It’s Almost Over — Reviewing ‘Deadpool/Wolverine’ #9

Comic books are wild. They are weird. Sometimes they are just downright off the beaten path bonkers beyond any belief.

Somehow there are books that embody this but are also a bit boring, overly talkative, and drag a plotline out till the sun comes up. Say hello, once again, to Wolverine/Deadpool. The ninth issue of this simmering messy team-up comes from Benjamin Percy, Robert Gill, Guru-eFX, and Joe Sabino.

This comic book is fucking wild.

Massive Legacy Virus pumped up Hulk level Wolverine wild. A sentient Legacy Virus being kisses Deadpool wild. A human with a mutant grudge goes hand to hand with Apocalypse in the body of Stryfe wild. This doesn’t even bring in the virus zombies, virus dinosaur dragons, or other stuff that has run rampant in the series so far.

While that’s cool and all, the threads holding this together are twisted and bare. They aren’t making a lick of sense when you really put it all together. Something about Apocalypse wanting to wipe out the world, then eventually reseed it with the same mutants, but, like, clones born of his DNA library. Which the too aptly named evil O.N.E. Director Talyn is trying to wipe out.

Percy is one of those writers who knows how to write Logan really well. Sadly this series hasn’t capitalized on that or any of his usual character talents. It’s just a big slogging slugfest where the title characters have been apart and mind-controlled more often than not. They’re just hollow husks being puppeted around in a money-making mashup … Huh, that seems familiar.

The sweetest words I’ve ever seen are “To Be Concluded” on the final page of this issue. Feels like I’ve been reviewing this book for a lifetime waiting for the plot to end.

At least the book looks really sleek through and through. Gill returns after his last stint on the seventh issue. The passing off between Gill and Joshua Cassara has been pretty seamless.

There is a lot of really smart and bold panel usage going on here, allowing the action to really feel wider and bigger than it has a right to be at times. This gives everything a mixture of rougher and smoother textures which fits the overall tonal aesthetic of the story. It has enough of a softened edge to play into the more wild fun aspects we’ve got going on here.

All those things listed above that we got going on feel deep and epic under Gill’s vision. Every panel having enough dense weight to feel accurate spatially as well as tangible in many respects.

Color-wise, Guru-eFX matches all that beat for beat, choosing colors that are a more natural midtones which establishes the tangible familiar aspects of the story. Darker color flashes help to give more of the aforementioned depth in every aspect. Each of the more fantastical elements have the right punch even with the vibrancy of their flashy costumes pared down a bit, keeping them fitting into this world that the story needs to exist.

As noted in previous reviews, these characters are chatty. There are just constant strings of dialogue, exposition, and plot-filling at every turn. Announcing their actions and reasons at any conceivable moment that seems too quiet for their liking. With the main characters mostly mind-controlled there isn’t a lot for Sabino to do with them at times, at least having some more wiggle room this time.

Many of the voices are somewhat devoid of personality or energy, because they are monologuing at one another more often than not. Sabino is trying his best to keep it moving. Which is an uphill battle in this book for sure.

Just one more issue of this arc, and seemingly series, to go. Only way left to go is up…maybe.

Wolverine/Deadpool #9 is now available from Marvel Comics.