They’re two of Marvel’s most popular characters, their costumes look suspiciously alike, and both have a history of snappy one-liners. A team-up of old Web-head and the Merc’ with a Mouth should have been a comics match made in heaven, and the creators of the Spider-Man/ Deadpool ongoing series fell only a little short of living up to that potential.
Veteran Deadpool writer Joe Casey lays out a fairly ambitious character-arc for the two leads over the main two 6-issue arcs (respectively titled Isn’t It Bromantic and Itsy Bitsy), and the most successful issues are the ones that see both Peter Parker and Wade Wilson undergo some unexpectedly poignant developments (in particular on a double-date with Lady Thor and a Demoness, or while stranded in the fantastical landscape of Weirdworld). Unfortunately, the villains that have been created to propel this mad-cap adventure, the mysterious Patient Zero and psychotic Itsy Bitsy, are typical super-villain antagonists, and the series is at it’s weakest whenever the heroes are directly facing-off against them.
A further downside is that Casey and the editorial team made the awkward choice of embedding the main arc of this series firmly in the current continuity of the two leads’ main titles. So casual readers who are approaching this title on the basis of eg. the blockbuster movies that these characters are appearing in, may be fairly confused that Peter Parker is now a Billionaire philanthropist, whose marriage to Mary-Jane Watson was retrospectively deleted from history via a deal with the Lord of the Underworld, Mephisto, and whose body was recently possessed by Doctor Octopus for an extended period of time; or that Deadpool is now married to an actual Demon Princess, has franchised out his Mercenary business, and has an adoloscent daughter from a previous relationship, that has only recently re-entered his life. The irreverent dialogue tries it’s best to dance around these references, but the often awkward exposition will frustrate newcomers who might have been hoping for a more accessible starting point.
All the same, the artwork by Ed McGuinness is action-packed and animated, and the emotive pay-off for both characters is well-earned by the climax of the 12-issue run. Although not a hands-down success, it’s still worth a read if you are a fan of both characters and are looking for a disposable read. The arc runs in issues #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17 and 18, so keep an eye out for those in your local discount boxes.