by Lindsay Young, CMRO Contributing Writer
Deadpool
Issue #1
Written by Daniel Way, Art by Paco Medina
Published: October 2008
I admit that I’ve never found the skrulls altogether very interesting, so maybe that’s why I’m not gushing over the first part of Deadpool’s One of Us storyline. It’s not that it’s got nothing for it. Even on a bad day, Deadpool is pretty upfront about his zaniness, and as everyone’s favourite fourth wall breaking hero, he fits well into a variety of stories. He’s just as lovably nuts here, and as a general rule it’s pretty difficult to make Deadpool unlikable.
The art, too, has a unique style that leans towards square lines, and the colouring has a nice tone to it. It manages to make Deadpool and the skrulls fairly expressive. There’s some good motion to it too, what with the entire first part being made up of one giant free-for-all battle. Deadpool runs around and flips about convincingly, and the timing on the action is pretty spot-on. It’s not an issue without energy.
Some of the jokes work, some don’t. There’s a tendency here to come across a little try-hard, and Deadpool’s wit doesn’t always flow as smoothly and naturally as it should. Still, the moments that work outweigh those that don’t.
The plot just doesn’t grab me, and while I’m mildly curious to see what Deadpool’s up to, it’s not zany enough, strange enough, or unique enough to really command my interest.
I wouldn’t call it my favourite Deadpool story, but there’s charm enough here to make it worth reading once, at least. I can’t imagine re-reading this, but I’d read the next installments in the storyline. If nothing else, I’d call it an average success of an issue. There are a lot of good things to be found, but nothing that really shines or stands out as a Deadpool story that one must read.