Deadpool 19, Fearless Defenders 11

Deadpool 19
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c)

Deadpool, Wolverine, and Captain America have freed the mutate army and sieged the lab, leaving only Butler's fortress behind. Deadpool waits for it to open while Cap goes to stand guard for the North Korean army topside and Wolverine goes under to try to find another way in. Deadpool ends up talking through the surveillance on the door to Butler and making a logical case for why he should open the door to Deadpool. He does, allowing Deadpool access to his lab, but he remains tucked into his own panic-room lab within. He tries to remind Deadpool of an arrangement that the two had had back in his Weapon Plus days that involved Deadpool willingly supplying his body for testing to help Butler save his so-proclaimed sister. She's laid out behind him while he and Deadpool talk things through but Deadpool secretly appeals to her to open the door, which she does, allowing Deadpool the access he needs to make it in and swiftly kill Butler. The woman returns to her bed, aware that she'll die now and happy to finally be at peace. He meets up again with Cap and Wolverine and the three of them part ways amicably. Deadpool vows again to find a body for Agent Preston, though it seems like hers might be busy.

I really liked this arc on the whole and this final issue is a pretty perfect ending to the arc. I will say that I'm less excited for the next arc, despite the last couple of positive arcs, because it seems like it's going to center around Preston, who I continue not to care for and who I continue to believe weakens what is otherwise a really impressive turn around for this book, which now focuses far more on the intricacies of Deadpool as a character. Adding to the nice character development (for all of the characters involved but particularly for Deadpool) is a great looking book from Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. Each of them is at the top of his and her game respectively  and putting them together for an entire arc was magical. I think we knew this would be a beautiful arc even just given their covers on the last several months of VENOM. There's a lot to this arc and to this issue in particular to like, not least of which is a nice little character builder for the three heroes and which sees them share a little bit of their feelings with one another. That's especially neat considering Wolverine and Cap both kind of represent different stereotypical representations of men so their nice moment with one another comes as something of both a surprise and a welcome change of pace. Really neat stuff in here and I'm glad to say this book has really come around.

Fearless Defenders 11
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

There's a party in New Amazonia, home of Hippolyta, and all of the Fearless Defenders are invited. After a night of dancing and real-talk (and some sleeping together by new Defender Ren and book secret star Annabelle), the morning finds the Defenders up against an attack on New Amazonia, led by Caroline Le Fey-hired Aradnea (an Atlantean) and Echidna (queen of Greek monsters). They're dispatched easily enough but not before they put the idea of the New Amazonians following a different leader than Hippolyta and thereby stirring some discord.

I continue to not really be in love with this book. I think part of the issue is that Caroline Le Fey has been the main villain pretty much throughout and we still seem to know so little about her. Her personality shifts between cold and diabolical and aloof and sassy. We also don't have a sense of her need to be involved with this whole thing. We have a little bit, over time, seen pieces of her anger and her full plan but it's both so poorly defined and so spread out throughout this series that it's kind of fallen by the wayside for the reader. Also, and this is something that has kind of bugged me at various times throughout, I love that this is an all-female team and I love that it features a woman who is openly gay because I very much believe in the idea of representation. That doesn't, though, change the fact that the representation comes from a woman who has now slept with a handful of different women in eleven issues. She's been confused and kind of swept up in the whirlwind of this so it's definitely still excusable but it has been a bit of a strange representation of her for a book that, on the outside, looks so progressive. I don't know, maybe it's just me that it's bothering but relationship turnaround in these books isn't typically that quick, particularly with someone like Annabelle who seems to (and this might be putting too much on a character who hasn't seen particularly stunning development) care about having relationships and not just one-night stands. Still not huge on this book, you guys, and it's going to have to figure out a way to wrap up all of its loose ends relatively quickly.

Avengers Assemble 15AU, Fearless Defenders 4, Deadpool 9

Avengers Assemble 15AU
Ewing (w) and Guice and Palmer w/Magyar (a) and D'Armata

For those asking where Captain Marvel has been through all this Age of Ultron business, Al Ewing has your answer in this Avengers Assemble tie-in. She, like Black Widow in Avengers Assemble 14AU, was on vacation when Ultron struck. Unlike Black Widow, she was in Britain and managed to touch base with Captain Britain, the Black Knight, and Excalibur (the hero). Excalibur (the sword) is keeping Ultron away from them and giving them a chance to save civilians but they desperately want to take back the rest of London before Ultron gets too strong. They can't go into Otherworld for fear of Ultron infecting the omniverse. Carol saves a seemingly random citizen who is trying to talk to a couple of the Ultrons (he gets them to change their credo from "submit or perish" to "exterminate") and manages to get him back to the British Museum, their current base. Carol also explains to the audience that this AU timeline is happening in the same time as her solo book because she can't fly here either. The random civilian turns out to be an old superish-hero named Computer Graham, a former hero who could enter computer programs (oh, the 80s). He can still do it but he admits that he has more trouble now as the computers have gotten so advanced and he hasn't really kept up. Still, they form a plan around him, hoping to take him to St. Paul's Cathedral, Ultron's base, and giving him time to fight Ultron in the code. Captains Britain and Marvel intend to escort Graham there but Captain Britain forbids Black Knight from coming, saying that his sword, the Ebony Blade, is the anti-Excalibur and gains more power with killing sentient life and ultimately spreads fear and hate. He's already killed a bunch of Ultrons, which are sentient life, so the Ebony Blade is getting out of control. They can't risk it going any further, as Brian warns it would be worse than Ultron. Excalibur (the hero) can't go because she's a healer and is needed at the museum. Instead, a young girl who is a great soccer player goes (oh, England). They get there successfully, Graham enters Ultron's code, young Mel is killed when she refuses to run, Captain Brian (who has bequeathed Captain Britain to Excalibur in case he doesn't make it) has a moment of weakness as he blames himself for Mel's death and is also killed, Graham dies unsuccessful, and Captain Marvel absorbs and reflects the horrible energy Ultron is putting out, presumably killing her but taking out a bunch of Ultrons with them.

