Spider-Man/Deadpool #3

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

The third issue in this team-up series of Spider-Man/Deadpool takes us deep into the relationship and personal feelings between the two superheroes. We see how Deadpool hero worships Spider-Man, but this issue goes into what Spidey thinks about Deadpool and if the Merc with a Mouth can change for the better. The series so far has been fun, inappropriate, full of quips and vulgarity and this issue is no exception. The two are tasked to spend some time together by Peter Parker, whom Deadpool was hired to kill by some mystery guy. During their time together they take down some bad guys, and Spider-Man and the readers get to see a rare glimpse of Deadpool’s softer side.

When you have Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness together on a Deadpool title you know you can expect some good old fashion fun and awesome art. This Deadpool from Kelly and McGuinness is laugh out loud hilarious, like when he puts a clown mask over top of his Deadpool mask to visit Mysterio in the hospital. Even as Kelly portrays Deadpool with his typical offensive behavior and dialogue, he provides internal thoughts to the character that show a more vulnerable side and also one that is eager to please others. A great example of this is that Deadpool agonizes over assuming a woman dressed in scrubs in a hospital was a nurse, when she was actually a Doctor. Kelly seems to enjoy playing Spider-Man as the straight man for once, and it really works in this pairing for Spider-Man to be the experienced veteran and Deadpool to be the awe-struck hero trying to impress everyone. Even during the fight sequence between Spidey and Pooly against bad guys Styx and Stone, we see Spider-Man acting as leader while Deadpool provides hilarious commentary.

Ed McGuiness drawing Deadpool is just pure perfection. Deadpool is how we remembered him from the nineties; big and just bursting with muscles. The colors from Keith and the inks from Morales are welcome assets to keep that nineties flashback alive. Every panel with both Spider-Man and Deadpool feels super saturated and there is just such great care and detailed expression on both heroes’ masks to show how each one is feeling in every panel. The bad guys, Styx and Stone, are drawn to look really disturbing even if you may never have heard of them. There is a particularly great splash page, introducing the bad guy team and they look super imposing and creepy. Stone looks like a giant grey stone Hulk looming in the background, providing backup for Styx, who is just strange and drawn to look like he is almost decaying.  His tattered clothes and bandages around his body help to create movement in every action panel. The attention to details here really pays off to create a good evil doer team-up to challenge our heroes.

This series has proven to be more than just another superhero team up that Marvel threw together and that is because there is actual depth and character growth. Every issue we learn something new about Spider-Man or Deadpool and their relationship continues to evolve and grow. It is fun to have the lightheartedness that comes with a Deadpool comic challenged as Deadpool reveals more about his personal life to Spider-Man and the readers with this issue. This issue is really important to this arc because the last four pages really take a left turn and set the tone for the next issue. If you are into Deadpool, especially the Gerry Dugan and Brian Posehn recent run, you will really appreciate what the creative team did with the last pages and the direction this series is taking.