Deadpool the Duck #2 Review

Though it looks like Howard the Duck is wearing a Deadpool costume he’s in fact Deadpool inside Howard the Duck’s body! Hilarity presumably ensues, but is it good?

Deadpool the Duck #2 (Marvel Comics)

So what’s it about? Check out the preview.

Why does this book matter?

This series is sort of a no-brainer. Take the seriousness of Howard the Duck and slap him with the silliness of Deadpool and you have a dynamic that’s rife for humor. Add in a spirit animal story technique and you have magic!

Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?

Get ready for a lot of puke jokes.

This issue opens where we left off as Deadpool attempts to rid his stomach of all the awful food he brought with him into Howard’s body. Like, he pukes constantly, for pages on end. He’s talking in between, but it’s a repeating joke in the first half of the book. This issue could be boiled down to two sequences, one with Deadpool hacking up a lung while coming to grips with Howard being his new spirit animal (Wolverine was his spirit animal last issue), and the other with Deadpool flying a spaceship into space to find a cure for Rocket. Writer Stuart Moore keeps the pace going with Deadpool and spirit Howard riffing off each other as Deadpool is probably too okay about being a duck and Howard nervously watches this insane character act with his usual randomness.

There are plenty of jokes of varying types here which should make it easy for anyone to find something to laugh at. My favorite bit involved a custodian character with an accent who Deadpool quickly breaks the fourth wall to comment on. There are a few fourth wall breaking moments, which is probably why Deadpool isn’t too concerned with his predicament. Some other highlights include a slew of short people jokes.

The art by Jacopo Camagni is very clean and he makes Deadpool’s duck body ripped with muscle, but funny at the same time. The spirit animal Howard has a nice clear look that sells his ghost persona and the guy can draw some mean vomit.

It can’t be perfect can it?

It’s hard to shake the fact that much of the plot is focused on a mcguffin as Deadpool attempts to find a cure for Rocket. How they end up at a space station, or why they even board it isn’t explained. I guess Deadpool assumes there’s a cure there? The plot appears to be going any which way it desires, which makes it lose its focus. Because of this, there’s very little to follow. Essentially there’s a loose plot here to allow Deadpool and spirit animal Howard to banter, but it makes it hard to care either way.

The humor is varied, though the opening half has so many vomit jokes it becomes tiresome. By issue’s end I was hoping Rocket would be somehow cured so there’d be more for Deadpool to riff off of as the general entertainment value sticks around “okay” rather than “great.”

Sweet tail bro.

Is It Good?

A heavy use of vomit jokes opens the issue, which makes it hard to laugh as it beats that horse mercilessly. The setup makes sense, but so far everything hinges on Deadpool bantering with Howard the Duck and nothing more. This plot needs some flesh on these bones!