Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Matteo Lolli, Jacopo Camagni
Release Date: 21st January, 2016
Back in the hazy mists of time – 1984, in fact – a young Ceej stumbled upon the first issue of Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck’s Secret Wars in his local newsagent, unknowingly igniting a fire that would lead to his lifelong love of comics; a fire which burns fiercely to this very day. You all remember Secret Wars, right? A groups of heroes and a group of villains transported to a strange new dimension to do battle for the amusement of “The Beyonder”, an omnipotent galactic entity? Of course you do. All the stars were out for this one. We had the Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The X-Men, Deadpool, Spide… wait, what’s that? You don’t remember Deadpool being there? Well thankfully, Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli are here to refresh your memory in this glorious four-part story which takes a look at Deadpool’s “Secret” Secret Wars.
A quick disclaimer before we start – if you’re not familiar with Shooter and Zeck’s original series, then the impact of this one is going to be significantly diminished. The brilliance of this story is the way it inserts Deadpool into the already-established narrative, with all manner of asides and verbal gags delivered at the expense of the original dialogue and the beats of the classic story. Don’t get me wrong, it will still have a broader appeal to newcomers, with some lively, vibrant artwork and lashings of your typical Deadpool-esque shenanigans and banter, but it’s clear that the full experience here is going to be reserved for those readers who have already enjoyed the 1984 classic.
Writer Cullen Bunn is clearly having an absolute blast here, interjecting the wise-cracking Deadpool into the somewhat earnest style of the original series. Some sequences feature ‘Pool providing an almost running commentary of the events as they happen (“Wow, Spider-Man is actually kind of a dick.”), while others see him inserting himself into some of the key storyline beats of the original; the romance with Zsaji, the discovery of the strange black alien costume, the unmasking as an incredibly handsome and un-scarred fellow, etc. etc. While the dialogue can feel a little choppy at times, and not all of the gags hit their mark, there’s definitely a hell of a lot more ‘hit’ than ‘miss’ here, and with the irritating fourth wall breaking kept to a bare minimum, what we’re left with is a truly impressive showcase for just how enjoyable the Deadpool character can be in the right scenario.
Lolli does a great job of affectionately aping Mike Zeck’s artistic style, keeping the familiar character designs – and in some cases even the panel layouts – of the original series intact. In my opinion, this approach is essential in helping the jokes hit their mark correctly, and while it doesn’t necessarily leave Lolli with much room to stamp his own mark on the series, it definitely goes a long way towards making this one such a brilliant read. Ruth Redmond also does a stellar job of keeping things bright and lively throughout with her colour work, giving the pages a noticeably more solid feel to them than Zeck’s originals.
Overall then, while the story itself is essentially just a series of running gags about Deadpool interjecting himself into cheesy 80’s Marvel – admittedly with a well-meaning but ultimately flimsy attempt at adding some gravitas to the conclusion – this is still probably one of the most enjoyable titles featuring the Merc With A Mouth that I think I’ve ever read. Granted, a lot of that may come down to my lifelong affection for the source material being parodied, but there’s no denying that this is Deadpool at his sharpest, funniest and – most importantly – his least damn annoying. A great read from start to finish.
Rating: 4/5.
PREVIEW ARTWORK
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You can buy Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars TP from Turnaround Publisher Services, who generously provided the review copy of this title, by CLICKING HERE.
The writer of this piece was: 
Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
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