Posts Tagged ‘ Deadpool ’

Granted, I’m probably late to the party on this but as I’m not picking up X-Men these days I hadn’t paid it too much attention, but I finally nailed why the Schism #1 cover looks so damn familiar.

It’s basically Wolverine playing the Jean Grey role, isn’t it?

Does this mean we can look forward to a The Cross-Dressing Antics of Mr Howlett one-shot? Or perhaps a team-up with Deadpool?

Dare to dream, Marvelites. Dare to dream.

Alright, I clearly have a problem. I seem to have fallen into the trap over the last few months of liking Deadpool again.

Again, you ask?

Yes, I’ll admit that I liked him when he was first introduced way back in New Mutants; I loved the early years of Joe Kelly’s run on his solo book before I fell away; I came back late for Gail Simone’s stuff but enjoyed the hell out of Agent X (the ‘it’s nothing to do with Rob Liefeld’s creator rights, honest’ relaunch of the book under a different name), and loved Cable & Deadpool through the majority of its run until it was effectively neutered when it crossed over with Cable’s presence in the X-Men books.

So yes, I like Deadpool – but I still didn’t feel compelled to check out his relaunched solo book under Daniel Way. This was partly because I was underwhelmed by Way’s Ghost Rider and Wolverine (although I do now confess to taking a certain masochistic pleasure in Wolverine Origins on Marvel’s DCU; it’s like watching someone trying to cut a piece of wood with a blancmange sword), and partly because I was buying enough damn books anyway.

And then it went and crossed over with Thunderbolts,so I picked it up. And the next arc had Bullseye and Deadpool going at it. And then Deadpool was a pirate. And then…you get the idea.

When Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth launched I was going to wait for a trade – until it was converted to an ongoing (it’s now ending at #13); it’s now probably one of my most anticipated reads each month. Taking Deadpool, adding in the zombie-head Deadpool from the Marvel Zombies books (Headpool) and throwing the two of them along with a couple of AIM characters into the Savage Land and alternate dimensions is just a perfect recipe for chaos. It helps that Gischler (did I mention I recommended Gun Monkeys?) has a deft hand at character and plot, and that Bong Dazo’s art is reminiscent of Ed McGuinness in his Deadpool days.

Also, I love Arthur Sudyam’s covers on the book (far more than I do his Zombie variants).

So, yes, I got sucked in there too.

And then there’s Deadpool Team-Up, the red-headed step child. I picked up the cheekily-numbered Deadpool #900 for the sheer amount of stories in there (some good, some…not) and then realized that the new Deadpool Team-Up book was going to be counting down from there with #899. The first issue threw Deadpool in with everyone’s favorite demi-god, Hercules so it was a no-brainer.

Since then, we’ve had stand-alone issues by different creative teams co-starring the Zapata Brothers, the two current Ghost Riders, US Ace and It the Living Colossus. Some have been much better than expected (loved the US Ace one against all odds) and some have been…well, terrible.

But still – the prospect of getting an unexpected gem keeps me coming back for more.

Honestly, this just gave me something that I’ve been missing in my comics lately: fun. It’s a bunch of books that (because of the character) refuse to take themselves seriously and deliver a decent number of laughs month to month. It’s not as though this bubble is going to last forever – I fully expect Team-Up to be cancelled shortly and us to be back down to one solo Deadpool book. In the meantime, though, I’m enjoying them while they’re here.

As for Deadpool Corps, give me some credit.

I’m getting that in trades.

A few weeks back I asked Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth writer Victor Gischler to recommend one of his novels to me – and he offered up Gun Monkeys, saying ‘people seem to like it’.

Well, yes, I’m sure they do – because it’s a damn good book.

Charlie Swift is a gun monkey; the head gun monkey in Stan’s crew. He kills people for a living, and he’s very good at his job. Life’s pretty good; he’s got a good crew, he enjoys his job, he’s loyal to a fault, his mom cooks a mean meal, his little brother might go back to college,  and he just met a nice taxidermist who seems to be as okay with dead people as she is dead animals.

Unfortunately, Stan’s getting old and maybe losing his edge a little. He’s been muscled out of Orlando by his Miami equivalent, Beggar Johnson, and while he works out what to do, Stan agrees to send Charlie and his monkey cage crew on a hit at a lapdancing club.

