the more
bizarre recaps at the start of a comic book that I’ve ever seen, with a cute
chibi Deadpool breaking the ‘fourth wall’ and speaking directly to the reader
in order to provide an explanation as to what has happened in the story so far.
How weird is that?
I have one question that I've been itching to ask since you posted the first issue of "Kings Watch", When is Lothar going to turn up to complete the "Defenders of the Earth"? (oh and their kids?) (joke).
ReplyDeleteCheers Roger.
Ooops should have posted this in the post below. sorry
ReplyDeleteRoger, no worries. Lothar is actually in the comics right from the start. Indeed, if you go back and have a look at the first picture of my Issue One posting you'll see him leading the jungle expedition which encounters the dinosaur and The Phantom :-)
ReplyDeleteIndeed as a teaser for a future issue review of "Kings Watch" Mandrake's assistant/bodyguard becomes a super-hero in his own right and there isn't a kid in sight. But you'll have to wait a while for that one. However don't be too Grimm as you never know what I'll be posting a review of tomorrow :-)
ReplyDelete