Night of the Living Deadpool #3 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to the first real post on my blog in yonks. I apologise for the lack of posts on both here and my Youtube channel. In late June last year I moved house with my family and I don't think any of us realised what an undertaking it would be. Needless to say there's been a lot of unpacking and sorting and re-arranging of things, which hasn't left me much time for my channel and blog, as well as the reviews I upload for Spider-Man Reviews. Rest assured however that I have plenty of content planned for my (2nd) return to Youtube, which I will unveil later this month (hopefully), and as for this blog, I'll be scaling back the amount of reviews I do here as it will allow for a more regular stream of reviews for the blog (If that makes any sense). I clearly bit off more than I can chew at the moment with the amount of series I was reviewing last year. With the surprise reveal of a sequel to Cullen Bunn's Night of the Living Deadpool, entitled Return of the Living Deadpool (written once again by Bunn with art by Nicole Virella) I thought it only natural to finish my reviews of 'Night' before tackling 'Return'. So without further ado, welcome to my review of Night of the Living Deadpool #3.

Synopsis:

The issue opens with Deadpool imagining himself in typically crazy situations, narrating that he still wonders how the hell he wound up in this dystopian world, as well as how it got so screwed up to begin with, offering up wild theories like an alien autopsy gone awry and a book of spells. He laments not having "a front row seat for the start of all the crazy", before coming back to his question, adding this time "How in the name of tracksuit Beyonder did I get here?"

We then cut back to where the last issue left off, with Deadpool faced with a gaggle of insane women who are dead-set on slaughtering what seems to be the last safe haven of humanity. Their leader decries the very notion of reforming a city (It's clearly a town you nut-ball!) claiming it "castigates the will of the Almighty" (sure it does...) and for that, they must be destroyed. Deadpool responds by clarifying that, according to these women, civilisation is evil, rebuilding it is therefore evil and they're going to kill all the "sinners" before they turn the world back into "strip clubs, casinos and...you know...places where people have free will." He also points out that the women are also going to take all the "sinners" supplies and provisions too, which the leader admits, saying "how do you think we've survived this long?" Drawing his swords, Deadpool declares that they should go and introduce themselves.

Shortly afterwards, Deadpool approaches the entrance to the town, which is blocked with various bits of debris, including a school bus. The guards instantly point their guns at him, asking him to stay where he is and to state his business. Wade says that he's just looking for a place to settle down, adding his business is being the last superhero on earth...and business is good! To emphasise his last point, he presents, held together in his left hand by their hair, the severed heads of the female lunatics. Naturally it takes the people of New Harpers Ferry (as they call it), a bit of a while to get pas that, but soon enough, they recognised that Deadpool had in fact saved them from a bunch of raving loonies. They welcome him into their community, with some of them plying him with questions about the outside world, and some, particularly the young, attractive, female variety, just having a...physical interest in him (boy are you girls in for a surprise when you lift up that mask).

Later on, as he sits in a graveyard overlooking the town, Deadpool muses that New Harpers Ferry is a nice place. Clueless, but peaceful, and they need somebody to make sure they have a fighting chance. Much to his bewilderment, a wound he received in his last fight with the zombies is still hurting, despite the fact that it appears healed from the outside. As he ponders aloud whether his healing factor is on the blink (again), he hears a twig snap. Thankfully it's just a bunch of teenagers. Deadpool warns them against coming to a graveyard, stating that they aren't safe nowadays. The kids reply that, as this is a Civil War (not Cap vs. Iron Man Civil War) graveyard, they're safe as zombies are "always" freshly dead. Wade isn't convinced though, remarking that "things change" as he watches the graves. The kids then turn the discussion to Deadpool, asking if he's really a super hero, or if he's just bonkers, to which Deadpool adds under his breath "and some things never change". One of the kids remarks that Wade isn't actually isn't the first "super hero" to set foot in the village. Apparently another hero is already living there. Deadpool asks the kids to take him to meet this other costumed character, joking that it's time for a team-up!

Arriving at the house of this mystery marvel, Deadpool is quick to comment on the foul odour of the place, wondering aloud whether Man-Thing lives here. Entering the shed, the kid who informed Deadpool of this say that the "hero", Clarence Sykes, hides his costume here. However once Deadpool gets a look at the costume, he realises that he isn't dealing with a superhero, but an employee of Advanced Idea Mechanics, otherwise known as A.I.M. He tells the kids to clear off, saying that he and Clarence need a little chat.

