Deadpool #40, by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn (writers), Scott Koblish (artist), Val Staples (crayon tester), Joe Sabino (letterer) - Thanks to a visit from Makes Brakes Fail Lass, I was able to read most of Deadpool's Axis tie-in, and I feel good about choosing to skip it. There were some good parts, but as with most event tie-ins, also a lot of crap I didn't care about.This is set up as a coloring book commissioned by the Roxxon Corporation to convince everyone how wonderful gracking is. Gracking is like fracking, but with gamma irradiated water, and it's totally safe, and not at all cancer causing, and hey, who doesn't want fire to shoot out of their faucets?
Eventually even Deadpool realizes something isn't kosher, and so he teams up with Sarah Silverman, as well as co-creators of the comic Southern Basterds Jason Aaron and Jason Latour to fight the CEO of Roxxon, who turns out to be a secret minotaur. They kill him, though Latour dies in the process, only to realize corporations already own everything so trying to only buy products from ethical companies is a fool's errand. Hooray!
It's an OK issue, maybe hits a little too close to the truth to be too funny. Especially the part about how gracking doesn't work where there are mansions, only where poor folk live. And the Sarah Silverman guest appearance seemed random. Aaron appearing I could at least justify because I think he created that Roxxon exec, so if anyone is going to kill him, it ought to be his creator. Most of the jokes are on the cover. Koblish did well recreating the feel of a kids coloring book, along with Staples. The exec's face changes color sometimes, which I assume was the kid getting bored and wanting to use different crayons. The panel illustrating the dire threat wind turbines pose to dolphins was pretty funny.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1, by Ryan North (words), Erica Henderson (art), Maris Wicks (trading card art), Rico Renzi (color art), Clayton Cowles (lettering) - Seems appropriate, pairing Wade with the one character he fears most in all the universe.Squirrel Girl is going to college, which means it's time to move out of the Avengers' attic and into the dorms. It's also time to fight Kraven the Hunter because he was in a bad mood and kicked some squirrels. Our heroine saves the day by helping Kraven find a new purpose in life, by upping his hunting game and taking on new threats. Then she finds out Galactus is on his way to Earth, and has somehow shielded himself from all eyes and instrumentation, except squirrel eyes. So it's off to space.
It's not the most dense first issue, but it's a solid start. Henderson and North introduced a couple of potential civilian supporting cast members, who will hopefully be further fleshed out as the series progresses. We got a good intro to her powers and abilities, but also the way she thinks. She's full of confidence in herself, but also open to trying different solutions to solve problems. I hadn't ever spent much time thinking about it before now, but I am curious to see how she spends her free time. Squirrel Girl has always struck me as a reasonably well-adjusted costumed hero, so it makes sense she would have some sort of civilian life, and other interests besides squirrels. Getting a chance to see those ought to be interesting. I do question the wisdom of having a squirrel and a cat sharing living quarters. In my experience, cats sometimes regard squirrels as something to kill, and honestly, squirrels can kind of be assholes sometimes. Not as bad as Blue Jays, but close.
Henderson's art and Renzi's colors fit the breezy, upbeat tone of the writing, and Henderson's doing well providing a variety of body types. Doreen doesn't have the typical super-hero body type, though some of that is the huge tail she has to conceal, but she's also very different from her roommate. It's an encouraging start, though I'm curious what mental jiujitsu she's going to pull on Galactus to divert him. Or are there space squirrels? Giant, ravenous space squirrels?
2 comments:
Wow, Deadpool sounds crazy... but sadly hits a little too close to home. Squirrel Girl was a hoot and a half.
For awhile Deadpool was doing these so-called lost inventory issues as breathers between arcs. But the last one was set in the '90s, so I guess they've run out of those, and went with this instead.
Post a Comment