Jim Lemoine
Mar 21, 2002, 12:40 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/dpool-064.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/dpool-064t.jpg" align=left alt="Deadpool: Funeral For A Freak #4"></a>Reviewer: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Deadpoolalooza!
It’s the end of the Deadpools’ reigns (thank God) as the real Wade squares off against the maniacal T-Ray.
Written by: Frank Tieri & Buddy Scalera
Pencilled by: Jim Calafiore
Inked by: Wong, & McKenna
Lettered by: Dave Sharpe
Colored by: Color Dojo
Assistant Editor: Mike Raicht
Editor: Mike Marts
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I read the entire Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak #4, and I didn’t laugh once. I didn’t even come close to laughing once.
Yes, I know, I started my review of #3 with those exact words. But they still apply, so I’m repeating myself just this once. While this month’s plot isn’t quite as ridiculous as the plot last issue, and while the storyline isn’t quite as horrible as it was last month, and while the art is definitely much, much better… this still doesn’t come close to being a good issue of Deadpool.
I’m not sure exactly why I so disliked this issue. Maybe it was because of the dialog. Sure, we thought the dialog couldn’t get any worse after #3, and we were right. But there are flashbacks to its sheer badness throughout the issue. For instance, T-Ray’s opening threat of “Maybe I could return the favor and pass some love along to you!” didn’t really tickle my funny bone nor make my hair stand on end in fright. And then there’s Deadpool’s ultra-witty, “Is that a tombstone or a telephone?” Or how about T-Ray’s “Silence, Wilson. The boss gave me this Gemini star to bring you back to him!” Gee, and here I thought the hey-days of long-winded, stereotypical villainous expositions were long over.
The T-Ray dialog is especially disappointing. The T-Ray we saw back in the early issues of this series was a perfect foil for ‘Pool: he was a large, cantankerous, slightly mysterious, and very murderous mercenary who was always one step ahead of Wade. The T-Ray we see here has been reduced to the totality of the stereotypical comic book villain. Horrible dialog, overly elaborate plans, and that annoying habit of telling the hero exactly what he’s doing. This is not the T-Ray who totally trounced Deadpool way back when. Alas, poor Band-Aid-Face, how far you’ve fallen.
But to be fair, these moments of sheer idiocy are a lot fewer and farther between this month, and we’re actually given a taste of Deadpool as he used to be. Wade finally gets in some witty one-liners, and the ending monologue by the master-villain-behind-the-curtain is really priceless.
So if the dialog wasn’t the main reason I disliked FFAF #4, maybe it was because of the plot. I mean, come on, Deadpool as a member (by his own choice) of not one team, but two? And one of those is a bunch of smelly bums (one of whom I still think the real Deadpool would have badly hurt for vomiting on him so often), and the other is a pack of Deadpool poseurs?
Or what about every single schoolchild on the bus having a large weapon with them? I know this is supposed to be funny, but it just requires too big of a suspension of disbelief in order to believe that we’re still in the Marvel Universe. Oh, and the hoboes running for mayor at the end of the book. Uh-huh. Big laughs there. Right.
And speaking of the plot, how about that ending? We get this huge build-up of all four new Deadpools for the last few issues, and their only purpose seems to be to quickly die in this issue. Sure, we weren’t expecting them to be spun off into their own series or anything (thank God), but could we at least have had a bit more follow-through on them?
The ending of T-Ray’s nefarious plot is similarly disappointing. Apparently, the other Deadpools were aspects of Wade’s personality that T-Ray was extracting in order to make the true Wade a “boring shell” of his former self (although Wade didn’t seem to lose the aspects of his personality that the four new ‘Pool’s represented, did he?). I have to admit here that this plan makes a lot more sense than you might think, when you take into account who T-Ray’s boss is. That admission aside, it’s still a somewhat moronic and overly elaborate attempt to explain the events of the last few issues. But that’s not the disappointing part.
T-Ray’s won, right? He’s blasted a hole the size of Miami right through Wade’s chest, and he extracting the rest of Deadpool’s personality from him bit by bit through the power of the awesome Gemini Star, right? So how does Deadpool save the day?
