‘Deadpool: Dead Presidents’ – Posehn, Duggan & Moore (Marvel)

Like I said yesterday, the micro-library up the road had a handful of comic books so I just grabbed them and ran off home for a read :o)

Not that you really want to know about my week but it’s been a bit crappy, what with one thing and another, so I was in the mood for something utterly brainless and fun. I knew ‘Deadpool’ would be a good bet to satisfy this need, having picked up a few of the comics over the years. This was the first time that I’d read anything full length though; thanks to the whole ‘Marvel Now’ thing I was able to jump into a Marvel series and not have to worry about what happened years ago in issue whatever etc. Not that continuity seems to be a big deal with ‘Deadpool’; a quick look at Wikipedia shows that writers on the series tend to just go with whatever is entertaining and works. Like I said, just what I was after.

Dead American Presidents are rising from the grave and attacking the living. Regular superheroes aren’t going to get involved (it’s a public image thing) so the authorities turn to the only man who can get the job done and is totally expendable at the same time; Wade Wilson is on the case!

I’ve read a few Marvel comics in my time (college was great for that) and a lot of comics in general. I don’t think I’ve read anything as irreverent as ‘Dead Presidents’ though. It is fantastic; nothing is sacred and when that involves a whole load of bad jokes, and a grudge match between Deadpool and Abe Lincoln, then it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’m there for the ride. I was sniggering like a school boy for most of the book; when I wasn’t sniggering I was quietly in awe of Tony Moore’s ability to cover a panel in Deadpool’s innards (or monster innards for that matter, they all look the same spilt all over the pavement…) The action is right in your face and nicely over the top, I’ll quite happily read more ‘Deadpool’ if Moore is on art duty.

There’s not really a plot as such, more a series of encounters between Deadpool and various presidents that are fuelled by violence and bad jokes. To be honest, not a lot more than that is needed to make this book work (although you do get intriguing flashes of Deadpool as a character on the outside who just wants to be a part of something bigger) and it’s clear that Posehn and Duggan are having a lot of fun here throwing Deadpool out of helicopters accompanied by bad puns. I had a lot of fun too, just what the doctor ordered in fact.

If you’re after something deep and meaningful then this is the wrong comic book for you; sorry but that’s just the way it is. However, if you want to read a comic book where a zombie Roosevelt punches out a bear then ‘Dead Presidents’ is very much the comic book for you. It was for me too :o)