Charlie being Charlie, it isn’t much of a problem – until four of the dead guys turn out to be cops,  Charlie’s monkeys disappear and start turning up dead, his brother wants in on the family business, Stan pulls a vanishing act, and Charlie’s left with a couple of accounting ledgers that everybody wants – including Beggar Johnson and the FBI.

Gun Monkeys is a classic, breezy, thriller and as a protagonist, Charlie follows the classic mold. He’s the right mix of tough and cynical, with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure, and Gischler’s easy handle on dialog and character makes this an entertaining and quick read. If there’s any faults in the book, it’s that it follows the set formula a little too closely – but it’s so entertaining while it does that you barely notice, and having an unrepentant killer who just might be a nice guy as the narrator adds a nice twist to it.

Highly recommended!

Gun Monkeys is available on Amazon, and probably at all good bookstores, but I don’t get a commission from them.

…you crazy self-referential fool, you.

Despite my attempt to Purge before the title began (although I guess since the title is counting backwards, it really started with last month’s Deadpool #900), I picked up Deadpool Team-Up #899 last night and, unsurprisingly, loved it.

Sure, it helped that it had a FVL-written Hercules on board for an adventure against Arcade – and who doesn’t love some kind of team-up issues that pitches mismatched heroes against Arcade? – but it was the combination of Herc and DP that sold me.

Can we get a buddy book for these two instead of a rotating DP team-up?

Come on, you know you’re itching for a fourth Deadpool ongoing really…

I’ve mentioned that I’ve been sucked into the craziness that is Deadpool at the moment. I loved the character back when he first showed up in New Mutants, and his subsequent appearances right through to his original ongoing – and that was one hell of a book under Joe Kelly.

But this recent resurgence for him…well, he is to the noughties what the Punisher was to the early nineties at this point – three ongoings that he can’t possibly support, one-shots coming out the wazoo and guest appearances all over the show.
And yet…and yet…

I’m really enjoying the character right now – and the books. Daniel Way’s Deadpool book is a surprisingly well-written, funny series; Victor Gischler’s Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth is pretty much the same, plus Zombie-Head Deadpool (or Headpool), and the recently launched Deadpool Team-Up, which kicked off with Deadpool #900 and is counting down in issue numbers just because it can, promises to be even more of the same (and oh, those teases for TeenPool with Power Pack and the New Warriors better come true!).

So when I see this teaser for the Deadpool Corps – and the one above, I admit to actually looking forward to it in spite of thinking that it’s a ridiculous amount of overkill and stretching a joke to breaking point.

Plus: DOGPOOL!

Can’t go wrong there!

Posted via web from Comic By Comic’s Wonderous Posterous!

I was going to pass on Deadpool #900, I swear I was – and then I saw the reprint.

Freaking. Awesome.

I have a horrible feeling that I sold my old run of Deadpool a few years ago, which basically included #1-27, a couple of annuals, the Encyclopedia Deadpoolica and the issue above.

Recently I’ve been feeling kind of wistful for these, so adding the reprint into the issue was just about perfect timing for me.

Kind of hoping that Deadpool #11 gets reprinted somewhere…

Posted via web from Comic By Comic’s Wonderous Posterous!

Posted via web from Comic By Comic’s Wonderous Posterous!

The one-word review thing got tired (mainly because I didn’t want to repeat words over and over again) so instead, I’m going to be trying to do a very quick review of books I picked up this week.

Only no grading, because I could never do that consistently anyway.

Action Comics #878 – Four issues in to the new status quo and I’m still not sold. The only reason I’m still here is because (a) it’s got Lois, and (b) it’s going to loop back around to the other Superman books in a few months.

Batman #687 – You really have to tilt your head and squint to make this fit in with Battle for the Cowl – presumably because it fit in with writer Judd Winick’s scrapped version – but it’s not bad. Dick’s a bit mopey but it sets up the new status quo nicely enough, plus we get a scene where Dick and Alfred learn of Bruce’s death – which should probably have been shown sooner. Not a bad start.

Booster Gold #21 – It feels like this book’s got a kick in the ass after the last lackluster arc. Jurgens delivers the goods with what looks to be the start of a showdown with the time-traveling Black Beetle and some nice interplay between Booster and the new Batman. Wonder what happened to Booster’s ancestor, the second Supernova, though? The back-up – sorry, second feature – with Blue Beetle was fun but disposable. Good to see Paco and Brenda again, but the story felt like something more suited to Gail Simone’s old All-New Atom title as opposed to Beetle. Maybe it’s just me.

