I will admit, I went into this comic expecting to hate it. First of all, as the title suggests, Marvel are once again delving into their greatest hits to publish a comic under a familiar name that is a known fan favourite, in order to avoid asking readers to pony up for an actual new idea. I think it's fair to say that Marvel have been struggling creatively of late, and books like this, when you see them on the shelf, just feel like a negative plan to keep sales up.
Secondly, Deadpool is my spirit animal. He has been one of my favourite Marvel characters since the first time I read him (my introduction was actually Deadpool Corps, which I strongly recommend you check out). And wonderful as it is to see him become so popular following the surprise hit 2016 movie, it has radically altered how he is handled, writing wise; Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe, like a lot of his best material, comes from a time when the powers that be at Marvel Comics really didn't give a damn about Deadpool, and writers and artists were left to do pretty much whatever they wanted with him. Unsurprisingly, creatives who had been left alone to create did an extremely good job of forging a new kind of comic book headliner that captured the world view of a lot of people. Those people started paying attention, more and more as Deadpool's profile rose and culminated in the release of the movie, and now he is hot property. And that means a lot of those people who didn't pay attention before, are now very concerned with everything DP does and how it affects their bottom line. This has affected the comics, undoubtedly, and while the sense of humour is still there, he has drifted away from the darker corners of the Marvel Universe that his dark, irreverent humour fitted into so well.
So, on to this series, the second telling of Wade W. Wilson's journey to rid the world of capes. I ended up really liking this book, because it shares very little with its predecessor other than the title. Don't get me wrong, I love the original DPKTMU, but I have seen that story, and I don't need to buy another comic to read it again. I will always forgive an awful lot in exchange for a story with a good premise, and the premise for Deadpool's new killing spree is very good. It creates a mystery that you want to solve, and it separates this story from the previous one very well.
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| Dun-dun DUNNNN |
Also, at the risk of sounding macabre, it's great to see Deadpool killing again, because that's his character, a killer. Like I said, he has been sanitised somewhat since his rise to fame, and this feels back-to-basics refreshing. One of the biggest differences, and one which has great potential, is we have a misfit group of heroes trying to track him down: Jessica Jones, Punisher, Cable, Moon Knight, Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), and Misty Knight. This grouping just feels like a great choice for some reason, and I'm really looking forward to what they do with it. Don't let me down, Bunn!
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again has come out of the traps with a great start, and I'm certainly hoping it has started as it means to go on.
4 / 5
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