Deadpool 20, Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe 3, Indestructible Hulk Annual 1

Deadpool 20
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Koblish (a) and Staples (c)

It's another flashback issue for DEADPOOL as this time we find Deadpool visiting Wakanda in the 1960s only to find himself embroiled in a search across the map for four cosmic puzzle pieces. His search starts in Wakanda, leads him to the Savage Land and then to the Negative Zone and finally to Tibet, showing Deadpool making jokes and enemies in each place. He completes the puzzle and it calls forth a baby Watcher, sort of, and Deadpool inadvertently blows up the moon before meeting with Odin and getting on his good side, inevitably leading Odin to restore everything. It's...it's not particularly well-explained, though you get the sense we're not here for the story of this one, which is truly too bad because I don't know what else you'd be here for.

By and large, the DEADPOOL flashback issues have been interesting, whether for a story or an interaction or a change in the art style or whatever it might be. This one is an exception, which reverts DEADPOOL back to a mess of references and jokes without punchlines. It kind of reminds me of a recent article on Cracked.com (which is relatively more swear-filled and what not than I am here so, you know, if you're against that sort of thing, use your own judgment on clicking that link) that talked about the "comedy" of the new Grand Theft Auto game and pretty much summed up my thoughts on it. I'd say this is a step above that but it's not exactly a leap and it's the problem I have with humor that simply references things and expects you to laugh. In this case, I think it wasn't a bad idea to move to a flashback issue because Deadpool's in a pretty dark place and probably many readers aren't picking up DEADPOOL because they're looking for a brooding anti-hero. So we break up his story by looking back in something a little lighter but I think it went overly light for this. It's reminiscent of the first arc which I hate enormously so I'm hoping this spins back to where it was soon.

Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe 3
Hastings (w) and Camagni, Calderon-Zurita, and Pallot (a) and Milla w/ Campbell (c)

Chaos watches in delight as the helicarrier falls from the sky, though he's saddened to find that either Longshot's luck powers or Dazzler's competence stops it from all-out crashing. Bitter, he starts to pull chaotic beings from time and space, including an old Magneto, a werewolf Captain America, and two vampire lords in Dracula and vampire Wolverine. The real Captain America shows up to help Longshot and together they manage to take everyone down, only to have Chaos call more in. This back-and-forth continues until Order shows up and the two fight. Longshot realizes that his luck powers have also been having unintended consequences; for all the good luck it's provided him, it's been followed by equally bad luck for someone else where it normally just results in good luck if his aims are altruistic. Meanwhile, Superior Spider-Man brings the woman and girl Longshot had been protecting to Dr. Dipson, the scientist from the first issue! It's all coming together!

Really fun book now that Hastings has had some time to develop what he needed to develop and to explore the world he's created, one based around Longshot's interaction with the cosmic cube. The plot is certainly compelling enough to keep readers interested but the fun comes from all of the interesting ideas and the duel between Chaos and Order. Cap's appearance in here is great, pitting him against his werewolf self (from the past; he claims that he remembers a version of himself shooting himself as a werewolf with a single-use chronodisplacer gun and has been carrying it around ever since, ready to fill his role) and against a pair of vampires, among others. There's a shot of Venom-Punisher and Carnage-Silver Surfer and all sorts of fun tidbits like that but it's really the quick and fun writing that ties it all together. A series of ideas in a book is still just a series of ideas until someone ties them together effectively and Hastings has done that very well with fun dialogue and pretty good characterization. Looking forward to the next issue.

Indestructible Hulk Annual 1
J. Parker (w) and M. Asrar (a) and N. Daniel (c)

Annual season pushes on as INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK gets its first, giving us a little bit of time with the Science Bros, Banner and Stark, as they track down a former mentor of theirs on a secluded island where he's doing a bit of Dr. Moreau work, but on the island as a whole, not on the people or anything like that. So maybe Dr. Moreau isn't the best comparison but I'll not be changing it. Anyway, Hulk and Iron Man have to work together to stop Doctor Zadian, who has practically weaponized the entire island with his research and who has measures in place to stop both Iron Man (whose armor nearly entirely breaks down on him when he interacts with the sand) and Hulk (who cannot stay Hulk for any more than a few seconds at a time on the island). The two heroes talk and trek across the island to find Zadian and discuss their past and a little bit of their motivations while they search before ultimately finding Zadian's base and, with a bit of a fight (and Iron Man resorting to tormenting Banner enough to keep him Hulked), manage to bring him down.

I tend not to be the biggest fan of Annuals; I tend to think they're not great stories and that we don't get the best characterization out of them on the whole because there simply isn't much time to let a story develop these days when given just one issue. However, I've been really impressed by Marvel's batch this year, from (admittedly) Fraction's fantastic HAWKEYE ANNUAL tothe fun and chaos of DEADPOOL ANNUAL to this week's really high-spirited AVENGERS ANNUAL and now INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK ANNUAL, I think Marvel has really dedicated itself to providing a good story and good creative teams to work on their books. As I said, HAWKEYE was still helmed by Fraction so there was a guaranteed unified feel for that Annual compared to the series but the rest have featured teams that, each time out, have made me really excited for the book, starting with Acker and Blacker on DEADPOOL, moving to the much-missed Kathryn Immonen on AVENGERS and now Jeff Parker (from old favorites RED SHE-HULK and DARK AVENGERS, notably for this blog) on INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK. I couldn't be happier with the teams or the results. Parker here explores the trend we've seen with Banner as someone who can't quite keep his jealousy in check and who realizes how much of his life has been spent on Hulk whereas people like Tony got to spend so much of his life with science and bettering the world with what they do. There's also a lot of characterization for Tony, who is secretly just as envious of Banner's intelligence but refuses to let it show nearly as much as Banner does. Really sharp writing, lots of fun, and a really nice character study for the two of them. I've heard Parker's been killing it on BATMAN '66 for DC and he's just taken over, I believe, as writer on AQUAMAN but I haven't had the time to check either out. I'd love to at some point as Jeff Parker has yet to disappoint me in any capacity. This year has made me less reluctant to review Annuals and more willing to actually be excited for them. Thanks Marvel!