Deadpool 29, Giant-Size Spider-Man 1

Deadpool 29
Posehn and Duggan (w) and J. Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

Deadpool and Shiklah have been targeted by Dracula and his legion of vampires after Deadpool broke up Drac and Shiklah's one-time affair and ended up marrying Shiklah. Now Dracula's out for vengeance and it's up to Deadpool to deal with the attack while Shiklah tries to handle things through negotiation. Deadpool's plan is to enlist Dazzler, which proves difficult because Dazzler is actually Mystique. So instead, he travels back in time (thanks to some F4 device) to rope in the past Dazzler, disco star. Meanwhile, ORIGINAL SIN rages on behind them and Agents Preston and Adsit discover that Deadpool's daughter had been raised by Butler's brother.

It's the first ORIGINAL SIN tie-in both for this series and, really, for the greater Marvel Universe. Of course, AVENGERS is technically an ORIGINAL SIN tie-in right now but it's not exactly so clear-cut as that. Here, though it's currently the B-plot, we see a different angle of the final scene from ORIGINAL SIN 2 and it leads to the knowledge about Deadpool's daughter Eleanor. Deadpool is still dutifully ignoring the idea of his daughter (though he can't help but ask about it when he runs into Preston and Adsit) and doing what he can to embrace his wife's life. It still feels like there's something darker to Deadpool's new life and his willful ignorance of his possible daughter (because we're told repeatedly there's more there) but we'll put it aside for a story that pits Deadpool and Dazzler against Dracula's vampires. There's maybe a story in here but it feels a teeny bit disjointed, as is sometimes the case with a tie-in issue.

Total Score: 3/5


Giant-Size Spider-Man 1
Caramagna (w) and Koblish, Caracuzzo, Ciregia, Casagrande, and Seeley (a) and Sotocolor (c) and Caramagna (l)

It's a slew of stories from Spider-Man's start from expert letterer Joe Caramagna in this triple-sized issue which tells three stories, including Spider-Man's origin, a run-in with Vulture, with Dr. Octopus, and with Sandman. It ends with Peter, for the sake of his aunt, setting up weekly meetings with the school counselor to work through his issues with Uncle Ben's death.

I always like seeing people who are known for one thing in comics (Caramagna as a letter showing off as writer here, Chris Eliopolous as a letterer drawing phenomenal art for a recent HAWKEYE issue, Javier Rodriguez jumping from colorist to full pencils and inks and colors for DAREDEVIL) do a separate thing and do it pretty well. Caramagna isn't doing anything here that's blowing anyone out of the water (I actually preferred his little catch-up story in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1 because its fun tone felt more decisive) but it's nice to see. Overall, though, the story is a watered down version of one that Spidey fans have seen about a million times without too much added. It's a whirlwind rush through a few introductions to Spider-Man's villains with really condensed origins for the three of them so maybe it'll work for people looking to dive into his history a little without much knowledge to start. It's not terrible by any stretch but it's not really anything I can point to for a big recommendation. Peek through it if you're not super familiar with the character and would like to be. For those who already have some thoughts on Spidey, it's not really going to change your outlook in anyway and it might be a bit of a slog.

Total Score: 2/5