Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

Because this is the first two mini-series, and issue one of his first ongoing.   The first two were... bizarre.   Oh, not the kind of bizarre I expect from Deadpool either.   It seems that his series, and he, has gone through a lot of changes.   There was humor, but it, unfortunately, wasn't as funny as some of the later stuff.   There are multiple reasons for that, a couple of which I'll go into in detail in a bit.   The character felt different as well.  I suppose that's to be expected as he progresses; hopefully he's evolved a bit!   It just didn't really fit with the 'tread the water' feel of some of the later volumes. 

Perhaps I didn't like some of this because it was simply unexpected.  I went in for one thing, and I got another.   However, I posit that this isn't the only flaw in my reading experience.   Let's go back to the humor.   As of late, there are two things that intrigue me most about Deadpool's use of humor: the social context and the meta content.   Meta is fun for poking fun at narratives, and the format of the stories.   Or rather, it's good at many things, this being the one that Deadpool excels at in his series.   He constantly breaks the fourth wall, and speaks as if he's living a story for others.   The other thing Deadpool excels at when using humor isn't something only he does.   Yes, he may make a comment that is socially relevant, and truly funny, but others do, as well.   This panel is one of my favorite socially conscious moments.  

Through this, Deadpool becomes more than comic relief, or an antihero by commenting on our world, and how we, as readers, relate to the world.   It makes the series feel more relevant, more relatable, and it makes me like Deadpool more.  I found him unlikable in the first two mini-series, and I didn't really care what happened to him.   The lack of swearing and real violence didn't help, either.   He felt... impotent, castrated by the comics code - I assume.   

I didn't like it.   I'm thinking that his ongoing might be the same way - no swears, no heavy violence, but I'm thinking it might be okay.  I'm not into the rah-rah, he's a true hero storyline they're going down, but I can live with it for now. 

Now that we're out of humor, the other thing is that he's not treated as if he's mentally ill - and doesn't act that way.   As of late, he's not treated as if he's mentally ill, well, he acts that way.   I have issues with this in general.   I feel like he's only tolerated because pity for the mentally ill character, and while I wish he would get real, psychiatric help it gets so much worse every time the story veers down that way.   But it's also an interesting question: he's been fucked over, he's kinda heroic sometimes, and he's clearly not well mentally.   So, well, what do they do with him?  Given his regenerative abilities, I suppose locking him up for any length of time might not be feasible, but there has to be something other than letting him run around and kill people?

It's also interesting to see that compassion mixed with utter disgust for  him.   Seriously, I'm starting to think the whole damn Marvel universe is bipolar given the extreme reactions they bounce between when confronted with Wade Wilson.    So you can see that this aspect added a whole lot of interaction between me and the text, as I constantly worry over if this series is just awful or funny or both or is it okay to laugh at that?   (No, no, it isn't is usually the answer.   Which is muffled by my laughter.)

But originally it seems as if Wade was supposed to be a killer.  Like Punisher, but for money, so less moral.   And this made him far, far less interesting.  So I was mostly having issues with the character, although all this adds up to larger, narrative issues.   It didn't help that I didn't really care about the side characters, or the storylines.   (I haven't seen anyone I love in the ongoing either.)

Still, it's interesting to see Deadpool's evolution.   I'll continue for now just for that.