Flash: Rebirth #3 – A third slow issue about the fastest man alive. Huh. On the plus side, nice art, a last page reveal that makes the first page make sense, the return of two heroes – even if one of them appears to get wiped out again immediately – and one good line from Barry to Superman almost make the issue good. Honestly, though, if this is a big a deal as everyone makes it out to be, it should be a more interesting read.

Green Lantern Corps #37 – There’s an awful lot going on here: Sodam Yat’s so-obviously-not-final sacrifice, Arisia rallying the Daxamite population against Mongul, riots on Oa and rogue Guardian Scar generally raising hell and causing big, big problems. Tomasi, Gleason and co pack a lot in, but not so much that it’s unreadable. Although, seriously: Arisia, guerilla leader? Come on.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #5 – I’m not sure what’s going on with the art here. The character work is great, but the space battles look rushed. Story-wise, things move on a little bit, Vril Dox plots away and we finally see the real Starro. I kind of liked the big starfish version myself but whatever. It’s a quick read that may be better served in trade format.

Red Robin #1 – I’m on the fence here. On the plus side, I’m not as down on Tim and Dick’s interaction as everyone else seems to be – I didn’t read this as Tim being forced out of the Batfamily by any means. Similarly, I like that he has a clearly defined mission – find Bruce Wayne – that’s sending him globe-trotting across the, er, globe. I also liked the appearance of a certain Bat-foe, and I thought that Yost and Bachs make a pretty good creative team. On the minus side, I am a little worried that Tim – one of the most optimistic DC characters at one point – is now going all dark and moody, and that one of the character’s great assets in the past was his non-super supporting cast which are now all gone. Also, this paragraph is way too long.

Amazing Spider-Man #597 – I think for such a ‘big’ storyline, team Spidey could have assigned one penciller. Chechetto’s work here is actually very good, so good that I don’t think we needed Phil Jimenez on part one of the arc. Kelly’s story is tight and sharp, and full of nice moments as Spidey tries – and fails – to masquerade as bad-ass Venom in amongst the Dark Avengers. Good stuff. And two pages teasing the return of a classic villain in #600 made me realize just how much I’ve missed him. Good issue.

Deadpool #11 – Crazily good fun. I haven’t always been a fan of Daniel Way’s work, but this is just great – and Paco Medina’s art here is perfect for the madcap main character. Bullseye and Deadpool go at it, and neither really want it to end – and neither do I.

Fantastic Four #567 – The only reasons I’m still buying this right now are because I’ll be damned if I let this crappy run kick me off the book, the run’s almost over, and more importantly I hold out the teeniest, tiniest hope that it’s going to end with Doom coming back and kicking seven shades of shit out of his so-called Master. Also, I’m assuming that the guy’s permanently-shadowed apprentice is an alternate Reed Richards. Or Wolverine, because that’s just how Millar rolls.

Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers #2 – Severely, severely awesome. Pick this up.

Uncanny X-Men #511 – What a clusterfuck. Land’s art has people posing all over the place in confused fight scenes and Fraction’s script seems to assume that you just don’t care if a story makes sense. This whole Red Queen thing feels like it was just to get Psylocke back, and it’s been tortuous getting there. The book needs new blood, stat.

War Of Kings Savage World Of Skaar – Gorgon and Starbolt play Enemy Mine. Or, you know ‘Skaar, when the walls fell’ (bonus points for getting the misquoted reference!). Pointless and predictable, with merely adequate artwork and script, but oddly engaging all the same.

Wolverine #74 – Er, haven’t read it yet as I want to dig up #73 and read both in one sitting. But it sure looks pretty.

X-Men Forever #1 – I…okay, I can’t honestly say that this was a good book, but I can say I enjoyed it for what it was – a nice, nostalgic look at what might have been, complete with modern take on the corner box. Grummet’s artwork is as solid as ever (except for the oddly static cover) and there’s a sense that things will be different this time out – I fully expect the death of an established X-Man to prove a point in the first few issues. But ‘Remy Picard’? Seriously? I’d guess this is a fake name as LeBeau hadn’t been revealed as Gambit’s name at the time X-Men #3 shipped, and Jean Luc LeBeau hadn’t been…Jean Luc…Picard…oh. I’ll get my coat.

