Deadpool #25 – Review

by Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writers), Mike Hawthorne (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)

The Story: I suppose that even Deadpool had to learn in some ways that violence doesn’t always solve every problems. Most, but not all of them.

The Review: There seems to be a more seasonal approach to comic book storytelling with the big two in the past few years. With new number ones getting released to indicate a change in volume, a change in paradigm or one in term of creators, many books now emphasize the ever-changing or evolving status quo of their very storylines.

Deadpool by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn is very much in the same boat, yet does not seemingly boast about it more than it actually conclude a particular chapter and then moves on. With many of the subplots relative to certain characters and ideas introduced in the very first arc now done, this issue serves as a rather great conclusion to a certain analysis of the character and what he does great.

Where this issue does a lot of things right is with how Duggan and Posehn handle his relations with the other characters. He might have been a bit unsavory at times, yet how he departs from them, how he actually try to show he can change and make his life happier for their sake is a rather touching moment. With his evolution passing through his ordeals and through his various moments shared with them, the way he acts with Agent Adsit, Agent Preston, Michael and the others is a pretty touching element of the book.

Deadpool #23 – Review

by Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan (Writers), Mike Hawthorne (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)

The Story: I am *&/?$ tired of those (*$?%* Deadpool in my ($*$&% heli-carrier killing my (“*/&$ minions!

The Review: Deadpool is a character that had a particularly strange development as a character, both in-universe and out-of-universe. Starting up as a Deadstroke look-alike, he turned into something completely different after writer Joe Kelly cemented a whole new take on the character, turning him into something relatively unique by the time he had his own ongoing. In turn, this made him popular, which made him appear in many other series, receiving mini-series and other ongoing titles at the peak of his popularity, making him appear everywhere akin to popular characters like Batman, Spider-Man and Wolverine. However, while that was going on, not every portrayal of the character was actually decent or even close to what made the character popular to begin with, leaving him to be a rather unappreciated stain when he had been portrayed as a mix of comedy and misery that made him endearing and likable despite the kookiness of his actions and reactions.

Thankfully, it seems that both Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan do understand just what makes the character decent to begin with, with this issue being a splendid example of why. While this volume had its share of up and down, there is something inherently right in the way they handle the Merc with a Mouth that makes this series a delight for long-time fans.

An area where they excel here, in this particular issue, is the juxtaposition of humor and violence without sacrificing the effect of one over the other. In this issue, Wade Wilson deals with a heli-carrier full of henchmen and does so in a way that is brutal, yet also true to the character and to his development in this series. Through all of this, many of the characters reacts to the action, be it the minions themselves, agent Gorman, Coulson, Preston and Deadpool himself. Fine-tuning a balance between hyper-violence and jokes, both Posehn and Duggan adds a certain levity without diminishing the effects or either elements.