He's getting too old for this.
There seems to be some sort of unwritten rule that Marvel always needs to have a Deadpool vs. [Insert Character Here] miniseries on the stands at all times. Now that Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again has ended, it falls on Old Man Logan to keep the Merc With a Mouth occupied. There's a real sense of diminishing returns with these crossover adventures, and Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #1 does little to revive a stale formula.
Not that there isn't plenty of potential in pairing these two characters right now. Both Wade and Logan are in profoundly different places relative to where they were when they served together in Uncanny X-Force. Wade in particular is suffering from the fallout of his action in Secret Empire and has given up his years-long quest to establish himself as a legitimate hero. There's a good dynamic to be mined between these weary, jaded versions of Wolverine and Deadpool. But if writer Declan Shalvey intends on exploring that dynamic, readers will have to wait until later chapters. This first issue follows a pretty simple, unremarkable formula - Logan is on a mission, Wade gets in his way, the two fight, etc.
Neither that mission nor the characterization do much to add extra flavor to the straightforward premise. This issue does nothing new with the idea of an X-Man racing against a shadowy government group to retrieve a newly manifested mutant. The humor level is also pretty weak, with Wade's dialogue consisting mainly of lame puns and one-liners. There's nothing about the story that's overtly bad, but so much of it seems overly bland and familiar.
Mike Henderson's art at least gives the book an attractive sheen. There's a clear energy to his figure work and just enough grit and darkness to suit these two thoroughly M-rated heroes. That said, Henderson's panels tends to work better individually than when taken as a sequential whole. There's a weird lack of continuity between many panels. This particularly noticeable during a chase sequence in the park where very little about the environment remains consistent from one image to the next. The storytelling also falters when it comes to conveying a running gag involving Logan and Wade's mutual enemy dropping giant objects on them from above. Rather than creating a sense of downward motion, the art seems to summon these objects out of thin air.
The Verdict
Unfortunately, Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan does little to stand out in a sea of Deadpool crossover comics. This first issue does little to tap into the meat of the Deadpool/Wolverine dynamic. Nor does it showcase Wade's comedic side particularly well. And while the art style is a great fit, the storytelling is riddled with a number of flaws that hinder the flow of the issue. There's a lot of potential to this team-up that isn't being utilized here.
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