Deadpool MAX, Vol. 3: Second Cut

Deadpool MAX (Collected Editions)

by David Lapham, Kyle Baker (Illustrator), Shawn Crystal (Illustrator)

Marvel's most mentally misaligned misanthrope, Deadpool, returns in a gloriously raw, uncensored shoot-'em-up romp across America with his good buddy Hydra Bob, a boatload of explosives, enough military-grade weaponry to sink your battleship and a cocktail of mood-altering pharmaceuticals. When Bob is framed for a terrorist act on American soil and hunted by the U.S. government, he and his best friend Deadpool go on the run in a heartfelt, soul-searching journey full of sex, drugs and unnecessary excessive violence! Familiar friends and foes including Taskmaster, Cable, Agent X, Weasel and Blind Al join the bosom buddies on their sanity-smashing adventure as Deadpool helps his pal Bob try to clear his not-so-good name. Plus: Christmastime is here again, and Hydra Bob and Deadpool have a gift you'll never forget!

COLLECTING: Deadpool Max 2 1-6, Deadpool Max X-Mas Special

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2012

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadpool MAX was the kind of book that one reads in measured doses lest risk becoming crazy as the eponymous character.

This took a while for me to finish, due to the reason stated above. It's a Deadpool comic with extra added sex and violence. A crazy ride indeed.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it was the scene where Deadpool was watching an evangelical pastor try to raise the funds to hire a bounty hunter to murder him by making a monkey wearing a tutu juggle while sat in bed next to a fold out page of a naked lady cooing to himself “Ooo... monkeys”, that made me love this book. Or maybe it was the scene where a room full of lunatics have a gun fight with drawings of guns on pieces of paper. Or maybe when Deadpool knocks himself out by hooking himself up to a knockout gas machine. Whichever scene it was - and maybe it was all of them - I read this book with a big silly grin the whole time and had a blast.

I’m not the world’s biggest David Lapham fan but he nails Deadpool’s voice in this book. Wade is off-the-wall nuts while being funny and entertaining the entire time.

The plot of “Second Cut” is that Deadpool’s buddy, Hydra Bob, a reformed former Hydra member, has been framed for the death of several thousand people and is being hunted by everyone as a terrorist, while Deadpool tries to keep him alive and bring the real culprits to justice.

Along the way they meet lascivious and corrupt Christians, the X-Man Cable, Taskmaster, a monkey called Lazarus, the love of Hydra Bob’s life Colleen, a pimp called Weasel, and an obese hooker called Ashley in a story reminiscent of a famous John Woo movie. Every issue here is a ton of fun though I would’ve liked to have seen more Deadpool and less Hydra Bob.

But - and this is a big one - I utterly absolutely hate Kyle Baker’s art. I don’t like being this superficial but MAN is it ugly! And seeing that he draws 75% of the book, it makes it really tough to read. Art is a big part of comics so if that sucks then, even if the script is dynamite, it’s going to be tough to get through the book. The art’s all watery and washed out and actually looks like it’s been photocopied a bunch of times before being printed into this book. And his character design of Cable is horrible - he makes him look like an accountant (those spectacles!!). Ugh.

Aside from Baker’s art and that scene where Deadpool beds an old lady (the one time I wished it wasn’t a MAX comic as it was overly graphic and gross), this is an excellent Deadpool book. Lots of bloody action, lots of fun, silly, over-the-top comedy and full blown craziness, Lapham does a fine job with “Deadpool MAX: Second Cut”. This is also the last book in the series so it’s a shame to see there’ll be no more from Lapham as he really had a great handle on the character. But if he does return, please leave Baker behind and team up with anyone else instead!

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. Could be better for sure (especially the art) but the story could use something else than the same type of things going on since the first volume basically.

The artwork unfortunately I couldn't tolerate any more since the 1st volume and that takes a star out.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hail Hydra ?

[Matt Sonnack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series but man is it messy as all hell. I enjoyed Deadpool and Bob’s relationship and I really liked this reinvention of Taskmaster, but as a whole it just felt a bit sloppy. Plot twists for the sake of plot twists, characters showing up with no setup or payoff (why did Constrictor show up for literally one page and do nothing?) and some art that’s very uneven in quality.

