Review by Frank Plowright

Did Rob Liefeld ever imagine that in Deadpool he’d created a hero who’d regularly break the fourth wall and to which pretty well anything could happen? Did he conceive of Deadpool having an inner voice, in this case with Wolverine’s personality, or of him as a bringer of total chaos?

With all the above being the case, Deadpool being transformed into a duck probably doesn’t even rank in his ten weirdest moments, yet turn into a duck he does, complete with Howard the Duck replacing Wolverine as his spirit voice. It occurs with Rocket Raccoon needing help. We’re given the usual bangs, crashes and quips associated with Deadpool, some nice lines from Doctor Bong, and excellent art from Jacapo Camagni, but Deadpool the Duck never hits the stratosphere.

It’s partly down to writer Stuart Moore not having any great idea what do with the concept beyond Deadpool wanting a way to transform back into Wade Wilson. A number of random encounters with the likes of space station cleaning staff do eventually pull together, but in an extremely contrived manner, passed off in a jokey self-referential way that’s not going to satisfy everyone, even in Deadpool’s world.

Camagni, though, is a star turn, defining Deadpool’s new form well enough to make us believe in the Mallard with a Mouth (that one of Moore’s good jokes) and his combat capacity. It’s meant to look silly, but Camagni supplies a gloss of credibility.

A vomiting joke seems overplayed, but eventually has a purpose, if a stomach-turning one, and there’s a new job for Howard at the end. Overall, though, too much slapstick means Deadpool the Duck, is serviceable, but perhaps better appreciated as part of Deadpool Classic 22, where it’s accompanied by other Deadpool material.