I’m an idiot. When I first read about this book, I made a mental note to grab it right away. Then I brain-farted it out of my head.

Why did I want Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth? Because I’m a huge fan of writer Victor Gischler, that’s why. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Vampire A Go-Go. That Victor Gischler. I’ve been reading his books ever since I grabbed Gun Monkeys off the rack because it contained this opening line: “I turned the Chrysler onto the Florida Turnpike with Rollo Kramer’s headless body in the trunk, and all the time I’m thinking I should’ve put some plastic down.”

That’s Gischler. And it continues now that he’s writing Deadpool for Marvel Comics. At the start of this series, Deadpool’s been hired by A.I.M. (those guys in the great yellow outfits with the squarish hats) to retrieve a secret bioweapon from the Savage Land. The weapon turns out to be Deadpool’s severed, zombified head from another dimension. Gischler’s got a thing for the headless, but I’m okay with that!

Since I missed the first four issues, I’m coming into the middle of the story which pits A.I.M. against Hydra, with Deadpool in the middle with a hot scientist and lots of firepower. But I picked up the action with ease - Deadpool has the zombie head to deliver to A.I.M. in space but Hydra has other ideas and those ideas mostly involve guns and killing. Gischler’s dialogue is sharp, funny and breezy - and it takes a lot of hard work to make it feel that way and still keep the story on point. Listening to Deadpool discuss Star Wars with a nameless A.I.M. employee made me LOL.

Bong Dazo’s art (with inks by Jose Pimentel) meshes with the script very well. He’s got a touch of the Terry Dodson-Adam Hughes school in him and he manages to give some solid personality to a character whose face we don’t see. It’s all body language and Dazo pulls it off. And he draws a great Dr. Betty and an even better Zombie Deadpool Head.

The Arthur Suydam cover is the only disappointment. I like Suydam quite a bit and it’s not a bad cover, but it fails to convey the true crazy genius at work on the inside.

[Artwork: A fun page from Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #5 by Bong Dazo and Jose Pimentel, © Marvel Characters]