REVIEW: Deadpool #3

For many, when they think of “Dead Presidents” they think of the Jay-Z song. Personally, I think of the J Geils Band cover of the Little Walter song. When Deadpool thinks of “Dead Presidents,” he thinks “lots and lots of guns,” and that’s why he has a comic book and I don’t. Major Spoilers takes a look at the Regeneratin’ Degenerate’s attempt to reduce the size of the federal government in Deadpool #3!

DEADPOOL #3
Writers: Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan
Artist: Tony Moore
Colorist: Val Staples
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover: Geof Darrow and Peter Doherty
Edior: Jordan D. White
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

Previously, in Deadpool… The Merc with a Mouth has been tasked by the American government to kill the dead Presidents, who have been reanimated by a supposedly patriotic necromancer in a kilt.

DEADPOOL HAS NEVER BEEN SO FUNNY

Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan have been absolutely knocking it out of the park writing this book; both the dialogue and the situations that creep up are hysterical. While I was among those disappointed to see Daniel Way leave Deadpool considering all he’d done for Wade, the injection of new blood into this series has really revitalized it in a way that even Deadpool’s regenerating abilities would be proud of.

The decision to use a bunch of reanimated Presidents as the villains for this first story was a stroke of genius, as it allows Posehn and Duggan’s comedic chops to really shine. From the obvious bits that can easily be predicted (Nixon abandoning the mission to go attack the Watergate hotel) to the more nuanced jokes that caught me off guard (Gerald Ford pratfalling into a helicopter rotor and getting entirely eviscerated), there was rarely a span of more than a few panels where I didn’t laugh out loud reading this issue.

Posehn and Duggan also have managed to find Deadpool’s voice while not simply parroting the Daniel Way style of writing him. While we haven’t seen anything with Deadpool’s multiple internal voices yet (which may be a result of his death under unusual circumstances at the end of Way’s run and the subsequent unexplored resurrection prior to this book), Posehn and Duggan did give us some fourth-wall breaking in this issue. While the breaking of the fourth wall can (and often is by inexperienced writers with Deadpool) used in a very heavy-handed and awkward way, Posehn and Duggan handle it very well, making it seem natural to Deadpool’s character, as it should be. It’s a difficult path to tread writing a character that knows he’s a character (Ambush Bug is another great example), and until this issue I had thought Posehn and Duggan might have been deliberately avoiding it in their run, so it was nice to see they are embracing that aspect of the character.

GORE HAS NEVER BEEN SO PRETTY

Whoever picked former Walking Dead artist Tony Moore to draw this book was a genius. There have an incredible number of jaw-droppingly gruesome moments in these first three issues, and I can’t imagine anyone other than Tony Moore drawing them. I don’t know what his plans are for beyond this arc, since he hasn’t historically stayed on any book for more than seven contiguous issues, but my guess is that he was specifically brought in for this Dead Presidents arc.

Also of note here is colorist Val Staples’ work. This issue sees Deadpool go to Doctor Strange for help fighting the Presidents (which contains a FANTASTIC moment where Doctor Strange holds a vendetta against Ben Franklin, referencing an encounter between the two from the 70s that I wasn’t alive for but I bet Matthew remembers), and that gives both Moore and Staples a chance to create some fantastically mystical art.

FRUSTRATING COVER

The one bone I had to pick with this entire issue was the cover. Not only is the cover overly cluttered, it highlights a fight with Nixon’s dog Checkers that never happens–in fact Checkers is not seen in this entire issue. I know that’s fairly standard for comic book covers to include at least one thing that never happens in the actual issue, but it’s still frustrating, especially since the cover isn’t very appealing to look at.

BOTTOM LINE: THE MERC WITH A MOUTH HAS A MARVELOUS MONTHLY AND GETS MY MONEY

If you’re a fan of comedy, you need to be picking up this book. If you’re a fan of zombies and horrifying art, you need to be picking up this book. If you’re a fan of Deadpool, you need to be picking up this book. This book appeals to a lot of different audiences, and appeals to each one in such a way that it shouldn’t alienate the others. From the very title of the issue “Dr. Strange Lives (or how I learned Deadpool was da bomb)” you know this book is going to hit you with a ridiculous level of puns and one-liners, and Posehn and Duggan deliver it with an incredibly tight script. It’s clear these guys have experience in writing for television, and I’m really glad they’ve made the jump to comics. Deadpool #3 gets a solid rating of four out of five stars for being a goofy and enjoyable comedic popcorn-flick of a comic book.

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