written by Daniel Way
illustrated by Paco Medina

Deadpool, Marvel’s biggest breakout character since Wolverine, has really been popping up all over the place lately. While previously the star of two ongoing series, the character has never really exploded with the comic book community until recently, perhaps due to Ryan Reynolds’ perfect performance as Deadpool’s alter ego of Wade Wilson in the Wolverine movie (we won’t discuss the sealed-mouthed, katana-armed, laser-eyed monstrosity that appears as the film’s final antagonist). Now the star of three ongoing publications, the “merc with a mouth” has had his hands full recently, but nothing compares to when he takes on Norman Osborn, arguably the most powerful man in the world.

For those unfamiliar, Deadpool is a product of the Weapon X program (the same program that gave Wolverine his unbreakable adamantium skeleton), which granted him an incredible healing factor, although at the cost of his sanity. Now free of Weapon X and acting as a mercenary for hire, Deadpool finds himself in a tough spot when he takes something belonging to Norman Osborn, the head of the world’s foremost spy agency…and former (?) supervillain the Green Goblin.
 
Now on the run, Deadpool must deal with the plethora of baddies that Osborn sends his way in order to settle the score between them, including the bloodthirsty Tiger-Shark (half man, half shark) and the sharpshooting Bullseye, currently in the guise of the superhero Hawkeye. But don’t worry; ’Pool’s got Bob, agent of HYDRA, at his side, a former henchman whose raison d’êtreconsists of doing everything he can not to get killed. Throw in a pair of bickering voices in his head, and how can Deadpool not come out of this smelling like roses?
 
While Daniel Way has had his fair share of detractors in the past, he puts all those claims to rest with his work on Deadpool. I don’t know—and I don’t want to know—how Way is able to so brilliantly capture the demented voice of Marvel’s resident psychopath, but he does so with much gusto. From taunting Osborn on live television after Osborn’s botched assassination attempt with a sign that merely says “RESPAWN LOL” or doing battle with Bullseye in a suit made of meat (don’t ask), Way keeps his audience in stitches.
 
The beautiful pencil work of Paco Medina is truly the cherry on top, as he’s able to simultaneously bring the reader a colorful world of fun and adventure… and gruesome shots of people with meat cleavers in their skulls and arrows through their temples. The high energy of Medina’s artwork is perfectly matched to Way’s fast-paced, witty writing, and this reviewer can only hope that the pair stay on the book for the long haul.
 
If you’ve never heard of Deadpool or never had much of an interest in the character, now is the perfect time to catch up on Marvel’s next superstar. Do yourself a favor and pick up Deadpool: Dark Reign and check out his dementedly hysterical adventures as he runs for his life and tries to do a little good along the way.

-- Stephen Giordano

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