Synopsis:
Continuing on from last issue, Galactipool has arrived to consume this version of Earth. Despite this literally enormous threat, the Watcher chooses now to recap the story to us before Deadpool yells at him to focus (who'd have thought Deadpool of all people would have more sense than the Watcher?).The Deadpool's soon start fighting again, with Deadpool curb-stomping the crap out of Evil Deadpool and Pandapool taking on the Deadpool versions of Wolverine & Spiral. Lady Deadpool is saved from Galactipool by the Watcher, who confesses that she's his favourite (I'll bet she is.), Cesspool, who she was fighting beforehand, isn't so lucky.
The Corps retreat to an underground cellar, with Pandapool pausing to bisect Spiral-Pool with one of the hatch doors (Ooh, that's gotta hurt!). Inside, Lady D & Wade arm themselves with several pieces of weaponry specialising in killing Deadpools, with Wade lamenting how much of a waste that is. Outside, they are attacked by Wolvie-Pool, who Deadpool dispatches by tossing a grenade containing hundreds of ravenous insects that eat him alive (Okay, now that's just nasty!). Deadpool then notes that when Lady D showed him the cellar, she said that he'd need it, not they'd need it. Lady D responds by giving the Watcher an almighty smooch and then retreating to the Bea Arthur, activating it and ramming it into Galactipool's giant head, sacrificing herself to destroy him.
The Watcher answers Deadpool's question of what they should do next, saying that they must travel to their Dreadpool's homeworld. He's interrupted however by Evil Deadpool, who has survived along with Spiral-Pool and doesn't intend for them to go anywhere. Enter Galactipool's gored head to put them both out of commission.
Their enemies dealt with, the Watcher teleports Wade & Pandapool to this worlds version of the Savage Land, with the intent of discovering the Nexus of All Realities. Unfortunately, this worlds Nexus has been burned out, with the only other alternative being described by the Watcher as "more costly than even I imagined". As Deadpool moans about how the important stuff always comes with a cost, the group are besieged by more Deadpool's serving Dreadpool, Deadpool versions of Devil Dinosaur, M.O.D.O.K and Howard the Duck (what a duckin' cliffhanger!)...
Thoughts:
Once again a very good instalment. After two issues of utter insanity, Cullen Bunn changes gears and gives us a rather melancholy issue that meshes well with the established tone, though of course there's still plenty of crude humour and gore.
With so many different versions of himself dying him, it's nice that Deadpool goes through some self-introspection in this issue. His desire to be a hero is what balances his more extreme qualities and reminds us that he is somewhat of a protagonist. Seeing him start to question whether he's capable of such helps to boost sympathy for his character and make the conflict deeper than it was previously. Lady D's death is undeniably the saddest of all the Deadpool Corps as she's arguably the most well developed of all of them besides Kidpool. I'm still wondering if they'll stay dead, but if they are, then we're in for quite a somber ending.
Like I said there's still a good deal of humour and violence to behold. I'm digging Bunn's knack for coming up with different incarnations of Deadpool so much that I almost wish the series would continue for longer so we could see more of them. Salva Espin fills the panels with some over-the-top, chaotic and sometimes gruesome images, with Veronica Gandini offsetting the dark material with some bright and beautiful colours. I'm very much enjoying this series and here's hoping the conclusion will be just as good...
