Tag Archives: Deadpool

Jul 22 2013

Deadpool 13

deadpool 13

Today, Ethan and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 13, originally released July 17th, 2013.

Ethan: Back in issue #7 of Deadpool, the writers and artists took us on a timewarp with a faux, never-before-printed “inventory special”. The issue was allegedly produced in the late 70s/early 80s giving the team an excuse to indulge in 10 times the saturation of pop culture references in the already saturated title. It was an entertaining  issue in its own right and a nice break after the Zombie Presidents arc. Now that Vetis is taken care of, writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn and artists Scott Koblish and Val Staples are back to their tricks with another trip back to the era of disco. And if you think the bell bottoms and dated catch-phrases were flying thick and fast last time, you might want to sit down and hold onto something before you open #13. The hair is longer, the polyester is louder, and the racism is, if far from accurately depicted, at least touched on.

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Jul 2 2013

Deadpool 12

deadpool 12

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 12, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Scott: You can’t avoid the inevitable. Throughout Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan’s Deadpool run, there has been one constant: no matter how much Wade Wilson has to suffer, he always kills the guy he sets out to kill. As a result, Deadpool comics are more about the thrill of the ride than the destination. As individual episodes, Deadpool is light fun, with humorous characters regularly being introduced and killed in humorous ways. So when it comes to a villain who has been around for several issues, should we expect his death to be several times as much fun? Deadpool 12 says so long to a character who has defined the series’ second major arc and, aside from some structural problems, Posehn and Duggan deliver an epically fun, albeit inevitable, farewell.

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Jun 17 2013

Deadpool 11

deadpool 11

Today, Ethan and Drew are discussing Deadpool 11, originally released June 12th, 2013.

Ethan: Stories have to follow a lot of formulas — rising action, tension, struggle, resolution. Comics are often even more constrained — extraordinary people, powers, and villains combine to make extraordinarily predictable outcomes. Familiarity sells. But while you could say a lot of horrible things about Deadpool — and they’d all be true — if there’s one thing that he is NOT, it’s conventional. Maybe it’s because his superpower has more to do with the basic act of survival rather than leaping a building in a single bound; maybe it’s because he’s just a bastard of a guy who lucked out with the world’s most impressive healing factor. Maybe it’s because he’s Canadian. I dunno. Either way, he’s up to his eyeballs in demonic intrigue right now, so perhaps the standard operating procedures wouldn’t be the best fit anyway. As he continues his contract with Vetis, hunting and killing superpowered humans who sold their souls for their abilities, writers Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan continue to entertain while Wade Wilson continues to backstab his way to freedom.

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Jun 4 2013

A + X 8

a+x 8

Today, Scott and Mikyzptlk are discussing A + X 8, originally released May 22nd, 2013.

Scott: Some would describe A + X as “fluff”, but that’s not entirely fair. These ten-page stories featuring one Avenger and one X-Man teaming up have no choice but to get to the very root of what the characters are all about. It’s fun for comic nerds because it shows how these characters, who wouldn’t normally be paired together, are able to compliment each other. It’s also great for new readers, looking for a quick way to familiarize themselves with several characters and decide whether they want to pick up their titles. Sure, A + X is just for fun and has no bearing on any other stories, but it provides a surprisingly good summary of Marvel’s characters.

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Jun 3 2013

Deadpool 10

deadpool 10

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 10, originally released May 22nd, 2013.

Scott: Wade Wilson is a guilty-pleasure Spider-Man. Like Spider-Man, he’s an agitator, a loudmouth smart-ass. And like Spider-Man, you’d root for him against just about anyone. The thing is, you root for them to do different things when the big moment arrives.Wade and Spider-Man join forces in Deadpool 10 and show us up close the major difference between them. Deadpool doesn’t stand for anything in particular, so he doesn’t have to play by any rules. He kills people and doesn’t think twice about it. It wouldn’t look good on Spidey, but it’s a strangely endearing trait for Deadpool.

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May 15 2013

Deadpool 9

deadpool 9

Today, Scott and Ethan are discussing Deadpool 9, originally released May 8th, 2013.

