Broken Frontier

If Marvel can make Power Pack tie in to Secret Invasion , it’s no surprise that they’ll try with Wade Wilson too. Amazingly, it works.

Opening with a Skrull ship making a dramatic entrance in the middle of a crowded baseball game is certainly an effective way for the green invaders to get noticed. After scanning the crowd and discovering a “non-human”, in a goofy mascot costume no less, the aliens single out the aberration and lay waste to him with a hail of gun fire. The mascot falls. The Skrulls approach the body, and if you’ve seen any horror film, you know what comes next. The Merc With a Mouth  rises and returns fire with two hefty weapons of his own.

It’s a great introduction and thankfully the rest of the issue successfully carries the same light-hearted momentum. Marvel fans can rejoice that Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza’s creation still has a place in today’s Marvel Universe. Secret Invasion could do with a bit of a chuckle, and Deadpool achieves just that. Writer Daniel Way (Ghost Rider ) is smart enough to keep the tale action packed and filled with humorous expressions on both sides. Deadpool’s carefree, or careless, attitude is an enjoyable contrast to the staid Skrull force, as the lone warrior continues talking to himself like he’s at home watching TV, rather than fighting for his life against such an overwhelming opposition.

Combined with Skrull profanity, hallucinations of Skrull autograph hunters and the Merc’s brazen attack (which includes jumping on top of the ship), this issue has enough mirth-inducing moments to remind faithful fans why they fell in love with Deadpool in the first place—and to create new fans at the same time.

Paco Medina’s pencils work very well with Way’s script. Reminiscent of the late, great Mike Wieringo, every page is simply zany fun. Giving a masked soldier such outward expression is not an easy feat, but with his body language and reactions to the chaos around him, Medina stamps every page with Deadpool’s unmistakable character. Renditions of gun fights, fist fights and massive explosions also show that this is an artist that can reveal a Michael Bay-like epic quality to his work whenever he wants to.

Deadpool has always been a character just slightly off-centre from the rest of Marvel’s cast, loosely akin to the Punisher on a good day or Spidey on a bad one. Here, he returns to form with smiles all round, from the reader and the Merc himself. The last page is a fantastic way to end and a real rabbit out of the hat trick from Way. It’s surprising, but upon further reflection, makes absolute sense for the manic Mr. Wilson.

All of these ingredients mean that this is more than just the obligatory epic x-over tie-in, but a real joy to read, with a wild direction for the future of this book.