Deadpool & the Mercs for Money #4

By Cullen Bunn, Salva Espin, Guru-eFX, and Joe Sabino.

Deadpool & the Mercs for Money #4 takes readers through an action adventure car chase that does not stop delivering in non-stop thrills or great witty dialogue until the last page. The Mercs are helping to transport the future-telling cyborg to the Ozarks Kingpin, after he was the highest bidder in their auction for the cyborg. The group thought after selling it all of their problems would be over, but they are long gone as every big bad guy is trailing them trying to get the valuable cyborg for themselves. Can Deadpool and the gang successfully get the cyborg to the final destination and what other obstacles await our heroes down the road? This issue does a great job to further cement the relationships and dynamics being built amongst the team members while they battle numerous bad guys, while also setting up the next issue to be a barn burner as the culmination to the arc is right around the corner.

Everybody loves the D… Deadpool that is, and it seems every week there is a new Deadpool book or he is written into a storyline in some manner. This book is a great example of how to successfully use a character like Deadpool while staying true to the character’s essence and introduce new elements that also champion heavy action storylines sprinkled with comic zaniness. Cullen Bunn does a fair job trying to give each Merc for Money adequate story time while also giving the people the Deadpool they want and that is no easy feat considering there are a bunch of them; like seven in total if you include Deadpool. This issue focuses tightly on Slapstick, Masacre, and Solo. It makes sense for Bunn to stick to heavy storylines for a few every issue as opposed to cramming in a little one liner for each every story. The wacky dialogue is spread out amongst the constant action that riddles almost every page of this issue. Bunn knows what the readers who are picking this up want, they want the big battles, explosions, and plenty of Deadpool dialogue to go around. He definitely delivers, with only one noticeable complaint that many readers may find when they pick up this issue. Masacre has a lot of dialogue in this issue, which is not translated from Spanish for readers. The book starts out with a good page of Masacre dialogue setting up the readers with what is going on and you miss out on the full experience of this great character if you do not know Spanish or cannot access a translator of some kind. It is understandable, it is realistic and authentic to include a Spanish-speaking hero and great for those who can relate to him, but it does take away the comic reading experience for those who are not savvy enough to navigate a situation like this.

This book has some great pages of action that are sure to delight and deliver to some diehard Deadpool fans. Deadpool & the Mercs for Money #4 features Salva Espin on pencils, Guru-eFX on colors, and Joe Sabino on letters. The book feels like a cartoon, and a bloody one full of explosions, that has great character close-up features in-between great full-scale action shots. The composition of this book with the choices in panel layouts makes this a fast, fun, and easy read as your eyes naturally follow the story and action across numerous pages seamlessly. A two-page spread will allow the reader to see the full-scale of the action, with the next pages giving close-ups to reveal great details. The colors throughout are intentionally bold, giving great detail to the fire, lightning, and complete backdrop of each shot. A favorite page has Bruiser, one half of the Zapata brothers, charging through some of our Mercs and the layout, colors, facial details, and accompanying panels underneath really create a dynamic feel that show the power of Bruiser. The page itself is great visual storytelling; we the readers see the destruction of this one bad guy just from this one page.

Deadpool & the Mercs for Money #4 is not trying to reinvent the comic genre, but it delivers a great comic story that has great visuals with good storytelling that will make you smile. This book is highly recommended for Deadpool fans that are looking for ways to get some more D-Pooly into your life, and maybe introduce some new heroes that may have been overlooked before. Readers will definitely come for the Deadpool when they pick up this issue, but they will find themselves staying for the great classic storytelling and fun action pages.