Review: Deadpool vs. X-Force #4

The laughs continue as creative team Duane Swierczynski and Pepe Larraz finish up their four-book miniseries. Deadpool has rescued Adolf Hitler, enemy #1 of time travelers extraordinaire, and is protecting him with an all-new super-gun. The panel describing the gun is hilarious! It is a spoof on television commercials telling you to “Call Now!” Letterer VC’s Joe Sabino uses a bunch of different fonts to conjure up the voice of Billy Mays. And he guarantees “It KILLS them forever!!”

While Deadpool is off erasing wannabe saviors of World War II, Cable and the X-Force are busy cleaning up the mess Deadpool left behind during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. It all seems too easy for the X-force. Cable uses his telekinetic powers to give the British back the tactical advantage. All seems as if they have triumphed, but Deadpool and Talbot have other ideas!

Pepe Larraz creates a warped world where the Nazi’s have won with the use of powerful Panzer-Sentinels decked out in a new flag combining the Nazi swastika with blue and red stripes, a warped version of the American flag. The Panzer-Sentinels are fearsome to behold with skulls for faces and large eyes; a true terror that has even Cable scared. Colorist Nolan Woodard adds to the fear by giving the Sentinels’ skull faces a pinkish color with green glowing eyes. Larraz and Woodard not only create fear with their Panzer-Sentinels, but they also add amusement on the very next page with a young Adolf Hitler throwing a temper tantrum. Adolf’s hair covering his right eye with his feet flailing in the air is downright comical. One of the most villainous human beings to walk the earth has been reduced to a mere child crying out for attention.

The action sequences are also wonderful to look at. Deadpool begins unleashing his Time Gun MachineTM vaporizing a woman and her parents. Her parents are blasted into skeletal form as their skin and bones begin disintegrating into the wind. Warpath rips an eye out of one of the Panzer-Sentinels and the mechanical and electrical parts come spilling forth. Woodard highlights the electrical wire giving it a bright white color, contrasting it against the looming shadow of the Sentinel. The panel highlights the combination of Larraz’s artwork with Woodard’s colors. However, there are some minor hiccups. For example, in the following panel Warpath appears to have five flailing appendages as he is thrown to the side.

Swierczynski ends the story beautifully keeping the humor alive and paying tribute to Deadpool’s first ever appearance in New Mutants #98. However, Swierczynski relies a little too much on Cable’s telekinetic abilities to bring the story to a close.

7.8	Larraz’s artwork and Woodard’s colors were fun and action packed. Swierczynski kept the humor flowing and wrapped up the story nicely despite an over-reliance on Cable’s telekinetic powers.

Review: Deadpool vs. X-Force #3

Duane Swierczynski, Pepe Larraz and Nolan Woodard left the reader in China at the turn of the 20th century, a fact which Deadpool is happy to remind the reader. The opening page starts off right with a good chuckle and uses a creative word bubble and the occupying images to replace Cable’s understandable profanity.

Swierczynski keeps the smile on your face as Deadpool tests out his fancy new toy, forcing Cable to march in lockstep and even salute. Unfortunately the story takes a turn for the unbelievable. Deadpool’s toy has absolutely no power over Cable at all; his marching and saluting are all a ploy in order to smooth-talk the mercenary into spilling the beans on his plan. Deadpool, playing the villain, is happy to oblige in a monologue explaining why he meddled in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and now China.

While Deadpool explains his masterful plan, Pepe Larraz maintains the torrid action-packed pace the previous books have set; there is an action scene on almost every page! Boom-Boom is launching fireballs at American forces while Cannonball flies alongside of his namesake tossing revolutionaries through the air. Warpath and Domino are smashing both Confederate cannons and Union techno-monstrosities. The best scenes are with Deadpool, whether he is tearing apart Chinese infantrymen with his gun, sword, or boot or brawling with Cable. Larraz does a great job with Deadpool’s facial expressions especially one scene where Cable reveals his charade and Deadpool knows what is coming: a hurting. However, there was not any “holy crap those fireballs look as if they are flying off the page” moments as there was in the first book.

Nolan Woodard’s colors, especially his use of light when he focuses on Boom-Boom, adds an emotional touch to the story, the reader has not experienced before. He also keeps up the good work with his explosions and gun fire using shades of blue, green, yellow, orange and red to create and denote the different types of explosions and gunfire.

Swierczynski keeps the book entertaining and lively with Deadpool’s commentary and even gives a nod to veteran readers of Deadpool. The most amusing section comes towards the end of the book. Swierczynski pokes fun at the way comics use the asterisk to denote a language translation. The dialogue, though some may deem childish or immature, is effective and had this reviewer laughing.

Swierczynski leaves a huge shocker that few will have seen coming and sets the stage for the grand finale in the fourth and final book.

7.0	The book is not strong on plot, but nevertheless is fun and exciting to read.

Review: Deadpool vs. X-Force #2

Deadpool continues to change the course of history; this time his sights are set on the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863. Writer Duane Swierczynski is able to take full advantage of Deadpool’s ability to understand he is a character in a comic book, having him speak directly to the reader from the first page. The humor is fun and light-hearted especially when Confederate soldiers are obviously perplexed and begin questioning whether or not Deadpool is even talking to them!

