Comic Corner: Secret’s out! Deadpool is a dead end for the faint of heart!

‘Deadpool: Secret Invasion’ review

By Brittney MacDonald, Columnist

3/5

Deadpool has always held a particular significance for Canadian comic fans. Despite all the pro-America moments in his video game, Deadpool—along with Wolverine—are probably the most well-known Canadian superheroes in any franchise. Unfortunately for many readers, Secret Invasion can be intensely hard to read and understand.

Written by Daniel Way, Secret Invasion pits Deadpool up against the Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race intent on world domination. Looking like something out of a bad sci-fi movie, the Skrulls attempt to take an entire baseball stadium full of people hostage, only to meet an eager Deadpool with a sack full of guns. After a Die Hard-worthy battle sequence, Deadpool then surrenders to the Skrulls, offering his services as a mercenary. But in typical Deadpool fashion, sometimes his real motivations are hidden behind a whole bucket full of crazy.

Illustrated by Paco Medina and Carlo Barberi, the art follows a classical approach but is also accented sporadically with a more cartoonish aesthetic to better convey the comedy of the novel and expression of the characters. It all works very well for the light-hearted feel of the Deadpool universe.

This novel breaks many of the common rules of comic books—such as breaking the fourth wall, where characters speak directly to the narrator or audience. This disregard for form can be confusing to newcomers who are unfamiliar with the regular narrative style of graphic novels because it requires a familiarity with the form to understand why it’s being broken.

Secret Invasion is the first volume in this title series, and unfortunately requires further reading either within the series itself or a previous series in order to be fully enjoyed by anyone new to the Deadpool universe. This requirement is a huge detriment to an otherwise enjoyable read.