The Merc With a Mouth hands the reigns over to you the reader in this “Choose Your Own Adventure” style story that involves dice, scoresheets, and a whole lot of Chaotic Sass. Join us as we review “You Are Deadpool” #1, which contains mild spoilers.
Written by Al Ewing
Illustrated by Salva Espin
Colored by Guru-eFX
Lettered by VC’s Joe SabinoDID YOU EVER WANT TO BE DEADPOOL??? Now’s your chance! This weekly series is not JUST the most amazing comic book you’ve ever read…it’s also a role-playing adventure! YOU decide what choices Deadpool makes! YOU keep track of your scores issue by issue! YOU roll dice to combat various foes! Travel through Marvel history as Deadpool to meet Hulk in the swinging ’60s! To smell Man-Thing in the swampy ’70s! To be ‘seen’ by Daredevil in the hard-boiled ’80s! And avoid the many BAD ENDINGS you could fall into…or suffer the consequences!
How do you even begin to review a book like “You Are Deadpool?” Well, it certainly seems easier than having to plot a book that not only hinges on the reader making the decisions for you, but throws in real world elements like dice rolls, mini-games and more, all while providing a unique and hilarious narrative that is somehow paced perfectly.
Let’s start with that last observation and unpack it a little (this issue doesn’t follow any particular order, so why should I?). Writer Al Ewing has two things to juggle with, when it comes to pacing. Firstly, it’s the branching decision tree that plays out and extends as the story progresses and which is largely unseen by a reader who’s playing along with the flow of the story. Secondly, however (and this is a level that standard Choose Your Own Adventure stories don’t have to contend with), Ewing has to consider the order that the decisions will be placed throughout the issue, as well as their placement on the page, knowing full well that readers will see the whole page when they start reading, regardless of what decisions they make.
The best example of this is during the “tutorial.” Deadpool, already a master of breaking the fourth wall, takes you through the basic rules over the first six pages or so. For the most part it’s fairly linear, or rather, the flow of decisions moves linearly as you’d expect a standard comic book to work. On page two, however, Ewing inserts a panel that’s not only completely out of order from the rest of the page, but depicts a point in the story much later in the issue, and is sort of a spoiler (but not really). It is, however, unavoidably readable, and Ewing knows this, turning the standard conventions of a branching narrative into a structural joke that works flawlessly. Deadpool even comments on the odd structural decisions happening around him (because of course he does), which only adds to the comedy. If that’s not enough to make your head spin, there’s another layer to the joke, and that’s to highlight and provide an example of what and what not to do in order to play the game. This issue is bonkers.
Not content with being just a humorous riff on Choose Your Own Adventure, “You Are Deadpool” is also a very basic Role Playing Game, akin to the old Fighting Fantasy books, in which you use a dice, and have stats that you have to keep track of as the game progresses. Deadpool provides you with a dice that you can cut out of the issue and make yourself, even providing a funny image on the reverse that only gets funnier once you decide to slice up your comic (wonder how many people will actually do that?). There’s also a mini-game about half way through the issue, and on the final page the “badness” and “sadness” scores influence the choice you have to make moving forward too. There’s a lot going on in this issue.
Artist Salva Espin has a lot to juggle with here, especially with regards to the gameplay elements on display. Espin is able to depict Deadpool’s facial expressions surprisingly well under the mask, and the exaggerated forms only serve to underline the comedy in the script. Espin also depicts a pretty accurate Kieron Gillen during the tutorial. Yes, you read that right, “Young Avengers” and “Wicked + Divine” writer Kieron Gillen makes a guest appearance.
Continued belowWhile the structure of “You Are Deadpool” and, to a large degree the pacing, is down to Ewing, Espin ensures that the right comedic beats are hit throughout the issue. Deadpool falling through an interdimensional time paradox is depicted with suitably over the top flair, and Espin depicts everything from a kitchen table to an enemy compound with a level of detail that draws you into the plot. Otherwise, it’s pretty standard superhero fare here, and if anything the demands of the format mean that Espin doesn’t have the luxury of exploring the page as much as other artists of the genre do, forced to restrict what’s going on into panels that are largely interchangeable based on the decisions of the reader, so considering those restrictions this issue fires on all cylinders as far as art goes.
Overall, “You Are Deadpool” #1 sets itself some pretty difficult tasks, and luckily it succeeds on all counts. All of the previously mentioned structural challenges aside, Ewing and co have to also ensure that this issue works as an individual unit as well as working as part of the inevitable trade. The explanation as to how readers move forward with these weekly issues does show the compromises that have had to be made in order for it to work for both markets, but at least the swift schedule makes up for that to some degree. How this would work, or even if it would work on a Guided View platform is unclear, but for a book that leaves the decision making to the reader while also tightly controlling pacing and hilarious, “this could only work in comics” humour, “You Are Deadpool” is a roaring success.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – A clever, funny, and highly entertaining issue with plenty of reasons to read it over and over again.
