'Deadpool: Weasel Goes To Hell' – Young, Klein, Schwartz & Brown (Marvel)



One of my resolutions for this year was to try and follow more comic books to their natural conclusion (or to whatever event Marvel has planned this time round, whatever comes first). I'm tired of being that guy who picks up a story, a couple of years later, and finds that he's missing a whole load of backstory. From now on, I want to be in on it right from the start...
This means that Skottie Young's run on 'Deadpool' (all of three trades...) marks the first time that I managed to read a Marvel 'run' all the way to the end. Erm... yay me?
The reason for the question mark is that I'm a little perplexed that Young's run didn't go on for as long as I thought it would. Skottie Young and Deadpool are a writer and 'hero' partnership that are just made for each other with Deadpool being the ideal vehicle for Young's humour. Maybe it was only ever going to be three trades worth, who knows? I hope Young comes back to this title, in the future, and has a chance to really stick with it and make the title his own, I think it could be awesome. But anyway, 'Weasel Goes To Hell'...

As the War of the Realms rages, Deadpool is sent to Australia to take care of a pesky troll problem] No, not those obnoxious internet nerds. Real trolls] How many didgeridoo jokes can one comic book make? Let's find out together... The war against the trolls grows larger! The likelihood of Deadpool not causing an international incident grows smaller! Prepare for carnage as only a nation begun as a penal colony can deliver... If that wasn't enough, what have Weasel and Mephisto got planned for Deadpool? Only an offer that can't be refused but is that the kind of offer that anyone should mke to Deadpool...?

'Weasel Goes To Hell' is an odd one to call. On the one hand, it does everything it needs to in order to tie up loose ends and leave things all neat and tidy for the next writer on the scene. The 'Weasel' arc is explained and solved in typical 'Deadpool' style; there's room for a hint of sadness (at how his relationship with his daughter can't be a normal one, or a relationship at all really) but mostly it's all about Deadpool solving things in typical Deadpool style, he may know more than he's letting on but that won't stop him blowing shit up anyway. It's fun and Young clearly has no trouble getting into Deadpool's head and letting the plot run as it needs to, a fact that Deadpool himself is only too aware of and comments on frequently (Fourth wall break!)

The problem is that the end to this arc is only a small part of the larger book. Deadpool's adventures in Australia, as part of the 'War of the Realms' story are as funny as you'd expect but add little to Deadpool's own story or the actual 'War of the Realms' itself. It's like someone said, 'there's an event, we've got to crowbar Deadpool in somewhere' and no-one really thought of what it would mean when it was time to put another trade together. It feels disjointed and pointless, even Deadpool himself gets bored with it and calls a ride home. As you can tell, not for me then.

And that's your lot from Skottie Young and Nic Klein (who does his absolute best with lets be honest, not a lot of story to draw). There is room for one more story, 'Acts of Evil' from the Deadpool Annual. Talk about saving the best until last (and Skottie Young didn't even write it)... 'Acts of Evil' shows us that no matter how low life takes him, Deadpool still has the heart of a hero; quite literally putting himself on the line for pocket money. Schwartz tells a tight tale with a twist that you will see coming a mile off but it doesn't matter because you're rooting for Wade to go that extra mile, and he does. I enjoyed Reilly Brown's art here as well, displaying just the right mix of cartoony surrealness for a story set in the world of dreams... and nightmares.

'Weasel Goes To Hell' feels like it really needed to collect a few more issues in order to really tell its tale, and it could have been a good one. Whatever the reason though, Skottie Young's run on 'Deadpool' ends here and for me, it ends on a slightly sour note of 'what could have been...' It's a shame as like I said earlier, on paper it looked like this partnership could have really worked. Oh well, maybe another time.

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