Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: deadpool, kelly thompson, marvel, Marvel Comics, Review

Deadpool #8 Review: Well-Rounded Characterization for Deadpool

Deadpool #8 continues writer Kelly Thompson's run that has crowned Wade Wilson as King of Staten Island, which is now populated by monsters. This eighth issue is penciled by Gerardo Sandoval, inked by Sandoval and Victor Nava, colored by Chris Sotomayor, and lettered by VC's Joe Sabino. The last issue left Deadpool, Jeff the Land Shark, and Elsa Bloodstone in quite a precarious situation. Let's see how this resolves.

Does a comic still qualify as a feel-good title if it's a vulgar superhero comic with monsters, body parts being devoured, an all-consuming mystical infection, and, worst of all, Staten Island? Usually, the answer would be no, but with Thompson scripting, Deadpool is exactly that. Thompson writes Deadpool as you expect — loud, silly, vulgar, and badass — while also creating the most empathetic version of the character I've personally ever read. In the face of betrayal from Elsa, he takes in what has happened, expresses his anger while still keeping things light, and understands where she was coming from. It's so easy to write Deadpool as a clown who cascades through light, taking nothing seriously, and there are many books about the character like that, and they've been, at points, funny. Thompson elevates Deadpool with her incredible characterization here, creating a genuinely funny, startlingly light book with all of the action and subversiveness you expect while also making the reader care.

Sandoval's art with Nava's inks and Sotomayor's colors complements Thompson's script perfectly, pulling off beautiful spreads of overlapping action that function both as the communication of multiple beats of story in a single image and also essentially awesome poster-quality splash pages of Deadpool kicking ass.

Again, the issue ends on a note that checks off the expected box of "Superhero cliffhanger" while also doing something genuinely interesting and new that will leave readers wondering, for the next month, exactly what's going to happen next. With Thompson, it seems that it's never just the "Will they survive?" cliffhanger. It's always a novel idea or a character-driven cliffhanger so that even the readers who know the characters will be fine have something to chew on while waiting for the next installment.

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