Jim Lemoine
Mar 15, 2002, 12:18 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/dpool-063.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/dpool-063t.jpg" align=left alt="Deadpool: Funeral For A Freak #3"></a>Reviewed by: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Terrible!
Story Title: Showtime!
Deadpool, still not dead anymore, goes after the four ne’er-do-wells that took his place. Then he makes friends with them!
Written by: Frank Tieri & Buddy Scalera
Cover by: UDON
Pencilled by: Georges Jeanty
Inked by: Wong, Vines & Newbold
Lettered by: Dave Sharpe
Colored by: Color Dojo
Assistant Editor: Mike Raicht
Editors: Mike Marts
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I read the entire Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak #3, and I didn’t laugh once. I didn’t even come close to laughing once.
I could easily end the review there, as my theory is that if you don’t laugh at an issue of Deadpool, then it must not have been a good issue. But I’ll stretch out the review a bit, not only for the three or four of you who want more detail, but also because this issue really deserves to be mocked. And I’m prepared to mock it.
Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak was meant to be the story arc that accomplished two things: Deadpool had to be brought back to life, and he was to be returned to his roots as a sadistic yet fun-loving merc-with-a-mouth. The hope, as I understand it, was to take him back to the glory days of the first 20 issues or so when we just couldn’t get enough of Wade (anybody else remember Baby’s First Deadpool Book?). So far, while the series has succeeded in making ‘Pool alive again, he seems to me to be a vastly different Wade Wilson than the one I’m used to. I don’t think that’s because he’s changed by his near-death experience… I think he’s just not written well.
The story as a whole comes up as more of something from a small child’s Saturday morning cartoon (albeit a slightly twisted one) than a real story. I could easily write paragraphs about all of the story events and script nuances that just don’t make too much sense, and I think I will. For instance, Deadpool (predictably) has amnesia, and nothing will snap him out of it until he sees a picture of Siryn. Then, in the span of about 2 seconds, he remembers everything. Right.
The Hollywood Deadpool clone is hosting the VTV awards tonight because he’s such a big star and everybody loves him. Never mind that he was only CREATED a month ago, and nobody’d ever heard of him before that. Right.
Deadpool brings his new friends, the three hoboes, along with him on a mission to kill one measly Hollywood-type. And he armors them and gives them weapons. The Deadpool I know would go in alone and do just fine, and like it that way (but then, the Deadpool I know would have kicked the hobos out as soon as he remembered who he was… and he may have maimed Scuzzy for throwing up on his stuff).
It’s obvious that Tieri & Scalera are going for big laughs with the constant over-the-top dialog by everybody connected to the VTV awards, from the newscasters to the artists to the audience to the new Deadpools. They go for the laughs, but the humor is stereotypical, overdone, and frankly pretty lame. These poor attempts at humor also make the second half of the book so unrealistic that you have to employ a serious suspension of disbelief to continue reading.
Oh, look, the psychopath Deadpool who’s been murdering people at fast food restaurants somehow made it into the audience, mask and all. Nobody seems to notice. People cheer and laugh as they stand right next to the masked killer who’s been all over the news.
Deadpool makes a big entrance with his Hobo Brigade, and then kinda stands there and talks. No threats, no big weapons, he just talks. And stands there. Just like in a 60’s comic book. Right.
The dialog gets worse and worse as the Backstreet Boys get angry at Deadpool stealing their spotlight, and Evil Deadpool issues the threatening line, “I feel so good, I’m gonna take you all out for hamburgers!” Then, just when you think the dialog couldn’t get any worse and the plot couldn’t get any more moronic, a B-Street Boy takes a young woman hostage. And the dialog gets worse. And the plot gets more moronic.
The Deadpools save the day, of course, and more inspired lines follow, like, “What about my ratings?” “Oh, I think you’ll have very high ratings… in prison!” Wow, isn’t that funny?
The Deadpools stand triumphant, and they decide to form their own super-team. They’re going to be Team Deadpool, even though Original Deadpool had come to kill all of his duplicates, even though Evil Deadpool had come to kill Hollywood Deadpool, and even though Hollywood Deadpool has no super powers, and even though Psycho Deadpool can’t speak a word other than “no pickles.” Right.
Then T-Ray shows up, predictably enough. The issue ends, and I find myself praying to God that the big guy will just kill everybody in the theater next issue.
Now, I realize that this issue is meant as a fun farce, and as a slap in the face at the old Reign of the Supermen storyline from DC. I realize that I’m probably not meant to take this as seriously as most other comics books. And, I realize that everybody in the comic is probably being manipulated by some big, cosmic-level entity (I’d guess Death was behind it if she hadn’t seemed so cheesed in <b><I>FFAF #1</i></b>). But this issue just takes it too far. This is a very, very, very bad story.
The art is a bit better, thankfully, although I stand by my statement from last issue’s review that Deadpool just doesn’t look ugly enough. Jeanty and company do a good job of making Super Deadpool look stupid, of making the hobos look disgusting, and of making everybody at the VTV awards look ignorant and plastic. This isn’t exactly award-winning artwork, but it’s solid, and it tells the story well.
Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak #3 is a huge disappointment. If you’re looking for a jumping-on point for Deadpool so that you can finally see what everybody’s been laughing at, this ain’t it. I recommend you wait for the beginning of the Gail Simone run… after all, she knows what’s funny. And Deadpool is nothing if he’s not funny.
