0764. Deadpool v2 #50, March 2001, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Buddy Scalera, penciled by Darick Robertson

My Score: 7.1

0719. Deadpool v2 #49, February 2001, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Buddy Scalera, penciled by Michael Lopez

Deadpool isn’t funny anymore. That’s kinda Deadpool’s thing. This could easily be a Daredevil or a Batman or any other street level hero story. The plot is sound and the ending makes it Deadpool-centric (character-wise at least), but it’s joyless.

My Score: 6.9

0439. Deadpool v2 #48, January 2001, written by Jimmy Palmiotti, penciled by Paul Chadwick

The three part “Cruel Summer” story ends and mostly just leaves me wanting to strangle Palmiotti for consistently getting that horrible song stuck in my head for the last two days. It has NOTHING to do with the story! You could have named it anything else!

Overall the story was well-plotted and executed okay, even though it was a fairly by-the-numbers noir story. Lots of hot ladies, mobsters, double-crossings, triple-crossings and murder. Meh. This could have been a lot of fun if Deadpool had been himself, but Palmiotti turned the humor way down for these three issues. Deadpool may as well have been Daredevil. The final issue has a good gag about Deadpool using a lighter in a closed coffin, but that’s about it. The ending was appropriately dark and somewhat surprising, so that’s fine.

My Score: 7.8

0438. Deadpool v2 #47, December 2000, written by Jimmy Palmiotti, penciled by Paul Chadwick

My Score: 7.5

0437. Deadpool v2 #46, November 2000, written by Jimmy Palmiotti, penciled by Paul Chadwick

My Score: 7.8

0436. Deadpool v2 #45, October 2000, written by Christopher Priest, penciled by Jim Calafiore

Christopher Priest concludes his year long run on the title with this, his twelfth issue. I didn’t really enjoy his run, but I appreciated some of the things he did. I liked giving Deadpool roommates and exploring the mundane-ness of day-to-day villainy. I liked him building up a supporting cast for DP again from scratch. I liked the meta bits in the trailer park and the “there’s a man with a typewriter” stuff. That “there’s a man with a typewriter” stuff was not used enough to necessitate becoming a catch phrase though. He said it like, twice and letters in the letters’ page would quote it all the time. That and “the answer to your first question is shaddap” which…was never funny to me. And that’s my big complaint with his run: it wasn’t as funny as Joe Kelly’s. I can appreciate him wanting to do stories that are of a simpler nature (even though in the end I don’t think he did) but they shouldn’t have been less funny. There’s also a general “reboot” feel to his run, since the character emotionally doesn’t feel like the same guy. It feels like everything he learned in the first 30+ issues was shoved in a bag and thrown into a lake in a trailer park.

So goodbye Christopher Priest. I really have no idea what to expect from this book now.

My Score: 7.9

0432. Deadpool v2 #44, September 2000, written by Christopher Priest, penciled by Jim Calafiore

My Score: 7.7

0431. Deadpool v2 #43, August 2000, written by Christopher Priest, penciled by Jim Calafiore

My Score: 7.7

0357. Deadpool v2 #42, July 2000, written by Glenn Herdling, penciled by Jim Calafiore

Jim Calafiore is the first in a rotating string of regular artists. Looking ahead at the issues I own, no artist seems to stick with this book longer than four issues. I know this changes when um…okay, no I don’t know when this changes. Possibly in the last year of the series.

This is a silent issue that actually works. It’s silly and borderline Looney Tunes, but that’s fine. It’s enjoyable. I’m just amazed that there’s a fill-in on this book. Marvel never did fill-ins after the ’80s from what I thought, and then there’s this. And from what I assume, fill-ins happen because the writer isn’t ready (because if the artist isn’t then the story continues with a guest artist for an issue). So…again, I wish I had more information about what was going on behind the scenes. I’m sure it was nowhere near what I am imagining (which involves Priest actually going to space to get inspiration to finish his arc).

My Score: 7.6

0356. Deadpool v2 #41, June 2000, written by Christopher Priest, penciled by Paco Diaz

I guess my Deadpool fandom really depends on the writer’s take on him. Kelly’s “tortured soul trying to do good despite psychotic impulses” beats Priest’s “this guy is an excuse to write complete insanity.” The take is valid, yeah. There’s nothing wrong with wanting Deadpool to star in a strictly comedy comic book. He’s a comedic character by nature. Seriously, his comedic voice the one thing that is uniquely his. So yeah, base your stories off of it and go to crazy town. It just sucks that Kelly’s version was both funnier AND emotionally deeper. Hard act to follow.

Also the art is bananas. Everyone’s shoulder/back muscles are huge!

My Score: 7