Deadpool 6-18 - The book stayed pretty heavily immersed in Dark Reign this year, which made a certain amount of sense, as it established that Norman Osborn killed the Skrull Queen with info Deadpool was gathering for Nick Fury, which Norman stole and used to aid his rise to power. So Wade contended with Killer Shark, the Thunderbolts, and Bullseye, the last one eventually paying him to lay low. In Deadpool's world, this means becoming a pirate, then trying to join the X-Men, which unfortunately tipped off Norman that Deadpool's not dead after all.Daniel Way wrote all 13 issues, and Paco Medina drew 11 of them. That would be the answer promised in the opening paragraph. Aren't you glad I got to it quickly, rather than making you wade through the entire thing? Shawn Crystal handled the two-part story where Deadpool looks into a career in nautical thievery.
High Point: It was pure filler, but the extended hallucination in Deadpool #8, where we see a skewed version of Jack and the Beanstalk, starring Norman Osborn as a stupid giant. I laughed a lot. As far as an actual story, the pirate arc. I think Crystal's art makes characters look stranger, more exaggerated, and that works well for Deadpool, with his madness and all. Credit to Medina, he's better at altering his style some for the hallucinations. I wish he'd do it more often.
Low Point: The Thunderbolts arc, I guess. I mean, the X-Men arc felt a bit pointless, because I thought it was supposed to be about Deadpool being himself and seeing if the heroes would accept him, and I'm not convinced he did that, instead playing into what they expect of him. Still, the Thunderbolts arc was pointless, and I've never figured out when Taskmaster was inside Avengers Tower during the initial battle. He says he was there, because he says in Deadpool #9 he's not going back, but I never got the impression he was there at all.
Deadpool 900 - I couldn't decide whether to include this with the ongoing, since it shares its title, or with Deadpool Team-Up, whose numbering seems to follow this comic's. Ultimately, I figured I'd just keep it by itself. A grab-bag issue with several short stories by different creative teams of various levels of humor and interest to me. Also, they included an old Deadpool Team-Up that revealed before he gained the healing factor, he was an up and coming sumo wrestler. Sure, why not?
As far as creative teams go, we have Jason Aaron/Chris Staggs (alien abduction gone awry), Fred van Lente/Dalibor Talajic (battle with superpowered mimes), Mike Benson/Daimon Scott (visit to a psychiatrist), Joe Kelly/Rob Liefeld (Deadpool checks in on a 20-year old bet, and kills a man by jamming a live dog down his throat), Duane Swierczynski/Shawn Crystal (making fun of CSI), Victor Gischler/Sanford Greene (what happens when you meet Doc Ock on a sea cruise), Charlie Huston/Kyle Baker (Deadpool ponders his existence), James Felder/Pete Woods (that old issue they included). I was fond of the mime story and the CSI one myself. The former, because mimes as adversaries is good fun, and the latter because, even though I've been known to watch such procedurals, they can be kind of ridiculous.
Deadpool Team-Up 899 - Fred van Lente and Dalibor Talajic combine their talents to have Deadpool and Hercules confront their inner fears at the hands of Arcade and Nightmare (whose design reminds me of one of the villains from the first season of the anime Big O). It was sort of mildly funny, not as much as I was hoping for with Arcade in the mix, but we can probably chalk that up to unrealistic expectations on my part. It was a complete story in one issue, and our heroes don't spend too much time angsting over their problems, not when they can be celebrating a victory in Tijuna. Is that how you spell that? That's how it is in the comic, but it looks wrong. Hang on. Whadda ya know, that is the proper spelling.
And with that, we're done with Deadpool!
Audience: *Raucous cheering*
Except for a brief bit at the end of the alphabet. Sorry.
Audience: *Booing like they were Patriot fans at yesterday's playoff game*
Exiles 1-6 - Another title Jeff Parker wrote that was canceled within the same year it started. I don't think it's his fault, as they started this volume two months after the end of Claremont's New Exiles, and I think that title really killed fan interest in the Exiles. Probably needed to lay fallow for a couple of years. Maybe creating all new characters for the team, as Winick mostly did would have helped too, I'm not sure. Marvel and DC fans don't seem to be huge fans of new characters these days.Anyway, before the title ended, the Exiles saved mutantkind in one reality by wrecking an alliance between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, and saved all humanity from a rogue Cerebro. Then they learned the truth behind the Exiles and the multiverse, at least for right now. Jeff Parker wrote all the issues, Salva Espin drew issues 1, 2, and 6, as well as most of #3. Casey Jones drew the rest.
