Spider-Man Vs. Deadpool #39
Matthew David Clarke
Recap
Three weeks later Spider-Man and Deadpool are still ensnared by a man-eating plant, but I guess plants are slow moving. At the last moment a portal saves our hero (and anti-hero.) Having escaped Wade resolves to take a bathroom break.
Spider-Man continues without him. Wade is interrupted and eaten by a T-Rex.
Spider-Man is blind-sided by the teleporting Wrecking Crew (Nightcrawler ought to sue their asses.)
Deadpool literally explodes out of the T-Rex and comes to Spider-Man’s aid… sort of.
Outnumbered and outmanoeuvred (I am seriously so smug that I spelt that correctly first time) they are saved by the sudden appearance of the Warriors Three.
The Wrecking Crew are defeated and captured by the Asgardians. Master Matrix returns. He is upset that his “fathers” still cannot get along and ominously vows to “fix this once and for all.” Before disappearing back through his portal.
Review
I’m not sure if this is a thing, but somehow on issue 39, this series appears to be suffering from second album syndrome. The previous issue was fantastic. It was one of the best comedic comics I’ve read. This one… it’s good, it is, but it feels to me like the Raw after Wrestlemania. It’s a comedown, it’s reverting to the mean which is a shame.
Regardless the series continues with most of its previous strengths. The dialogue is good, there are several nice set-pieces and the characters are exactly right. There’s a lot of action in this issue and as a result, the plot is a little thin. The ideas that were surprisingly strong in the last two installments seem to take a week off. That being said interesting times seem to lie ahead, Master Matrix is certainly up to something.
Jim Towe’s art is still great. For me, it’s the subtle touches more than the big eye-catching action sequences. I love the cramped first panel, it reminds me of Stephen Colbert’s interview in a small box with Tom Hanks from late last year. Both Deadpool and Spider-Man are Marvellously (sorry I get a dollar everytime I say Marvel) and ridiculously expressive for apparently faceless characters.
The construction of the panels, in terms of the layout and the storyboarding, is also fantastic, in particular the shot for shot Jurassic Park reference (I’ll be humming the theme all night now.)
So it’s a good issue, it’s just a shame that it has less than half the belly laughs of the previous one, despite all the belly of the beast action.
Final Thoughts
Not the best issue in this run, but a middling Spider-Man Vs. Deadpool comic is still better than a kick in the chimichangas and better than most other comics for that matter.
Spider-Man Vs. Deadpool #39: I Think This Was Gennaro
- Writing - 8.5/108.5/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 8.5/108.5/10
- Cover Art - 8/108/10