Writer Gail Simone takes on the Merc With a Mouth! When Deadpool crosses paths with the Black Swan, the telepathic villain infects Wade with a virus that eats away at his mind. Can Deadpool overcome his degenerating thought processes and continue his merc work? No, probably not. Plus, Deadpool is hired to steal the Rhino's horn and protect Dazzler, and gathers new allies Sandi Brandenberg, Ratbag, Outlaw and the Taskmaster. But when a showdown with the Black Swan goes wrong, who - if anyone - will survive? Deadpool (1997) 65-69, Agent X 1-6
Gail Simone is a comic book writer well-known for her work on Birds of Prey (DC), Wonder Woman (DC), and Deadpool (Marvel), among others, and has also written humorous and critical commentary on comics and the comics industry such as the original "Women in Refrigerators" website and a regular column called "You'll All Be Sorry".
This was my introduction to Deadpool. IMCPL is a bit short on their deadpool collection and I was not aware that I would be starting so out of order. Spoilers! Will try to start from the beginning, if I can figure out where that is.
Have I ever given a Gail Simone book one star? First time for everything. I was originally very excited to read her Deadpool run, as I've always loved every cameo in her other Marvel books, and humor with a dark edge is Simone's bread and butter (at least, it is now). Plus, several elements from her run were incorporated into the Deadpool movies, and this is the first appearance of Simone's original character Outlaw (part of the bff trio in her Domino run.) I finally got to read it with my Marvel Unlimited subscription, and...yikes. I wish I hadn't. Well, just the Deadpool issues, I'm not making it to the Agent X.
Some of Deadpool's humor was there, but nothing to make me laugh out loud, and a "doorknob" running joke got old fast. The plot was complete nonsense, every woman was a half dressed Barbie doll (I know it was the mid-90's, but I still hate it), with some very cringey panels that looked like soft porn and even worse gender stuff that I would have never expected from Simone - apparently women are either golddiggers or being beaten up by their boyfriends. (In the same vein, all Outlaw does is flirt.) Aside from that, there's some very problematic mental health related stuff with a homeless person, and the only Black character is a (very terrible) villain. Udon's work was serviceable, but too anime for my taste (I like anime, just not for a DP comic). Just a bad read all around.
I held off for the longest time to get into this volume and it was partly because I was uncertain of where Gail Simone would take the story. The trend in the previous Deadpool Classic stories was that every writer who wasn’t Joe Kelly seemed like they felt the need to draw their Deadpool to a conclusion, leaving it up in the air for a potential story the next writer could form. Gail Simone does that, but instead of leaving Deadpool hanging in the hands of someone else, she continues her Wilson-story by erasing his name and creating a completely new character--but with the same-ish personality. Enter Agent X. Enter a very confused Wade Wilson fan.
At the first sign of this happening, I paused, audibly saying things like, “I’m not liking where this is going,” and “I don’t think I like this.” But when I realized Agent X’s story continued with the same side characters from Simone’s Deadpool issues, I kept reading.
I’m so glad I did.
Simone does a great job with character chemistry and personality (this is her strongest trait in story-writing). I wasn’t only into this new Alex Hayden personality and his relationship to his new friends and enemies, I was now extremely interested in Task Master and his affectionate connection to Sandi. Who knew the toughy had a soft spot that was surprisingly attractive (can you tell I‘m a girl)? I hate to say it, but I like this new band of anti-heroes WAY more than when Weasel and T-Ray were around.
Simone’s comedy is great. I haven’t laughed at a Deadpool volume since four issues prior to this one and this finally broke my straight-lipped streak. The Agent X issues were especially funny. I’m really glad the series went in this direction, but you can definitely tell that with Agent X came change in the Deadpool goggles fans wear today. Things like the 2013 Deadpool game portrays Wade as a boob-loving, overly unbalanced mercenary with no care for anyone. It’s disappointing that fans who haven’t read Kelly’s original character are introduced to Wade Wilson through an overly exaggerated point of view with only one, 200mph speed and little-to-no plot development.
I’m not a purist. I enjoyed the 2011 series and I’m looking forward to the Marvel NOW series. But I really believe that Classic Deadpool has the best personality. I now have Gail Simone’s trust in the character and can’t wait for the next one.
Finally, Deadpool's back! Following Joe Kelly's stellar run on the character (disregarding the way he just kind of pooped out the ending), this book hit a serious rut. Nobody knew how to write Deadpool for seemingly decades. Then Gail Simone came along, in what just so happened to be her first mainstream comic book, and man did this book improve a lot. She brought Deadpool back to being a maddening, wisecracking goofball who deep down wants to be good, but just can't quite get there. She added, get this, JOKES to the page. The action is at times hilarious, and even UDON Studios' art, which is usually very cookie-cutter, seems to fit here.
