The crossover you’ve pined for but never thought possible: DEADPOOL and BATMAN cross swords and batarangs as MARVEL and DC unite for the first time in decades! WADE WILSON has been hired for a job in GOTHAM CITY, but will the WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE help him or destroy him? After decades of waiting, Marvel and DC have once again teamed for Deadpool/Batman #1 and it is not worth the wait.

I’ll admit, I was very excited to see Marvel and DC once again bringing their characters together for what feels like a once in a lifetime event (really it’s been like 3 or 4 times in mine). Batman and Deadpool, the rather serious and the not so serious characters teaming up for whatever mission. Written by Zeb Wells, would the comic fall into the usual tropes of heroes battling it out before teaming up? Would it deliver something new and different?

Generally, Wells delivers something different and the comic doesn’t fall into the usual patterns we’ve seen far too many times. Deadpool is hired to take on Batman. Not knowing who Bruce Wayne really is, he crashes through his window wondering if Wayne would like to hire him while he’s in town. It makes absolutely no sense at all and that might be the highlight of this particular story. The overarching issue is that the Joker has stolen materials to dump Joker Venom into the city and Batman has to stop him.

The dialogue is painful, the setup is meh, the resolution is ok. Overall, the comic offers no fun, no excitement and leans far to heavy into Batman being the serious one while Deadpool rants on and on. The comic takes itself too seriously forgetting Batman has shown a comedic side at times and cracked jokes and instead feels like a tour of Gotham from the perspective of Deadpool where he points things out and makes fun of them. There’s completely bizarre choices by Batman and Deadpool feels like a more annoying version of himself. Let’s forget it’s different universes which opens up how Deadpool would even get paid, there’s just an odd interaction between every character. The only one that feels like it makes sense is the Joker being irritated at Deadpool that Deadpool is stealing his crazy character bit.

Greg Capullo‘s art, along with ink from Tim Townsend, color by Alex Sinclair, and lettering by Clayton Cowles looks just ok. Capullo can do some amazing art but here it ranges from forgettable to just nice. There’s little that gets you to linger and stay on the page. Entire sequences feel like they have no life to them and that’s from the start where Deadpool crashes into Wayne Manor and beyond one panel, Bruce Wayne just stands there… and talks… Visually there’s some odd choices and little that really feels like the level this high profile comic should have.

Where the comic has some life is the numerous other stories packed within. Some are truly great. The Captain America and Wonder Woman story by Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson, and Joe Caramagna, the Jeff! and Krypto story by Kelly Thompson, Gurihiru, and Caramagna, Daredevil and Green Arrow story by Kevin Smith, Adam Kubert, Frank Martin, and Caramagna, and Rocket Raccoon and Green Lantern story by Al Ewing, Dike Ruan, Moreno Dinisio, and Caramagna all stand out. All of those I’d love to have seen more of or been one-shots on their own. Old Man Logan and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from Frank Miller, Alex Sinclair, and Caramagna, and Logo by Ryan North, Ryan Stegman, Martin, and Caramagna are both clunky in different ways.

For all of the hype, all of the build up, all of the excitement, Deadpool/Batman #1 is a bit of a letdown. It missed the fun of the opportunity of it all, which the back-up stories seem to have gotten. If anything, it could have been a greater success focusing on a series of shorts, forgoing a main story and instead just let creators cut loose with what they’ve had. It’s an odd release overall that’s more for the nostalgia of the concept than the final product to read.

Story: Zeb Wells, Chip Zdarsky, Kelly Thompson, Kevin Smith, Al Ewing, Frank Miller, Ryan North
Art: Greg Capullo, Terry Dodson, Gurihiru, Adam Kubert, Dike Ruan, Ryan Stegman
Ink: Tim Townsend, Rachel Dodson Color: Alex Sinclair, Frank Martin, Moreno Dinisio
Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Joe Caramagna
Story: 6.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 6.0 Recommendation: Pass

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics