Review by Ian Keogh
There have been so many meetings between Deadpool and Wolverine that any new project needs something beyond comedy violence to make it worthwhile, especially when A Time of Stryfe runs to ten chapters. With some reservations, Benjamin Percy and primary artist Joshua Cassara deliver the goods.
X-Men fans will know Stryfe as a clone of Cable from the future. Benjamin Percy retains the idea of a mutant from the future, but thankfully keeps the complicated baggage that’s previously accompanied him to a minimum. He’s on a mission and has co-opted Deadpool and Wolverine, although to incorporate the skirmishes that precede any superhero team-up, it’s a while before that’s revealed. In the meantime Percy’s paired with an excellent artist, and supplies Cassara with the just the type of mad action we want to see, like Deadpool and Wolverine having to deal with a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton.
Percy keeps feeding Cassara great visual ideas, and he keeps delivering stunning pages from them, and also has a sly sense of humour at times. When Stryfe’s headquarters is first seen it sure does resemble the Batcave. Cassara’s only real failure is fetishising the woman running a spy organisation, not at all convincing strutting around in her thigh length boots and split skirt barking orders. Robert Gill draws a few chapters along the way, maintaining both style and standards.
It can be the case that Deadpool overwhelms any co-star with his incessant absurd dialogue, but Percy provides an authentic voice, yet keeps the chatter within limits, allowing Wolverine his moments. They’re joined by fellow Weapon X alumni Maverick, for a long while not seeming to have a purpose beyond antagonising the heroes, but eventually integral to what becomes two competing views of Earth’s future.
Percy has a big surprise to drop, and it’s extremely effective even if it is contingent on that complicated continuity. Overall, this is a good twisting tale hitting the right balance between comedy and action, but it’s fatally compromised by being five chapters worth of plot extended over ten.
