Spider-Man/Deadpool #2

By Joe Kelly, Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, and Jason Keith

Marvel has fully hopped on the Deadpool band wagon with the new series Spider-Man/Deadpool from the famous Deadpool creative team of writer Joe Kelly and penciler Ed McGuinness. This series picks up with the Spider-man/Peter Parker seen in his Amazing Spider-Man series, where he is running Parker industries while juggling life between being CEO and taking out bad guys as Spider-Man. We find Deadpool getting used to life as a newly appointed Avenger, while also being a husband, and a gun for hire. Deadpool gets hired to take out Peter Parker and he starts to second thoughts whether or not he should follow through with the deal. Deadpool decides to seek out advice on what kind of guy Peter Parker is from Spider-Man himself.

There is something comforting seeing writer Kelly and penciler McGuinness together again on a Deadpool title. There is a long history of great Deadpool work, and they do not disappoint. Second issue in and the story is still taking new turns and creating a different dynamic between Deadpool and Spider-Man. A new more pensive Deadpool emerges and Spider-Man remains torn between his human persona and his web-head persona. It could be all the popularity surrounding Deadpool, but Kelly is really presenting Deadpool with more depth and maturity than readers may be familiar with. This could be an attempt from Marvel to make Deadpool more “family-friendly”, but it is a welcome change to a character that keeps evolving beyond an unstable anti-hero.

The penciling is handled here by McGuiness  with inks by Mark Morales and color art by Jason Keith. McGuinness’ work this issue is fantastic, just really bringing the characters to a larger than life appearance that jump right off the page. The detailing to Deadpool’s uncovered upper body is remarkably repulsive and it does not seem unwanted or unsightly in any panel. The fight sequences are well choreographed between Kelly and McGuinness where your eyes naturally follow the leaping heroes and the cascading texts. The inking and the color really bring the story together making this issue feel like a fun comic book where the heroes are over saturated in red and blue and the bad guys are emphasized with green and purple. All the art comes together and just gives this book a fun action-packed feel. Every page is packed with words etched across to signify sounds occurring amidst the action.

Spider-Man/Deadpool is a good old-fashioned fun comic book that has all the required comic book essentials; bad guys against good guys, lots of action, guest super hero appearances, and super-hero team-ups. When Deadpool is in the title, it is understood the book is not going to take itself too seriously. This book and the creative team have a grasp on what the readers want when they pick up a Deadpool team-up: just lots of action packed pages sprinkled with jokes and witty one liners.