Scott: Moral ambiguity is an important theme in Deadpool. Wade Wilson doesn’t kill people unless he has to, but he doesn’t have to enjoy doing it so much either. In Deadpool 9, the actual necessity of such violence, as well as Wade’s willingness to commit it, becomes blurred, forcing Wade to make tough decisions. It’s the kind of situation you might see depicted with a miniature angel and devil propped on each of his shoulders, but writers Brian Posehn and Gary Duggan would never revert to such a trite story device unless they were mocking it, right? Well, take the moral-righteousness of a recently-dead government agent who lives inside Wade’s head and  put it up against the deplorable, power-hungry demon forcing Wade to do his dirty work and you get Posehn and Duggan’s version of a conscience-battle. They are a creative team, in every sense.

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Apr 29 2013

Deadpool 8

deadpool 8

Today, Scott and guest writer Greg Smith are discussing Deadpool 8, originally released April 24th, 2013.

Scott: And we’re back. After the glorious detour into the Bronze Age that was Deadpool 7, writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn are picking up where they left off in Deadpool 6– with Agent Preston living inside Wade Wilson’s head. It must be hard for a writing team to follow up an issue like Deadpool 7– the consensus best of the series thus far, but one that seemingly takes place outside of the series’ continuity. With expectations higher than ever and questions abound, Duggan and Posehn prove that things aren’t always as they seem, deftly weaving the events of Deadpool 7 into the lingering storylines from the first six issues in a surprisingly logical way.

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Apr 10 2013

Deadpool 7

deadpool 7

Today, Scott and Patrick are discussing Deadpool 7, originally released April 3rd, 2013.

Scott: The first 6 issues of Deadpool adhered to a very specific and bizarre tone. The oddball humor likely turned away nearly as many readers as it won over, but you have to admire Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan for boldly seeing their outlandish resurrected-Presidents arc through. It was an ambitiously weird way to kick off a series, and I found their marriage of subject and tone to be a success. Count me firmly on the side of the “won-overs.” Deadpool 6 established a new arc to occupy the series, but Posehn and Duggan decide to put that on hold for an issue. Because of their tight production schedule, you see, they’ve been forced to release an inventory issue — a print-ready issue that’s been filed away in case of such an emergency — but rather than an issue from this Deadpool run, they’ve dusted off an inventory issue from the late 70s/early ’80s. It’s of course a guise, and Posehn and Duggan are at the helm of these retro-looking pages. While they pass it off as a time-saver, Deadpool 7 must’ve required much more effort from the creative team than a typical issue, and the result is a perfect Bronze Age satire.
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Mar 26 2013

Deadpool 6

deadpool 6

Today, Michael and Ethan are discussing Deadpool 6, originally released March 20th, 2013.

Michael: Do you prefer read something that’s hit-or-miss but bold? Or something that’s consistently at the high-end of mediocre. I’ve always preferred the former – The Kids in the Hall is one of my favorite shows of all time, but I’ll readily admit to roughly forty percent of the series being unwatchable. If you work too tightly or literally within the genre, everyone’s bored and everything you’ve said been’s said a million times and we hate you. If you play too loosely the structure or assume to much about our shared context, everyone get’s uncomfortable and the word “why” tends to get thrown around. Deadpool #6, the final issue in the arc, mostly hits the sweet spot for an irreverent comedic comic. Brian Posehn falters only when he veers to far into the hyper-referential discombobu-zone, but considering that so many “funny” comics just are criminally lame, even Deadpool’s missteps are a treat!
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Feb 27 2013

Deadpool 5

deadpool 5

Today, Ethan and Mikyzptlk are discussing Deadpool 5, originally released February 20th, 2013.

Ethan: As we’ve discussed before, Volume 4 of Deadpool is a wild, absurd, hilarious ride, and #5 doesn’t disappoint. Jokes are cracked, villains are disemboweled, our titular hero suffers excessive bodily harm, etc etc. That said, if you were beginning to wonder how long this cycle could continue on a purely frivolous level, issue #5 answers this question with a bang, proving the old adage that “it’s all fun & games until the villains kill the main character’s friend.” Continue reading →