There are two ways to read Agent X. One is to read it as Deadpool #70, in which case a couple of the questions of identity won't quite work for you but the character will feel familiar. The other is to read it as the first issue of a new series, in which case the amnesia gimmick of the lead character lets the new reader feel as if they're getting in on the ground floor, although the series is really a continuation, in tone and as far as a few characters are concerned, of Simone and Udon's brief Deadpool run. Either way you read it, this is a funny book, setting up hero, villain and supporting cast in short order. It suffers from a couple of the same flaws that marred Deadpool, but it also has all the merits, as well as a new, accessible approach.
I've never been all that fond of the character Deadpool, so I have no real attachment to the name or the costume. That makes this issue, which is essentially a makeover of Deadpool into Agent X, fly just fine with me. Actually, Simone is leaving room to explain that Agent X isn't Deadpool, despite their similarities of powers and personalities, but the likelihood is that this is little more than a simple renaming and re-aligning of status quo. All to the benefit of the book, however, as Alex Hayden is much more directed and focused than Deadpool ever was, making him a much easier protagonist to write believably.
Mind you, I did have some trouble swallowing a couple elements of the book, but those elements seemed necessary to keep the story moving. Alex's admission of wanting to be a mercenary and Sandi's adoption of him was awfully quick, even with the excellent narration in the beginning that demonstrated Sandi's tendency for adopting strays. In a similar vein, I found Taskmaster's dislike of Alex, while certainly grounded in his affection for Sandi, a little overplayed, given that he did know and sort of like Wade Wilson, and he's smart enough to know this is probably him.
With the explanations pushed to the side a little, though, Simone has plenty of room to bring on the funny, and she does. Alex's "training journals" are hysterical, using the same sort of demented logic that Wade Wilson would have, and Udon brings the brutal and yet funny training of Taskmaster to life in their work. There's also a nice B story that builds up the Four Winds and their new leader as a credible foe, and I appreciated the time spent on building the villain as more than just an obstacle to get in the way.
As always, I find Udon's work to be excellent with action and storytelling and weak on character detail. The scars and blood that are inevitable in the violence are sanitized so as to be invisible, so that at times Simone has to have the character note that someone is "crying blood" since we can't see it. In addition, the lead character remains remarkably attractive for someone who is meant to be horribly scarred.
