Deadpool #31 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

On the Wrong Side

Written By: Gerry Duggan
Art By: Matteo Lolli, Christian Daila Vecchia, Ruth Redmond
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 31, 2017
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Fresh off his vacation in space, Deadpool has returned to Earth to deal with the big event of the summer. In the most recent issue of Uncanny Avengers we saw Deadpool getting recruited by Steve Rogers to join his side. Of course, Steve didn’t give Deadpool all the information but it’s Captain America! He won’t do anything immoral right? Right? Anyway, it looks like we’re gonna have to wait a bit longer for Deadpool to come out of the slump he’s currently experiencing. It’s been emotionally draining to read this book lately. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but I do long for the silly Deadpool that I’m used to. Though, we did get some of him back in the previous space issue. Well, let’s just jump right into this latest issue and see how it goes.

We begin the issue with some narration from Deadpool about how he idolized Captain America when he was a young boy. When he finally got to meet him, he freaked out and did the only thing he could think of at the time – fight him. However, Captain America helped save him and even gave him a place on the Avengers. We cut to present day Deadpool who is in a helicopter receiving orders from Steve Rogers. He is to find Agent Phil Coulson as he seems to have gone missing. This is when Rogers tells him to scramble the channel so that they can talk privately. Deadpool reflects on why Rogers brought him on to the Avengers in the first place. After they lost Wolverine, they needed someone who would do the things that most Avengers won’t do. This is where Deadpool came in.

We cut to the Preston’s home who are barbequing in the backyard. They are interrupted by the helicopter and Deadpool joins them and asks where Coulson’s secret safe house is. Preston initially refuses to answer but Deadpool makes some promises to stay away for a while and Preston gives in, clearly believing that Deadpool won’t do anything too bad. We then flashback to Phil Coulson’s childhood as he also idolized Captain America as a child. He’s been with Steve ever since he arrived in the present and after he was changed by Kobik, Phil noticed something different about Steve. He found the Chitauri pods and realized that Captain America wasn’t himself anymore. He went into hiding using his car Lola and this is when we see Deadpool once again, aiming an RPG at Phil’s flying car.

Deadpool destroys Coulson’s car and Coulson is thrown to the ground. Deadpool pursues him and Coulson knows that he is in a losing battle. He hides a bomb in a tree and seems to lose Deadpool for a moment as Coulson heads toward his hideout. Just as Coulson unlocks the door to the safe house though, Deadpool crashes through the window and opens fire. Coulson bolts into the door and attempts to seal the safe house but Deadpool sticks his hand through the door to block it. The two talk and Coulson realized that he could have stopped this whole thing when Deadpool is able to pull a gun and put a bullet in Coulson’s chest. Coulson falls to the ground dead and we get a final scene where Deadpool is told by Steve Rogers to kill Coulson for the security of the country. Steve meets up with Deadpool after he has burnt the safe house to the ground with Coulson with it. Steve promises to tell Deadpool about why it had to happen in the future and this is where the issue leaves us.

This is a pretty damn good issue but I expect that from this creative team. I know that Deadpool is a bit morally ambiguous at times but I doubt even he would have just sided with Captain America and Hydra. However, this issue really explains why Deadpool would be so sure of himself and siding with Captain America that I bought into it. In addition we got to see an amazing dichotomy between Coulson and Deadpool that really shows two different sides to the same coin. I was kind of bummed that Deadpool was being brought into ANOTHER crossover event after we just ended a mini-event but if this is the quality of writing that we can expect from this story arc, I’m all for it.

Bits and Pieces

This issue proved that Deadpool is in good hands going into this new crossover. The last summer event left a lot to be desired in this series and this one seems to be doing something better. Not only were there high stakes in this entire issue but it also tied directly into the main event rather than being a side story that has very little to do with the actual event. I’m excited to see where this goes.

9.0/10