Wade just grabs the Gemini Star right out of T-Ray’s hand.
Think about that for a second. You’re about to succeed in your quest, you have ultimate power resting at your fingertips, your greatest enemy is dying before you… and you get really close to him and let him just grab the source of your power right out of your hand.
That’s idiotic. And pretty darn anti-climactic. Reminded me of the time Dark Helmet stole Lone Star’s ring in Spaceballs. Only then, it was funny.
Which isn’t to say that this book didn’t have its saving graces. I’ve counted several. First, Weasel is back, and it looks like he’s here to stay. Second, the hoboes are leaving the book, probably never to return. Third, T-Ray’s final fate is very fitting for one of Wade’s foes… the fate is both twisted and cruel. Fourth, the ending sequence with Thanos really was well-thought out and explained all of this madness well.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the art. It’s a pleasure to see Calafiore’s beautiful pencils on this title again. You can tell that he’s really doing his best to make the most of this story. The visual storytelling is superb, the characters seem to react to events realistically, and the facial expressions are especially well done. His final Thanos pin-up tells me that he should be a candidate to draw the next Infinity series.
And the final saving grace? Funeral For A Freak is over. I hate to say it, since this mini-within-the-monthly had such a great start in #1. The quality of this book rapidly went downhill from there. Luckily, Gail Simone & UDON jump on board next month in what promises to be an excellent new starting point for our favorite Merc-with-a-Mouth.
Deadpool is meant to be Marvel’s version of a Monthly Recommended Allowance of cruel and twisted humor. Along the way, a plausible story is usually told, one that makes us feel more strongly about Wade’s character, love him or hate him. Unfortunately, Tieri’s final issue on this title is not humorous in the slightest, nor was the story in any way plausible, unless you assume that Thanos manipulated everything from the hobo squadron, to the VTV artists and audience, to T-Ray’s idiotic defeat. The only really cruel and twisted thing about the last two issues might be forcing a real Deadpool fan to stomach them.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://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.jpg
STORY:
http://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.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://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.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Deadpoolalooza!
It’s the end of the Deadpools’ reigns (thank God) as the real Wade squares off against the maniacal T-Ray.
Written by: Frank Tieri & Buddy Scalera
Pencilled by: Jim Calafiore
Inked by: Wong, & McKenna
Lettered by: Dave Sharpe
Colored by: Color Dojo
Assistant Editor: Mike Raicht
Editor: Mike Marts
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I read the entire Deadpool: Funeral for a Freak #4, and I didn’t laugh once. I didn’t even come close to laughing once.
Yes, I know, I started my review of #3 with those exact words. But they still apply, so I’m repeating myself just this once. While this month’s plot isn’t quite as ridiculous as the plot last issue, and while the storyline isn’t quite as horrible as it was last month, and while the art is definitely much, much better… this still doesn’t come close to being a good issue of Deadpool.
I’m not sure exactly why I so disliked this issue. Maybe it was because of the dialog. Sure, we thought the dialog couldn’t get any worse after #3, and we were right. But there are flashbacks to its sheer badness throughout the issue. For instance, T-Ray’s opening threat of “Maybe I could return the favor and pass some love along to you!” didn’t really tickle my funny bone nor make my hair stand on end in fright. And then there’s Deadpool’s ultra-witty, “Is that a tombstone or a telephone?” Or how about T-Ray’s “Silence, Wilson. The boss gave me this Gemini star to bring you back to him!” Gee, and here I thought the hey-days of long-winded, stereotypical villainous expositions were long over.
The T-Ray dialog is especially disappointing. The T-Ray we saw back in the early issues of this series was a perfect foil for ‘Pool: he was a large, cantankerous, slightly mysterious, and very murderous mercenary who was always one step ahead of Wade. The T-Ray we see here has been reduced to the totality of the stereotypical comic book villain. Horrible dialog, overly elaborate plans, and that annoying habit of telling the hero exactly what he’s doing. This is not the T-Ray who totally trounced Deadpool way back when. Alas, poor Band-Aid-Face, how far you’ve fallen.
