Deadpool #900

I'm supposed to be researching and writing an essay right now, but instead I'm going to talk about Deadpool #900.

Have there been 900 issues of Deadpool? No. But if you know Deadpool, you know that doesn't matter. And if you only know Deadpool from the Wolverine film, then I'm very, very sorry. That's like only knowing Tom Bombadil from the Lord of the Rings movies.

"Wait," you say, "Tom Bombadil wasn't in the LotR movies." Yeah, and Deadpool wasn't really in Wolverine either. They did have a character in it named "Deadpool," but other than that...no. And props to me for spelling "Bombadil" correctly on the first try. At least, it's correct according to Wikipedia.

So who is Deadpool? He's a mutant with a healing factor much like Wolverine. He's also a mercenary for hire that does not shut up. Deadpool is comic book absurdity at its finest. He's one of the rare characters that is actually aware of his existence as a comic book character. Because of this, he frequently gets into discussions/arguments with the writer/editor of the given story he's in.

So what's so fancy about this issue 900 thing? Well, it's a collection of short stories staring the proclaimed "Merc with a Mouth." And really, in short, frenetic bursts is where this guy shines. So this is what the book contains:

Close Encounters of the @*#$ed-up Kind: Deadpool gets abducted by aliens. There is an anal probe involved. That about sums it up.

Silent But Deadly: This one is a bit of an homage to the infamous all-silent Snake Eyes issue of the old GI Joe comics. An explosion ruptures Deadpool's ear drums, so he battles a trio of villainous mimes in silence. It's actually pretty neat.

Deadpool Shrunken Master: Deadpool sees a shrink. Again, what more do you need to know?

Pinky Swear: This one was probably my favorite story out of the lot. Deadpool is in the middle of saving the world or something (it's never specified, but who cares?) when he remembers the time has come to collect on a childhood bet he made while in elementary school. So he visits his childhood friend, inadvertently bringing the war he's currently fighting with him. The bet turns out to be childish, immature, and highly inappropriate. Just like Deadpool.

What Happens in Vegas: Deadpool is found dead in a seedy Las Vegas motel and it's up to the cast of CSI to solve the murder mystery. Seriously. Oh, and there's a live chicken at the crime scene.

Great Balls of Thunder on the Deep Blue Sea: Deadpool takes a vacation on board a cruise ship. It doesn't go well.

One Down: This story is kind of odd, but who doesn't love the imagery of Deadpool standing on a pile of Tyrannosauruses while fighting a pirate dragon. That's right. A Pirate Dragon! Anyway, throughout the story Deadpool is having a discussion with the writer/editor/whatever of the story. See, Deadpool is tired of life and wants to die. But his healing factor prevents this from happening. So he rationalizes that if he can't die in the comics, then his comics must die. That means the popularity and, therefore, sales of his comics must go down until Marvel cancels everything he's in. How best to do this? Eliminate the people responsible for his popularity: the readers. Including the readers of this very comic book. In this very existential work, we see that Deadpool is really a self-regenerating, witty Camus. Who likes to kill people.

Turning Japanese: Unlike the others, this is actually a rather long story, and probably the weakest of the bunch. In fact, I didn't really understand it, especially the first couple pages. But then its all about Deadpool becoming a sumo wrestler and then returning years later to fight a midget clone of himself. Sadly, it's not nearly as humorous as that sounds. I mean, it sure could have been, if the story was truncated to just that plot. But for some reason, a whole story is developed to try to add depth to the character.

This has me worried about the Deadpool movie. While I love the concept (especially with Ryan Reynolds playing the lead), this story gave me pause. Deadpool is the comedic foil. He's at his best when his mouth is spitting out an endless stream of irreverent, fourth-wall breaking wit. And that works great in short spurts. But how well will that hold up in a 90 minute movie? Especially if they do what this last story did and try to add depth to the character.