High Point: I really liked the first issue, especially the bit where Morph explains the deal with the multiverse (as he understood it), and why the Exiles are needed. I think it was all the forms he took as he gave his lecture that amused me, the sort of '20s sports fan outfit he came up with as the Panther asked what would happen as they fail. That outfit, combined with 'That's the spirit, go Team Exile!' makes me laugh every time. Alternatively, the Panther's sucker punch of Havok in Exiles #3. Because Havok needs to be sucker-punched often.
Low Point: All that exposition about Kangs and the Panoptichron really confused me. Probably not Parker's fault, since I think he'd have teased it out more slowly if he had time.
GrimJack: Manx Cat 1-5 - John Gaunt, aka GrimJack, retrieves the Manx Cat, which draws the ire of another thief, the person he stole it from, and other interested parties. Which drags Gaunt deeper into the mess, where he realizes the Cat is more than a bauble, and sends him into the past to learn the truth behind it, and possibly meet a previous version of himself. Maybe.
The original GrimJack team of John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are on the case here.
High Point: Issue #3. Gaunt fights a possessed rival, fends off the advances of a shapeshifter, starts to understand the power of the Manx Cat, and we learn of the existence of the Kucinich Ring, which I think is the concept of the year. Plus, for newbs to the GrimJack universe, it provides a bit more insight into his past, letting us know some of what he's lived through.
Low Point: Nothing comes to mind.
Guardians of the Galaxy 9-21 - Much as Deadpool was mired in Dark Reign, this title was involved in War of Kings from the start of the year nearly to the end. I can tolerate it more in this instance, since the same minds, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, are behind this title and War of Kings. This title also started the trend for 2009 to be the year Marvel's cosmic characters get on Blastaar's bad side (presumably 2010 will be the year they face the consequences), aw Phyla-Vell bring Moondragon back from the dead, though lose the Quantum Bands. We saw Adam Warlock save the universe from the Fault, but lose himself, and several teammates. We saw Star-Lord potentially be used by Kang, and Phyla not help the Guardians of the Galaxy's relationship with the Kree.Abnett and Lanning wrote all the issues. I'm not sure who is responsible for what, so I guess it's a true collaborative effort. Carlos Magno drew half of issue #9, Brad Walker drew the rest of that issue, and all of 7 others. Wesley Craig handled the remaining 5, and while he could stand to improve his clarity in big crowd fight scenes, he knows how to draw weird, wild stuff, big stuff. Which is the kind of thing you need for a book like this, set out in space, where you run into weird stuff all the time.
High Point: It's a tie. The first 2 issues of the year, with the rest of the team trying to find and rescue Star-Lord, and Star-Lord trying to not help Blastaar escape the Negative Zone was a lot of fun, as Blastaar can be a pretty funny guy, as he attempts to act like a smart, imposing king, but can't quite pull it off. Also, it added Jack Flag to the team, a character who is legitimately feeling out of his depth with the cosmic stuff. The other story would be #16 and 18, as Starhawk draws half the team into her future, shows them what the War of Kings will bring about. Then the team gets bounced from one reality to the next, as most of them are at different ages, except Jack Flag, who is gradually fading from existence. Old Geezer Star-Lord, plus the Badoon creating a force field to preserve a little of the universe, by enslaving Celestials to serve as a cage around an engine they built from the dying Sun. That would be a strong runner-up for my concept of the year.
Low Point: I'm tempted to say the big fight at the end of #19, since it killed several characters I liked, but I'm pretty sure there's going to be some time travel stuff going on that will be able to reverse it, so I'm not too bothered. You know I'm right. Kang was involved, and what about Jack Flag's destiny to die saving existence? So maybe issue #20, with its heavy focus on Moondragon, who I'm not terribly interested. Plus, it (and #21) have continued the trend of the Luminals being complete morons, who always put their foot in it. Which is getting tedious. Hopefully, Cynosure is going to do something good here soon, but I'm not betting on it.
Tomorrow, slightly more titles than today, because there are more canceled series for me in the middle of the alphabet!
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