The book is once again full of non-stop action when Cable and the X-Force attempt to subdue Deadpool, but face a much more numerous Confederate force outfitted with artillery and muskets. Despite the superior numbers, the Confederate force does not really stand a chance against Domino and Warpath, who really only seem concerned about a potential loss of hearing from the roar of the cannon fire.

Pepe Larraz is top-notch once again with his artwork, and even adds a little steampunk, when some of Wilson’s machinations at Germantown in the first book have manifested themselves in the inventions of the Union army: massive land ships with smoke billowing out of their chimneys as they move to confront the Confederates, to tank-like crawlers equipped with multiple cannons firing some type of energy pulse and even what appears to be manned robotic walkers armed with huge golden rifles. These inventions not only look awesome, but pack a powerful punch! Larraz demonstrates their power when Cable travels back in time to warn Boom-Boom and Cannonball about the potential catastrophic ripples Deadpool is starting to cause. Cable is down on his knees and his wounds are smoldering and the time portal appears like smoke rising from his body.

The book isn’t all action and there are a few moral dilemmas the X-Force faces, which give Swierczynski the opportunity to flesh out their personalities. The most impactful is when Cannonball and Boom-Boom must decide whether or not they will attack the men “who laid down their lives for [their] freedom.” Unsurprisingly, they come to a pretty quick decision: they are soldiers and soldiers follow orders no matter what. It will be interesting to see if Swierczynski will expand on this discussion or leave it as is.

One of the more odd parts of the book appears near the end when Swierczynski begins narrating the story describing Warpath and Domino’s abilities. It is rather odd and even off-putting as it seems to break up the flow of the book, although it may help new readers understand their abilities despite their abilities being displayed in Larraz’s artwork and dialogue between the two.

The book continues to explore how history could have changed and continues to keep the reader guessing as to what Deadpool’s motivations are as well as who is employing the mercenary. The artwork by Larraz, accompanied with coloring by Nolan Woodward, definitely stand out in a fun journey through history.

7.6	Great artwork and coloring combined with an action-packed journey back to the Civil War keep this book on the pull list!

Review: Deadpool vs. X-Force #1

Right in time for the 4th of July, Marvel debuts Deadpool vs. X-Force #1 where the reader finds themselves in the midst of battle in Germantown, Pennsylvania right smack in the middle of the American Revolution. Fortunately for the “band of dirty, undisciplined American rebels” help is on their side!

Deadpool arises from the pile of dead rebel soldiers to unleash utter mayhem with his aptly named gun “Kingslayer.” The action sequence is rather short as British redcoats are no match for Deadpool, and his nonstop narrative of his own actions. There are a few punch lines that elicit a smile, since he has trouble determining whether the Redcoats have been shot or not due to the inherent color of their uniforms. Others fall flat especially when he makes reference to his low-hanging fruit. One thing for sure is Deadpool looks good dressed as an American patriot!

Writer Duane Swierczynski takes his leave of Deadpool to introduce Cable and the overarching plot the series aims to tackle. There is no subtlety and Swierczynski lays it all out for the reader. Cable and the X-Force must put a stop Deadpool.

Swierczynski describes the X-Force with utter simplicity describing Boom Boom as “A.K.A Tabitha Smith, Blows Stuff Up.” The characters are as simple as their descriptions and Swierczynski doesn’t go into any length at all to give any of them a personality. They are a team on a mission, and that is it. Hopefully this will change in upcoming issues and the reader will get a better grasp on who these characters are and what motivates them to blindly team up with Cable.

Swierczynski’s in your face story finds the X-Force on their way to confront Deadpool. The ensuing sequence is full of action, with walls crashing in and fireballs flying off the page. Swierczynski tees up the fireballs nicely and lets Artist Pepe Larraz hit one out of the park with America’s favorite past-time. Unfortunately the action sequence leads to Swierczynski smacking the reader in the face again with an all too easy plot development. However, he does do a good job of leaving the reader with an unexpected cliffhanger, revealing a tad bit of cunning from Deadpool.

Pepe Larraz’s artwork is fun, from dubbing Deadpool’s gun “Kingslayer” to dodging bullets and shoving the barrel of a gun down a redcoat’s throat; he embraces Wade Wilson’s persona. The scenes with Cable have a different “let’s get down to business, time to save the world vibe.” The best panels are the action sequences, whether it is Deadpool’s bullets seemingly flying off the page, or Cannonball launching towards the reader; Larraz makes the art feel 3-D.

The book has an interesting premise, which entices readers who have an historic bent although it appears only the outfits and the depiction of Cliveden Manor seem to have any semblance of historic accuracy. It will be interesting to see how Deadpool and the X-Force’s actions reshape the history of the United States.

7.2	Larraz’s art and Deadpool’s narrative combined with an historic theme carry the first entry that relies too much on simple plot machinations.