Deadpool #5 Review

 

Writer: Cody Ziglar

Artist: Andrea Di Vito

Colorist: Guru-eFX

Letterer: Joe Sabino

Cover Artists: Taurin Clarke; Jan Bazaldua & Israel Silva; Sergio Dávila & Ceci De La Cruz; Yasmine Putri; Annie Wu

Designer: Carlos Lao

Editors: MR Daniel & Drew Baumgartner; Ellie Pyle & Mark Basso; CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 21, 2024

 

Deadpool wants to protect his Human daughter. Ellie insists on being part of his life. Taskmaster continually gripes about his expenses, yet he sticks around when Deadpool blows his office renovation budget on a rooftop sauna. Princess, Deadpool's alien wolf symbiote daughter, and Doug, who keeps the office humming, are also valued members of his family. But when Taskmaster and Deadpool storm a death cult’s temple, their leader makes Deadpool fear for his life. Can Death Grip nullify Deadpool’s healing ability? And if Deadpool dies, who will care for the rat in the office water cooler? Let's leap into Deadpool #5 and find out!

 

Story

Death Grip’s desire to master his fighting skills made him hunger for supremacy. Now Death Grip worships death, and Deadpool is the ultimate prize. Deadpool's healing ability makes it impossible to kill him. But what if Death Grip could remove it? He has everything a cult leader could want: a temple, subservient followers, and the ability to kill anyone who displeases him without repercussions. But none of that matters as long as someone lives who he can't kill.

 

Ellie enjoys her life with the Prestons but yearns to reconnect with her dad. She’s a whip-smart girl with a healing ability like her father’s and doesn't need protection like a fragile decoration. Ellie can use SHIELD technology to teleport anywhere. If Deadpool sends her away, she will only return. Ellie passed Taskmaster’s combat and physical training tests with flying colors. She wants to go on field missions and won’t charge Deadpool for expenses. Yet when Death Grip invites Deadpool to his temple, Deadpool and Taskmaster leave on the down low. In Deadpool #5, Ellie and Princess are of one mind. Deadpool’s daughters are not interested in Daddy Day Care. They’re going to be part of the team!

 

 

 

If superheroes kill villains, are they still the good guys? Or does taking a life make them antiheroes? Cody Ziglar's story wrestles with what it means to take someone's life. Deadpool has bought enough shiny toys to know everything comes at a price. He is proud of Ellie's accomplishments. He is glad that cancer doesn't accompany her healing abilities. But the mercenary business involves taking lives. Like the blemishes covering his body and the burned taste buds that prevent him from enjoying his food, killing another person devours part of one's soul. Deadpool uses humor to push away the darkness and prevent him from becoming like Death Grip. But not taking things seriously also has a cost. Deadpool has paid the price for killing others and wants to save Ellie from footing that bill. But will Ellie let him?

 

 

Art

Blood streams from Deadpool’s chest as he pushes himself off the floor in Deadpool #5. Death Grip’s magical hands blast a pillar and send Deadpool flying. Deadpool tosses smoke grenades to let him get within sword reach. Death Grip uses magic to hang Deadpool upside down at eye level but doesn’t pull off Deadpool’s mask to steal Mary Jane’s special kiss. Princess stalks the office and looms like King Kong after knocking down an office door. After reading a note filled with hearts, Ellie frowns.

 

Guru-eFX’s bright palette imbues Andrea Di Vito’s taught action and character moments with ambiance and contrast. Death Grip’s white energy radiates a blue glow in the purple temple. Overhead lights allow characters to shine and cast shadows amid the green textured walls and the littered, grimy floor of Deadpool’s green office. Stippled pale red on ivory enlivens an otherwise blank background as Elie rolls up her pink shirt sleeves. Yellow, orange, and pink fill the sky as Deadpool #5 reaches its deadly end.

