BOULDER, Colo. - Team-up books have been a successful venture for comic book companies for years. "World's Finest" starring Batman and Superman may be the most well known, but the adventures of Green Arrow and Green Lantern, Wolverine and Punisher as well as Spiderman and friends have all been popular renditions of odd couples.
But putting two superheroes together doesn't always make a dynamic duo, and such is the case with "Cable & Deadpool."
Who and who?
Cable and Deadpool are the only major surviving characters remaining from the early '90s Marvel Comics' book "X-Force" about mutants with no affiliation with the X-Men.
Time wasn't kind to most members of X-Force. The team's lineup changed almost monthly, and the entire team eventually was kicked out for a cast of celebrity superheroes.
Cable is a soldier from the future who reads thoughts, moves objects with his mind, has robot arms and carries really big guns. His history is long, confusing and boring. Continuous new additions make his past even more convoluted. Cable has fought everything from cosmic threats to alien invasions to genocide.
Deadpool looks like Spiderman, but he's really a wisecracking assassin. His body can heal from all types of damage. Even though he's a cold-blooded killer, his charm has always been his dry wit and goofy humor. When you put a straight-edge warrior and a psychotic slacker in the same comic - what do you get?
Utter failure.
In the past, these two superpowered guys have never been friends, let alone teammates. In recent issues, Cable and Deadpool have battled each other, a crazy religious cult and the governments of the world. The denouement of these epic battles has been as drab as Cable's dialogue or as confusing as one of Deadpool's pop-culture references.
Why they joined forces is puzzling, as are following plotlines. The plots are either too weird for comprehension, or so see-through that most third graders can predict the next page.
Nothing has been done to advance either character, and even the characters themselves are written shabbily. This comic doesn't know when to be serious or funny, but it generally fails at both.
Most of the blame can be placed on series writer Fabian Nicieza's shoulders - he originally created the two superdudes more than ten years ago. While the characters and readers have grown up a little, Nicieza's writing offers nothing new or exciting. Most often his scripts are as engaging as late-night Weather Channel and as comedic as the Home Shopping Network.
On the other hand, Patrick Zircher manages to create colorful and entertaining art in every issue. While Zircher doesn't stray from big arms, big guns or big boobs, he definitely has the skill and drive to produce 22 pages of eye-catching art a month. The drawing is certainly better than the original renditions of the characters, and it's truly unfortunate that the writing is not as fantastic as the art.
Neither Cable nor Deadpool will ever win popularity contests, but putting these two opposites together with a new writer and the currently outstanding art could make this book successful.
In contrast, "Heroes For Hire" - which was produced by Marvel Comics but is now discontinued - starring Power Man and Iron Fist proves that books can work without well-known stars and a high caliber of writing. Unless you're a huge fan of either, this is a comic that can stack on the racks. Those of us that survived the comic book world during the early '90s thought hologram covers, comic book cards and talentless hacks like Nicieza were in the past. Unfortunately, it's not true.
While both Cable and Deadpool have cult followings, one can only think that the only reason people buy this book is because there is no other outlet where people can find their favorite characters. Fans of their individual series can hope that the book will be cancelled - so both characters can return to their own happy places.
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