Hunger 2, Deadpool Kills Deadpool 2, Daredevil Dark Nights 3

Hunger 2
Fialkov (w) and Kirk (a) and Aburtov (c)

Galactus and the Gah Lak Tus swarm have merged into one being, far more powerful than either individual entity and it's making its way through the Ultimate Universe. On the plus side, Rick Jones now isn't the only super powerful entity in the universe who is aware of its existence as the Ultimate Universe's Silver Surfer is also on the case, showing up just in time to save Rick from the swarm. This Surfer, like the 616's, prefers nonviolence where he can get it and begins to attempt to talk Galactus down. Galactus is amused that there's a Silver Surfer in this universe too but, of course, doesn't listen to him because that would end the series right now and also would be a bit silly. With their powers combined, will they be enough to stop the Galactus swarm?

No, not yet, anyway. But you probably knew that because we just talked about how it would be a little silly if the four issue series actually ended in the second issue. Rick Jones and Silver Surfer, though, are teamed up now and have been transported to Earth, along with one of the swarm. The writing in this series has been pretty solid so far and I'm always a fan of Silver Surfer showing up (pretty darn excited that he's going to be in the next Daredevil issue, if the cover is to be believed). The two of them are pretty powerful and nicely aligned here but they'd have to be powerful or else putting them up against double Galactus wouldn't be much of an interesting fight. Leonard Kirk's art also continues to be pretty astounding and the colors for the book are really nice. It's a grand story for the Ultimate Universe, which Fialkov is already working on a different grand story for. It'll be interesting to see how Earth intersects with this story if indeed it does. If it doesn't in this story, I'm a little more worried for our protagonists here. Never get too attached to characters in the Ultimate Universe and particularly don't get too attached if they're characters who are facing a seemingly insurmountable foe and who haven't appeared in the universe any time recently. The thing about the Ultimate Universe is that insurmountable foes tend to remain insurmountable for quite some time.

Deadpool Kills Deadpool 2
Bunn (w) and Espin (a) and Gandini (c)

The summary of the series is broken down a bit more by our Watcher here as he explains the last couple Deadpool Kills series and how it ultimately led to certain Deadpools believing that, if they couldn't destroy the universe through killing all the heroes and all the ideas, maybe the universe is, in fact, in his mind. As a result, these Deadpools are tooling around the multiverse killing Deadpools who are not trying to kill other Deadpool. Talking about this series is going to get confusing, hm? Our Deadpool accompanies his band of Deadpools to a Deadpool hideout where they find out that their Deadpool comrades were ambushed by evil Deadpools and the evil Deadpools are lying in wait for them and this sentence might have broken a record for number of Deadpools invoked. Turns out the Watcher is a sort of double agent in that he's playing both sides of Deadpools because he's such a fan of the character that he wants to help them both out. Our Deadpool loses a couple of his crew though gains a couple more but it might be too late for them. The evil Deadpools, including the Deadpool made up from parts of our Deadpool, admit that they're here on a suicide mission as Galactuspool shows up.

The series is silly and better for it. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe lost a bit in the way of Deadpool silliness (though that was a parallel dimension's Deadpool), sacrificing it for far worse jokes and more gore. I liked Deadpool Killustrated but that was based mostly on the idea behind it rather than the writing in it. I like that we're back with our Deadpool who is a little more familiar to us. The story itself is equally silly and seems almost to be more an excuse for the team to come up with more Deadpools to draw and characterize (there are Deadpool equivalents for just about every hero, including a Captain Marvelpool and a Wolverinepool, as well as many other silly ideas, like the now-dead Beard of Beespool). Still some interesting ideas in here but I'm not sure if people are reading this for its complicated and meaningful plot and its complicated and meaningful characters. The book's called Deadpool Kills Deadpool, if you're looking for complex and meaningful probably best to look elsewhere.

Daredevil Dark Nights 3
Weeks (w) and Weeks, Cariello and Palmer (a) and Loughridge (c)

Daredevil has been brought back to a shelter by the woman he saved from the mugger before passing out last issue. He's been out about twenty minutes and the man who runs the shelter, who purportedly knows Daredevil's mission of saving the little girl's heart, has set off to finish the job for him. When Matt awakens, he instantly follows the man, not knowing if he's actually planning to deliver it and knowing that, even if he is planning it, he won't make it to the hospital in this weather. The man has indeed run into a few problems himself, finding himself on the short side of addition debts and accosted by the gang he owes them to. Daredevil manages to track the heart and save the man, escaping with him and the heart before the gang members can regroup. In turn, Daredevil is helped by a SHIELD patrol that has been keeping abreast of the situation themselves. The heart is successfully delivered and Daredevil kicks around the hospital until he hears the girl's heart beating.

This was a nice little story for Daredevil as he has to cope with memories and an overwhelming and unbeatable enemy in the snow of the city. Daredevil is a pretty introspective character and he has a lot going on in his head most of the time. Weeks was smart to focus on that aspect of the character and to force him into a situation where his mind drifts into memories more easily, given the strain his body is facing. There are a couple of somewhat strange turns that put Daredevil in the frame of trying to save the girl to make up for his sins in the world but I'm not sure I love that idea. On the one hand, Daredevil certainly is motivated by his failures, like many other heroes, but on the other, that makes it feel like he wouldn't try to save this girl unless he was trying to absolve himself and that's kind of a crappy hero. I know that there's some level of that to plenty of heroes (Spider-Man is constantly trying to make up for the fact he caused Uncle Ben's death) but I think that it weakens the story a bit here, especially as it only really comes up this issue. By and large though, pretty good story with really good art. If you're on the fence about picking up this series, the art alone should push you to do it. Excited to see what the next story and creative team will bring us.