 

 

 

Joe Sabino stabs white and colored dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with black and white uppercase lettering. The font shrinks for lowered voices, emboldens for inflection, and swells for increased volume. Death Grip's spells appear as purple symbols in blue dialogue balloons and as white symbols against the purple temple walls. Colorful and energetic sound effects enliven Deadpool and Death Grip's deathmatch, enhance Taskmaster's holy war against priests, and help us understand why an arrow bears a smiley face. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Deadpool finds strength in being the Family Guy when Death Grip goes Godzilla. Ellie cries, "Hi ho, Silver," Taskmaster gets a promotion, and Deadpool gives Princess carte blanche to eat bad guys (because they’re so yummy) in Deadpool #5.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Daredevil: Gang War #3 Review

 

Writer: Erica Schultz

Penciler: Sergio Dávila

Inker: Sean Parsons

Colorist: Ceci De La Cruz

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Cover Artists: Sergio Dávila, Sean Parsons & Ceci De La Cruz; Paco Medina & Ceci De La Cruz

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: February 7, 2024

 

Madame Masque is turning up the heat in Hell’s Kitchen. She’s upset the Owl hooted about her plans to Daredevil. Madame Masque didn’t want Matt Murdock’s stand-in to take The Heat out of play. How will she reward the Owl for his interference? And how will Madame Masque ensure Elektra Natchios doesn’t interfere with her attempt to rule the gangs of New York? Let’s grab our sonic sai, leap into Daredevil: Gang War #3, and find out!

 

Story

Leland Owlsley looks after his interests. But helping heroes invites Madame Masque's ire, and she plays for keeps. Like Hammerhead, Silvermane, and her father, Count Nefaria, the Owl underestimates her. Is he a match for her new assassin?

 

Madame Masque gave her assassin new orders. Bellona’s days of supplying gangs like The Heat are over. Her next challenge is to take on Daredevil. Alchemax forged Bellona into a living weapon. Like Elektra and X-23, Bellona has a tortured past. She relishes any chance to employ her fighting prowess for an employer who values her skills. Will her adamantium claws help her succeed where so many others have failed?

 

In Daredevil: Gang War #3, Elektra may be minding the store until Matt gives up the collar, but that doesn’t mean her heart isn’t in this fight. She’s through being used and hurting people for money. So, when she sees a tortured soul like Bellona, Elektra feels compassion. Sure, Elektra will use every weapon at her disposal to defend herself. But if Elektra can pierce the armor of pain, anger, and self-pity insulating Bellona from her humanity, all the better.

 

Aside from the gangland fighting, Erica Schultz reminds readers how everyday citizens are faring. Hoodlums and minor gangs are taking advantage of Madame Masque’s madness. Can parents flee the warzone to safeguard their children? They will if Elektra Natchios, aka Daredevil, has anything to say about it! 

 

 

 

 

Art

Daredevil: Gang War #3 begins with the Owl in flight. He alights atop a building. As he confronts Madame Masque, Sergio Dávila and Sean Parsons show us smoke rising beyond the crenelated rooftop. Smoke fills every scene, suggesting the fire in Hell's Kitchen rages out of control. The stylized scars accentuating Bellona’s features suggest a desperate need to assert her individuality. Her fight with the Owl captures every brutal moment and the energy and determination that propels their flurry of movements.

 

Sergio Dávila and Sean Parsons also capitalize on human moments. A child gazes up in awe at Daredevil. Despite the dangerous circumstances, Elektra smiles and spins her katanas to please him. Madame Masque seems to lean into the wall in one panel, suggesting she's not nearly as impervious as she appears. The artists end the issue as they begin. Only this time, it's Daredevil flying toward her next destination.

 

Ceci De La Cruz loads her palette with bold, contrasting colors in Daredevil: Gang War #3. The yellow and orange smoke hints at the fury consuming Hell's Kitchen. The red and black in Bellona and Daredevil's costumes hint that both have endured difficult pasts. Red and green also form a strong theme, from Owl and Bellona's faceoff to glimpses of She-Hulk interposed with Daredevil to the thugs terrorizing a family trying to escape the chaos.

 

The single note that rises highest in Ceci De La Cruz's symphony may be the coloration of Madame Masque's disguise. Light and shadow caress every curve, bringing brown, green, yellow, and even a hint of white to the golden mask. All these character moments and breathtaking battles occur at night. Yet beneath the canopy of glittering stars, nothing hides in shadow.

 

Clayton Cowles fills white dialogue balloons with black, uppercase lettering. The spacing between words and lettering enhances readability, and the thin font grows bold for inflection. White lowercase words fill red-edged black narrative boxes to reveal Daredevil’s thoughts. Colored and transparent sound effects enhance the furious action sparingly in Daredevil: Gang War #3. Curiously, a rocket banging off She-Hulk and speeding toward the reader almost goes unnoticed amid the cataclysmic chaos overtaking New York City.

 

Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing an issue for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As two assassins—one driven by pain, the other by atonement—collide, ordinary New Yorkers face the collapse of civilization, and a seemingly unconquerable foe betrays a moment of weakness in Daredevil: Gang War #3.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.