Is Wolverine by Benjamin Percy Vol. 4 good Deadpool?
Likely not the question you expected to see. Wolverine by Benjamin Percy Vol. 4 by writer Benjamin Percy and primarily artists Adam Kubert and Federico Vicentini combine two arcs into one volume. The first arc has us follow Wolverine, the hero of Krakoa the independent Mutant nation-state, as he attempts to reclaim a missing item, his severed hand. During this quest, he is helped or hindered by Deadpool who wants to reclaim his spot on X-Force which has turned their backs on him as a non-Mutant. The two brawl across the page as they seek the find the answers to a conspiracy that has links deep in X-Men history. In the second story, Wolverine is judged for his worthiness as part of the A.X.E. Judgement Day event featuring the Avengers, the X-Men and the Eternals. No Deadpools appear in this story! The volume ends with a short story, “Bar Brawl” featuring the art of several artists including legends of the medium, that looks back on Wolverine’s history and character.
This is a book about Logan? But does it meet our standards of good Deadpool?
- Community: A large part of the plot is that Deadpool misses community. He felt like he was an essential member of X-Force, but now in the Krakoan age of the X-Men he is not wanted or included. Why is he annoying Wolverine? He wants his community back even if he’s not a Mutant. I also love that Percy brings back Blind Al, who I’ve not seen in a while on the page, and reinforces her role within his close community. This Deadpool arc is all about community and getting back within it.
- BetterUp: I won’t spoil it all, but why does Wade want community so bad? The reason is he knows that his communities make him better. So even though X-Force is the black ops of the Mutant world, it is one where Wade can do unpleasant things and still grow as a person.
- Laugh Away the Pain: Clap, clap, clap! Percy gets Deadpool and how Wade should be used as an anti-hero. Again, I don’t want to spoil too much here, but Percy puts words right into Wilson’s mouth that could be my thesis for how humor should be used in a Deadpool story. The humor is truly a mechanism to hide dark painful truth.
- Your Pal Wade: Gosh, I thought this was a Wolverine book? For about 60% of it, this is truly a Deadpool book. And Wade fully knows we are here and he’s putting on a show for us by taking over the recaps and intro pages all to make his pals chuckle. And we do snicker at his schoolboy humor. Wade you’re the MAN!
This Wolverine story is some of the best Deadpool I have read in quite some time! It also does a great job of preparing us or reminding us of Deadpool & Wolverine if for some reason we thought we needed to be reminded of how great that story is. We get what movie fans want and need, the two old “friends” bickering and hacking at each other, often with results that you cannot even show in an R-rated movie due to their brutal nature and special effects needs. I fully endorse Wolverine by Benjamin Percy Vol. 4 not just as good Deadpool but great Deadpool!
We should likely add a thought or two about the second member or Red and Yellow, Wolverine. Percy uses both arcs in this volume to really center us on Logan’s thoughts of warrior hood and honor. Can someone who is effectively a murderer with knives in his hands be a hero and have honor? Percy struggles with this, especially as a Sentinel judges all life on Earth. In the end, Percy gave us an answer that I found satisfying and that I had a lot of agreement with.
Spoilers, I really do like Benjamin Percy’s writing. I have an autographed copy of an issue from his Green Arrow run, a title that I own exactly one Arrow issue despite decades of publications. Wolverine by Benjamin Percy Vol. 4 is a great example of Percy’s management of action sequences that are exciting but also, wait for it, say something about the hero. He also writes such good Deadpool, I want Marvel to hand the title over to him for a few years!
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