Review: Deadpool And Cable #26 By Duane Swierczynski

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Deadpool and Cable #26

Written by Duane Swierczynski

Art by Leandro Fernandez

If Daniel Way were to ever leave Deadpool, I would hope that Duane Swierczynki would get the nod to be the replacement. This is his second Deadpool and Cable issue, and it marks two for two with hilarity. While the last issue, which came out back in April, focused on splicing Deadpool into the opening days of Messiah Complex to tell a story involving Wade and Nate saving the baby that would be Hope. This issue takes place after Second Coming, and features the Merc with a Mouth mourning for his fallen friend. Of course, Wade mourning means that he has to completely miss the point, remember old stories with little adjustments, and try to liberate a country.

Cable’s been dead for a few months, and Wade hasn’t really reacted to it as much as one may have expected. Maybe it’s because he has his own series that is going in a completely different direction….several of them. Maybe it’s because Marvel didn’t see a point! Or maybe they were just waiting for the perfect time to have Wade come in considerably late and act like the issue is relevant. That’s actually something Swierczynski does well, for as much as the character acts like his actions matter and are understandable to the broader audience, everything is dated just a bit. There’s even a joke at one point about flashing back to the previous issue with the inner monologue insulting itself over doing that, and acting as if the book was monthly.

The humor is the best part of this book. While Daniel Way has been doing wonders with the character, his version of Wade is serious in just what exactly he does, even if he does treat it like a joke. Swierczynski’s version gets drunk and goes to Rumekistan to honor Cable, because back during Cable/Deadpool, that was the country Cable took over. He figures he can go there, celebrate Cable (who should be their national hero), and do his mourning with people who looked up to him. He’s ridiculously gung ho about it, and wants to do everything from open a theme park to a museum, and there’s even his talks of a Lady Gaga concert. What could go wrong.

Well, Wade could be in the wrong country and just not realize it. That’s a pretty Deadpool thing to do, after all, he isn’t known for his research or ability to read clues. Or speak Rumekistani, though he will never admit it. This leads to shenanigans and laughs galore as Wade tries to help this country in the name of Cable, and he’s not even in the right place! Nobody has even heard of Cable here!

One of my favorite touches with the issue is the flashback to various Deadpool and Cable interactions, dating across continuity, but in a very unique touch, every flashback features Cable in a different costume…..and never the right one for the time period. This amuses me greatly, as I’ve got quite the collection of Cable comics (as a kid I thought his design was awesome, and when I was older than eighteen he was in Cable/Deadpool and I can’t resist Fabian Nicieza), so I’ve actually been privy to most of these costumes. When you first see it happen it’s a flashback to when the two first traveled through Rumekistan, and Cable is wearing the gear he had during the early days of the most recent series, where he kept baby Hope in a chest pack. There’s also Cable in his late 90’s gear showing up for the Civil War….along with Ultimate Captain America. After seeing it a few times it became clear that this was intentional, and not just the artist not knowing/caring which look is which.

So the plot is that Deadpool goes to the wrong country to try and honor Nate, but then winds up having to do the Deadpool thing to do while having lots and lots of flashbacks that happen at least somewhat similarly to what actually happened. This is a story that I could totally see being done over a story arc in his main ongoing, or in yet another miniseries, but we get a done in one issue that does the story perfectly. The done in one really is a lost art that is being brought back slowly, and to be completely honest, it works better with Deadpool than random miniseries. Anyway, on topic, the plot moves nicely, and the Cable flashbacks are interspersed nicely to direct the flow of the issue, but the humor is the crutch. The book is funny, at times laugh out loud funny. I mean, Deadpool gets drunk and starts singing, think about that.

He also dresses in the best homage to Rob Liefeld that I’ve seen in ages.

I like the art, it’s not great, but Deadpool looks good, the action looks good, and about half of the Cable flashbacks look good. I think that Paco Medina, Bong Dazo, and Carlo Barberi have done a great job over the past few years of raising the bar for what I expect out of a Deadpool artist, and that’s not even taking into account anyone who worked on Cable/Deadpool. Fernandez doesn’t do a bad job by any means, but while his Deadpool is pretty nice, the rest is lacking.

This was a fun issue from start til finish, and there’s even a nice little twist on the end. Not like a “Start laughing now” kind of twist, or even a typical Deadpool twist, but just something nice and human to cap the issue off with. Swierczynski knows these characters, and he shows how well in this issue. We get action, we get a lot of funny, and we even get to see, both through Wade’s own personal methods as well as a few nice little touching scenes, Deadpool trying to accept that his friend is dead. With all the joking and killing and random hijinks it’s sometimes easy to forget that Wade Wilson can be as human as anyone. I think the subtle admittance of it makes the issue even better.

Overall?

7/10

A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.