Wait, isn't depth a good thing? It depends. Remember the whole segment in Wolverine that dealt with his love interest and him becoming a lumberjack? Yeah, that was boring as all crap. I don't want my Wolverine to settle down and enjoy the simple life. I want him to go berserk and claw the living crap out of a hundred bad guys! I want the same for Deadpool. But now I fear they'll try to give him a Mary Jane Watson and have him mope around about whether to be Deadpool or give it up for the girl. So that would suck, but 90 minutes of endless one-liners would probably get old quick.

So what's the right way to make a Deadpool movie? Is there a right way? I don't know. But I do love the idea of a bunch of short Deadpool stories in one comic. Deadpool #900 was grand.

Republic No More

Today is a sad day for me. I just found out that Knights of the Old Republic is coming to an end with issue number 50. Now, that issue won't hit for several months now, but author John Jackson Miller says that he's already turned in the final script for it. This is the end of a great ride that I only recently jumped on.

This past summer I heard some buzz about this kooky Star Wars comic called Legacy that takes place 130+ years after the battle of Yavin (the explosion of the first Death Star in the first Star Wars movie). The protagonist of the series is a Jedi turned bounty hunter with a drug habit. Oh, and he's also a descendant of Luke Skywalker and occasionally sees visions/hallucinations of his famous ancestors. It's a pretty nifty read.

But what, says you o' faithful reader, does that have to do with KotoR? Well, part way through Legacy there was a crossover dubbed "Vector" that included all 4 (at the time) Star Wars titles regularly published by Dark Horse. I really didn't want to have to dig through other, unfamiliar titles just to understand what was happening in the Legacy portion. But I ended up doing it anyway. And to my delight, one of those crossover titles was KotoR.

My first impression of KotoR was how humorous it was. Compared to the dark moral ambiguity of Legacy, Miller's title was rather funny and almost lighthearted. The main characters of Zayne and Gryph were bumbling buffoons. Zayne was not a super cool Jedi. Instead, he was a klutzy padawan that hadn't even graduated to the status of Jedi Knight. He was more in line of what I'd be like as a Jedi.

I loved the Knights of the Old Republic video game. The comic series takes place a couple years before the events in that game and, for the most part, does not include the main game characters. There's cameos, guest appearances, and allusions to those characters and events in the game, but the bulk of the story focuses exclusively on Zayne and his compatriots. This gives the sense that the comic, and also the game, take place in a bigger world where a lot more things are going on than just what is on the page or screen. It adds a depth and history to the Star Wars universe that I greatly appreciate and enjoy.

And now its all ending. At least, in this format. While I'm saddened, I'm also hopeful that Miller will knock the final few issues out of the park. Make me laugh, make me cheer, even make me cry. I take comfort in knowing that the series isn't ending from an abrupt, unplanned, cancellation. Hopefully Miller, who's written every issue of the series, will end it exactly the way he wants to.

Issue #46 comes out this Wednesday and continues until #50 lands sometime in February.

GI Joe Cobra Special

I don't follow the G.I. Joe comics at all. I sort of have one I grabbed at Free Comic Book Day this spring. But I picked up September's Cobra Special #1 based solely on Chris Sims' glowing review of it (You can check his site out here).

I admit I don't understand the story. I don't have the slightest clue who the Paoli brothers are and what bigger role they play in the GI Joe universe. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this issue for the masterpiece it is.

It's a story about duality. One brother sees their situation as freedom, while the other sees it as slavery. The artwork tells this as much as the words do. You see, the first half and the second half of this book mirror each other. The style, layout, and sometimes the image itself are exact mirror images of what occurs on the corresponding page in the other half. Even the page numbers mirror each other. They count up to the halfway point in the book and start counting down again.

It's a piece of beauty, is what it is. It's also a perfect example of what can be done with this medium. I don't fully understand the story, but I will reread it over and over just to appreciate the way its told. I definitely have to salute writer Mike Costa and artist Antonio Fuso on this one. Good job, guys.

They Boy Bought the Basketball

Don't you hate blogs that never update except for the occasional post to apologize for not updating?

Yup, this is one of them.

So yeah, my energy has been diverted elsewhere, what with this whole going back to school thing. But yay for temporary ambition! Right? Right guys? Anyone? Hello? Uncle Leo....?



An extra 10 Points! to anyone that can name what the title is referencing!