Mary Louise Eklund

Tag: Nightcrawler

Comic Comments – Dead

Ahh back to routine. We are now to another Marvel title – Deadpool. This 5 book arc is entitled Dead and takes issues 50 – 54. I like him because of his constant stream of conscious prattle. I enjoy it when it’s more pop culture centered. Still this story fits him to a T and I enjoyed it. The art was great and life is good in the Deadpool universe. Except he wants to die.

Let’ s do credits and legal statement. First off all images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced. Now the legal is out of the off to give credit for the Merc with a Mouth Dead arc: Daniel Way, Writer; Carlo Barberi, Penciler Issue 50; Ale Garza, Penciller Issues 51-54; Walden Wong, Inker Issue 50; Sean Parsons, Inker Issues 51-54; Dommo, Colorist Issue 50; Dommo Sanchez Amara, Colorist Issues 51-54 (not sure if the same person since credit is listed differently); VC’s Joe Sabino, Letterer; Dave Johnson, Covers; Jordan D. White, Editor; Nick Lowe, Senior Editor; Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley, Publisher; and Alan Find, Executive Producer.

The covers for this arc are awesome. I do enjoy them and like how the hold true to the spirit of the content and reflect Deadpool’s style. The interior art is done by two artist and is very similar in style. I can’t say I prefer one over the other. There are things with each that I love and stuff I don’t care for but nothing I despise. The style leans a bit toward cartoonish at times but that suits Deadpool given his almost Road Runner like behavior at times. I think both the covers and interiors are solid comic book art that I enjoyed very much.

The story is one that builds on Evil Deadpool from the previous arc. For those of you who don’t know Deadpool has a regeneration ability so that makes him unkillable kinda like Logan in that fact. Except a mad scientist kept parts Deadpool had lost frozen and those were thawed out to grow together to make an EVIL Deadpool. Which in theory would also be unkillable. Except in the battle against Evil DP, someone shot him with a serum dart that killed him. Now the real Deadpool thought that was great! He can finally die! He wants the serum. Thus starts this arc where he’s trying to die.

Other mutants who have the regeneration/healing abilities aren’t so keen on the serum and want to control it. Deadpool being his crazy self drags his buddy Hydra Bob into the mess he creates trying to find the serum. DP goes to Fisk, the leader of a world-wide crime syndicate, and tells him about it. Fisk says he’s not interested then goes looking for himself. Which is also the response of Daken. Except Daken wants it to mess with his father Logan. Finally DP goes to the Uncanny X-Force who agree to work with him to find the threat.

What follows is a series of ever more complicated follies of trying to find the serum. Think A-Team when the plan comes together, well DP’s plan of dying is coming together. In the end, the serum isn’t exactly what they thought it was and DP decides he REALLY doesn’t want to die any way. He comes to that conclusion once Bob points out once DP is dead there won’t be anyone to protect Bob, DP’s BFF. Only problem is it’s a bit too late when DP changes his mind because everyone is out to kill him for stirring up more than needs to be stirred up.

Deadpool is classic Deadpool. His internal dialogue is sharp and witty. Everyone’s reaction to him adds a bit of humor to the classic superhero/supervillain match-up. I find it funny that we get what’s going on in his head because we have the stream of consciousness narration boxes in both his internal voices. Psylocke on the other hand is at a loss to make sense of his mind. In the end it is Logan who gets the guy, he knows what it’s like to stick around to save a friend, even when you are tired of sticking around.

I think this starts a new era for Deadpool. For once I’m hoping not too much changes. Sure there are some changes, some that are major but essentially I want him to remain the wacky not quite right reluctant hero. The one that annoys the heck out of everyone even Capt. America. We’ll see what’s up next for the Merc with a mouth, Wade Wilson aka Deadpool.

Up next is another Deadpool arc. This one takes issues 55-57 and is called Reborn. After that we’ll be leaving Deadpool to finish his current arc. That’ll take us out of Marvel for a while. We’ll pass over Dynamite’s Dresden Files and Vertigo’s Fables for the same reason – let them finish their arcs. We’ll settled into Fairest‘s first arc taking issues 1-6, it’s entitled Wide Awake. I think you’ll enjoy that one!

You know what’s after the jump! Panels and Pages Commentary!

