Deadpool #7, 8, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Scott Koblish (artist, #7), Matteo Lolli (artist, #8), Nick Filardi (colorist, #7), Ruth Redmond (colorist, #8), Joe Sabino (letterer) - Yeah, there were a whole bunch of other people who contributed short stories in issue 7, but I'm not going to talk about any of those because they didn't interest me.As it turns out, Wade keeps a little black book of grudges, and because his memory is shot, he periodically goes out and tries to settle those grudges. Even though he's done it who knows how many times before, and in many cases, can't even recall what the grudge was about. Mostly he's trying to keep awake because he's terrified Madcap's coming back. Ultimately, he keeps coming back to one note in the book: 'Creed was there'. He tries to figure it out, and is able to recall gasoline, which leads him to the conclusion Sabretooth is the one who killed his parents (when really it was Deadpool himself). Which is how we get to the next issue, where Wade sets out in search of Sabretooth. He checks out a place he recalls Butler bringing him to in the past, and finds a handprint, which leads him to an unpleasant fellow named Michael Logue, who has a heart attack when he sees Wade. Wade tells him to write down everything he remembers about jobs Deadpool did for Butler, and goes off in search of Sabretooth. Being an Avenger has its perks, and Wade swiftly tracks him down, then tries to take him out with the old, "piano wire stretched across the road trick". It doesn't decapitate Sabretooth like Wade hoped, but he's bleeding from the throat a lot, so Wade ought to have plenty of time to decapitate him the old-fashioned way, with a sword.
It occurs to me, didn't Sabretooth kill Vanessa, aka Copycat, aka Wade's girlfriend from even before he became Deadpool? Shouldn't that be reason enough to have a grudge against Victor? Does Wade not even remember that any longer? I know, I'm missing the point. all the "grudges" Wade settled are stupid petty bullcrap that even he, on some level, knows are pointless. He gets mad at Iron Fist for saying he looked like a melted candle (and while I don't understand what he meant when he told Danny he looks like Elvis had a kid with Santa's elves, anything that mocks that stupid, yellow-on-white costume is A-OK). He gets mad at Doc Samson's corpse for not helping him with his issues, even though he never called to make an appointment. He can't keep the big things in his life under control, or is afraid he can't, so he's retreating to concentrate on tiny, petty, crap that doesn't matter. Shiklah is getting seriously irate at how much he's ignoring her (also she's building an army, he should probably be worried about that), and he can't spend more than 10 minutes with her. Basically, Deadpool's never had many real responsibilities, and he's worse at handling them than I am.
That said, I'm totally OK with him killing Sabretooth. Even if he didn't kill Wade's parents, he's killed hundreds of other people. Screw it, say he's dying for that time he killed Psylocke or whatever.
I like how natural Koblish and Filardi make Wade look when he's sitting alone a table, eating a pint of ice cream and flipping through his book while wearing a Hawaiian shirt. It feels like it should be weird, or distracting, but somehow it doesn't distract from what's going on. Maybe because it's all just part of his attempt to avoid dealing with things. Also, they give Wade sparse patches of hair on his face and scalp, which adds nicely to his unpleasant appearance.
Lolli's Deadpool is a bit stockier than Koblish's or Hawthorne's, but he's very good at giving Wade these relaxed poses that are somehow still kind of terrifying (and I just remembered Lolli was one of the two artists on Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, so it makes sense he has experience drawing him). The shadows over Wade's face when he's talking to Logue help. Also the fact Duggan doesn't have him make jokes, or yell. He very calmly states what he wants, and then starts circling the guy, always keeping his eyes on Logue, and he's leaning forward just a little. The last panel of page 8 reminds me of a horror movie, when you see the crazed killer lurking behind the poor, stupid victim. Except this time the crazed killer is actually Deadpool which, hmm, isn't much of a stretch really, but you get my point. I will say Deadpool's stance on the last page seems wrong. If he's going to try and cut off Sabretooth's head with his sword, the foot he put on Creed's neck is in the way.
Not at all sure how this storyline is going to be spun out over three more issues, and I'm sure to be disappointed by the lack of actual Sabretooth killing, but I'm hoping for an entertaining knockdown, drag-out fight.
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