Shortly afterwards, Clarence Sykes wakes up to find a sword to his neck. Deadpool (who for some reason is wearing the A.I.M. hat) tells him that, as the people of New Harpers Ferry have taken him in, he feels it's his duty to protect them from threats such as A.I.M. Clarence protests that he is a changed man, saying he put that part of his life behind him when he came to the town, adding that Deadpool must surely appreciate that. Removing the hat, Deadpool tells Clarence that he wasn't going to kill him, he was just messing with him, but he will be keeping an eye on him. Clarence assures Wade that his days of mad science are behind him, "especially after what we did." Deadpool asks what he means by that, to which Clarence replies "oh...I...I thought you might have guessed. The zombie apocalypse...it's all my fault."that

Sykes explains that, at the time, he and his fellow A.I.M. scientists shared a common faith that what they were doing was for the betterment of mankind, though the chief concern was increased profit margins. A.I.M. was known for developing weapons, but there were also various sub-divisions dedicated to other pursuits. Clarence was part of A.I.R., Advance Ideas in Regeneration. They thought that if the organization was to better understand the art of death dealing, they needed to better understand healing properties. Long story short, their experiments didn't go very well, with only a few A.I.M. scientists making it out. Clarence comments that when he woke and saw Deadpool, he thought his sins had caught up with him, though Deadpool points out that the swarms of undead roaming the countryside would be reminder enough. As he goes to leave, Clarence reveals one last secret to him. A.I.M.'s attempts at a man made healing factor were derived from tissue samples of various individuals with healing factors, which were harvested whenever those individuals spilled blood. Deadpool's blood was among the samples they collected, meaning he is, in a way, kind of responsible for the zombie outbreak.

Later that night, as Deadpool lies in bed near other townsfolk, mumbling in his sleep that it isn't his fault, his wound reopens and begins to bleed. Deadpool stirs as the colour drains from his uniform, pulling his mask up to reveal that the wound has overpowered his healing factor and zombified him. Much to his horror, Wade begins feeding on the people nearby, unable to stop himself. He urges the survivors to flee, but the damage has already been done. The number of zombies gradually grows as more and more of the townspeople (including Clarence) are turned. Eventually, after apologetically feeding on some more civilians, Deadpool stumbles down an alley. The colour begins to return to his costume as his healing factor finally kicks in, venting the virus from his system, which leads to him vomiting up bits and pieces of the humans he's devoured. Dazed, Deadpool turns around to see that the whole town of New Harpers Ferry have been zombified, which he takes as an unfortunate affirmation that he doesn't belong anywhere so sweet, wholesome and naive. "Who knew the zombie apocalypse would feel so much like a kick in the jewels?", he thinks to himself as he wonders what to do now...

Thoughts: 

Yeah, this issue was pretty rough. After skirting around the darker elements of a zombie apocalypse, Cullen Bunn dives right into some really creepy stuff with this issue, with plenty of emotional weight to make you care about what's going on.

That being said though, this issue did get off to a very funny start. I liked how Bunn played with readers expectations at the start, suggesting at first that Deadpool was actually going to help the nut-job's, before the gruesome splash page told us otherwise. It was bizarre, not to mention hilarious, to see Deadpool as a straight man briefly, but the context made it work, and it's not long before we're back to standard, decapitation-happy Deadpool. This scenario also allows Bunn to poke fun at another staple of zombie movies and that is the lunatics who endanger the protagonist and either knowingly or unknowingly aid the monsters, by having Deadpool calmly call attention to the flaws in the old lady's logic. The humour also works in favour of the darker scenes, lulling us into a false sense of security before the inevitable zombie attack occurs, though it's source is somewhat unexpected.