I would recommend this series to someone who loves Deadpool and is willing to just give themselves over to the absolute insanity that comes with him, but most normal comic readers are not going to enjoy this. I still had a good time for the most part.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read much Deadpool, but I think the Max version is the best.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall the series went out well. And, I could sense the DP humor.

[Drizztl · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
Standard Deadpool, some fun stuff some less fun. Story was good. Art was not so good for me, therefore three stars.

[Lindsey.parks · Rating 2 out of 5]

If Kyle Baker would have done the art for all six issues, it would have bumped it up to a 3.

[The_J · Rating 1 out of 5]

It didn't make sense, wasn't fun, but certainly R- Rated.

[Wes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more Deadpool that I read, the more I think he is a very difficult character to write. As a character he simply doesn't follow any kind of logic and general rules don't exactly exist for him which gives him a lot of flexibility in terms of use. However, just because he can be used in a multitude of ways, does not mean that he is well used.

Dave Lapham is a talented writer, but I think he just kind of missed the mark on this one. Sure, this is a story about Hydra Bob, but Deadpool's charm feels mostly absent it all. Sure, he has some fun lines here and there, but that is about it. Some entertaining characters and scenes, but on the whole, it just doesn't add up to anything great for me.

As a final note, comic art can make or break a book for me. If the art is (in my opinion) poorly done, then the story had better be pretty damn incredible. This main art isn't BAD, but it didn't really turn my props, and I think I liked the fill in art generally better.

Read it if you're a DP super fan or a completest, otherwise skip it.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I REALLY HATED THE FIRST TWO BOOKS. THIS ONE AT LEAST MADE MORE SENSE. THE EVENTS ACTUALLY WENT TOGETHER. IT WAS OK.

[Dmitry Yakovenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Нет, к моему великому сожалению, сиквел не исправил проблем оригинального тома, а лишь немного преумножил их. И писать тут особо не о чем.

Да, сюжет всё ещё интригует, Дэдпул и Боб всё ещё крутые напарники, за которыми одно удовольствие следить, и да, эти двое всё ещё попадают во всякие нелепые и крутые ситуации, но еще довольно часто эти ситуации кажутся слишком дурацкими и бредовыми даже для комикса о приключениях Дэдпула. А надо постараться чтобы добиться такого эффекта, а я много читал комиксов про Пула.

Снова этот странный стиль рисунка, опять много противных и неинтересных персонажей, хороший юмор есть, но его стало чуть меньше, зато исключительно прекрасных в своей абсурдности событий осталось примерно столько же, сколько и в первой части. Ещё на пользу пошло то, что в сиквеле всего 6 выпусков, поэтому серия особо не успевает надоесть. Но лучше уж прочитать что-нибудь другое про Дэдпула.

[Suge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork in this series is phenomenal to me. I enjoyed the imagery of different, favorite characters in the deadpool universe. With that said, I was not thrilled with this one. The story seemed a bit weak but at the same time it delivered the same hilarity that is common in deadpool comics, there was just less of it. Still, not bad for deadpool.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened to like this a lot, but I'm not sure it's a defensible like.

It's pretty crude, nothing of consequence really happens, most of what does happen does not ultimately make any sense, and so forth.

But just the attitude that the characters have toward each other is entertaining. They're very broad and repetitive but also specific.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the artwork in the Deadpool Max series and the way the characters are re-imagined. My biggest qualm is with the storline itself. It's good, but it feels like there are gaps. I think there should have been a few more issues.

[✨Jess✨ Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!
Not my favourite art style honestly.
The start was pretty solid and had a great build up to the middle, quite offensive which i enjoyed and heaps of action but i felt like it lacked that at the end and i found it pretty anticlimactic and dull.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two great team-ups! Deadpool and Hydra-Bob, and Lapham and Baker.

Only disappointment was that it did not end with Baker's art, but with some other guy's attempts.

[Lukas Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still hilarious, but also still seriously explicit. Story kind of came back in full circle, but it was awesome getting to see a lot of Deadpool’s friends and villains like Blind Al and Cable