Deadpool #14 - Now that is how a pirate should look! Captain Morgan's got nothing on Deadpool (it's the high-powered rifle that gives Wade the edge)! Wade gets his new navigator outfitted, but has already set his eyes on a new lady love. Meanwhile, Wackbeard the Pirate and his crew have stolen Wade's pirate ship. Deadpool actually employs a little trickery to reclaim it, and loses a leg in the process, but that means he gets a peg leg. Deadpool - 37% more piratical with every issue!Anyway, Deadpool stops the pirates, probably destroys most of the housing on the island of Jallarka, does Bob a serious solid, and concludes he enjoys helping people, which lead to his utter depression at the start of issue #15. Somehow. Maybe because there's no one to help in the middle of the ocean, I dunno.
The second part of the pirate story wasn't as funny as the first, but it's nice to see Way starting to go someplace with this, as the book had felt aimless for the first year. Which may have been the point, or may have been a consequence of all the Dark Reign tie-in nonsense. I still like Shawn Crystal's artwork, as his Deadpool is suitably freaky-looking (though most of his people are, now that I think of it), but he does have a tendency to not keep track of which hand someone is carrying a weapon in, so it switches from one panel to the next for no apparent reason. Regardless, he can draw a macabre scene like a man losing a leg in a way so that's it's more darkly funny than gruesome, which considering the character's just going to regenerate the leg, is probably fine.
Immortal Weapons #2 - We learn about a battle between a Murderous Lion and a previous Bride of Nine Spiders, that caused one spider to be left in our world. 70+ years later, it's still alive and is auctioned off to a young man determined to learn its secrets, assuming the old woman he outbid doesn't have it stolen back first. The majority of the story follows the people she hires as they move through the seemingly deserted home of the buyer, and keep hallucinating due to the song of the spider. We do run across the Bride of Nine Spiders eventually, and she's a bit more chatty than I'm used to. Probably a concession due to her being the star, rather than the supporting cast. The Iron Fist back-up continues Danny's quest to help Jada find her little brother.Here's my problem with the Bride of Nine Spiders story. I don't feel we learned anything about her. So she showed mercy to the folks who freed her, rather than eat them. Well, she's demonstrated previously she's not some complete psycho, so that's not exactly news. We didn't really learn anything about her city, or what the significance of that particular spider was. She's still pretty much as mysterious as she was before. The problem being, she's not really illustrated that way, as she's in full view, clearly visible in every panel she appears in. If you're going to keep her mysterious, have her stay in shadows, or shrouded in spiders and their webs. Also, probably due to the three different inkers, Brereton's art seems to vary wildly, from looking unfinished and flat, to more vividly detailed. From smooth lines, to rough and scratchy, on and on. It's hard for me to tell it's the same artist some times. I did like Travel Foreman's art in the Iron Fist more than usual. I think deep shadows and rain help his art, or he just cut down on some of the unnecessary linework.
Secret Six #13 - Jeanette's coming back from the brink of madness, Deadshot and Scandal both seem to be moving closer to it, and Bane seems to miss prison, which is concerning. I suppose it would keep him away from the Venom. Catman switches sides - about damn time, Blake - then that Smyth makes a little announcement which does make sense, though I hadn't considered it. I can't imagine it's going to matter much to the Six. Or would it be the Four?Can someone explain why I'm supposed to be worried about this Grendel thing? Ooh, it's furry and has sharp teeth, and talks of eating people! Junior was considerably scarier. Especially after she disrobed. I will never be able to scrub that from my brain. Grendel strikes me as a smaller, somewhat more verbal Wendigo, which just doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Other than that, it's a fine issue. Ragdoll is suitably disturbing, as usual, and Nicola Scott draws everything quite nicely. I especially like Jeanette seeing her friends and Artemis in the olde tyme clothes. Bane with the hat (which take away the feather and it's be close to GrimJack's) and Artemis' ridiculously high collar were nice touches.
Agents of Atlas #11 - So the book is canceled. Or on hiatus. Or a backup strip for Incredible Hercules. One of those. In the meantime, Atlas gets whomped again by that M-21 robot. Temugin actually helps Jimmy survive in the Dragon's Corridor, and the team tries to regroup again. Gorilla Man helps M-11 get into the spirit of the battle, Namora calls in some reinforcements, and Bob takes away M-21's advantage, and there you go. The battle ends with a punch and "Yay!" Jimmy Woo plays gracious and wise leader, and the dragon's are both very pleased with all this. Which cannot be good. Freaking duplicitous dragons.Thus ends Agents of Atlas the ongoing. For now. Parker set some things up that I'm sure we'll see begin to play out shortly, and I'm curious to see if/when this dovetails with Incredible Hercules, as I imagine it will eventually, based on that Olympus Group scene in #10. Panosian's art was a lot rougher in this than it had been. I don't know if it was meant to symbolize how things were falling apart for Atlas there for awhile, or if he was rushed, but it didn't look as nice as it had in earlier issues.
That's it for older stuff. Tomorrow, we discuss actual comics from this week. Crazy, I know.
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