Review by Frank Plowright

Cullen Bunn has written some first rate Deadpool over the years, so what could top that you may ask? Well how about teaming Deadpool with other killers who’ve failed to sustain lengthy series? There’s Foolkiller, who’s self-explanatory, the teleporting Solo, and horror film reject Terror who replaces his body parts from the dead. Stingray used to be an Avenger, briefly, not a mercenary, so he’s a puzzle, and there’s Slapstick, who’s a cartoon, or as he prefers an “Animated American”. Masacre is the Mexican equivalent of Deadpool, and in case you were down the pub when he appeared, his origin supplies the back-up strip.

Competence is hardly high on the agenda, which is why Deadpool initiates an auction for a crate they’ve retrieved for buyers who turned out to be dead. Every incompetent villainous headcase pops their head above the wall, as do a few genuine heavyweights. Every time you think Bunn has dredged the bottom of the barrel as far as nutbar Marvel obscurities are concerned, he throws in a few more. The maguffin’s good also, tantalisingly relating the future, given suitably gnomic and side-splitting dialogue.

So, not to be taken at all seriously and artist Salva Espin’s so right because he plays it straight, like someone’s told him this is the Deadpool equivalent of Crime and Punishment, so make sure you draw it good. No gurning at the camera, no siree.

One joke that will wear thin to anyone not able to understand Spanish is Masacre’s dialogue being entirely in that language, but everything else is hilarious, especially the Ozark Kingpin. You might find it even funnier combined with the next Mercs for the Money outing Mo’ Mercs Mo’ Monkeys as Deadpool Classic Vol. 23.

Oh, almost forgot Masacre. That solo’s by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, and while it might not have come across in the main story to anyone who doesn’t understand Spanish, Masacre equals Deadpool on the fruit loops scale. However, as part of the joke, what was originally supplied only in Spanish has been poorly translated back into English, which some might find in bad taste. If not, it’s as funny as any Deadpool by Posehn and Duggan.