When the premiere issue of Fred Van Lente’s funtastic Deadpool vs Punisher comic finished, I found myself on the edge of my couch frantically flipping the back cover hoping that more pages would mysteriously appear so I could keep going. They didn’t but, luckily Deadpool vs. Punisher #2 showed up just in time for me to get my awesomeness fix. If you missed the first issue, it’s not too late to jump in on the action, much like your favorite action based TV shows, there’s a sweet one-page recap at the beginning of this issue. Long story short, Castle wants justice with a whole lot of blood on the side, even if that blood is Deadpool’s and Deadpool wants vengeance for the death of his accountants family and maybe some chimichangas.

In the second issue Van Lente starts things off with a not dead Deadpool tied up in Castle’s battle van with no recollection of what preceded his current predicament. Things get way more interesting from there. This issue has fake deaths, psycho crime bosses, Castle sulking in dark corners, and Deadpool cracking wise and kicking ass. Almost everything you could ever want from these two anti-heroes combining forces. It’s like Lethal Weapon and Tango & Cash had a baby and it exploded on the pages of a really good comic book. As I predicted in my review of the first issue, this arc really is looking like it is going to be the buddy anti-hero road trip extravaganza of my dreams but with murder and intrigue.

Pere Perez and Ruth Redmond have been tasked with providing the art element to this action packed, quip heavy extravaganza and they do an amazing job. Perez is a master at providing so much detail that you can see every scar line and hole in the rare instances where we see under Deadpool’s mask. Redmond uses her killer color skills to make sure that we see blood and bruises so fresh and real that we have a guttural reaction. There are several pages that are pure action and none of the art seems contrived, repetitive, or boring. Each panel and page are full of detail, realism, as far as some of these kills can be real, and is filled with movement and purpose.

Van Lente provides a great story and the Perez and Redmond artwork complements his words perfectly. There are no wasted bubbles or panels and everything that is done is done deliberately and serves its purpose of moving the story along keeping the reader engaged and leaving us wanting more. Round 2 of Deadpool vs Punisher is just as intense and fun as the first issue and, if Van Lente keeps this momentum up I’m sure the finale of this arc will make your head explode in the best possible way.

Story: Fred Van Lente Art: Ruth Redmond and Pere Perez
Story: 8.9 Art: 8.8 Overall: 8.9 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.