Deadpool 22 Review - Small Town Awesome

Lately, it seems Deadpool comics are the only comics that offer pure entertainment rather than complex serious plots involving traditional superheroes. Not that there's anything wrong with those stories, but between stories like Siege and Second Coming there aren't too many comics that just make fanboys smile and laugh with pure awesome. It's all world ending emotional strain and heartfelt character deaths that tug at the heart of fans and creators alike. Granted, our arteries are hardened from years of awesome, but we do have our limits. There are times when we need the kind of crazy fun you can only get from a wise-cracking psychopath who can have a heart of gold along with balls of adamantium. Deadpool is one of those comics and issues like Deadpool #22 show why these comics are so much fun and give our hearts and arteries a much needed break.

Deadpool #22 is a departure from the previous few arcs where Deadpool has tried to join the X-men and Spider-Man. His efforts to be more 'heroic' have so far had mixed results at best. He still shoots, kills, and maims his way through ridiculous situations and cracks jokes about it in the process. The setup for this issue was not too elaborate. He was traveling on a bus through a small town in Georgia daydreaming about fighting Thor when the bus got pulled over and robbed at gunpoint. Leading the pack was your typical hillbilly stereotype with a special kick. He was able to blast Deadpool Electro style with a suite made up of car batteries. It's the kind of thing that only works in Deadpool's world.


So what does Deadpool do? While he rarely does the most logical thing in response, here it's a bit less crazy than usual. He goes to the police station only to find out the police were in on the attack and weren't going to do anything about it. Deadpool being Deadpool he took matters into his own hands and took over the station, naming himself sheriff in the process. It's a title that shouldn't mess well with his character, but he makes it work.


As usual, a pretty girl enters the picture who works for the Sheriff and helps Deadpool to take on White Lightning and his gang. She's unusually helpful and by unusual I mean she actually encourages Deadpool to find them and kill them. That should be a red flag. In comics, like life, whenever something looks too good to be true it probably is. Deadpool finds this out the hard way and gets set up when he takes down White Lightning. The Feds then show up and by traditional government logic, they go after the guy in the mask with the guns and the history of blowing stuff up. Only Deadpool could be so deranged that he would have the government actually act logically.

But authority figures are not without their redeeming qualities. Even though Deadpool is a wanted man, they actually listen to him (reminding readers once again that impossible things do happen in comics books) and he takes them to the police station where they end up arresting Deadpool's female ally. In exchange they conveniently stand by while he goes on his merry way. Again, only in comics will government be that reasonable.


So overall, does it work? Deadpool comics are one of the few comics writers have to actively try to make suck. Deadpool is an easy guy to write. He's nuttier than squirrel turds and he's hard to write out of character because pretty much anything goes for someone that crazy. That being said, this one-shot was a nice read. It wasn't quite as engaging as the previous issues involving other Marvel heroes. There were also scenes where it kept going back and forth to what was happening presently and what was happening in the past. That got pretty confusing after a few pages and became an outright distraction. It was basically the equivalent of trying to solve a crossword puzzle with one and a rubix cube with the other. That's not the kind of complexity you want in a Deadpool comic.

This series is always good for a solid read and this issue gets a 3.5 out of 5. It's definitely worth picking up. You'll get to enjoy a nice stand-alone story and if your from the south, you may just get a little offended in the process. So overall, Deadpool #22 is a good time and offers plenty of awesome.