What I Bought 2/28/2018

Everybody out of the 'Pools! Or something to that effect. Gwenpool's coming to an end, and this Deadpool storyline is almost there, too. So let's check in.

Unbelievable Gwenpool #25, by Christopher Hastings (writer), Gurihiru (artists), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - So that's what happens to all the characters whose books get canceled: they get to hang out at the pool. I'd expect it to be more crowded, given the rate Marvel gives books the ax these days.

Gwen encounters an older, good version of herself that tells her the story isn't done just because the series is canceled. That people will be buying and reading the stories again for years after they were initially published. And there'll be fan art, cosplay, maybe someday another writer that loved Gwenpool when they were younger and gets to write her into their book. While this conversation is going on, Gwen is also hopping through a bunch of snippets of adventures that clean up (or at least nod in the direction of) various plot threads that hadn't been resolved yet.

It reminds me of the last issue of Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl series, where the last few pages were dedicated to showing all the future adventures Stephanie might have had if the series had continued on. I'm still sad we never got to see her fight the Royal Flush Gang at her college graduation. Those weren't unresolved points, but it has that same feel. The creative team at least getting to hint at what might have been.

The back-and-forth nature of it feels a little jagged, and the long-winded explanation of why this isn't really the end drags things to a halt, but I appreciate the attempt. Of course, the back-and-forth at least serves to break up the long-winded exposition. The stories we only get hints of looked like they would have been pretty fun (team-up with Squirrel Girl to rescue Gwen's brother from Mephisto!), and it lets the Guruhiru team illustrate a whole mess of other Marvel characters (including Fin Fang Foom!) Can't complain about that. It ends on fairly upbeat note, which is better than the alternative.

I'm surprised the book lasted this long, but I'm glad it did.

Despicable Deadpool #295, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lolli (artist), Ruth Redmond (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - The first page says Koblish is the artist, but that's definitely not the case, and the cover agrees.

Deadpool chases Evan and shoots him, despite some well-meaning bystanders. But he actually shot him with a bullet that suppresses his X-gene, so Stryfe just thinks Evan is gone. Unfortunately, the X-Men aren't impressed by this so Shadowcat and Colossus whoop the shit out of Deadpool, with Kitty criticizing Rogue for making out with Deadpool. You know, Kitty, you did it with Pete Wisdom and Peter Quill. A chain-smoking, cynical, antisocial asshole, and an idiot man-child. You combine the two and you basically have Deadpool. Basically, she slept with half of Deadpool, twice. So there. Also, Kitty telling Wade he's a wanted murder and can't just 'walk away from this,' rings hollow given all the times the X-Men looked the other way for their hairy Canadian murderer.

Hmm, I seem unusually hostile towards Shadowcat today. Just kick his ass and throw him in jail Kitty, spare us the cheap moralizing.

Wade escapes with the power of endangering innocents, and kills the last person Stryfe had on his list. But he's sad about it! Then Captain America shows up, day late and a dollar short, as usual.

Marietta Nelson took Deadpool appearing in her bedroom to murder her better than I would. I wouldn't expect her to believe him about his daughter, either, or else not care. Which would be fair, since she could assume (correctly) that Eleanor was in trouble because of Deadpool's fuck-ups, and why should she die to fix that? Maybe she was resigned from the moment she saw him, or maybe it was his demeanor. Lolli draws Wade with slumped shoulders and narrow, downcast eyes for most of the issue. The only time that drops is when the X-Men show up, and I assume Wade is playing at being a loon for their benefit. Just crazy old, amoral Deadpool! Killin' people for shits and grins! Tacos! Play down to their expectations.

Or maybe he's nostalgic for the old days when the heroes just beat him up for being a creep.

I have to think Deadpool is running out of explosives to use as cover for these narrow escapes, so I don't know how he's going to manage to elude Cap. Shooting at bystanders is only going to make Cap angry.