It’s crazy to think that since Old Man Logan joined the current Marvel Universe that he has not crossed paths with Deadpool very often. With how much the movies have pushed Deadpool’s obsession with Wolverine it’s been rare for the two characters to cross paths. Now Marvel is fixing that with a brand new mini series called “Deadpool vs Old Man Logan.” I’m not very familiar with Declan Shalvey and Mike Henderson’’s past work. That said, this series has a lot of potential to be a hidden gem in a period where the Marvel Legacy line is being heavily pushed. Given the starring characters Shalvey and Henderson have a lot to work with in having Deadpool and Old Man Logan interacting with each other. Let’s see how things start with Deadpool vs Old Man Logan #1.
Writer: Declan Shalvey
Artist: Mike Henderson
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 4.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Logan and Deadpool are running away when they are suddenly hit by a semi-truck that was thrown at them. When Logan cuts them out a tank lands on them. Deadpool is able to get out only for another semi-truck to land on them. Just as they think it can’t get worse a burning airplane crashes on top of them.
A few days earlier a couple of men pick on people on a train. An old woman says she would pay money for someone to knock the jerks out. Deadpool answers the call and quickly goes to beat up all the men that are bullying the passengers.
200 feet above Manhattan some soldiers are flying across the city when they detect their target, who they’ve been ordered to take alive.
Back in the train Deadpool kicks the guys off at the next stop. When he tries to collect his money Logan bumps Deadpool off the train. The train takes off and Deadpool calls Logan out for costing him some money.
Deadpool ends up chasing after Logan and the two end up fighting in the park. The two fight to a standstill without either one getting the upper hand, not even the quips department.
They suddenly hear a scream and notice a woman sitting in the middle of a small crater while people run away.
Deadpool and Logan compete to help the woman out. Before they can reach her a hot dog cart gets in their way.
Logan suddenly hears something coming towards them and tells Deadpool to help the woman while he deals with what is coming.
Logan faces off against the soldiers from earlier. Though he takes some of them out he quickly becomes overwhelmed by their numbers.
The leader of the soldiers comes out to reveal that Logan isn’t their target. The leader shows that it is actually the woman Deadpool went after, who is an alpha level threat. End of issue.
The Good: Deadpool vs Old Man Logan #1 is a pure set-up issue that brings the two starring characters together for an adventure. That is not a bad thing since it gave Declan Shalvey the opportunity to tease us with what we should expect from an adventure involving Deadpool and Old Man Logan. At the same time, this issue won’t blow away fans who are looking for more violence from a comic involving two of Marvel’s most hack and slash characters.
If there is one thing that Declan Shalvey nails it is the comedic timing of both Deadpool and Old Man Logan. Shalvey shows how natural this pairing is with the fact that Logan is much older than the Wolverine version of the character Deadpool is used to adding to the proceedings. That natural chemistry between the two made all the quips they throw at each come off as natural rather than eye rolling.
It’s especially impressive with Deadpool, who can be very hit-or-miss when it comes to writers trying to get his comedy style across on paper. Shalvey does a good job using the opening to treat us with the more cartoonish comedy we’ve come to expect from the character. Having Logan involved in those early shenanigans actually added to the opening scene in how fun it came across.
Mike Henderson added to what Shalvey was trying to accomplish with the story of Deadpool vs Old Man Logan #1 when it came to the comedy aspect. He did well in getting over Deadpool’s character specifically. It would be good to see Henderson get a chance to draw some issue Deadpool as that is where he is clearly at home with during this issue.
The Bad: It’s crazy to think but Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #1 was disappointing when it came to the actual action of this issue. Though the comedy was there the action felt very restrained in how violent Shalvey and Henderson wanted to make it. There are still more issues to come but given that Marvel went ahead with putting a “Parental Advisory” label on the cover it was expected we would see a fight that leaned more on the violent side. Instead we got a fight that would barely be considered PG-13 because of the slight blood we got.
The same goes for the dialogue that felt as though Logan was being censored in what he would say to Deadpool’s distracting behavior. Especially with how we have come to know the Old Man Logan version of the character, this was a time that Shalvey could put over how he just won’t put up with Deadpool’s crap. It was almost as if Shalvey wrote Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #1 with the younger Wolverine in mind and did not take advantage of the unique aspects the current version brings.
The plot involving some sort of military group going after a woman that is being labeled as an alpha level threat was also something that was uninspired. If this is going to be a plot that drives part or most of the series that Shalvey has a lot of work to do to make us care for this. As it is the military group and the young woman came off as a generic comic book plot device to force Deadpool and Logan to work together. There was zero connection to make this something that fans will invest in for the long-term success of this series.
Overall: Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #1 delivers on the fun of having these two characters crossing paths with one another. Unfortunately that fun does run dry by the end of this issue as writer Declan Shalvey delivers a generic comic book plot for Deadpool and Old Man Logan to be involved in. That along with the restrained action sequences we do get make it hard to imagine Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan as a series that will live up to its potential.
