![deadpool 1 deadpool 1](https://buzz.tt/media/posters/1126/posters_3_1500.jpg)
But in 2002, Willem Dafoe and Sam Raimi created a version of the character so iconic, that it's not a stretch to call it definitive. All the way back to the 1960s and the villains Silver Age origins. Spider-Man and Green Goblin go back a long way. Even the lettering frequently seems at odds with the art, as the visuals often draw the eye in one direction while the word balloons veer in another. Nor does the fact that this issue features six different inkers over the course of 27 pages. The fact that so much of the issue takes place in nondescript, snow-swept environments doesn't help. Bachalo makes a number of frustrating framing choices, with panels that either zoom in too close or pull back too far. But in execution, this first issue doesn't leave a strong visual impression.
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In theory, Bachalo's style is an ideal fit for a series that combines the zaniness of Deadpool with Marvel Monster trappings. Strangely, even Deadpool veteran Chris Bachalo isn't able to do much to enhance this book's appeal. What's more, the dialogue tends to be overly long-winded, and the sense of humor is often strangely subdued without ramping up the drama to compensate. Again, the end result is fine, but not remarkable in terms of how Wade's voice and personality are depicted on the page. Thompson's writing aims to find a happy medium between the humorous dialogue of past writers like Joe Kelly and Rick Remender and the narrative caption-heavy approach of Daniel Way. This is just the usual impulsive, mercurial Wade Wilson we've come to know very well. Kelly Thompson's handle on Deadpool himself is fine, but the book breaks no new ground in terms of characterization.
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To put it simply, there's no real hook here. It introduces a new status quo involving Deadpool accidentally becoming king of the monsters but doesn't really establish why readers should care or what this actually means in terms of an ongoing direction. The plot of issue #1 meanders back and forth.
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While there's a fleeting appeal to seeing Wade bump elbows with the likes of Elsa Bloodstone and Gwenpool, these brief team-ups have a very shoehorned quality. It's telling that this first issue tries to distinguish itself not with a dramatic new take on Deadpool himself, but by roping in various outside Marvel characters. That run has cast a shadow on everything that's followed, and this new volume doesn't appear as though it'll be able to escape that shadow anytime soon. Duggan profoundly changed the character, creating a completely new supporting cast, morphing an obscure marvel character into one of Wade's most fearsome enemies and exploring what happens when Wade tries and fails to become a legitimate superhero. In general, Marvel has struggled to create a compelling new status quo for the character in the aftermath of Gerry Duggan's lengthy run. This first issue does little to break the familiar Deadpool mold, making it a tough sell to all but the most hardcore of readers. He accepts a mercenary job, things don't go as planned and quips are dropped and body parts are dismembered with reckless abandon. This is pretty much business as usual for Wade. While no doubt timed to bank on the excitement surrounding the Dawn of X relaunch, this new series has no connection to that ambitious overhaul of the X-Men franchise. Rather than wiping the slate clean and giving Wade Wilson a fresh start, the latest volume of Deadpool only further contributes to the growing Deadpool fatigue. Marvel's insistence on publishing multiple concurrent Deadpool books pretty much nonstop over the past ten years has ensured the character is perpetually in danger of wearing out his welcome. Deadpool may have started life as a supporting character in X-Force, but he's truly grown into a franchise all his own in the three decades that have followed.