Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2

By Victor Gischler (Writer), Bong Dazo (Pencils), Jose Pimentel (Inks), and Matt Milla (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The first issue of Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth wasn’t anything special. That said, it’s kind of cool to have a Deadpool series that’s disconnected from the current Marvel Universe because the character is generally, pretty fun to read about. I do worry about Deadpool fatigue kicking in though….

The Story: Deadpool and the blonde agent find a way to escape their primitive captors. As for the severed Deadpool head? It tells its origin story.

What’s Good: Because of the “no spoiler” policy we have here at the site, I, unfortunately, can’t exactly tell you the best part about Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2. I can, however, say that it involves a rather surprising twist to the origin story of the severed Deadpool head. It makes a strange sort of sense and, to be honest, I dig it quite a bit.

On a technical level, the second issue of Merc with a Mouth is rock solid. As I said in my review of the first Merc issue, Bong Dazo is a great fit for a Deadpool series. His exaggerated, cartoony style does a great job of bringing Wade’s take on things to life. In addition, Dazo handles the various action scenes quite well. The dinosaur fight is very cool, as is the violent escape from the Savage Land headhunters. As for Victor Gischler, thanks to the story and the writing, it’s clear that he “gets” what makes Deadpool so appealing. And quite frankly, that’s really all I ask for in a book like Merc with a Mouth #2. The back and forth dialogue the mercenary has with himself (and the severed head) is quite humorous throughout the book, the storyline is suitably bizarre, and the plot twist is delightfully…uh…twisted.

What’s Not So Good: For as fun as the second Merc with a Mouth issue is, there’s no escaping the feeling that it occasionally tries too hard. From the over-sexualized blonde to the nonstop attempts at humor (not to mention the addition of ANOTHER Deadpool), the new Deadpool series lacks the charm of the Daniel Way series that manages to impress me almost every month. Merc with a Mouth certainly proves that there’s room for two Deadpool books if they are both handled correctly, but why buy both when one of them is clearly better?

Conclusion: There’s a lot of fun to be had with Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #2, but it’s far from a “must read” book. That said, it’s a fairly light week so it’s not a bad pickup if your comic stack is feeling a bit light.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Marvel Zombies 3 #2 (of 4) – Review

By Fred Van Lente, Kev Walker, Jean-Francois Beaulieu

The Story: Machine Man and Jocasta enter the Marvel Zombie Universe in an attempt to find a cure for the zombie manifestation. Here, they tackle what’s left of the zombie populace in the New York area while discovering a lone survivor who’s been kept alive (and well) by no other than Wilson Fisk!

28 Days Later: The story is definitely getting better. It’s not the silly over-the-top madness that was Robert Kirkman’s epic, but there’s some genuine weight put into the storyline (no pun intended) when we find out why The Kingpin’s got his lackeys running around for edible food (cat food, no less). The cultivation of humans as food is also a nice plot twist – not to mention, disturbing. Lastly, the emphasis on the villains is a nice touch – something we didn’t see a lot of in the previous series.

Resident Evil 2: With eight hours given to find a human specimen, these two robots sure spend a lot of time bickering about robotic nonsense. Machine Man’s idiotic move to pick a fight at the end of the issue is not only illogical, but completely unnecessary as well. The logic that a human from the Zombie Universe carries the cure rather than a human from the Marvel 616 Universe sounds a bit silly.

Conclusion: Yes, this story’s improving but it’s hampered with stupid decisions and annoying diatribes. If Fred Van Lente’s trying to make me hate Machine Man, he’s succeeding. And what’s going on with Morbius? Other than being briefly mentioned his plotline isn’t even touched upon in this issue.

Grade: C+

– J. Montes

Marvel Zombies 2 #5 (of 5) – Review

By Robert Kirkman (writer), Sean Phillips (art), June Chung (color)

It looks like the whole zombie craze has finally come to an end. Granted, The Walking Dead has always been a good read, but I blame the first Marvel Zombies mini-series for stirring up all the trouble. Robert Kirkman’s take on the an alternate Marvel Universe was fresh, silly, and grotesque. It took a couple of issues to find its audience, but after it did, Marvel Zombies became the runaway hit of 2006.

Its sequel, Marvel Zombies 2, builds upon this new franchise, but sadly fails to capture the allure that made its predecessor so successful. Perhaps it’s the initial novelty that’s worn off, or maybe it’s the lack of a true adversary within the story. Whatever it is, it’s just not as fun. But that’s not to say Marvel Zombies 2 is bad. It’s still a fun book! I think the problem most people had with this sequel is that it actually had more of a story than the original.

Well, after four issues of story and setups, Kirkman unloads everything on this final issue. Characters die, conspiracies are revealed, and we even get a mini-version of World War Hulk! What’s also nice is we get an honest resolution to the story. Sure, the way Kirkman writes the ending leaves it open to another sequel, but even if it never happens, the story, more or less, is complete. And you won’t believe who the real monster of this book is!

As much as I love the “Thor versus Silver Surfer” cover, Arthur Sudyam’s homage covers have become stale. If they were relevant to the story, I’d probably enjoy it more, but they’ve become so tired and gimmicky. Sean Phillips’s artwork is brutal. The stuff he does with Hulk’s rampage on Iron Man and Phoenix ain’t pretty.

If you’ve been largely unsatisfied with this series like many of my friends, issue #5 will most likely satisfy you. Me? I loved every single issue. Kirkman could haven taken the easy way out, giving us more of the same. But he didn’t. Instead, with Marvel Zombies 2, we got a worthy follow-up that tried to do something different. He also got us to care about these zombies! And that’s to be commended. (Grade: B+)

– J. Montes

Marvel Zombies #4 (of 5) – Review

By: Robert Kirkman (Writer), Sean Phillips (Pencils)

Marvel Zombies 2 has been a good follow up to its predecessor, but it’s been missing a lot of the crude humor that made the first one so much fun. Granted, this sequel is more story driven, but the humor has been spotty at best.

Not anymore! Marvel Zombies 2 #5 actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times. And it just made me realize why I loved the first series so much. Black Panther’s son was pronounced brain dead last issue, but Forge being the genius he is, grafted Colonel America’s brain to his body! In what can be described as a hilarious Frankenstein (or broken toy) moment, Colonel runs around spouting famous lines like, “Avengers Assemble” and “This ends now!”. Spidey’s reaction to this is just priceless. Kirkman proves that he’s still got it.

Compared to earlier issues in this run, not much is accomplished in this one, but the funny dialogue more than makes up for it. Also, the zombies finally start their *real* civil war – and there are casualties! Bring on issue #5. (Grade: B)

-J. Montes