DEADPOOL vs. THANOS #1 (of 4) (unrelated to Secret Wars 2015)
“From Her to Eternity” ( pages)
Story: Tim Seeley
Art: Elmo Bondoc
Colors: Ruth Redmond
Letters: VC’s Joe Sabino
Covers by: Trade Moore & Matt Wilson, Ron Lim, ???, various exclusives
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
It’s absolutely fantastic when a conventional character has a renaissance and rips through the stratosphere!! Such is the case with wacky Wade Wilson commonly known in comic circles as Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth. This oddball is one year shy of a quarter century :0 He’s experienced a dip in popularity like all people, places, and things but kills [pun intended!] the competition. Alex Alonso has it wrong: Iron Man shouldn’t be your flagship face, it should be DP!!
Tim Seeley tries his hand at the funny stuff. It’s a bit off the beaten path for him but fitting since he works for ‘funny books’. The horror-themed writer gets to be gory and throw in some zombies since that fad won’t die any time soon. HA! No pun intended but sarcasm all the way ;-) This man really gets Wade’s inner and outer dialogue as well as his quips, quirks, and zingers.
The Greek gods were notorious in messing with mortals’ lives by granting them their deepest desire with the darkest twists. Thanos, an Eternal of Titan, pejoratively referred to as the Mad God does the same thing to Deadpool. Guess!! Out of spite and perhaps jealousy, he “punishes” ‘Pool by kidnapping his love Lady Death (Wade’s too, at least in his delusions) and grants eternity to the Regenerative red-costumed rebel. Ain’t that a kick in the pants?? The unplanned effect is that no living thing can properly meet its end since Death is powerless, falling into a bottomless void. I can’t recall which Marvel comic stated this tidbit but “Even Death can die.” It might have been a sci-fi or fantasy movie. AARGH! Can’t remember!!
What to do when you get to live forever? (“Fame! Baby remember my name!”) Answer: be beaten to a pulp by your benefactor!!! Let me backtrack. Events leading up to this unlikely confrontation (yeah, right!) are not apparent for WW at first. Offing Dr. Doom, when the purest of heroes couldn’t, goes horribly awry. Consulting an ersatz expert in voodoo has comedic effect and elements of pity that shift to putdowns. DP advances to the ultimate boss level when he realizes it’s some galactic geek that is a million times more boogly than him. Bonus: he breaks the fourth wall and throws a dig at us nerdy readers as well as the Distinguished Competition’s original hero.
The best of enemies become the worst of friends when an alliance is struck between the two. WTF times infinity?!? (1) Thanos is not the culprit. (2) His skeletal main squeeze is only communicating with his rival Deadpool. Wade doesn’t need fancy gems to be bribed. He accepts the mission out of the kindness of his huge heart enveloped in his flesh-ravaged chest.
Mr. Seeley is not a total n00b navigating through the Marvel landscape. He has rubbed elbows with, make that scribbled, some X-characters. His incorporation of the obscure (who is that guy attacking BT? Striker?), the popular (Guardians of the Galaxy), the laughable (Black Talon) *guffaw*, the heavyweights (Thanos, Doom), the real-life people (Jim Starlin, bar named for him on Knowhere) as well as the larger-than-life locations (Sanctuary II) is a kooky version of The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe.
Elmo Bondoc goes with the flow. Deadpool is wild, unpredictable, impossible to keep up with, frenetic, and kinetic. The art definitely reflects this. The chicken mask sported by Black Talon deservedly earns the nickname of Colonel Sanders (I refer to KFC as Colonel Cluck). Yuck yuck yuck! DP’s smooshed face is cooler than any Play-Doh or putty product. It’s mildly disturbing but extremely amusing. The faces are always the best indicators of emotion and reaction. Everyone looks deliberately ridiculous. DP has the biggest grin on his face with his snarky remarks. Death could use some relief from her grievous situation. The profile of Thanos on page 16 cuts out all the nonsense and intensifies the brooding as he deals with the gravity of his paramour’s peril.
Ruth Redmond gets to splash around a lot of blood. Makes sense since this is a natural by-product of DP’s profession. The lavender-faced Thanos does not look as silly when that profile has his features drowned in shadow. Aside from all this, pink skin contrasts with grey skin for the living dead.
Joe Sabino covers all four corners: the word balloons easily distinguish who’s who: white for puny humans, black for Death, yellow for Deadpool, and curves with lots of bold, italicized words for Purple Puss.
I have to applaud Mr. Seeley for one more thing: he acknowledges Wade Wilson’s nationality as hailing from the True North, strong and free!!! Being one myself, I express my humble gratitude :-D
Thanos doesn’t have his Infinity Gauntlet so I will give this book 5 out 6 stones (83.3%)
