Posehn and Duggan (w) and Koblish (a) and Staples (c)
Deadpool is teaming up with a reluctant Luke Cage and Iron Fist again as they combat a foe swearing revenge on them who they've all forgotten (but who we saw just an issue ago in a flashback). The villain, the White Man, has taken hostages to the Empire State Building and is demanding the three heroes meet him there. They do and Cage and Iron Fist are turned to stone and taken hostage, forcing Deadpool to recruit some of the kids from Iron Fist's dojo to help save them. They succeed in breaking the true Heroes for Hire out and throwing White Man, now turned stone again himself, to the bottom of the river. The issue ends with a scene showing Deadpool countering a couple of hitmen who are intent on knocking him unconscious and stealing his organs. We've seen these people before and it seems their arc will be the next to be examined, possibly in a storyline having to do with the Weapon Plus Program (the next arc, titled the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly will team Deadpool with Captain America and Wolverine, all of whom have some affiliation with the Weapon Plus Program).The issues that star other characters, established other characters, tend to run smoother than the ones focused just around Deadpool and his newly created little world or ones that focus on one-shot villains. That certainly isn't a ringing endorsement, given that we should be reading this book for Deadpool, not for other characters, but I've found it very accurate. That said, this issue relies on maybe three jokes to carry everything. There's Deadpool's typical brand of humor, there's the stupidity and inherent racism of the White Man, and there's Cage and Iron Fist denying Deadpool was ever on the team. Those aren't necessarily bad jokes in and of themselves but they're each carried so long that they wear down pretty quickly. Also, the issues tend to take a long time to get through because each panel is so loaded down with words in an attempt to fit as many jokes in as possible. Quantity over quality. That's not helped by the sudden ending of the White Man story with five and a half pages left, diving into the next story in the middle of this one. Really calls attention to how long the issue feels. Still, all that said, the series is taking a turn every new issue for less openly obnoxious, which is, you know, mildly encouraging.
Fearless Defenders 8
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)
Still not totally sold on this series. I don't mind the Annabelle/Valkyrie sharing a body bit but, and this is a weird thing to say given the circumstances, it's been done before. Comics is rife with normal people and superheroes switching off back and forth. Granted it's not typically as amicable as this body-sharing seems to be right now but I imagine some frustrations will boil eventually. I also, and this is probably on me, am almost wholly uninterested in what's been developed with Caroline le Fey as it stands. Bunn is also making a push to cast her as a legitimate villain by having her sound tough (she has a weirdly out-of-place speech about her ties with the super-villain society that ranks her without actually having to establish her, which is annoying and a little hard to buy). The writing still perplexes me a bit, with people acting perfectly in character one second and then a little less so the next. It's also pretty aware of that fact, as Valkyrie refers to Elsa and Misty as "you guys" at one point and Misty is confused by her sudden vernacular. It could be a nod to Annabelle now being part and parcel with Val but it's not yet been explained so it feels a little out of place. Still not my favorite book. Still have high hopes for it and still hope it succeeds; we only get more female-led/female-driven books if the ones we have sell well.
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