Oh Jason Aaron, you magnificent bastard.  I'd written off the .1 programme as a cynical attempt to grab more of my cash, especially after, in my estimation, the kind of average Iron Man issue last week.  Turned out however that what Aaron was going to give us was a single issue tale that will do nothing to set up new readers but was the kind of story I love to read. 

There are twin narratives going on as Melita welcomes various Marvel luminaries to Logan's surprise birthday party, while Logan himself tracks a kidnapped truck driver through the wilderness.  It has all those beautiful character moments you would expect at this kind of party, especially from Karaoke Deadpool, which demonstrates the versatility of Aaron's writing skills.  The Logan story meanwhile is twisted, wacky, funny and subtly surprising before it dovetails nicely with the end of the party.  Logan misses all his guests, but there's a final touch of sweet humanity as Melita reveals that she has done some research and uncovered Logan's real date of birth.  It's a touching moment which makes for a really rewarding end.

As for the pencils, I'd love to see Jefte Palo take over regularly on the book.  I'm not a fan of the work that Renato Guedes was doing, whereas this angular, shadowy linework really hits the spot for me.  There may be those that don't like his rendition of panels like the one of various Marvel women in costumes.  It's not cheesecake or photo realistic, but it is consistent with his style. His work on the cannibal brothers is suitably twisted as well, and this is really a nice package all around.  Worth jumping on board for...