Quick Looks: Spider-Man/Deadpool #5

written by Joe Kelly
illustrated by Ed McGuinness (pencils), Mark Morales (inks)
colored by Jason Keith

Superstar Deadpool creators Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness wrap up their first story-arc on this book, in which Spider-Man, having been shot in the face by Deadpool last issue, has himself a bit of an out-of-body experience, while Deadpool, upon realizing that Peter Parker wasn't the dirtbag he'd been led to think he was when he was hired to kill him, quite literally goes to hell and back to bring him back to life.

Now, I was not fond of the issue that preceded this one, and while I did not disclose it, part of that was down to the fact that Deadpool, whose abilities do not include lightning fast reflexes, was basically able to shoot Spider-Man point blank and kill him, something which, given Spider-Man's spider sense and preternatural speed and agility, should have been impossible.

It was done, though, in the service of this idiotic variation of the overused story trope of one "good" guy (Deadpool, hence the quotes) being tricked into attacking another good guy (Spider-Man) by a behind-the-scenes bad guy. Basically, Kelly just ignored a long-established rule of Spider-Man lore to advance his lame plot, and it utterly pissed me off. Deadpool should not be able to kill Spider-Man, at least not the way he did. Sure, one could argue that Spider-Man was enchanted by a succubus in issue #4 (he was) and that this somehow impaired him, but I honestly think Kelly should have established that a little better before foisting such a poorly-conceived twist on readers.

And then there was the reference in the story to the infamous One More Day storyline which, unless Kelly intends to explore that thread somewhere down the line, served no other purpose than to annoy.

This book started off fun but has been rather irritating for two issues in a row, now. Fortunately, McGuinness' art remains fantastic, and he wraps up this arc in fine style, with the little thread dangling about finding out who set Deadpool up in the first place, or the mysterious "patient zero." Possibly against my better judgment, I'll be coming back for that, for the pretty pictures if nothing else.

6/10