The Good
'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' continues to be beyond stellar. This time around, co-writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn do brilliant work presenting a constantly shifting tone. While the two previous chapters have focused much more on a darker and emotional atmosphere, this issue manages to reintroduce some major comedy into the picture without detracting from the serious weight of the narrative.
The core of this story is Captain America, Deadpool, Wolverine and the faux X-Men trying to escape the camp and it's absurdly entertaining. The hectic scene offers some big laughs (best fastball special ever), but more importantly, it provides yet another example of Deadpool being treated seriously (great accuracy feat complimented with a joke that legitimately made me burst into laughter). A breakout attempt at a horrific camp isn't all giggles and fun though, and we're soon delivered a heavy reminder of just how harsh the scenario is. Throwing Deadpool into this scenario also opens the door to showing his depth and it's great to see Duggan and Posehn capitalize on that.
Once again, artist Declan Shalvey and colorist Jordie Bellaire are the perfect fit for a story of this nature. They do great work with the variety of characters, but there's one particular panel during the breakout scene which rendered me speechless. After having so many laughs, this moment hits like a ton of bricks and the graphic nature of the panel is jaw-dropping and totally staggering. There are so many panels to appreciate and there's a seriously cool splash page of the trio. The motion and fierce impact behind hits are massive and the effects from each power look wonderfully animated. Shalvey truly has the perfect style for the tone of this story and Bellaire's coloring compliments his work so well. The colors never overpower his illustrations or make it too lively -- they provide just the right amount of brightness and depth to each moment. This is more than transparent when looking at some of the bleak imagery in the opening page.
The Bad
No major complaints. This is easily one of my favorite issues this month.
The Verdict
As a longtime Deadpool fan, I just can't praise 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' enough. It's quite literally giving me everything I could want from a Deadpool comic. There's a great emotional weight to it, some solid laughs and the action is both hilarious and shockingly badass. My fellow Deadpool fans, it would be terribly unwise to miss out on this one.
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