Wolverine and the X-Men #42 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer); Nick Bradshaw, Pepe Larraz, Ramon Perez, Shawn Crystal, Steve Sanders, Nuno Alves, Tim Townsend, & Chris Bachalo (artists); Matt Milla & Lee Loughridge (color artists)

The Story: It’s graduation day for the Jean Grey School and Quentin Quire is in for a reckoning that’s been building all semester.

The Review: It’s been a long strange road for this series, but it’s finally over.

For this capstone story Jason Aaron returns us to the Jean Grey School of the future from WatXM #29. As the mutants of Earth-616 prepare for graduation, a tired old Logan prepares to shut down the school on Earth-13729.

Aaron, in no uncertain terms, focuses this story around the three most important characters of his run: Logan, Idie Okonkwo, and Quentin Quire. When the Jean Grey School opened, each one of them entered with blood on their hands. The struggle for each has not been to atone for past deeds, but rather to redefine themselves so that they have a future going forward.

Idie definitely gets the short end of the stick in terms of billing, but she’s actually one of the best characters in this issue. Both as her present self and as a confidant X-Man of the future, Idie shows drastic change from the beginning of the series. While I wish this transition had been more of a gradual process than a couple of off-screen leaps, the character that Idie has become is absolutely lovely. Her simple dialogue with Quire and Future Logan is probably some of the best work that Aaron has done with a female character over the whole of the run and makes her relationships with Logan and Quire feel real and substantial.

Meanwhile Quentin is dealing, or perhaps not dealing, with the fact that the Jean Grey School has changed him. Like a less flamboyant Stewie Griffin, he longs for the days when the mere thought of his dastardly plans made the hair stand up on Cyclops, Captain America, and Wolverine’s necks.  What Aaron fails to bring in reality, he certainly provides in humor and heart.

Fantomex Max #1 – Review

by Andrew Hope (Writer), Shawn Crystal (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist)

The Story: Fantomex makes a lot of trouble, which means some people have to stop him at all cost.

The Review: The Max impring of Marvel comics is a bit of an interesting conundrum. Having seen some very potent work from authors like Garth Ennis, it allowed authors to tell story featuring materials that weren’t necessarily suited for massive audiences. Series like Punisher Max and Fury Max got out, dealing with a lot of harsh subjects of life throughout the explosive violence and the huge number of swear words. However, not all series managed to have the same complex views on mature subjects, as some saw the possibility of mature subjects as an excuse to be as nonchalantly violent and shocking as possible. With Fantomex getting the Max treatment, on which side of the fence does his series is sitting currently?

It is to my utter disappointment to see that the latter seems to be much closer to the reality presented by this series than the former, as the first issue of Fantomex Max reads much more like a series trying to pass itself as being mature than being actually relevant with whichever themes it’s trying to present.

One of the most obvious aspects that shows how much the author is striving for the ”mature” audience would be the over-reliance of swear words by the vast majority of its cast, as there is not a single page where profanities aren’t used at least once. The constant cursing isn’t exactly the worst part of the problem, though, as the dialogue is clumsy at best, with constant expositions ungracefully thrown at the readers constantly and several lines that truly do lack in subtlety.

Deadpool #900 – Review

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Deadpool stories by some of my favorite writers?! Needless to say, I have some pretty high expectations for Deadpool #900.

“Close Encounters of the F*cked-up Kind”

By Jason Aaron (Writer), Chris Staggs (Pencils), Juan Vlasco (Inks), and Marte Gracia (Colors)

The Story: Aliens abduct Deadpool. You probably know what happens next.

The Good And The Bad: “Close Encounters of the F*cked-up Kind” is a basic, predictable “aliens abduct someone they can’t handle” story. Regardless though, it still manages to be pretty fun. Chris Staggs’s pencil work, while a bit rough, is mostly impressive and compares favorably to Paco Medina’s work on the ongoing series. Jason Aaron’s dialogue is humorously immature at times, but it works well enough and fits the story.

