Spider-Man/Deadpool #1 Review

 

“i Had this costume way before [you]”

Spider-Man/Deadpool 1#

Writer : Joe Kelly

Artist Ed McGuiness

Inker Mike Morales

Colorist Jason Keith

letterer VC’s Joe Sabino

 

Peter Parker, the wiser cracker in the red spandex, has become famous , wealthy and a CEO overnight. Wade Wilson, the wiser cracker in the red spandex , has become famous, wealthy and a CEO overnight. With so much in common these days it was only inevitable that Deadpool would seek out Spider-man. Deadpool does love Spider-man after all … only problem is Spider-Man HATES Deadpool . I’m sure Peter was pissed when this miniseries got bumped to an ongoing. So will we love the title like Wade would, or be annoyed by it like Peter… let’s find out…

 

Plot : Isn’t it Bromantic Part 1

Wade Wilson AKA Deadpool is going through a moral crisis. He has recently become a Family man , the CEO of Mercs for Money and replaced Tony Stark as the man funding the Avengers.

One Person who does not think Wade has what it takes is Peter Parker. Leading Spider-man to quits the Avengers in protest to Deadpool being appointed as a member.

Deadpool sets out to win over Spider-man (and possibly recruit him away from Parker Industries and to Mercs for Money ). He interrupts Spider-man’s battle to stop Hydro Man’s scheme to flood New York with sewage and “BAMFs” him away to the fiery planes of Dormammu to show Spider-man his “amazing” skills and leadership during a Avengers level threat (even if it was all orchestrated by Wade to show off for Spider-man ) . Upon returning to  earth things have escalated, Spider-man has to act and think quickly to stop giant sewer water Hydro Man by blowing him up the methane from inside with deadpool. Post-battle Deadpool reveals to Spider-man he is trying to better a superhero but lacks that “Moral core” and feels if he could just spend some time with Spidey he would learn some “responsibility “. Spidey rejects the offer and swings away (though guilt tripping in his head about if he did the right thing) Deadpool realizes that he won’t get quality time with spider-man while he works for his buddy Peter Parker at Parker Industries. So in his sick head only thing he can do to become a better hero and hang out more with spidey is to Kill Peter Parker.

Thoughts

Spider-man and the Human torch , Spider-man and Venom , Spider-man and Wolverine . Marvel has flirted with all these ideas but none have made it to an Ongoing series. Spider-man and Deadpool have interacted a small amount in the past (quite literally in Deadpool 11# (97) by this books scribe Joe Kelly ). They are however not the most iconic comic book partnership.

I have a feeling this title is one Marvel editorial wanted. Their job is to make money. Joe Kelly has said this title was pitched to him by Nick Lowe, he did not create the idea. So i can see Marvel wanting to take its longest running fan favourite character and put him with its new hot fan favourite character.

 

Where we got lucky however is the this book seemed to end up in the right creator’s hands of Joe Kelly and Ed Mcguiness. This team is the legendary team that put Deadpool on the map back in 97 with his first Ongoing and launched their own careers off it at the same time. Joe Kelly has touched Spider-man in the past at points. Most notably the Rhino arc and American Son during brand new day. As well as being part of the producing team behind Ultimate Spider-man tv show. Ed McGuiness has not really touched a main spidey title before which is surprising for such an Iconic artist. but he have seen his spidey in things like the jeph loeb hulk run

 

The creators waste no time getting out of the gate here. We open the book right in the middle of all the main action. Now it’s a cliche in modern comics currently to open a book this way and flash to the story of how this came about later but i give it a pass here as this sets the tone of the book right from the start. 1) epic in action 2) Spider-man deadpool relationship established from page one 3) humour . if you don’t like the first scene this book will not be for you. The other reason i don’t mind it is that it gets resolved in this issue. Some books take months to get us back to that opening and by then you have forgotten all about it.

 

This is a humour title to a point so the dialog and Banter has to be strong. Personally i found the book funny but comedy is such a subjective thing its very hard to review and i think it will be the toughest part of Joe’s writing on the book is maintaining that level humour. My big fear with this book was that Peter’s voice would be lost in a sea of yellow word balloons. Deadpool has such a strong voice it’s hard for him not to steal scenes. I am happy to report Spidey gets his share of funny lines here . I enjoyed a scene where Spidey is annoyed when he realized he made the same joke as deadpool when fighting Hydro man . There was another nice moment when spidey rubs it in that deadpool missed a great opportunity to make a “No 2 joke”.

The other thing i liked about this title was the fact that even though this is in current continuity it was not bogged down by any of it. Aside from some mentioned lines here and there,  this is the basic core characters of Spidey and Deadpool. You don’t have to be reading Amazing  or Deadpool solo to follow this. Even colorist Jason Keith played in on this by not making Petes chest spider glow. ( I for one appreciated it )

 

For me the issue shines in the quiet moment near the end when Wade shares his reasoning behind turning up when he did, He has this big responsibility but he doesn’t know how to handle it and is turning to spidey for help . For me that’s what makes this pairing so interesting, I have said for years Deadpool in a lot of ways is what Peter Parker would be  without growing up with Uncle ben or May. Wade is flawed and he let the world get to him and he forsoke responsibility. Now he is trying to grasp his way to being more morally responsible who better to teach it than Peter. … But sometimes you can’t save a drowning man and he will just drag you down with him . Joe Kelly is really playing with that theme here.

 

Ed’s art here is stunning.  This is a different Ed than the iconic one we are used to. Gone seem to be the bulky frames as his style evolves but he does capture the core look of the characters. One thing i love that he does with spidey is that the eyes on the mask will change with Pete’s emotion to express , while that may not be anything new , he uses different past artists styles of eyes from over the years (ie for squinting its 1st appearance Ditko style , for shocked it’s Mcfarlane eyes , neutral its romita eyes ) . Sequential flow of the art layout is top notch . Made only more impressive by the harder humourous timing of the book . Ed alsos adds his own little jokes in the art , Names on Wade’s guns , or Deadpool trying to open his pouch with blown up hand .

 

Not to saying this issue didn’t have its con’s. The actual manner of stopping Hydro man  just by exploding him with grenades was weak , and though Peter knew it wouldn’t kill Deadpool he does a lot of damage to the guy at points and almost seems to enjoy inflicting pain (even though anything down will heal ) which seemed a bit out of character for one of the few books getting Peter right .

This was a Great first issue for a book that honestly being a “cash in” created title shouldn’t be this good. No matter the roots of what got this title the greenlight i do feel this was a fresh book with passionate creators behind it and i’m excited to see where it goes. we have had Mrs Deadpool / Anna maria hinted at. Could we get Spider-man 2099 / Deadpool 2099 , Superior Spider-man / Madcap Deadpool . Also if i am being frank , its great to have a Spider-man comic that stars Peter were it feels like the actual Spider-man i picture when i think of how that character would act being represented in comics again. This first book definitely has me excited to try the next

 

Rating is a Solid B+

Correction. Deadpool was hired by Patient Zero to kill Peter, above was my own interpritation upon misreading. thanks to Jason for pointing this out  -Eddie