Night of the Living Deadpool #2 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of #2 of Night of the Living Deadpool.

Synopsis:

Picking up a few days after the first issue, Deadpool is still in the truck with the band of survivors who picked him up. The group includes a pair of kids, one in fifth grade, the other in third, who are siblings, an old lady who the kids call Granma (because she swears like their grandmother used to), and two soldiers. The first is called Radcliff the one whose been bringing Wade up to speed with events. The second was bitten trying to save one of the kids, but he's being kept on board so he can talk his superiors into letting them out of the QZ. They approach the boundary, but soon find that it didn't hold. Wanting to check for survivors, Deadpool leaves the safety of the truck, with everyone but the old lady and the wounded soldier accompanying him. Wade quickly decides to retreat upon discovering the sheer amount of zombies present. As they head back to the truck, the soldier finally zombifies and crashes through the rear window, killing the old woman. Deadpool shoves them both out and takes the wheel, putting some distance between them and the zombies.

Through a montage we then see Deadpool and gang (whom he affectionately names the Deadpool Scouts) spend the next eight weeks visiting various locations, all of which contain zombies, in order to find a place to hole up. Among the locations (and references to classic zombie movies) are a mall (Dawn of the Dead), a fairground (Zombieland) and a British pub called the Winchester Arms (Shaun of the Dead)  They eventually set up camp in a wood, with no rations save for a single granola bar (that really isn't much).

Later that night, whilst having an amusing dream involving characters from the Archie series, Deadpool is nudged awake by Radcliff, who informs him that the kids have gone. Deadpool draws his sword and declares that they should go bring them back. While searching, they come across a graveyard, which Radcliff spotted earlier when he scouted the perimeter, but thought nothing of since the virus only affects the freshly dead. Upon checking the graves however, Wade finds that they've been freshly disturbed, which causes him to wonder if the virus has mutated. Suddenly they hear a branch snap, as well as the voices of the kids, who tell them that they heard a noise and, thinking it was a rabbit, went after it in order to surprise the two with breakfast, only for the girl to trip and "that's when they got us". The zombified kids then leap out of the shadows, tackling Radcliff and devouring him. In addition, several ancient zombies burst out of the graves, proving Deadpool's theory that the virus has mutated. Deadpool grabs Radcliff's machine gun and takes out the zombies, remarking to the kids that they kind of gave him hope for a while, that they were like family.

As the sun rises, Deadpool leaves the wood, with a noticeable wound on his forearm that heals regardless. Not long afterwards, he crosses the border into West Virginia, where he discovers a village on an island, with very well fortified barricades on the bridges and a large, healthy population of people. As Wade admires this unexpected find he is joined by a gaggle of woman of various ages. One of them (presumably the leader) says to Deadpool that they are travellers just like him, having come from "so far away" simply to lay eyes on this haven. Okay it's not simply that as the woman then all draw weapons out of their handbags, with their matriarch declaring that they are going to burn down the village and slaughter it's inhabitants, prompting a clearly annoyed Deadpool to ask "why does it always have to be nut-jobs?"

Thoughts:

Since he started writing these Deadpool miniseries, Cullen Bunn has excelled at providing both humorous and intriguing satire on the premise of each, to the point where some supposed shortcomings in the plot could very likely be part of that satire. That's very true with this latest issue of Deadpool zompocalypse action, and it's hard not to just take a "wait and see" stance on everything.

The fate of the human survivors Deadpool encountered at the end of #1 wasn't really that surprising, though it does come off as rather rushed since we don't spend enough time with them. Granted they're all zombie survivor archetypes, but that doesn't mean we can't get to know them as characters or see what they fully make of Deadpool. One of the things I do like about the group though is that Bunn makes Wade a competent leader of them, which is a nice subversion of what you'd expect from the character. He still makes fun of them, but you get the sense that he wants to keep these people safe (well, the kids anyway.).

The humour and zombie genre references are still prevalent and funny. I cracked up at Deadpool's reaction to the nut-jobs at the end, as well as his line about actually having to conserve bullets. There was also a funny nod to Archie Comics titular character as well as the montage of Deadpool and his band of survivors visiting locations reminiscent of zombie classics. My favourite was the reference to Shaun of the Dead.

Ramon Rosanas' art is on the same level as last ish, and by that I mean that it's very well detailed, sometimes gruesomely so. Two issues in and this is pretty good stuff, I'm very interested to see where this is all headed now that the darker elements of this premise are starting to set in...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Wolverine #2 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Wolverine #2, guest starring the Not-So-Superior Spider-Man.

