In Deadpool #9, Wade’s latest adventure puts him in mortal (and immortal) danger. The resultant goop and art are fun, and the humor high, just as it should be in all things Deadpool related.
Deadpool #9
Chris Bachalo (Cover); Victor Nava (Inker); VC’s Joe Sabiano (Letters); Gerardo Sandoval (Pencils); Chris Sotomayor (Colors); Kelly Thompson (Writer); Tim Townsend (Cover)
December 16th, 2020
Marvel Comics
I have to confess that Deadpool’s latest arc has been the right sort of ridiculous, pitting everyone’s favorite chaotic neutral against high odds and letting him go wild. Deadpool #9 continues the tradition, creating a delightful messy mix of a situation.
As established in his current series, Deadpool is now king of the monsters, a title he won by besting the former king. His kingship rests in stately Staten Island and — though he’s trying hard to do the right thing — he’s still Deadpool. Stuff is going to get hairy, then ‘splodey. His latest complication is named Elsa Bloodstone. Elsa is a monster hunter formerly afflicted with the poisoned Bloodstone, which is a gem that buries itself under the user’s skin and gives them unimaginable powers but also kills them. Elsa is queen of the Bone Beast realm, and with Wade at her heel and the stone poisoning her, she collapses. Wade has embedded the Bloodstone under his skin to save Elsa. Unfortunately, that kills off Wade’s healing factor. Fortunately, it’s given him cool superpowers. Unfortunately, again — if they don’t escape from the Bone Beast Realm, he and the kids who’ve been warped into the universe with him will be trapped there forever along with the head of the Bone Beasts, who would like to possess Wade forever, Symbiote style.
Deadpool #9 is delightfully gory and delightfully silly, but its battles have genuine tension. Only Wade Wilson would think it’s a great idea to kill an enemy by running through them because “The Hulk does it all the time and he’s really dumb.” This of course leads to a meaty, gory implosion (more on Sandoval’s great art below), and additionally results in him being stuck with his new love interest, who has to carry his severed head around in an improvised Baby Bjorn. Such is the life of Wade Wilson.
Elsa is a truly appealing character, filled with wry humor. Her love story with Wade is pretty credible, and the comic breaks the fourth wall and tweaks all clichés. You can never accuse the book of getting too maudlin, and Thompson keeps things wonderfully playful and ribald. Elsa is definitely my favorite aside from Wade in this issue, but I have to give a special nod to Jeffrey the Shark, with a knife in his mouth, killing evil creatures and being thrown face-first through a portal. There is an attempt at building on extra lore with some old gods ready to be raised and human sacrifices, but so far the plot thread is still percolating, so I’ll withhold my comments.
I will, however, give love to Sandoval’s art, which is fabulously comic and yet delightfully gory. The cheerfully gormless skull of Wade Wilson pitching woo to his new lady love contrasts gracefully with the sight of Bone Beasts imploding in black, inky splashes. At one point, Wade’s body explodes and his intestines fly everywhere to the tune of censored curse words. A perfectly Deadpoolian moment.
Deadpool #9 packs in enough laughs and an engrossing plot that will keep readers happy.
