Deadpool and the Mercs for Money #9 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

You’re Not a Monster! You’re a Monkey!

Written By: Christopher Hastings
Art By: Iban Coello, Guru-eFX
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 29, 2017
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

*This review will contain some SPOILERS for the ‘Til Death Do Us… storyline*

For those who do not regularly read Deadpool comics, allow me to enlighten you with the experience of a dedicated Deadpool reader. There are moments of extreme happiness where our beloved hero has finally been able to luck into a great situation and we as the readers are filled with joy as things have finally begun to go in our hero’s way. This is not one of those times. This is one of the soul crushing, depressing, and horrible times that inevitably happens after Deadpool becomes happy because, considering his nature, he eventually fucks everything up. Now, Deadpool is at war with his wife and her army of demons and their marriage has been on the rocks already. Let’s jump right in and simply hope for the best.

Manhattan has been taken over by monsters and we start off seeing different parts of the city under their new masters. We start at a late night talk show where an actor is forced by the monster host to tell a story about how he and his crew would wear a monster mask to scare each other. We also see monsters touring the Rockefeller Center, ice skating outside, and enjoying a couple cups of coffee among the chaos. However, the rest of the city is the front lines as we see monsters clashing with military personnel, taking casualties on both sides. Shiklah seems cornered at one point but once again uses her staff to bring more monsters to the fight.

We catch back up with the Mercs for Money as they contact Deadpool. He and Spider-Man are on their way to Transylvania with Cami Van Helsing in order to get in contact with Dracula. While they’re gone, it’s up to the Mercs for Money to handle things on the ground. The group plans to sneak into Manhattan so they can steal the staff that Shiklah is using to summon more and more monsters. We get a funny moment when Hit Monkey is able to simply walk in the front door because apparently he can pass for a monster. The rest of the group dawns simple Halloween disguises in order to slip in past security and make their way to Rockefeller Center. While inside, a goblin woman mistakes Hit Monkey for Grunthwat the Goblin Mayor. She was his girlfriend and she embraces Hit Monkey. Hit Monkey is able to use some simple grunts to get her off his case before the team enters the elevator.

Needless to say, it’s not long until the goblin realizes that it was NOT the Goblin Mayor she was hugging and instead simply a monkey. As the elevator goes higher, Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s future sight flares up and she immediately hits the next floor button so they can flee the elevator. Turns out their cover is blown. While they may have been able to escape the elevator, the other elevators reach their floor, full of monsters. A massive fight breaks out and it isn’t long until it seems the entire team has been taken out except for Domino. Suddenly, she finds herself taken out but not by the monsters. Turns out the team had been removed secretly by Machine Man one-by-one so that they could make an escape and continue the mission. Our group reaches the top of the building to where Shiklah is working on the Sandman device. She summons more and more monsters to her fight and as the team decides to make their move we suddenly get a twist. Turns out the fact that Gorilla-Man had a curse put on him that turned him into a gorilla technically makes him a monster. Shiklah uses her staff to influence him to turn on the team. This is where the issue leaves us.

I’m really upset that this book seems to be coming to a close as I have come to really enjoy this team. However, things must come to an end and it looks like next issue will be our final one. (I’m secretly hoping that it’s just a REALLY long delay). This issue feels a bit out of place in this story. The Deadpool and Spider-Man/Deadpool comics seem to be dealing with the main story while this seems to be more of a side story. Frankly, it allows a little bit of levity to come back into this story. Despite Deadpool books usually having a bunch of humor, we’ve been missing it from this story since it has been so serious so far. This book really took advantage of comedic moments and it honestly didn’t feel out of place. Not to mention the art in this book is really fantastic. I’m looking forward to the rest of this crossover still though I am still a bit saddened that this book is coming to a close.

Bits and Pieces

While this issue doesn’t hold the same weight as the other series in this crossover, it gives us a much needed break from the main story and adds some humor back into a very serious Deadpool storyline. The team is great as always and the art is absolutely incredible. Hastings has been doing a great job with the Gwenpool book and you can see that experience has really helped him shine in this book as well. It’s a shame this book seems to be ending because I would love to see more of the Mercs for Money but I guess all things must come to an end. I have high hopes for the final issue next month.

8.0/10