Synopsis:

This issue opens several weeks before Logan's fatal shooting of Daily Bugle reporter Monkton, with Otto Octavius, the so-called "Superior Spider-Man", fighting several lackeys of the Goblin King. He's joined by Wolverine, still clad in his old costume. The two wind up getting in each others way however and Logan soon finds a gun in his face. Otto manages to save him after some taunting from the henchman. Logan, briefly shellshocked by how close he came to death just then, says he came to find "Spidey" so they could talk. Otto isn't interested and leaves before Wolverine can finish his sentence. 

Back in the present day, everyone is naturally quite surprised that Logan just shot an innocent man in the head, though he seems pretty non-plussed about it, saying that he couldn't let Monkton feed them to the wolves. An impressed Offer invites Logan into his office, where they talk about how Operation Sabretooth is going (you don't say?). Turns out that Sabretooth has taken over every organised crime network that isn't affiliated with the Green Goblin. Offer plans to start dealing with Sabretooth in order to avoid such a takeover, which is why he gave Logan a job in the first place, since Sabretooth is obsessed with him and will likely agree to Offer's terms simply to find out what Logan is up to. The Reflex was sprung from the space jail as an olive branch to Sabretooth, who the Reflex works for.

Back in the past, Wolverine follows SpOck, who has caught up to the Goblin's henchman. Otto presumes that Wolverine is there on behalf of the Avengers, but Wolvie reveals that he was benched by them, adding that he's thinking of quitting. This throws Ock's focus off for a moment, which allows another thug to point a gun at his head, though Logan quickly dives in and takes the guy out, repaying SpOck earlier.

As the remaining henchman retreat, Otto tells Wolverine that teams get in the way of people dealing with their own problems (uh...what?). Logan replies that he came to "Spidey" for information about Sabretooth, saying that the Goblin and Sabretooth must have cut some sort of deal. SpOck answers that the question is tiresome as it just means that Wolverine is going to go on a lone revenge mission and thump his head against the same wall. When Wolverine tries to argue against this, Otto snaps that he knows Logan better than he knows himself, in fact, everyone does (pity they don't know more about you, then we wouldn't have to listen to your condescending, egoistic drivel, you jumped-up old fart!). Wolverine however just wants the information to share with his teammates.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, Canada, a letter flutters through the breeze towards the New Charles Xavier School for Mutants, specifically at Kitty Pryde, who is sat with her dragon Lockheed by the window. She catches the letter, which is written by Storm to her, asking her to at least speak to Logan as he needs her. Cyclops approaches, asking what the letter is. Kitty responds that it's nothing she wants to deal with right now, before crumpling the letter into a ball.

While hoisting Wolverine up onto a rooftop via webline, "Spider-Man" tells him that being a superhero is like being mad, trying the same thing time after time expecting differing results (well if that's the case then why don't you just quit and make it easier for the lot of us!). He also says that Logan shouldn't expect things to change for himself unless he can change his context, his mode of working, otherwise he'll just wind up getting broken, perhaps fatally this time, if he goes after Sabretooth again.

Wolverine responds that a lot of people thought "Spidey" had gone through some sort of breakdown, though his senses assure him that it's the same man in there. He says that "Spidey's" new approach seems to have worked for him, that it's freed him (I expected better of you Logan!), prompting SpOck to ask if Logan now desires to return to a feral state, to live without rules, to be "superior" to the herd (ugh). Logan replies that he'd like to, but he's confined by who he's with, suggesting he find a new group of people who wouldn't keep looking to him to be something he can't. Otto seems to be more interested however in measuring Wolverine, sarcastically remarking that he should continue with his "fascinating self-examination" (it's better than listening to your textbook narcissism!)

 In the present, Wolverine gets into bed with Pinch, talking about how today was tough, but the right thing to do. He tells her that this is better than how messed up he got, that maybe today was him freeing himself from obligations and honour, and he's glad to be here with her, which he punctuates by kissing her.

Back in the past, Otto says that if he doesn't know of any links between Sabretooth & the Goblin, but if he hears anything, he'll keep it to himself. He does have one thing to say to Wolverine about hanging onto ones own self, to ones purpose, rather than falling into self-hatred and death wishes. To him the answer is simple, just don't fall (Oh the irony!), which he punctuates by throwing Wolverine off the roof...

Thoughts:

In my last review I talked about how I thought that Logan's supposed turnabout as a low-rent supervillain would eventually turn out to be an act. This issue neither debunks or confirms that theory, but there's enough here to justify each. Wolverine going undercover in order to get to Sabretooth would fit in with how the character operates, and Paul Cornell is just careful enough with Logan's dialogue so as to preserve that sense of ambiguity. The fact that Logan is in a relationship with Pinch (whose name I missed last issue, along with the rest of Logan's new team) potentially goes against him being undercover, though this could also be an act to gain their trust, and we still have yet to see what happened between him and Storm in-between the last volume and this. We are treated to a few small, but well handled moments of Logan still adjusting to his new mortal status, which reinforces how alien the concept of being fallible is to him. 