The only thing is, she didn't get much time to actually live in this reinvigorated Deadpool. I don't know if it was her decision or editorial's, but the Deadpool comic ended only 5 issues into Simone's run, instead getting replaced by the decent-but-not-great Agent X. You can still catch Simone's joyful writing style in Agent X, and it definitely FEELS like it's a Deadpool book of sorts, but not actually having Deadpool involved just makes it lose a lot of its energy. Throw in the fact that the plot feels unimportant and just like an excuse to cut to various action/comedy scenes, and you've got a pretty mediocre book that takes up over half of this volume.
I would've LOVED to see Simone write more Deadpool (and I'm sure I will mostly enjoy the rest of Agent X, if Marvel deems to release it), but the way it played out just wasn't as great as I'd hoped. If you're looking at Deadpool chronologically, though, I guess the good news is Cable & Deadpool is just on the horizon, which is arguably the best Deadpool-related series of all time, so if you're reading all of Deadpool from the beginning for some reason, STICK WITH IT.
After struggling through a few mediocre runs, Deadpool finally hits the jackpot again as Gail Simone and Udon Studios bring him back to the big time with amusing plots with the edge of serious drama reminscent of Joe Kelly's character defining run. The Merc With A Mouth goes out with a bang, literally, and the revered yet uncollected until now Agent X series rounds out the collection with the first six issues. Alex Hayden is a fun protagonist who manages to fill the Deadpool sized hole in the title, and I do hope they collect the final few issues of the series to make this a truly complete collection.
Gail Simone nails Deadpool in these issues. The humor is great and witty and unique to Deadpool, a nice contrast to some of his modern stuff. The story is over the top but still allows for solid drama and characterization for both Wade and those around him. Deadpool doesn't seem to keep writers for too long, but without looking into it right noe, I hope Gail stays for a while, this is the best since,the T-Ray crescendo.
I had never read any DP before. It's amusing, but still suffers from the same sort of audience pandering, especially in the depiction of women, that other mainstream comics do.
Black Swan transmits a virus to Sades brain and he starts to loose it even more. A fun version of Rhino. Also includes the first part of the spin-off Agent X.
Dziewiąty już tom, jak w moim kraju sprezentował Egmont, a któremu żniw wypada mi podziękować, bo ubawiłem się przy tym tomie setnie. Aczkolwiek nie było tu aż tylu naprawdę zabawnych fragmentów, choć mamy do czynienia z małą rewolucją...
Tom dzieli się na dwie części. Pierwsza kończy serię, którą zainicjował Kelly na 69 zeszycie i trochę żal mi było tego. Zaczyna się od zlecenia. Deadpool ma zlikwidować jednego z czterech bossów słynnego gangu "Cztery Wiatry". W skutek nieszczęśliwego wypadku eliminuje de facto całą czwórkę, czym zyskuje szacunek całej branży. Pozwala to mu założy własną agencję i wybierać co bardziej intratne zlecenia. Deadpool Inc. Ma własną sekretarkę, zmysłową Sandi i właśnie zatrudnił pewnego żula z ulicy, któremu ewidentnie brak piątek klepki.
Dostaje zlecenie od tajemniczego kontrahenta z Niemczech, która okazuje się pułapką zastawioną przez niejakiego Czarnego Łabędzia. Gość ma najwyraźniej zatarg z Deadpoolem, który argumentuje m. in. tym, iż Najemnik z Nawijką kala zawód jakim jest zabijanie na zlecenie... Wszczepia też w mózg Wade'a wirus, który niszczy mózg D. Miałem dziki ubaw, gdy Wade zabawiał się z Rhino. Motyw tego przestępcy to istna perełka tego tomu, ale show skradł... Taskmaster.
Czekalem na każdą interakcje jegomościa, który imituje każdy atak węcz jaki widzi, z naszym ulubionym najemnikiem. Teksty jakie przy tym padają są bezcenne. A oprócz tego mamy tu jeszcze ochronę VIP-a, czy likwidacje czyjegoś przeciwnika w interesach. A to tyło połowa omawianego tomu.
W drugiej części, po rozwiązaniu kłopotu z Czarnym Łabędziem na progu Sandi pojawia się ktoś odpowiadający wyglądem Deadpoolowi, ale tytułujący się mianem Alex Hayden albo Agent X. Amnezja? Pool udaje? Klon? Zaczyna się trening po okiem Taskmastera. Tak, mamy go znów więcej i ten duet, nawzajem sobie dogryzający był perłą w koronie całej serii. Alex zyskuje nowa dziewczynę, a niedługo potem poluje na Punishera, aby zabrać mu dwa pistolety, których pragną tajemniczy mocodawcy. I pojawia się nowy mafijny boss, który chce się odegrać za zamordowaną szefową Czterech Wiatrów, jednocześnie ugruntowując swoją pozycję w strukturach nielegalnej organizacji. Końcówka to sporo bitwa, pełna detali i zabawnych smaczków.