And this issue isn’t funny at all.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
Quick Rating: Terrible!
Story Title: Showtime!
Deadpool, still not dead anymore, goes after the four ne’er-do-wells that took his place. Then he makes friends with them!
Written by: Frank Tieri & Buddy Scalera
Cover by: UDON
Pencilled by: Georges Jeanty
Inked by: Wong, Vines & Newbold
Lettered by: Dave Sharpe
Colored by: Color Dojo
Assistant Editor: Mike Raicht
Editors: Mike Marts
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I read the entire Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak #3, and I didn’t laugh once. I didn’t even come close to laughing once.
I could easily end the review there, as my theory is that if you don’t laugh at an issue of Deadpool, then it must not have been a good issue. But I’ll stretch out the review a bit, not only for the three or four of you who want more detail, but also because this issue really deserves to be mocked. And I’m prepared to mock it.
Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak was meant to be the story arc that accomplished two things: Deadpool had to be brought back to life, and he was to be returned to his roots as a sadistic yet fun-loving merc-with-a-mouth. The hope, as I understand it, was to take him back to the glory days of the first 20 issues or so when we just couldn’t get enough of Wade (anybody else remember Baby’s First Deadpool Book?). So far, while the series has succeeded in making ‘Pool alive again, he seems to me to be a vastly different Wade Wilson than the one I’m used to. I don’t think that’s because he’s changed by his near-death experience… I think he’s just not written well.
The story as a whole comes up as more of something from a small child’s Saturday morning cartoon (albeit a slightly twisted one) than a real story. I could easily write paragraphs about all of the story events and script nuances that just don’t make too much sense, and I think I will. For instance, Deadpool (predictably) has amnesia, and nothing will snap him out of it until he sees a picture of Siryn. Then, in the span of about 2 seconds, he remembers everything. Right.
The Hollywood Deadpool clone is hosting the VTV awards tonight because he’s such a big star and everybody loves him. Never mind that he was only CREATED a month ago, and nobody’d ever heard of him before that. Right.
Deadpool brings his new friends, the three hoboes, along with him on a mission to kill one measly Hollywood-type. And he armors them and gives them weapons. The Deadpool I know would go in alone and do just fine, and like it that way (but then, the Deadpool I know would have kicked the hobos out as soon as he remembered who he was… and he may have maimed Scuzzy for throwing up on his stuff).
It’s obvious that Tieri & Scalera are going for big laughs with the constant over-the-top dialog by everybody connected to the VTV awards, from the newscasters to the artists to the audience to the new Deadpools. They go for the laughs, but the humor is stereotypical, overdone, and frankly pretty lame. These poor attempts at humor also make the second half of the book so unrealistic that you have to employ a serious suspension of disbelief to continue reading.
Oh, look, the psychopath Deadpool who’s been murdering people at fast food restaurants somehow made it into the audience, mask and all. Nobody seems to notice. People cheer and laugh as they stand right next to the masked killer who’s been all over the news.
Deadpool makes a big entrance with his Hobo Brigade, and then kinda stands there and talks. No threats, no big weapons, he just talks. And stands there. Just like in a 60’s comic book. Right.
The dialog gets worse and worse as the Backstreet Boys get angry at Deadpool stealing their spotlight, and Evil Deadpool issues the threatening line, “I feel so good, I’m gonna take you all out for hamburgers!” Then, just when you think the dialog couldn’t get any worse and the plot couldn’t get any more moronic, a B-Street Boy takes a young woman hostage. And the dialog gets worse. And the plot gets more moronic.
The Deadpools save the day, of course, and more inspired lines follow, like, “What about my ratings?” “Oh, I think you’ll have very high ratings… in prison!” Wow, isn’t that funny?
The Deadpools stand triumphant, and they decide to form their own super-team. They’re going to be Team Deadpool, even though Original Deadpool had come to kill all of his duplicates, even though Evil Deadpool had come to kill Hollywood Deadpool, and even though Hollywood Deadpool has no super powers, and even though Psycho Deadpool can’t speak a word other than “no pickles.” Right.
Then T-Ray shows up, predictably enough. The issue ends, and I find myself praying to God that the big guy will just kill everybody in the theater next issue.
Now, I realize that this issue is meant as a fun farce, and as a slap in the face at the old Reign of the Supermen storyline from DC. I realize that I’m probably not meant to take this as seriously as most other comics books. And, I realize that everybody in the comic is probably being manipulated by some big, cosmic-level entity (I’d guess Death was behind it if she hadn’t seemed so cheesed in <b><I>FFAF #1</i></b>). But this issue just takes it too far. This is a very, very, very bad story.
The art is a bit better, thankfully, although I stand by my statement from last issue’s review that Deadpool just doesn’t look ugly enough. Jeanty and company do a good job of making Super Deadpool look stupid, of making the hobos look disgusting, and of making everybody at the VTV awards look ignorant and plastic. This isn’t exactly award-winning artwork, but it’s solid, and it tells the story well.
Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak #3 is a huge disappointment. If you’re looking for a jumping-on point for Deadpool so that you can finally see what everybody’s been laughing at, this ain’t it. I recommend you wait for the beginning of the Gail Simone run… after all, she knows what’s funny. And Deadpool is nothing if he’s not funny.
And this issue isn’t funny at all.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!