Avenger, Mercenary, Chimichanga Champion!
Deadpool is everywhere. In the 2016 run, Deadpool is the #1 superhero in the world, he’s an avenger and is running his own mercenary company “Deadpool’s Heroes For Hire Mercs For Money” in which he’s hired Madcap, Stingray, Solo, Terror, Slapstick and Foolkiller to dress up as Deadpool and work some jobs, he’s doing so well he has even replaced Tony Stark as the main source of funding for the Avengers.
With Duggan’s Deadpool we’re following a significantly more stable Wade, nobody is tinkering or living in his mind anymore, no multiple speech bubbles, less mistake corpses but the same quick wit and a more subtle fourth wall break. Personally it’s a Deadpool I’m much more fond of, he’s somewhat relatable and a much more complex character than in some previous incarnations. But he’s not without his problems, he has some memory loss due to the whole people tinkering with his mind thing and it leads to some mild insanity but in general he’s more aware of himself and his surroundings.
Duggan does a fairly good and consistent job across each arc, he occasionally goes off the rails a bit and none of the story is particularly groundbreaking but in general each issue pushes the story along at a reasonable rate and the humor/quips/one liners are top notch. As for the artwork, the artists, inkers, colourists etc changes occasionally, as is to be expected and is therefore varied in it’s results, Hawthorne does an exceptional job for the majority of the series and I’m fond of the Pallot/Staples combo who’s ink and coloring work really made the difference for me in the first couple of issues.
Issues 6 and 12 give us a brief wee foray in to Deadpool 2099, a futuristic series where our Deadpool is still alive but is being held hostage by his daughter. She has taken on the deadpool mantle and is causing anarchy on a flying dragon. So far there’s been a lot of color and action so I’m looking forward to seeing how the story progresses.
For my final word, I think Deadpool says it best – “Dang, there’s a lot of stuff in this comic I don’t know. Doesn’t seem fair.” Luckily, Duggan does a lot to bring even new readers up to speed very quickly, introducing characters and concepts when appropriate, glossing over certain things, that if the reader is willing can be found through other comics and provides enough progress to keep more veteran readers entertained.