Angel: Blood & Trenches #4 – This has been an enjoyable throwaway series with gorgeous pencils by John Byrne. And I mean gorgeous. Unfortunately, the last issue here is a little rushed, and the final two page denouement feels completely unnecessary – honestly, there are some things that just feel a little bit off, and having Angel save Hitler is one of them. Otherwise, a decent read.

GENIUS.

Via

…just because I can.

And because I saw it over on X-Ray Vision and it made me chuckle. Again.

Variety confirms that a Deadpool spin-off movie starring Ryan Reynolds is in development.

Rob Liefeld approves this news!

…because he continues to be a great artist (not darkly realistic, but with a great comic style) but he continues to be dragged into Jeph Loeb-penned messes like Hulk.

Why, Ed, why?

(Although the more I look at that cover the more I think it looks like Paul Pelletier, but my point still stands…)

I didn’t go to see The Day The Earth Stood Still because ‘ll take Michael Rennie over Keanu Reeves any day of the week, but there was a trailer that ran infront of it…

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

The new trailer is different from the original one that aired at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, but it looks good – Now updated with the official version!

…rampant speculation and possible SPOILERS below (well, if my random speculation is right)…

In the latest post-Secret Invasion issue of Ms Marvel, we end with the out of the blue realization by Carol Danvers of what she needs to do next:

Then in this week’s issue of Deadpool, the crazy merc’s data about how to kill the Skrull Queen doesn’t reach intended recipient Nick Fury because it’s hijacked by…Norman Osborn.

And then there’s this preview of an upcoming Moon Knight.

Uh, what was that again?

Is that a SHIELD agent about to address Osborn as ‘Director’?

Now granted, he could be referring to him in his capacity of Director of the Thunderbolts, and I’m not even sure if Moon Knight is set after the invasion or not, but I was linking some dots here

We know thanks to this that there will be casualties at the end of Secret Invasion. And we know that Nick Fury will still have his Secret Warriors at the end of the war – and from the sound of it they’ll still be secret, which suggests to me that Fury may still be underground and not SHIELD leader.

It’s pretty much a given that Iron Man won’t be Director following the war too, what with his Iron Man, Director of SHIELD book being cancelled in favor of Invincible Iron Man.

I think Norman Osborn will be filling the position. And I think he’ll be doing some double dealing that costs a lot of lives to get there – but maybe only certain people, such as, say Ms Marvel, will know what went down.

That would certainly tie in with new Thunderbolts writer Andy Diggle saying that the book will be taking some new directions, especially if they end up being a SHIELD black ops unit with international reach.

So. Norman Osborn, Director of SHIELD. What do you think?

Tim Riggins, or rather actor Taylor Kitsch, has been cast as Gambit in the upcoming Wolverine movie.

As someone who’s recently got into Friday Night Lights, I think that’s actually pretty good casting.

Not only that, but AICN is reporting that the merc with a mouth himself, Deadpool, will be showing up in the movie as portrayed by Ryan Reynolds (pretty much perfect casting) – so I guess that this means that the Weapon X project is filling out!

This means that Hugh Jackman is joined by Reynolds, Kitsch, the excellent Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth, Danny Huston as Stryker, and Lynn Collins as Silver Fox (and she is). Sounds like this is shaping up to be a pretty good movie.

Fingers crossed!

I heart Gail Simone on Deadpool…

Okay, so a day later than planned but still…here we go! Some spoilers may happen if you haven’t read stuff yet…

52 #11 – Okay this is better! Batwoman makes a splash and we focus on two of the more interesting sub-plots (Renee & The Question and Ralph Dibny) rather than the dull ones. Good work, and enough to buy me in for another month.

Battle for Bludhaven #6 – this series was a mess, and this issue is no exception . BUT – two good things came out of this; Captain Atom seems now to be sealed in the old Monarch armor from Armageddon 2001 (he was originally supposed to be the villain there, but DC changed their mind at the last minute) and secondly, what lies beneath Bludhaven has sparked my interest – I mean, I thought this had been introduced into the DCU in the most recent Superboy series, but I’ll take it here instead…Command D!

