What I Bought 1/31/2018

I saw a car last week with the license plate "OH JOY", which I assume was either a Ren and Stimpy reference, or being used sarcastically to express the driver's general attitude about life. That's how I would use it.

Deadpool #293, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lollia (artist), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inker), Ruth Redmond (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - I'm guessing that flower is a brand-new mutant, and Rogue thinks Wade is torturing it.

Wade flies a Helicarrier he bought somehow to New York, and runs into Rogue. . . 's fist. With his face. Rogue tries to get him to turn himself in, Wade tries to get her to hate him. Neither succeeds. They argue, Wade blinds her with thermite and escapes. How does spell check not recognize "thermite"? Rogue still promises to look out for Eleanor, although it's still framed as mostly being about Elle being a mutant. Just being a kid whose father is Deadpool isn't reason enough for her to need a guardian angel? Now Captain America is going to get involved. That'll be a calm discussion I'm sure.

You know, I'm a little sick of being asked to care about Deadpool killing Phil Coulson. Even if I actually believed Wade killed him - which I still don't - I don't fucking care. And the harder Duggan and every other writer that brings it up tries to insist Coulson was every superhero's friend, the more it reminds me of what Paul Jenkins did with The Sentry. Oh, everyone likes the Sentry! He was the Hulk's best friend! He was the first man Rogue was ever intimate with, which would probably have been a big deal for her as a character but was only mentioned in passing after the Sentry died! And on, and on. Bleagh. This has probably been going on with Coulson for awhile, but I'd managed to avoid it.

Plus, it just seems like a questionable approach to be trying to reason with Wade, be understanding, and then punch him 40 feet into the air (unless she was trying to get him off the street and away from potential bystanders/hostages). But Rogue's whole approach here is very hot and cold. I think she learned her negotiating tactics from Wolverine, when she should have talked to Nightcrawler. Better than learning from Mystique, I guess.

The most interesting bit is probably Wade mentioning that things are going to change for him, that he'll be a different person by the time they meet then. Seems like Wade being aware of his impending reboot to be pulled more in line with the movie version, although I'm still curious how that's going to play out. Killing him won't accomplish anything. He won't stay dead, and he knows it, and once an annoying crazy guy with a messed up face who smells bad shows up and starts shooting and stabbing people, everyone is going to know it's Deadpool. So what good will that do him? I guess the new version could be more innocent somehow, but I kind of doubt it.

Lolli still mostly uses three to four horizontal panels per page as his layout of choice, but I feel like he mixed things up a little more this month. The small panel of Wade's hand on page 3, the overlaps him skidding towards the edge of his Helicarrier, and him dangling off it. Or the vertical panel of Rogue standing alone after Wade's left, before she goes to try and clear her vision. It's not a lot of pages, but just enough to keep the story from falling into a repetitive rhythm. Some of Rogue's amused expressions are good, although they contribute to the strange feel this whole conversation has. It's a little like all the characters know it's pointless, so they're just screwing around to keep interested.