I'm liking Simone's Deadpool more and more with each issue, and this one hooks me with a stronger focus on plot and less of a focus on gags. Mind you, the humor is still there, as well as a respect for the character relationships that Joe Kelly set up and some terrific action from the guys at Udon who proved that you can do action comics well with Taskmaster. Although I missed the Rhino keychain a lot, I have to say that this was my favorite issue of Deadpool so far, and we're starting to see some of the plot developments that will lead up to Agent X, which is starting to intrigue me more and more as well.
Like anyone else, Deadpool is defined by the caliber of his villains, and for too long now his villains have been simply nameless mooks that he mows down while making pithy comments. While the pithy comments remain (and the mooks are still mowed down), Simone has taken the wise step of giving Deadpool an adversary, at least for this arc. This issue is about building up that adversary, Black Swan, into something a little more substantial, and it succeeds. The story of Black Swan taking on a couple of seasoned mercenaries provides several clues into what is important to him, what his capabilities are and sheds a little more light on why he has decided to target Deadpool, beyond what readers already know.
There's also a nice bit of character development between Deadpool and the ugly mutant son of his latest employer, allowing for a small but fairly important change in Deadpool. I was reminded of the character development that was at the heart of the book previously, spurred on by the long missing-in-action (and much missed) Blind Al and Weasel. Mind you, even with all of this touching or serious stuff, Simone can't quite stay away from the comedy, and I'm pretty grateful. This issue has more laugh-out-loud moments for me than any of her issues thus far, including Deadpool's quirky take on peanuts, the scooter gag and the rather unconventional method used to assassinate his latest target. More than any writer since Joe Kelly, Simone has really nailed Deadpool's "voice" and that's a key point of making the book work.
Another key point is art, and the work by Udon Studios is always capable and sometimes more. The artists handling the book for Udon excel when it comes to action, and so the flashback sequence to Taskmaster's mission or the mission that Deadpool performs are both very well done, conveying a sense of movement and hitting just the right comedy and action cues. I'm not as convinced by their quieter moments, and I continue to think that their unmasked Deadpool looks far too normal, but in general the storytelling is solid and the comedy is conveyed clearly, and that's at least half the work done right there.
It's been a while since I could honestly say I was looking forward to the next issue of Deadpool, but Simone and Udon have piqued my interest. The two issues I had read thus far had convinced me that they could handle the humorous side of the book, but this issue goes a long way toward convincing me that they can also nail the plotting and characterization that made this book so much a fan-favorite early on.