Cornell has a pretty consistent voice for Superior Spider-Man, who has many dickish things to say to Wolverine. Normally I would ask why Wolverine doesn't just punch the guy in the face, but anyone whose read #16 of Avenging Spider-Man will know the reason why, and that was when Logan actually had the use of his healing factor and claws. I do have to question Wolverine's acceptance of "Spidey's" new modus operandi though. There's such a rich history between the two and while they do bicker occasionally, there's an unspoken respect between them. They even became blood brothers in Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine (which by the way is a brilliant story). Like I said before though, Wolverine could just be pretending in order to make his going rogue look legitimate. Whatever the case, I'm interested to see how the inevitable team-up between Wolverine and the Amazing Spider-Man will play out when Peter returns in April. Whether he's being truthful about his feelings or not, It would be quite a shock to Logan to find out he'd been confiding in Doctor Octopus all this time.

Ryan Stegman is killing it on this book right now! This issue is packed full of gorgeous detail like the last and it's always cool to see Stegman draw Spider-Man. The colours by David Curiel are somewhat muted and blend together, which I feel highlights the murky place Logan seems to be in right now. I wouldn't say this was quite as fun an issue as the first, but it's certainly still a really good read, the art itself justifies that. Logan's supposed fall to the dark side is unfolding slowly, but effectively, and the next instalment will hopefully build on that with the inclusion of Jubilee, and in the event that it doesn't...well, there's also going to be a giant robot involved, and they make everything better (right?)...

Score: 3.5/5.0

Amazing X-Men #2 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here, and welcome to my really late review of Amazing X-Men #2.

Synopsis:

Pulled into the Bamfs' machine, Storm, Iceman & Firestar are transported in a place that looks very much like Hell and are almost immediately faced with a horde of demons and a ship belonging to the a group of Azazel's pirates, who are literally about to engage in a bloody battle. They fend off both sides despite Storm's powers not functioning, due to there being no weather here (though she's a dab hand with a mace), and Iceman struggling not to melt.

Elsewhere in the afterlife, Wolverine and Northstar are defending the locals from another of Azazel's ships. After being transported up to the ship in a net by a red Bamf, Logan rips free and clashes with Captain Jack (no, it's not Sparrow or Harkness), from whom they learn that Azazel is the one in charge. Jack also mentions Nightcrawler, telling Wolverine that he's dead and gone before backing him onto the plank. As Logan faces off with the captain, a voice begins speaking to him telepathically, telling him where he is and that Kurt is indeed here, but he's gone after his father. The voice turns out to belong to Professor X himself, which winds up distracting Logan, allowing Captain Jack to knock him off the plank and into the abyss, with Northstar tailing after him.

Back in Hell, along the banks of the rive Styx, Storm is holding her own against the demons when she's suddenly captured by the red Bamfs. She breaks free from the net, but is swiftly subdued by the captain, who appears to be a multi-armed Billy the Kid (from what he says anyway). He orders the crew members to lift anchor and leave so they can take their treasures back to Azazel. Iceman and Firestar meanwhile start to get overwhelmed by the demon hordes, which forces Iceman to pile on the cold and literally freeze Hell over. He collapses from exhaustion, leaving Firestar with the demons and the now-melting ice. As the ship leaves with Storm, Nightcrawler is shown to be observing it, cutlass in hand, accompanied by a cadre of blue Bamfs, telling them that the fun part comes now...

Thoughts:

Things progress nicely in this second instalment of The Quest For Nightcrawler. Jason Aaron uses this issue to ramp up the danger for the X-Men, especially for those trapped in what appears to be Hell, whilst keeping things at a breakneck pace and embracing the madness of the situation, as well as giving several X-Men notable badass moments. Storm in particular gets to show off her combat skills to great effect.

Plot-wise, this issue is a little lighter than the first, with the majority of the focus being on the X-Men's reaction to seemingly being in Heaven and Hell as well as the new enemies. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not this is the real deal, but this issue throws a curveball with the Professor X cameo, which was admittedly a little swift. Personally, I think Logan's reaction to seeing Xavier alive was too underplayed, but the scene certainly gives this heavenly plane some legitimacy.

Ed McGuinness' work is once again superbly detailed with great inks and colours from Dexter Vines and Marte Gracia respectively. Like I said before there are many badass moments from the X-Men here and McGuinness captures them brilliantly here, such as Iceman literally freezing hell over or Wolverine slicing his way out of a net. Overall this issue is slower in actual plot, but still energetic in it's pacing and a very enjoyable read...

Score: 4.0/5.0