Deadpool #9: At The Mercy Of The Horned Emperor!

RECAP

Deadpool has been in a lot of tough spots, but this is definitely the first time he’s been captured by an antlered cloud-head person. When we say it like that it seems weird, but this is some real trouble! Can even his new paramour or giant symbiote dog save him?

CREATIVE TEAM & COMIC INFO

Author: Alyssa Wong
Artist: Luigi Zagaria
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Joe Sabina
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Genre: Action, Superhero
Published Date: 07/26/2023

REVIEW

In the penultimate issue of Deadpool, Wade and Valentine are laying on the floor, bleeding out while Lady and Lord Deathstrike call in their boss, THE HORNED EMPEROR! It turns out, they really want Princess (Deadpool’s symbiote-bonded dog), and they’ll do anything to get the dog. As they spend time in their cell, Deadpool learns more about Valentine’s past and what it means for their future.

Cover Art

The main cover, created by Martin Coccolo (Green Lantern, Grimm Fairy Tales) and Neeraj Menon (Star Wars, Star Wars: Darth Vader) shows the Horned Emperor standing over Deadpool while he’s laying on the ground, with black smoke coming out of where the emperor’s head should be. The composition is done very well, making the emperor menacing as they stand away from the screen while Deadpool’s positioning is up close but showing him at a disadvantage.

One of this issue’s variant covers is the Dragotta Hellfire Gala Variant, created by Nick Dragotta (East of West, FF). The Hellfire variant shows Fantomex in an X-Men-inspired suit, wearing a popped-up collar suit jacket and an X-Men belt buckle while he’s sitting down on a Krakoan-made armchair right outside a dance floor with multi-colored lights. The glasses he’s wearing is reflecting the dance lights as well, which gives it a nice, subtle colored touch against his monochromatic suit colors.

Lastly is the Villalobos variant cover by Pablo Villalobos (The Amazing Spider-Man, Something Is Killing The Children) and colored by Rachelle Rosenberg (Moon Knight, Star Wars). The cover centers Deadpool in a Marilyn Monroe pose as he’s wearing his classic red suit with a blue skirt and pink bunny slippers. Surrounding him are various characters from X-Force, such as Cannonball, Domino, and Cable.

Writing

The writing done by Alyssa Wong (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Alligator Loki Infinity Comic) has been consistent since the first issue. They can somehow write a story with multiple characters that have equal weight in the story without any of them overshadowing the other. The conflicting nature of Lady Deathstrike going between helping Atelier and Deadpool is fascinating while at the same time not sacrificing the character’s nature for the story development. Writing Valentine’s backstory was a work of art where they were able to tell the reader enough for them to take off and fill in the remaining details without letting the story drudge on.

The area of writing that falls flat, however, is the punchlines. Some of them stick the landing; others are just way too corny, even for Deadpool. This kind of humor has been consistent in the previous issues and it doesn’t seem to get any better with each issue. Part of the character of Deadpool is his witty humor and hilarious outtakes, but it doesn’t seem to be what we get here in this series.

Artwork

The art by Luigi Zagaria (Midnight Suns, The Amazing Spider-Man) colors by Matt Milla (The Amazing Spider-Man, X-Factor), and letters by Joe Sabino (X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic, Deadpool) have been stellar. The compositions of the panels were done well, the visual effects were impressive, and the coloring had a really great balance in each of the images. The letters were fantastic with the sound effects (especially the krunch), and The Atelier HQ house is still captivating (one might suspect that it takes some influence from the TV show Charmed).

One area that was somewhat confusing was when the readers see Valentine’s missing arms, which it stops right above the elbow. In many panels, it looks like her arm is of a glassy substance, but there were two panels where they looked like regular human arms and it wasn’t clear if this was intentional or an artistic mistake.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As the series heads into the final issue for the story arc, one can be excited to see how the conclusion unfolds with the hope that some of the weaker parts of the issues will be missing for its finale.