Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my incredibly delayed review of the final instalment of Deadpool Kills Deadpool! I honestly don't know why on earth it's taken me so long to finish this, but it's finally done and I'm sorry for the wait! Prepare to see Deadpool like you've never seen him before, as Sharkpool, Duckpool and...Grootpool!
Synopsis:
Picking up where the last issue left off, Deadpool & Pandapool engage in battle with the Deadpool versions of M.O.D.O.K, Howard the Duck and Devil Dinosaur, defeating and killing them in a surprisingly short amount of time (at least Deadpool didn't keep Duckpool as a snack for later...or did he?).
With their villainous counterparts dispatched and disintegrated, the two interrupt the fanboy Watcher from a fourth-wall-breaking speech. Deadpool comments that the multiverse has a twisted sense of humour with the kinds of characters he is in other universes, but the Watcher offers an alternate theory. If Deadpool is really the progenitor of all things, then perhaps Dreadpool is creating these alternate versions to bolster his ranks. Wade refuses to believe this though, remarking that he's only good for one thing, "killing chumps". The Watcher then prepares to re-power the Nexus of all realities, which will unfortunately require him to sacrifice himself. Before dying, he urges Wade to save all of creation...and kick his own ass!
With the Watcher now gone, Deadpool & Pandapool enter the Nexus, arriving at the reality in which Dreadpool resides...with an army of rogue Deadpool as their greeting party. It's not the end for our hero and his animalistic counterpart however, as the army is suddenly shot to pieces around them by several "heroic" Pool's, including Grootpool, Knightpool & Squirrelpool. Not wanting to waste any more time, Deadpool demands that they cut to the action montage, which is exactly what we get.
As Deadpool and his good "selves" cut through the bad ones, the members of the group are whittled down, one by one (even Pandapool *sob*.), until only Deadpool is left standing to confront the instigator of this mass suicide...Dreadpool! The two remaining versions of Wade Wilson battle, with Dreadpool attempting to convince his other self about how they are all slaves to "the continuity". Deadpool responds with a question. If they really are the source of everything, then why don't they just fix the universe instead of trying to kill it? Dreadpool answers that Wade's subconscious won't let them as he hates himself too much and therefore has created this "hell", whereas Dreadpool embraces the coming oblivion and therefore won't allow himself to regenerate. He then questions how Deadpool's outfit could look so clean and unblemished considering he started this journey with a chainsaw through the gut?
Talking of which, Dreadpool suddenly buckles over, probably due to the large knife in his chest. As Deadpool pulls it free, he asks his evil self a question of his own. Did he stab Dreadpool in the heart while they were wrestling, or did he make the knife appear with his mind? He also tells Dreadpool that just because he can keep himself from healing doesn't mean he controls reality necessarily. It likely just means he's stubborn. While he says this, Dreadpool's chest wound begins to heal, as does his severed hand, as he finally realises with horror the amount of lives he took in an attempt to free them. Deadpool tells him that what's important is that he sees the error of his ways, so in time, he may be able to make amends for what he's done...right before he abruptly slices off Dreadpool's head and douses his body in universal acid. The universe may have forgiven Dreadpool, but Deadpool definitely hasn't.
With his mission complete and now seemingly the last Deadpool in existence, Wade leaves the "Deadpool Tower" (it's better than "the meat church"), contemplating whether there are perhaps more versions of him out there somewhere, as well as how the hell to get back home. As he leaves, a lone figure observes him, stepping out of the shadows to reveal itself as a fused Evil Deadpool and Gimppool, who remarks that he needs to think of something really evil to inflict on his heroic counterpart next...
Thoughts:
After such a crazy, madcap, multiversal and hilarious adventure, there was always the potential for this to go out with more of a whimper than a bang. But thankfully, Cullen Bunn delivers the latter. There's plenty of violence and humour as well as a thoughtful quandary (I like using that word) posed about the "progenitor" concept.
One of the things Bunn does very well is how he uses Deadpool's fourth-wall-breaking ability in service of the plot in addition to the jokes. The self-aware action montage, while being fun with a capital F, is also a smart way of cutting through any action that might bog down the narrative. That way we can literally "cut" to the real meat of the issue. The showdown between Deadpool & Dreadpool is tightly plotted and there's some interesting commentary on the nature of comic book continuity contained within the dialogue, though it's not . But the comic never forgets it's identity as a Deadpool comic, punctuated nicely when Deadpool lops off Dreadpool's head after giving a cheesy speech.
I've mentioned previously that Cullen Bunn's imagination when it comes to conjuring up alternate Deadpool's has been one of the series biggest strengths, but here he puts all his previous efforts to shame (well, Galactipool was pretty awesome), with many of the laugh-out-loud moments being the sheer sight of these Deadpool's. I almost wish there was a There's even a Deadpool modelled after his DC counterpart Deathstroke, though he's kept partially in shadow. Salva Espin maintains his excellent work on the series in this final issue, packing it full of scenes both hilarious and action packed (often all at once), especially during the action montage.
I'm somewhat divided about the ending though. The final twist came out of nowhere and still has me scratching my head, not to mention that it ends teasing the next storyline Cullen Bunn is penning for Deadpool, rather than closing the "Killogy" out in a more meaningful way. That being said, it's possible that Night of the Living Deadpool will directly follow on from this and perhaps explain Evil Gimppool, so it's difficult to consider these as actual plot holes when there's potentially more to come. On the more positive end of the spectrum, after all the bloodshed and the nihilistic philosophy of Dreadpool, ending this mini on a more optimistic note is very much appreciated. To quote the Eleventh Doctor (or Twelfth, or Thirteenth? I can't keep it straight anymore thanks to Moffat!) "There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other". It's totally plausible that there are still some other Deadpool's out there somewhere in the vast tapestry that is the multiverse and hopefully we will see them in the future. Cullen Bunn & Salva Espin have crafted a hilarious, violent and totally insane series with just enough heart in it to make you care about these larger than life versions of the same character, some classic Deadpool humour and some totally bonkers set-pieces...
Score: 4.0/5.0
