Deadpool Dracula’s Gauntlet #3

Written By: Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn

Art By: Reilly Brown

Published By: Marvel

Issue #3 in the Dracula’s Gauntlet miniseries is the best one in the series so far which is a hard thing to say with a series that’s so good in general. The action gets hyped up, the humor starts breaking the fourth wall even more, and Shiklah and Deadpool start their bonding.

The cameos are used extremely well within this issue. Blade is once again one of the main sources of action but his conversation with Deadpool was perfect in that it suited both of their characters so well. And a surprise cameo by Hydra Bob led to what I thought was the funniest panel in the entire series so far (it’s at least tied with the Gwen Stacy joke in issue #2). It’s sometimes easy for characters to get lost to various cameos but Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn know how to perfectly work them to Deadpool’s advantage which is a great strength and a great tool for a character like Deadpool who truly enjoys cracking jokes about everyone he knows. This is also the first issue in the series that gave Deadpool a pretty profound depth as well. Deadpool is so often written and alluded to as this hilarious comedian that its sometimes hard to remember that he has a fairly tragic back story. Scenes with Shiklah are beginning to show us a little more of Deadpool’s depth and its nice to see a character who can regenerate his health may actually still have some rather large wounds that need healing.

Reilly Brown’s artwork is once again outstanding and, with the more action this issue has, its nice to see his talent get used for some really great fight scenes. My small highlight, however, was when Brown emulated various art style during a conversation Shiklah has regarding how her people are nearly immortal and have been around for ages. I really love when artists can play with their art styles, while still make it clear who’s illustrating, and Brown definitely succeeded.

The pacing is great and the story is definitely progressing but it’s allowing the characters time to grow before really kicking into anything crazy. There’s a ton of fun to be found within this entire series and there’s some nice jokes for the avid comic/comic universe fan. Without giving away too much, let me just say that there’s a very nice placed joke involving Hugh Jackman’s career.

Pick up the whole series. It’s worth every last penny. And if you’ve been on the fence, its definitely even worth just giving this issue a try. Everyone has been kind enough to include a nice recap of previous issues at the beginning of every issue so that first time readers can quickly catch up without feeling lost.