This issue continues to make me believe that the tie-ins for Age of Ultron are better than the Age of Ultron series. You get a little more depth to the characters in the tighter format and you get the chance to see how they're affected by everything and how they plan to strike back. It's nice to be in Captain Marvel's head for this and Ewing seems to pretty much nail the character. On top of that, it's always nice to see British heroes pop into the world now and again and to get a dose of Marvel UK history. Ewing's story is a good one and there are still a couple of laughs to be had in this very morbid tale (including Ewing labeling each hero for our reader, saying things like "Faiza Hussain is EXCALIBUR" and eventually needing to change things up as Captain Britain gives his title to her, giving her a new reveal line that says "Faiza Hussain is CAPTAIN BRITAIN" and showing Carol asking Brian what that makes him, to which he responds "...Captain Brian?" and the caption follows suit, saying "Brian Braddock is CAPTAIN BRIAN." Look, it's fun. Did I overexplain it? Probably. I'll own that. Just, trust me, it's fun. Also, if this whole issue was an excuse for that joke, I'm still onboard.). It's a good story where we don't really have to care about the outcome, sad as it is, because we know Captain Marvel isn't dead. Still, the feelings of the tie-ins are real and seeing the way Carol and the others react to the horrors is worth seeing.

Fearless Defenders 4
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

The Doom Maidens have accused Valkyrie of being one of them, though she has no memory of this. It all comes rushing back to her though just as the Doom Maidens start gaining power. She insists that they retreat while they can. As they leave, they find themselves up against the Doom Maidens now riding a sort of dragon. Valkyrie teleports them away. As they regroup at one of Misty's safe houses, they plan out their next move. For Valkyrie, that means leading the Doom Maidens away from Earth alongside Hippolyta and Dani. For Misty and Annabelle, it means Misty setting up shop as a leader of Heroes for Hire again.

I think the book is finding where it wants to be. I still don't really understand the tone of the series so far, which alternates between serious and goofy without any real warning. The covers have all been a little goofy and the character intros continue to attempt playfulness. However, the story is shaping up and I won't act like I'm not excited to see Misty running Heroes for Hire again. That will hopefully lead to good times while Valkyrie and her crew head to inevitable bad times. There's also a romantic storyline developing or, perhaps, decidedly not developing between Annabelle and Valkyrie. They shared a triumphant kiss in the first issue which Valkyrie waved off but has clearly weighed a bit on Annabelle, who tries to comfort her in this issue by holding her hand but is shaken off again. Look, sometimes there are really long reviews and sometimes there are really short reviews.

Deadpool 9

Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne or Moore (a) and Staples (c)

First things first: the cover says the artist is Hawthorne and the title page says the artist is Tony Moore. So I guess either could be the artist. I didn't look it up if they weren't going to.

Deadpool and Agent Preston find themselves locked in Deadpool's mind for a bit after their run-in with the woman who steals Deadpool's organs. With Deadpool unconscious, Agent Preston searches Deadpool's mind and finds a strange museum of himself that she decides must represent the way he views himself. Deadpool finally wakes up in the street and runs across Michael and Ben Franklin again, who need to access an ancient library underneath Ryker's prison that could hold the magical books they need to restore Preston to her body. Deadpool concocts a plan wherein Michael is arrested by the police, then teleports them into his cell. Michael, Ben, and Deadpool head to the library from there where Deadpool leaves the other two to research. He and Preston have to kill Vetis' next target to give Michael and Ben time to research. This target, unlike the last one, apparently wished for aquatic powers  in order to save other people's lives, not for personal profit. Deadpool still kills him to Preston's disgust. Deadpool and Vetis talk after the demon arrives to collect the dead man's soul and Deadpool gets the idea to tip Mephisto off to what Vetis is doing (which is essentially trying to overthrow Mephisto so he's not an underling of his any more). To get there, though, Deadpool decides the fastest way would be to kill Michael, which he does as the book ends.

I suppose my biggest compliment for the title right now is that it's not actively making me angry at this point. Obviously my first few reviews of this title made it pretty clear that I was painfully unhappy with the series. They've toned down some of the in-jokes and the obvious set-up/punchlines that dominated the first arc (though both aspects are still totally present) and are more focused on the more complex storyline this arc. That might be a function of the fact that it is a more complex storyline, requiring more focus, whereas the first arc just needed to show dead presidents. Either way, I'm certainly still not onboard with this series (in fact, I think I find it Marvel's weakest offering right now) but it's stepped a spot up in its quality.