Flash #2 – And we’re done. I’m sorry, but as much as I kinda like Bart, I have zero interest reading him as the Flash right now. Sorry guys, but this book just isn’t working for me. A pity, as I was on the first volume solidly since Mark Waid’s first run, but….see ya.

Justice League of America #0 – Alright, I liked this. More a book about the trinity than the JLA, this still worked well – and I dug the flash forwards – let’s see what the future might hold: Hal Jordan’s wedding – and Bruce and Diana are already hitched – maybe to each other? Luthor fighting the trinity over Connor’s death; Clark mourning Pa Kent – and sealing up the tunnel from his room to the edge of Smallville (hey, wasn’t that pre-Crisis Superboy’s tunnel? Interesting…); Diana giving up her immortality to be with her man (who isn’t Batman, so who knows?); the Trinity sundered – maybe permanently – following someone’s funeral; the discovery of a second Earth (so Earth-2 take three?); Batman finally dies in a similar way to the Dark Knight Returns? Wow. It’s a hell of a read and a great pre-cursor to the new title. Great stuff.

Manhunter #24 – So-so issue; if Dr Psycho has been on trial and is now apparently powerless OYL, why is he popping up all over the show (Wonder Woman and somewhere else I don’t remember). I’m glad the book is going to get to #30 but I’ll be surprised if it lasts past that…

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #20 – This is a nigh-perfect superhero book but it somehow leaves me a little bit empty sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sticking with it but I’m not quite feeling it at the moment.

Star Wars: Rebellion #4 – Its Star Wars. What’s not to like? Looks like the Tank sub-plot is drawing to a close…and I actually didn’t see that coming with Jorin Sol. Fun book. Although I wish Solo was in it.

Cable and Deadpool #30 – hee hee! Deadpool getting beat by Squirrel Girl! Cable meeting with Cap! And Daredevil….or is it?…with a really cute clue as to his real ID (unless its a fake out):
From Cable & Deadpool a few months back…

and from C&D #30:

Thanks to the guys over at CBR forums!

CIVIL WAR #3 – this is shaping up to be great, and neither the pro or anti sides are coming up smelling like roses; on the anti, Cap zaps Iron Man and on the pro, Iron Man beats Cap severely. Can’t anyone play nice. Best bit in the issue for me was not the return of Thor (although I’d like to know why he’s pro-reg!), but the great characterization of Hercules rushing to Cap’s defence (“Out of my way you filthy traitors!) Plus Cap has a ‘tache in his new secret ID!

CIVIL WAR: X-MEN #1 – the first bum note in CW for me. I didn’t like this much at all, but I’ll get it because I’m lame.

DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON #6 – great end to a great series. I’ll be getting 5 if it carries on in this vein – Colleen and Misty have never been better!

SHE-HULK #8&9 – yes, Chris is posting me #8 first print but I decided to pick up the second print too – and I’m glad I did. Loved seeing Justice and Rage again, plus check-ins on the other warriors, and Shulkie’s marriage to John Jameson was really good fun. I also loved the dinner with Jolly Jonah, too – Slott really has a handle on comic book humor! And finally, I loved Pug’s wishful thinking – and I’m not entirely sure he’s wrong…

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #10 – Wow. In all the fuss over Amazing, I’m fairly sure this book is getting over looked a lot at the moment – and that’s a damn shame; PAD and Ringo have brought back Uncle Ben (not ‘our’ Ben, before you get your knickers in a twist!) and then added more twists – now we have Ben knocking about in the core reality, but its not even clear that its the Ben who was brought here from another reality – confused? Read the issue and you will be!

X-FACTOR #9 – A good week for PAD fans as X-Factor not only confront Quicksilver but also the Astonishing X-Men in a really, really good issue. Madrox’s face-down of Cyclops was classic, as is Madrox’s rescue of Aegis (a New Warrior I never liked from the second crappy series). Add to that X-Factor taking a stand against the registration act, and you’ve got one great issue.

UNCANNY X-MEN #476 – Ed Brubaker’s second ish continues on his strong start, as the team talk with Cyclops and steal a ship. And Warpath – like I said, a character I’ve always liked – is turning into a real star here. Plu, Billy Tan just keeps getting better!

It’s been a pretty strong week (and a big one) for me -but I’ve dropped Flash, Supergirl & LSH needs to pick up, and I’m dubious on the Uncle Sam etc series thanks to Bludhaven.

Time to go see if I can fit them somewhere…