Welcome back to the Marvel Rundown! This week, we take a look at Deadpool #1, the latest ongoing for the marvelous mercenary himself. This review is SPOILER-LITE, so feel free to jump on down to the Rapid Rundown for quick blurbs on Avengers #12, Immortal Thor #9, Sensational She-Hulk #7, and X-Men #33!

What did you think of this week’s batch of fresh Marvel Comics, True Believers? The Beat wants to hear from you! Give us a shout-out, here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat, and let us know what you’re thinking.


Deadpool #1

Deadpool #1

Writer: Cody Ziglar
Artist: Rogê Ântonio
Color Artist: GURU-eFX
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover Artist: Taurin Clarke

The Merc with a Mouth is back… this time with extra sad!

This is a far more serious Deadpool than it we’ve seen lately, likely owing to his (off-page) breakup with his paramour from the previous volume. I can’t say I’ve ever been the biggest fan of a quip-heavy Wade, so this works for me, but I’m interested to see the reaction from more devoted Deadpool diehards. 

In any case, this is a great launch for this newest volume. Cody Ziglar has been killing it in Miles Morales: Spider-Man, and he brings that same energy (and manga references) to this book. Juggling plot points left over from past writers can be difficult, with some writers choosing to completely ignore them and carve out their own narrative entirely from scratch. Ziglar, thankfully, does not do this, opting to keep pieces from Alyssa Wong’s recently wrapped Deadpool series and bringing back Wade’s daughter Ellie, while also introducing Death Grip, a brand new ‘archnemesis.’ In a shared universe like the 616, I always appreciate writers at least trying to wrangle everything together without dropping plot points (though it goes without saying some always fall through the cracks).

Rogê Ântonio is a great fit for this title, juggling excessive gore and smaller moments with ease. The action here is fluid and dynamic, with poses that are truly iconic scattered throughout the book. While it definitely has something to do with Princess (Wade’s symbiote dog-daughter, don’t worry about it), the movement throughout flows from panel to panel, in a way that feels like liquid, bending and twisting in gruesome ways that are perfect for Deadpool. 

Guru-eFX’s colors only help with this, using a dark red for both Deadpool and blood that you can clearly read as being slick on every page of the issue. These colors give fight scenes this grimy tactileness, making them even more violent to look at. Joe Sabino makes this an easy read, deftly placing text in a clear order across incredibly chaotic fight scenes.

Though I enjoyed this book, it’s interesting to point out that this is Deadpool’s fourth ongoing title in five years. Whether that’s due to sales or a changing marketplace is beyond me, but it’s strange to me that a mega popular character starring in their third movie has bounced between titles for so long (see Ms. Marvel for another interesting example of this). 

In any case, Ziglar and Ântonio seem well equipped to handle this series, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes next, with the hope that this can go the distance.

Verdict: BUY


Rapid Rundown!

  • The Avengers #12
    • Every once in a while team-up books are called upon for the dreaded tie-in chapter to a line-wide event. This is one such tie-in chapter, but it couldn’t have come sooner as The Avengers just wrapped up their second arc in anticipation of this, the Fall of the House of X. This confluence of narrative threads could prove damning for readers failing to keep lockstep with all the titles involved outside of The Avengers. Helping us navigate these event tie-in waters is Jed MacKay who pens a tale of unstoppable force and penetrable defense as the Avengers take the anti-mutant hate group, Orchis, down laterally. After months of 1v1 matches with Avenger squaring up against yet another evil Avengers foil, the ultra violence leads to liberation instead of posturing for once. That’s great! An Avengers book is a tall task for any artist: there’s multiple characters per panel, huge new diverse environments page after page, and these prerequisites can often limit the storytelling to wide shots with head-and-shoulders conversations and the occasional splash where all 30 characters barely register. The Avengers is a tall task for any artist, but not for Francesco Mortarino. With color artist Federico Blee painting multiple stages of shading and highlight, the compositional focus could very easily tip chaotically into a visual mess, but thanks to Mortarino’s tight multi-character compositions, the result is a breezy, exhilarating ride. One ride that wouldn’t sing the way it does without VC’s Cory Petit finding excellent ways to stack balloons atop and across one another into a visual hierarchy that doesn’t sacrifice aesthetic nor function. For me, Avengers #12 is the rare tie-in that reminds me of just how fine Marvel’s Finest truly are. — BQ

Next week: The rip-roaring return of the master of magentism in Resurrection of Magneto #4!

1 COMMENT

  1. I’m not a “devoted Deadpool diehard” like you asked for in your review but the best Deadpool writers are the ones who recognize that, at heart, Deadpool is lonely, depressed, and somewhat suicidal (also, he loves kids and kids love him). His quipping to hide the pain and his need for validation and acceptance (e.g. his excitement when getting to join any X-Men or Avengers teams) are pretty key to making him more than a one-note character. Both Daniel Way and Gerry Duggan were terrific at adding on this extra layer of characterization that many others miss. I went into this new series with middling expectations but found that Zigler seems to “get it”. I hope it keeps up.

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