This issue is Deadpool doing what Deadpool does best - killing superheroes. While telling jokes, of course. Currently, Deadpool is sharing his headspace with another voice, Agent Preston, whose spirit/soul/mind was transplanted to Deadpools after her body was killed, and Michael, the incompetent magician who helped cause all that dead presidents stuff in the first story arc, is working on separating the two. Meanwhile the demon Vetis has tasked Deadpool with killing off folks whose souls he received in return for giving them superpowers. It almost seems redundant to talk about plot in a Deadpool comic as really its secondary at best - the main and only thing should be what crazy scenes you get can the Merc with a Mouth into for the best laugh. Thankfully Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan are two of the funniest writers Marvel have on staff at the moment and give Deadpool his due - some of the best scenes in the comic are Preston investigating Deadpools mind (featuring the weirdest collection of art ever!) and Michael going to/being in jail (who knew flashing a cop whos eating a hot dog would get you in prison so fast?). The reason I mention plot development as a negative in a Deadpool comic is because the best issue in this fantastic series so far has been issue #7, a standalone ish that sends Deadpool back to 1980, riffing on the Marvel comics of that era, specifically Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle, where Tony Stark becomes an alcoholic. Having Deadpool do out-there stunts like that not only makes this series unique to all other Marvel NOW! titles but shows the massive creative potential the character has - Deadpool can literally do anything in his comics! While Id like to see less plot in this series (weird to say, I know), Deadpool working for Vetis throws up a great scene in this comic where Deadpool kills Aquaman (not actually, but an analogue of the character nonetheless). Deadpool calls surfer-dude Aquaman the worst mermaid ever with the dumbest power in the world while Aqua-dude literally says Broseph, why? when Deadpool stabs him. I love this comic! Who doesnt want to see Deadpool take out DCs characters, right? I could list all of my favourite lines from this issue but thatd run this review far too long. But just randomly flipping through the comic, lines like Weaponized Dyslexia... I was in a punk band called that one time, and when Vetis is sucking up Aqua-dudes soul (presented as purple smoke) Deadpool says You going to bogart that dead dude?. Also, unconscious Deadpool is presented in his head as Deadpool sleeping in a coloured ball pit like in a kids restaurant.
Posehn and Duggans Deadpool is the most fun series Marvel are publishing right now. Every issue has tons of laughs, fantastic scenes, and the writers pushing Deadpool to new levels of depravity and silliness. This is the comic I read to cheer myself up from all the superhero comics that take themselves too seriously - and its full of unexpected moments as Deadpool as a character has no limits, so the reader is always surprised. If youre looking for a tremendously fun superhero comic, Deadpool is your guy.
Deadpool #9 by Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne is out now at your local comics shop and online at Comixology and Marvel Unlimited