INTRO
I spent longer than I should have writing several different drafts of this newsletter. I’m still figuring out exactly how I want this Patreon to operate and it doesn’t help that I have a tendency to overthink these kinds of things, either. One of my biggest frustrations with social media is the pressure to constantly churn out “content” for the algorithm.
One of the things that I love about comics is that anybody can just sit down and make them. Of all the storytelling arts, I think they actually have one of the lowest barriers of entry. Easy as they are to make, it’s much harder to get people to actually read your comics, especially on social media. There is a lot of pressure on comic creators to take on some other form of promotional project. Whether it be a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, email newsletter (or all of the above), there’s a sense you have to be a successful social media personality before you can be a successful comic creator. I’m sure it’s not that way for everyone, but it’s definitely a trap that I fall into. Before I know it, I am spending all my time editing videos or writing reviews or what-have-you, and there’s not time left to write and draw comics.
As I write this, I am in bed recovering from the flu. It’s not Covid, but it did wipe me out for a few days. These two excuses (starting and abandoning multiple drafts combined with being sick at the last minute) are the reason why this newsletter is going out the second weekend of August, instead of the first. In the spirit of NOT overthinking this, I have abandoned all previous drafts and am starting fresh. I have a few announcements to make regarding my future comic projects and then I’ll give you my opinions on the recent Deadpool & Wolverine movie.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
First, a few small announcements…
If you didn’t see my post from a few weeks ago, my next zine is going to be the Atomic Nazi Smasher. This was originally a four page story I wrote and drew for local St. Louis comic anthology, Ink & Drink. Looking at the dates, it was actually TEN years ago, if you can believe it. I am working on a new page that will be added to the new printed version.
The Amoral Stingray is finally available in my online store at secondthoughtcomics.com! I have gotten a lot of good feedback for The Amoral Stingray New #1, which we Kickstarted last year and got printed last May. I was incredibly satisfied with how the comic turned out, but I’ll be honest with you, we just barely squeaked by our crowdfunding goal and I wasn’t sure if we would be able to do another issue (I will write more about this in the next newsletter). But I really love the character and concept and could write Amoral Stingray comics for the rest of my life if it was an option, so I’m going to work on a new script and see if we can’t crowd fund a new issue. If it happens, it won’t be until next Spring or Summer, though.
Okay, now for the actual big announcements…
American Chop Suey is getting published by Scout Comics! This has been a long time coming and fellow creator, Ed Bickford and I are very excited to see it get released. Mark your calendars for September 25th! It should be available where all fine books are sold! Make sure to tell your local comic and book store to order a copy. I assure you the book is loads of fun for the whole family. Ed and I will be promoting the heck out of it until then. We plan on having a signing at Fantasy Books & Games in Fairview Heights, IL (just outside of St. Louis) on the 28th, so if you’re in the area you can swing by and chat with us!
I am also excited to announce that this October I will be crowdfunding my newest comic, HAMLETMANIA! Greg McCrary and I created HamletMania several years ago and ran it on WebToons. We are now in the process of formatting the comic for print and are eager to get the first issue out there! HamletMania is a retelling of the classic Shakespeare tragedy, Hamlet, but interpreted through an intergalactic wrestling league. It’s got aliens, robots, murder, betrayal, soliloquies, and pile drivers. You can expect to hear me talking about this book a lot in the coming months!
COMIC REVIEW
I saw the Deadpool & Wolverine movie on opening weekend and I am surprised to say that I enjoyed the movie much more than I expected I would. I will admit that I’m not completely flabbergasted that I liked the movie. It is worth noting that my absolute favorite issue of Deadpool ever is Deadpool 11, by Joe Kelly and Pete Woods. In the issue, Deadpool travels back in time and inadvertently takes the place of a young Peter Parker during the events of Amazing Spider-man 34. In retelling the story, they use original pages of story by Steve Ditko, but with Deadpool drawn in place of Peter Parker/Spider-man. It is very funny and contains lots of meta-humor at the expense of comic book cliches. While Deadpool 3 doesn’t really draw on this issue specifically, I do feel there is a spiritual similarity with the irreverent humor that is intrinsically tied to both the genre and medium in which it exists.
If you read my Disaster at the Deadpool Dance Party comic you will know that I have a complicated relationship with the character and am not particularly fond of Ryan Reynolds’ take on the character. I really disliked the first two movies. I think they are faux-edgy, paint-by-numbers scripts that rely too heavily on Reynolds annoying improv sex jokes. If you removed all the instances of Deadpool or Weasel saying something sexual (and vaguely homophobic) then the movies would barely warrant more than a PG-13 rating.
