Written by Daniel Way
Illustrated by Bong DazoSpecial Point One issue. START READING with this Point One issue. Deadpool has risen to prominence, thanks to the immense talent of Daniel Way. And if you haven’t been reading Deadpool, now is the time to delve into the Merc With A Mouth’s twisted world! The Wrecker, an immensely powerful psychopath, is on the loose and wreaking havoc. There’s only one person to call…Deadpool!
It seems like Marvel has finally realized that devoting a bunch of comics to a character whose recent surge in popularity was among people that don’t read comics, much less buy them, was a bad idea. Even so, Daniel Way’s Deadpool ongoing is still going strong, with over thirty issues to its name. I stopped reading a while ago, back while Norman Osborn was still doing his best Stark impression, as Way’s work seriously wasn’t cutting it for me. If it has continued to be published for so long, though, I must be missing out on something, right? Follow the cut to find out.
This issue definitely didn’t start out on the right foot for me. The first page is the signature Deadpool-narrated recap page, where he informs the reader of his powers, his personality, what’s going on, yadda yadda yadda. Then, on the very next page, Wade has a bit of expository dialogue with his current employers that… does exactly the same thing. That’s just wasting space, pure and simple. Sure, it’s a minor problem, but I think we can all agree that doing so is a weak way to start off an issue.
Moving on, then. The rest of this issue had the same problems that I had with the book before I stopped paying attention to it: it just isn’t good. Way’s writing isn’t as terrible on this book as some people think it is (that would be his thankfully-canceled Wolverine: Origins), but I can see why people think it is. The problem is, comedy is good, or it isn’t. Sure, some things may make you laugh more than others, but the line between funny and not is pretty stark, which is why a mediocre bit of comedy has trouble maintaining its reputation as mediocre, and not terrible. Daniel Way tries so hard to be funny, but it just doesn’t work, and it’s all in the way he writes the Merc With a Mouth. The reason why the wacky, oh-so-random Deadpool worked so well in Fabian Nicieza’s Cable & Deadpool is because he had the ever-serious Cable to play off of. Without a straight man, the buffoon is just annoying. If Deadpool is to go solo on a title, he needs to be one part clever to one part wacky (see Joe Kelly’s brilliant run). Unfortunately, Daniel Way is about as clever as a brick.
The actual story of this issue really wasn’t that bad, though. The biggest problem with Way’s run (as far as I’ve been able to tell) is that he takes stories that aren’t serious in the slightest, and stretches them out over multiple issues. Even the best comedic comics have difficulty pulling this off without some sort of seriousness thrown into the mix, and as we’ve already established, Way’s Deadpool is hardly the best. In this issue, though, we have a nice little twist that I honestly did not see coming, one that is slightly serious (well, more serious than the rest of the book). Granted, it isn’t the most original twist, and I might just think it’s neat because I’m comparing it to everything else in the comic that… well, isn’t. Still, if Way tried making his arcs more like this, his ongoing might be more bearable. That’s just a might, though.
As part of Marvel’s .1 initiative, though, I can’t say it passes. Yes, it’s a nice little one and done that introduces the character to new readers, but it doesn’t do anything to smooth the transition into an ongoing series. Hell, the ongoing is already in the middle of an arc – as Way points out. Anyone who is swayed by this issue to buy another will be dropped in between chapters of a story, and will be dissuaded from purchasing any more. You can argue that they brought it upon themselves for wanting to read more of this subpar series, but I doubt Marvel would want to look at it that way.
Finally, I still hate the alternating white and yellow boxes. So. Much.
Final Verdict: 4.6 – Eh. Browse, I guess.