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August 27, 2012
Comic Comments: Wolverine Versus the X-Men

This arc is a three issue arc taking Wolverine volume 4 issues 6-8. It follows up on the Wolverine Goes To Hell story picking up where issue 5 ended.

Here’s the credits for this arc: Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: Daniel Acuña, Cover Art: Jae Lee with June Chung, Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit, Designer: Jared K. Fletcher, Asst. Editor: Jody Leheup, Editor Jeanine Schaefer, Group Editor: Nick Lowe, Editor in Chief: Axel Alonso, Chief Creative Officer: Joe Quesada, Publisher: Dan Buckley, Executive Producer: Alan Fine.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

Logan’s soul comes back to his body after the spiritual abduction but the demons possessing the flesh haven’t left. The problem is there are too many occupants in his head. They are battling for control inside and out.

Again we have a two aspect story. The battle for Logan’s soul inside him and the battle to keep his physical being from doing harm. Just like when the Hand controlled him back in the Enemy of the State he’s battling his own X-Men. Yes, a worn-out plot line that I hope to never see again but gee – lookie at the Avengers Vs X-Men line going on now, or schism, or well the list get longer every year.

For this arc I was again bored with what was going on in the outside world. Sure Scott has a Danger Room program to help the team practice killing Wolverine. They all fret with the ‘oh noes’ but we’ll do what we have to do.

The new spin on the old tattered plot of what goes on in Wolvie’s head is this time he’s battling demons literally. He calls up all aspects of himself to do battle. We see Patch, Weapon X, Department H, Death, and many other personas he has taken over his long life. The lead Logan starts out nude (again) and dons Samurai’s armor to lead the battle. The team do what Logan claims his the best at doing, fight the enemy.

The X-Women decide they have to give him a chance by going in there to help in the fight. Emma leads the brain invasion and Melita insists on going along to help her man.

Once in Logan’s head we are treated to touch moments and silly ones. At one point there are guideposts labeled The One That Got Away, What To Do About Daken, Things I Should Te.., Beer Garden, Memories of Mariko, and Things That Bug Me About Scott. There are labeled doors as the women investigate his mind and the doors are entitled Reasons To Hate Myself (that one has Dr. Rot’s graffiti tag, if you’ve not read that arc GET IT. It is awesome story and interor art! Insane In The Brain arc in Wolverine Weapon X TBP), Secrets of Weapon X, X-Men I’ve Had Sex With, How I Cheat At Cards, Hopes and Dreams, Sexual Fantasies, Football, Faith, and Self-Loathing. We don’t always see what’s behind the doors but the woman’s reaction to looking into some of the room often tells us what’s there. I’ll leave it to you to read the story to see what is there, as the contents don’t effect the story.

Eventually as the fortress that’s Logan’s heart begins to fall to the demon horde he throws the women from his mind. They are back to the boring reality of ‘oh noes do we kill him?’ But in his mind he still has two allies, one is Kurt who suggests he’s not an aspect of Logan’s mind but something more. The other is Jean as the Phoenix (need I point out this is another WAY over used plot device?).

I don’t think I’ll spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t read it to say in the end Logan is victorious over the demons. I mean it’s not a possessed Logan that’s running the school and once again battling the X-Men today. So you know he makes it through. How he does addresses the torch he’s carried for Jean for so long. Also his given good advice by Kurt but does he take it?

How do you know when Logan is no longer possessed? He wakes up and asks for a drink and hugs his woman. Ahhh, sweet. Good thing Scott waffles so much giving Logan time to wake up. Once again it’s close but they scuffle as class 4 mutants do and as they did yet again Schism.

I do not like the interior art. It has many of the issues discussed in DarXide’s article Photoshop of Horrors article. I found it distracting. Remember the coloring books where the outline of each part was a heavy line? Yeah that’s what this looked like, like characters were cut out and stuck on the felt board background. I don’t like it but I’ve seen much worse.

The cover art again suffers from pinched faces. Everyone looks down their nose at Logan in the first cover. In the second cover Wolvie has a dowager’s hump and has lost a lot of weight. The third one has Scott straining way too much. But all of them do have great anatomy and beautiful coloring. So it’s a give and take situation.

The story is a single issue entitled Get Mystique The Final Repose. It sets us up for the five book arc of Wolverine’s Revenge. Stay tuned after the cut for spoilery scans with my comments. If not until next friends!

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July 30, 2012