Pick of the Week

July 17, 2013 – Deadpool #13

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

350
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.6
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 14.5%
 
Users who pulled this comic:
Story by Brian Posehn & Gerry Duggan
Art by Scott Koblish
Colors by Val Staples
Letters by Joe Sabino
Cover by Kris Anka

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

I was a third, maybe half, of the way through Deadpool #13 when it occurred to me that it was going to be Pick of the Week again; that it would be the second time I, Josh Flanagan, had written about a Deadpool comic book, proclaiming it the best of the comic books I had read in a given week. It’s odd. Next thing I know, I’ll be proclaiming Mumford & Sons “not that bad” and eating salad.

But one of those things has actually happened, and it has nothing to do with Dwight Shrute playing a banjo over and over, or leafy greens. No, Deadpool #13 is definitely the Pick of the Week. Again!

I don’t even really hate Deadpool. It’s more that I don’t care about Deadpool. I don’t get the schtick. It’s fine, but it’s not my thing. Yet increasingly, it’s the allure of the other in comics that’s attracting me. I’m not saying that I need super alternative comics, because we’re talking about a Deadpool book after all, from Marvel Comics. I’m actually a pretty mainstream guy. Still, anyone who reads a lot of comics with a savvy eye will notice that certain patterns emerge, and those patterns repeat themselves for 30-40 years. Maybe more. If you read the amount of mainstream comics that I do, those patterns can become incredibly boring, sometimes nauseating. Like a certain band and their droning antecedents. We’re not here to talk about that though. What really excites me in comics is when you see what sort of mischief creators can get up to within the confines of something that traditionally has such a rigid structure. What’s really making me smile with this series, and especially these flashback interludes like this one, and previously issue #7, is that Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan are pushing boundaries. The jokes are becoming more risqué, while remaining both witty and delightfully lowbrow. They’re using the safety of parody to go after taboo and tradition, and it also happens to look fantastic.

We’re back in 1977 New York City for this issue, with Scott Koblish and Val Staples on art and zipatone duty. The whole issue is drawn in the style of a comic book from your dad’s childhood (unless you’re super old), that you pulled out from a musty box in the basement. There are stains, and there are colors running out of the border, and no matter how many times I see this trick, it always makes me smile. Koblish in particular really embraced the layouts, designs, and figures of comics from that era, and at any point, a character could have taken out a Hostess fruit pie and ended the story. It is tonally perfect, and a joy to read. I can only imagine that as the pages came back to the editors and writers, they looked and saw and nodded, because those sons of bitches did it. They actually did it. The scene with the sex page (not what you think) should get its own Eisner. It’s a mix of pop, cliché, humor, and a damned beaver (not what you think). It is glorious, and you can nearly hear the delightful wah wah guitar and hi-hat.

On the other side of the process, I think you have Duggan and Posehn’s finest script so far. This thing is chock full of double entendre and genuinely funny jokes, straddling the line of post-modern and stupid in all the best ways. They’re working with metaphors for race and sex and not bobbling the ball, all while making fun of KISS. Iron Fist’s pent up… power might be my favorite gag in the whole thing, but it’s quite honestly a tough call. The pages are packed, and if this isn’t giving you your funny book’s worth of delight, then I don’t know what to tell you.

So many comics are so very serious, and collectively we just can’t shake the feeling of trying to make “dark” the same thing as “quality”. At the same time, comics that are supposed to be funny are so often not funny. Luckily, these folks are actually funny, and  in the midst of a billion other books trying to cram how sad it is to have a cape, juxtaposed with wholesale human slaughter in other books, it’s so nice to have a book that’s well produced, wearing its love of the medium on its ridiculous, flowy sleeve, and have it hit at exactly the right moment. This is nostalgia mixed parody done well, and it is a rare thing indeed.

If all that wasn’t enough for you, here are two more thoughts: the villain is a pimp called The White Man, and every time Luke Cage looks horrified, it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen in a comic book.

Josh Flanagan
The 70’s were almost entirely ridiculous. And wonderful.
josh@ifanboy.com

Comments

  1. Sounds like a lot happened in 0 pages!

  2. Wow, I was about to drop this book, but maybe i’ll pick this issue up after all.

  3. And Jason Wood just found his 11 O’Closcar nomination for best single issue of 2013.

    • This series is firing on all cylinders! Love the flashback issues, so much fun. Unsung hero here is definitely Val Staples, the colorist.

  4. Hey man…I’m not “super old”.

    • I almost am. If you’re older than me, you probably are super old. I’m sorry. Have an easily digested snack and take a seat.

    • Lol thanks for the advice sonny boy. I guess 47 is super old for comic book fans. I know the bounce back from jogging is sure longer than it used to be. And reading comics on my iPad makes them easier to see.

  5. I wish we could have a series of issues just like this, but alas, we know why that can’t be. The “comics-must-be-serious” police would never tolerate that level of tom foolery.

  6. Wonderful issue.

    Koblish and Staples nailed the 1970s aesthetic with the designs and ‘terrible’ coloring. That and the script was filled with hilarious pop culture references, Luke Cage being angry from start to finish, and Deadpool continually doing ‘contemporary’ references. Seriously, great stuff here and you don’t have to be a Deadpool fan to love it.

  7. Another Deadpool pick by Josh… is this now normal? It’s like, I should still feel all “twilight zone” about it but maybe I shouldn’t?

    The book’s good though, so why not pick it? I always say that when my nose is full.

  8. Man I laughed and laughed as I read this. The script was fantastic, and the presentation really reminded me of the comics I read as a kid (including the “CONTINUED AFTER NEXT PAGE” at the bottom of pages before an ad page – like I’m to fucking dumb to know that).

    I do wish they would have included a fruit pie gag, that would have been awesome.

  9. Oh,crap. I, like Josh, don’t really care about Deadpool. But it sounds like I may enjoy this run of Deadpool. ANOTHER comic to pick up? Just when I thought my pull list was getting under control….

  10. This is a gem of a comic book. The art was great and the story is genuinely funny. Really reminded me of those ole’ Iron Fist/Luke Cage comics my dad used to have. I’ll never look at Iron Fist the same way again. Who did the cover on this?

    BQ: Is Declan Shalvey taking over in the next issue?

  11. The lead in page is really good too. Comics from the 80’s back had so much text. It’s kinda cool to think of spending 75 cents on a comic and not even reading all the extras.

  12. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    This is my favorite ongoing title. Thanks for championing it to the comics community, iFanboy.