(writer) Cullen Bunn
(artist) Ramon Rosanas
The four issue miniseries titled "Night of the Living Deadpool" is summarized simply enough: Marvel's favorite disfigured, fourth-wall breaking, merc with a mouth wakes up from a chimichanga-induced food coma, only to discover that the world has been overrun by zombies. The first issue has him facing off against them with his swords and guns, at the end of which he is rescued by a ragtag band of survivors, while the second issue discloses the fate of the band of survivors...and like Deadpool, it isn't pretty...
Long before The Walking Dead became a television phenomenon, Marvel Comics had already cashed in on the popularity of zombies, getting no less than TWD co-creator Robert Kirkman to write three Marvel Zombies miniseries, which featured "zombified" versions of popular Marvel superheroes from an alternate universe and which sold like hotcakes. That they would revisit the genre, even just to have one of their more popular/overexposed characters poke fun at it, seems beyond exploitative at this point, and the question really is whether or not they have anything new to say on the subject. All I can say so far, judging from the two issues I've read, is "not really." It's entertaining enough, but there is absolutely nothing groundbreaking about this miniseries.
Well, there is one innovation writer Cullen Bunn introduces to the zombie mythos, and it's that of zombies who actually say more than "braiiins." These zombies actually still contain the residual consciousness of the people they once were, but they are no longer in control of their bodies. As a result, they moan and lament the savagery wrought by their bodies while they are helpless to stop them. It gets old fairly quickly though.
What doesn't get old, however, is the fantastic art by Ramon Rosanas, who provides both line art and color art here, and who honestly had me wondering by the end of issue #1 why he doesn't have an A-list book under his belt yet. His attention to detail is wonderful to behold, and he really has the whole grayscale thing down pat. Also, given that Deadpool is the only character here who appears in color as opposed to the black and white zombie world around him, Rosanas does an excellent job contrasting him with his surroundings by really making Deadpool's signature red outfit really pop.
As good as it is, Rosanas' art really cannot elevate what is essentially a by-the-numbers attempt to cash in on the fame of The Walking Dead, but to Rosanas' credit I think he comes as close as any other artist could to making the book better than it has any business being.
2.5/5
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