But to be fair, these moments of sheer idiocy are a lot fewer and farther between this month, and we’re actually given a taste of Deadpool as he used to be. Wade finally gets in some witty one-liners, and the ending monologue by the master-villain-behind-the-curtain is really priceless.
So if the dialog wasn’t the main reason I disliked FFAF #4, maybe it was because of the plot. I mean, come on, Deadpool as a member (by his own choice) of not one team, but two? And one of those is a bunch of smelly bums (one of whom I still think the real Deadpool would have badly hurt for vomiting on him so often), and the other is a pack of Deadpool poseurs?
Or what about every single schoolchild on the bus having a large weapon with them? I know this is supposed to be funny, but it just requires too big of a suspension of disbelief in order to believe that we’re still in the Marvel Universe. Oh, and the hoboes running for mayor at the end of the book. Uh-huh. Big laughs there. Right.
And speaking of the plot, how about that ending? We get this huge build-up of all four new Deadpools for the last few issues, and their only purpose seems to be to quickly die in this issue. Sure, we weren’t expecting them to be spun off into their own series or anything (thank God), but could we at least have had a bit more follow-through on them?
The ending of T-Ray’s nefarious plot is similarly disappointing. Apparently, the other Deadpools were aspects of Wade’s personality that T-Ray was extracting in order to make the true Wade a “boring shell” of his former self (although Wade didn’t seem to lose the aspects of his personality that the four new ‘Pool’s represented, did he?). I have to admit here that this plan makes a lot more sense than you might think, when you take into account who T-Ray’s boss is. That admission aside, it’s still a somewhat moronic and overly elaborate attempt to explain the events of the last few issues. But that’s not the disappointing part.
T-Ray’s won, right? He’s blasted a hole the size of Miami right through Wade’s chest, and he extracting the rest of Deadpool’s personality from him bit by bit through the power of the awesome Gemini Star, right? So how does Deadpool save the day?
Wade just grabs the Gemini Star right out of T-Ray’s hand.
Think about that for a second. You’re about to succeed in your quest, you have ultimate power resting at your fingertips, your greatest enemy is dying before you… and you get really close to him and let him just grab the source of your power right out of your hand.
That’s idiotic. And pretty darn anti-climactic. Reminded me of the time Dark Helmet stole Lone Star’s ring in Spaceballs. Only then, it was funny.
Which isn’t to say that this book didn’t have its saving graces. I’ve counted several. First, Weasel is back, and it looks like he’s here to stay. Second, the hoboes are leaving the book, probably never to return. Third, T-Ray’s final fate is very fitting for one of Wade’s foes… the fate is both twisted and cruel. Fourth, the ending sequence with Thanos really was well-thought out and explained all of this madness well.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the art. It’s a pleasure to see Calafiore’s beautiful pencils on this title again. You can tell that he’s really doing his best to make the most of this story. The visual storytelling is superb, the characters seem to react to events realistically, and the facial expressions are especially well done. His final Thanos pin-up tells me that he should be a candidate to draw the next Infinity series.
And the final saving grace? Funeral For A Freak is over. I hate to say it, since this mini-within-the-monthly had such a great start in #1. The quality of this book rapidly went downhill from there. Luckily, Gail Simone & UDON jump on board next month in what promises to be an excellent new starting point for our favorite Merc-with-a-Mouth.
Deadpool is meant to be Marvel’s version of a Monthly Recommended Allowance of cruel and twisted humor. Along the way, a plausible story is usually told, one that makes us feel more strongly about Wade’s character, love him or hate him. Unfortunately, Tieri’s final issue on this title is not humorous in the slightest, nor was the story in any way plausible, unless you assume that Thanos manipulated everything from the hobo squadron, to the VTV artists and audience, to T-Ray’s idiotic defeat. The only really cruel and twisted thing about the last two issues might be forcing a real Deadpool fan to stomach them.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://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.jpg
STORY:
http://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.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://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.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!