While I had noticed Deadpool's wound in #2, I didn't think it would lead to him going full-on zombie mode and devouring people. These scenes was done very effectively and they certainly earned the series it's parental advisory certificate. By the end it's actually quite sad as Wade genuinely saw the town as a chance to start over. This also serves as the payoff for Bunn's decision to have the zombies retain their former personalities with zero control of their body, as we get a bigger sense than ever of how horrible that would be. Thankfully Deadpool's healing factor eventually vented the virus from his body, which felt more realistic than what was done with him, the Hulk and Wolverine in the Marvel Zombies series, where they stayed zombies in spite of their regenerative abilities. That might be due to the differing natures of the zombie outbreaks. In Marvel Zombies, the virus was a paradox looped by Watcher between two universes, since no one knew how to destroy it, whereas here we have a more traditional method with a chemical process. I liked that it was A.I.M. (well, a sub-division of them anyway) who were responsible for the outbreak. I was expecting Evil Deadpool to somehow be behind it after the cliffhanger ending in Deadpool Kills Deadpool, but this explanation works fine as well, and it helps remind us that, alternate version or not, we're still in the Marvel Universe rather than The Walking Dead with Deadpool.

Ramon Rosanas' art is still excellent of course. I love the way Deadpool transitions from colour to black & white and back again when he becomes a zombie. For some reason it really amps up the horror feeling. There's a great level of detail on display, which obviously makes things all the more graphic. It's also a nice touch that the A.I.M scientist's outfit is rendered in colour, since it's a representation of the vivid, energetic world Deadpool left behind. This is easily the darkest instalment in the series. It's a very sobering experience for the title character as well as an unexpected direction for the story, but it never forgets who that character is and the tropes that come with him...

Score: 4.5/5.0

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

Night of the Living Deadpool #1 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Night of the Living Deadpool #1.

Synopsis:

After falling into a chimichanga food coma (man I hate it when that happens), Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool awakens to find his favourite restaurant deserted. Hearing a scream of agony nearby, Deadpool decides to investigate, discovering a note from the owners telling him that he's been a loyal customer and that the doors were locked to keep him safe from the now dilapidated outside world.

After going through his recent memories (in which he fails to notice the obvious signs of a zombie outbreak), Wade is soon approached by someone, who turns out to be one of the undead with surprisingly refined diction. Deadpool disposes of him, but accidentally alerts a whole herd of zombies by shooting him with his pistol. The Merc with a Mouth begins racking up kill points, but he quickly becomes unsettled by the fact that the zombies maintain their human intelligence with no control over their body, eventually opting to flee. He merely bumps into more zombies however, and is left cornered.

Just as Deadpool is about to resume his "zombie killing spree" (anyone whose played Halo will understand that reference), a bunch of human survivors arrive in a truck and mow down several of the infected, giving Pool a chance to hop in and escape with them. Now on their way to "the safe zone", these people bring Wade up to speed with what's been going on. He asks about the other heroes, only to be told pretty bluntly that he's the only one left, punctuated as they drive past Captain America's bloodstained shield...

Thoughts:

There's not much to talk about here in terms of plot, as Cullen Bunn spends much of this issue setting up this post-apocalyptic world Deadpool finds himself in and the characters who populate it. It's all very well done, with a few little touches that render it just that little bit unique from standard zombie fare, and I'm certainly very interested to discover how exactly this particular plague was created. Since this series is following on from the multiversal insanity that was Deadpool Kills Deadpool, it's certainly possible that this is the work of Evil Deadpool and perhaps Deadpool has even been transported into the Marvel Zombies universe, though since that storyline was closed out in a recursive loop, it's not very likely.

This being a Deadpool comic, there are plenty of gags present, with many giving the zombie genre a good ribbing. The flashback sequence seemed rather reminiscent of Shaun of the Dead, and the reference to the genre's takeover of the video game industry was particularly amusing. Ramon Rosanna's art also contains a reference to Tony Moore's (who also drew the Dead Presidents arc for the new Deadpool ongoing) style on The Walking Dead, though Deadpool still appears bright red, perhaps to show how he represents the only colour that world has left (okay, now I'm getting too analytical). The pencils and inks are very polished and detailed, and the layouts are framed really well, not to mention that the undead look particularly decrepit here. As with his last awesome Deadpool project, Bunn has made a cracking good start and I'm sure that there's more to this simple premise than meets the eye...

Score: 4.0/5.0 

And just some food for thought, but wouldn't it be awesome if Capcom did a Dead Rising game with Deadpool as the main character (they are on good footing with Marvel nowadays)?...