Grade: C+

“Silent but Deadly”

By Fred Van Lente (Writer) and Dalibor Talajic (Artist)

The Story: Deadpool fights a trio of mimes.

The Good And The Bad: While there isn’t a whole lot of dialogue, Fred Van Lente’s story about mimes that have the power to make their miming actions a reality is one of the best things about Deadpool #900. Artist Dalibor Talajic does almost all of the hard work and definitely does Van Lente’s script justice. Talajic’s art tells the story extremely well, though a few panels are a bit hard to follow because of how the powers being used work. A sword fight without swords cannot be an easy thing to draw, so I give all the credit in the world to Talajic for making the scene work far better than it has any right to.

Grade: B

“Shrunken Master”

By Mike Benson (Writer), Damion Scott (Artist), and Lee Loughridge (Colors)

The Story: Deadpool sees a shrink in order to work through some issues.

The Good And The Bad: Mike Benson’s Deadpool story is definitely the oddest one of the bunch. It’s dark, surprisingly serious, a bit psychological, and somewhere between gritty and surreal (not to mention very “indie”) visually. Personally, I think it’s compelling and very well executed. That said, there’s no question it seems a bit out of place among the lighter stuff in Deadpool #900. One thing’s for sure though: Damion Scott and Lee Loughridge make a great team.

Grade: B+

“Pinky Swear”

By Joe Kelly (Writer) and Rob Liefeld (Artist)

The Story: Deadpool looks to cash in on a bet.

The Good And The Bad: I’m not going to bother with the debate about Rob Liefeld’s art style. Why? Because his work for “Pinky Swear” sure as hell isn’t going to change any minds. As for the story, Joe Kelly does a nice job of delaying the whole point of the story for comedic effect. Had the story been even a page longer though, I probably would have lost my patience with the whole thing. Kelly’s dialogue is funny, but the story drags on for longer than it should.

Grade: C

“What Happens in Vegas…”

By Duane Swierczynski (Writer), Shawn Crystal (Artist), and Lee Loughridge (Colors)

The Story: A crime scene investigation… Deadpool style.

The Good And The Bad: In order to get the most out of Duane Swierczynski’s Deadpool story, you have to have some familiarity with the whole crime scene T.V. show fad. If you do, you’ll probably find Swierczynski’s script to be pretty damned funny. Stereotypical investigators, talk of sex crimes, a bloody crime scene…it’s all there. It wouldn’t work nearly as well if Shawn Crystal’s artwork didn’t capture the vibe of Swierczynski’s script, but, thankfully, it does in every way.

Grade: C+

“Great Balls of Thunder on the Deep Blue Sea”

By Victor Gischler (Writer), Sanford Greene (Pencils), Nathan Massengill (Inks), and Dave McCaig (Colors)

The Story: Deadpool goes on a cruise and disrupts Dr. Octopus.

The Good And The Bad: While the bright and colorful artwork by Sanford Green and his team is a bit jarring, it’s certainly not bad in any way. It gets the job done and helps make “Great Balls of Thunder on the Deep Blue Sea” one of the more enjoyable reads in Deadpool #900. Victor Gischler’s script is nothing special, but it definitely makes good use of the Doc’s arms.

Grade: C+

“One Down”

By Charlie Houston (Writer) and Kyle Baker (Artist)

The Story: A “meta” Deadpool story in which the character wonders about his life.

The Good And The Bad: “One Down” is a pretty trippy story all around. From Kyle Baker’s bizarre visuals (Deadpool Vs. a pirate Fin Fang Foom anyone?) to Charlie Houston’s “meta” script, nearly everything about “One Down” is strange. It works, but the story certainly isn’t for everyone.

Grade: B-

“Deadpool & Widdle Wade: Turning Japanese”

By James Felder (Writer), Pete Woods (Pencils), Walden Wong (Inks), and Shannon Blanchard (Colors)

The Story: A reprint of an older Deadpool story, “Deadpool & Widdle Wade” is the largest story in Deadpool #900. It’s about Deadpool dealing with a Japanese mobsters Deadpool clone.