Deadpool/Agent X jest w moim zdaniu udanym eksperymentem, w dodatku wyglądającym całkiem porządnie, chyba najlepiej z całej serii jak dotychczas. Kobiety ociekają seksem, mężczyźni to wyrzeźbione maszyny do zabijania. Tona niepoprawnych żartów, z których część wybitnie mi podchodziła. Deadpool to specyficzny humor, który każdy odbierze inaczej. W tym przypadku odbieram całość na plus. Prawo Pani Simone. Zasłużone 4/5. Czysta akcja okraszona posypką absurdalnego żartu. W idealnych proporcjach.
After the two worst runs on Deadpool, this feels like a five-star book. The misogyny is framed as negative, even if it's exploited for laughs. Even if they're not necessarily hysterical, it's nice to see actual jokes in a Deadpool book, as opposed to someone just typing pop culture references, and assuming people will be in absolute stitches to see the words "taco" or "Golden Girls". Simone actually sets up jokes with a plot point, and lets the humor flow logically. *chef's kiss*
That said, it's 90s humor, which hasn't aged particularly well. My favorite joke in the entire book is one of the "quotes" Simone uses at the beginning of her second issue: "Please stop hitting me with anvils. -- Wile E. Coyote". It's not the funniest thing I've ever read but it's positively Shakespearean compared to "tacos", "Golden Girls".
At around the halfway point, we reach the end of the first Deadpool series and begin following the supporting cast of Deadpool in "Agent X", as they try and figure out if a new, amnesiac assassin who shows up at their doorstep, might be a not-dead-Deadpool. It's also a fun, decent, but not mind-expanding story.
If you like Deadpool when it's funny, I think this is not quite as good as Daniel Way's run but it is solid and worth the read.
See, this was a fun read, and it had it's charm, but this is not Deadpool. It wasn't violent enough, it was not gory, and he didn't swear at all. I think that was because it was rated T, but the fuck!? Deadpool IS NOT rated T. Sorry, but this was all right, but this isn't Deadpool
this was actually very entertaining and personally, the high point of the deadpool series. art is really good, storytelling is actually present, and humor is on point
Not being a frequent reader of DC Comics, I mostly know Gail Simone by reputation as one of the top writers in the superhero ghetto. This book did not inspire that much confidence given the level of praise I've seen.
There was nothing particularly bad about this book, but nothing that indicated I should read more. The Black Swan an unlikeable villain, the "twist" related to him was explained in the same page in which the seeming mystery was set up, and killing the main character only works when his replacement is awesome.
Sadly, Agent X is not awesome. For story reasons, he is kind of a blank. This makes a lot of sense . . . . . But does not allow me to really identify with him or support his decisions or worldview or invest in anything about him. I know I've seen it done. Maybe just in RPGs where you star as the mute amnesiac protagonist so you are kind of auto-invested?
Really interesting is his spunky teen sidekick. I would have liked more of her and her struggles to relate to the world around her.
Also, there are some weird internal knowledge problems where some characters seem to know some things they should not and not know things that they should.
I got this volume for a reasonable donation to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It came with a signature card so that is a star right their for Gail Simone donating her time to their important work.
This comic isn't afraid to have fun. The Deadpool vs. The Rhino section is just plain silly. I don't know if I would give this one to a kid as it is more PG-13. The violence only gets gory in a few places but it is pretty much no stop and while the sex isn't shown it is implied. Most of the female characters are are either wearing bikinis or form fitting clothing. They all have unbelievably huge chests because comics.
There are 2 complete story arcs in this volume that can be read without reading the first 8 books.
Pretty weak, fizzle out ending. I think the Deadpool series really fell into a trap of being a bunch of miniseries and they kept parading new sets of creative teams out for every storyline and it ended up seeming really haphazard in terms of continuity. Would have preferred many short series with new #1's. Either that or pick a creative team and let them run with it for 15 issues.
Agent X is, so far, a weird offshoot. We'll see if I get into it but it feels like I'm reading it out of my obligation to know all things Deadpool vs. genuine interest.
The first plotline has a lot of really funny moments, but the overarching plotline is all stuff we've seen before. The second plotline (and the whole Alex Hayden thing in general) makes no sense to me. Maybe when it wraps up in the next volume, it'll all come together.
There is also a Volume 10 for this which for some reason isn't listed on Goodreads, but I've read it as well. I liked the Agent X storyline, and it ended up very good. The only thing I disliked was that Fight-man story which was dumb.