I also really dislike the character of his girlfriend and that she is the main motivation for pretty much everything Deadpool does. It just strikes me as a lazy way to make the character more palatable to a general movie-going audience. Deadpool is having the same problem that DC’s Harley Quinn has, which is that he is now going to be forever stuck in the “Second Act” of his character arc. He started out as a straight villain, and a purely sadistic and psychotic one, at that. Then, over time, as the character’s story developed, he became less of a villain and more of an anti-hero, eventually settling into his “basically-a-good-guy-but-just-a-little-wacky-from-time-to-time” personality. And as these characters are trademarked Intellectual Properties whose story is being told in the endless tapestry of a shared universe, they are not allowed to have an ending. As a result, Deadpool will be stuck forever trying to reach “good guy” status without ever fully reaching it, but he also can’t go back to being a villain without seeming like the writers are destroying all of the character growth that got him to where he is today. For another example of this, see Magneto.
My problem with the first two movies is that they both start with this Second Act Deadpool. His motivation and goals in each film are almost exactly the same. He’s basically a good guy, but wants to be better for his girl. There’s no real arc or growth over the three movies, he pretty much starts and ends each movie in the same place. I would have enjoyed the first movie a lot more if they allowed the character to be even a little villainous at the start, so you could see him grow into an aspiring anti-hero. Instead, he starts the movie as a quirky, wise-cracking, lovable rogue in a good relationship with his girlfriend, and then goes through the Weapon X thing and gets transformed into...a quirky, wise-cracking, lovable rogue in a good relationship with his girlfriend.
To be fair, the Deadpool movies are firmly in the comedy genre. So, the character stagnation wouldn’t be that big of a problem for me if the movies were funny, but as I mentioned before, I just don’t think Reynolds is that funny. There’s precious little scripted humor in the films.
Now, I only bring all of this up to drive home the point that I really disliked the first two movies, so when I say I was surprised that I liked the third movie...I really mean it. Deadpool’s initial motivations in the third movie...wanting to be an Avenger and do something for the “Greater Good” - while repetitive and basically the exact same as the previous two movies – doesn’t bother me as much because this is where the character should be in his third movie. If the previous two movies had been better, and we saw Deadpool start out as a villain and move into anti-hero territory in the second film, then moving up to wannabe Avenger is the next logical step. But we never got that, so once again, Deadpool’s motivations ring a little hollow since we’ve seen it all before.
Speaking of THINGS WE’VE SEEN BEFORE… I guess this is where I will move onto spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movie, yet, I recommend stopping here. Though, if you spend any time on the internet, I’m sure you’ve had nearly everything spoiled for you, already. Regardless, I wouldn’t want to spoil anything because I was genuinely surprised by some of the things in this movie.
In short, Deadpool 3 had some genuinely funny moments, incredibly well choreographed fight scenes, and as expected, Hugh Jackman stole the show with his return to Wolverine. I was pleasantly surprised that Deadpool 3, aka Deadpool & Wolverine, was legitimately half of a Wolverine movie. At a certain point you realize that Deadpool hasn’t been in it for a while and the story just focuses on Wolverine, who I think is obviously the most interesting character if you want to have some emotional depth in your story. There are a LOT of deep cut Wolverine comic book references that I liked seeing. Also, I think this is the only Deadpool movie that truly earned it’s “R” rating.
One final thing to mention, though I don’t particularly care for this multiverse Wolverine’s “origin” for lack of a better word, I did like this movie more than Logan. I know everybody loved Logan, but I thought it was a mediocre send off to both the character and the film franchise. I especially did not like the way they portrayed Professor X. I never got a sense of where or when the+ movie was supposed to take place. It felt very isolated in its world, and I was very disappointed in the third act just having Wolverine fight a clone of himself. The movie really needed a solid villain in it. I get that already wasted villains like Sabertooth and Lady Deathstrike in previous films, but Wolverine has a whole cadre of interesting villains with a grudge that would have provided a little visual flair to the otherwise drab looking film. Wolverine literally fighting himself at the end was a little too on the nose.
Okay, spoilers ahead (and more complaints about bad writing for bad MCU villains). For the rest of the review, please head over to my Patreon!
—Aaron