The Good And The Bad: I’m a bit torn about “Deadpool & Widdle Wade.” On one hand, it’s creatively decent and pretty fun all around. On the other, it’s a reprint that’s taking up space that could have been used on other new Deadpool stories.

Grade: C

Conclusion: Deadpool #900 is a great value, but none of the stories in the book fall under the “must read” category. Pick it up if you are a fan of the character.

Overall Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Deadpool #14 – Review

By Daniel Way (Writer), Shawn Crystal (Pencils), John Lucas (Inks), and Lee Loughridge (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Piratepool brought the funny last issue. I’m assuming that he’ll do the same in Deadpool #14.

The Story: Deadpool, his parrot (Hydra Bob), and his “blind pirate wench” face off against the pirate known as Wackbeard.

What’s Good: In Deadpool #14, as he did in the first Piratepool issue of Deadpool, Daniel Way finds a way to strike a nice balance between the clever and the obvious as far as the whole pirate thing goes. On the one side, you have stuff like Wackbeard mentioning just how much of Deadpool’s pirate obsession is the result of watching too many movies. On the other side, you have jokes about using a plunger for a peg leg. The back and forth between the two types of humor makes the latest issue of Deadpool an enjoyable read that really takes advantage of the whole pirate theme. Another thing that Way scores points for is the way he manages to bring Deadpool’s ridiculousness full circle in a way that makes the conclusion of the pirate arc a bit more satisfying than you might imagine.

The artwork by Shawn Crystal, while a bit rough (which I’ll get to), gives Way’s story an indie look that’s rather fitting. I mean, let’s face it, Deadpool rarely feels like the fairly high profile book that it’s become anyways. From Hydra Bob the (impressively expressive) parrot to Wackbeard and his crew, Crystal’s work captures the spirit of what makes Deadpool so much fun.

What’s Not So Good: While Crystal’s work does justice to Way’s script, I’m still a bit hung up on how much I miss the slick, polished work of Paco Medina and his crew. Since Crystal started handling Deadpool, the series went from being one of the best looking to one that just looks somewhere between decent and good. That said, I won’t mind if Crystal sticks around because his style definitely has a certain charm that works.

Conclusion: Deadpool #14 delivers pretty much everything someone could ask for in a comic about the Merc with a Mouth. It’s funny, it’s a bit silly, it’s action scenes are pretty cool (and suitably violent), and it tells a story that could only really work with Deadpool as the lead character.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Deadpool #13 – Review

By Daniel Way (Writer), Shawn Crystal (Pencils & Inks), John Lucas (Inks), and Lee Loughridge (Colors)

The Story: After sinking a nuclear sub that he didn’t know was a sub, Deadpool buys a new boat with all the money he got as a result of the last arc. A new boat means that Deadpool needs a crew. It also means that Wade finally gets to live out his dream of being a pirate…

What’s Good: As expected, Daniel Way’s dry sense of humor and “just go for it” mentality makes Deadpool #13 one hell of a funny read. From the humorous set up to the repeated use of Hydra Bob’s name (“Damn it, Bob” or “Never ask me a question like that again, Bob”), nearly every page of the latest issue of Deadpool goes for a laugh either through a goofy situation or a line of dialogue. Now not only does the new Deadpool bring the funny, it also sets up a pretty entertaining story about Wade defending a resort island against real pirates. Sure it’s not the deepest or most epic plot, but there’s a whole lot of potential for stuff that could only happen in a pirate-themed Deadpool book. I like that.

What’s Not So Good: While Shawn Crystal’s artwork certainly gets the job done (it’s got a lot of personality and the right type of goofy flavor), it’s hard not to compare it to the work that had been done by Paco Medina and his team. Simply put, Paco Medina and his team made Deadpool one of the best looking comics on the stands. Without Medina and his crew working on the book, the Deadpool series loses part of what has made it kick so much ass for the majority of its current run.

Conclusion: Do you like Deadpool? Do you like Pirates? If you answered yes to one or both of those questions, then be sure to pick up the latest issue of Deadpool. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny