On behalf of the insurance company he works for, Machine Man serves Deadpool a hefty bill for all the damage he's caused in his mercenary career. DP doesn't have the money, so he opts to do a job for Machine Man instead - - bump off the Puppet Master.
The Good
Capturing the right balance between snappy humor and bad ass action for Deadpool is actually pretty tough and Asmus handles it rather deftly. From the jokes about hamsters of machine lube to the constant ridicule of Puppet Master's eye lashes to even the whole premise of Machine Man holding DP accountable for the insurance damages he's wrought... this issue was just funny. My favorite gag had be to the riff on the old cartoon stable - - the arguing angel and devil on DP's shoulders. Gunnell's art was pretty good - - I especially like how he rendered Machine Man and never skimped out on the detail for all his complex parts.
The Bad
I didn't read any of Next Wave, so I'm not totally familiar with everything Ellis did to revamp Machine Man, but the running gag about him making these narcissistic asides about his perfect body got a little old really fast. It was really more funny when he was portrayed as a more traditional straight man to DP.
The Verdict - 4/5
Once again, this title actually proves that, while there might be an overload of DP books out right now, most of them are actually good. This title's the perfect venue for new talent to get their feet wet in the MU with told-in-ones that follow enough of a common theme to justify them being part of a continuing title. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and this was definitely one of the better contributions to this series.
