Thanks to the X-books' chronic inability to run on time, we have a real pile-up of comics this week, as Marvel dump onto the market three new series, a new writer on Uncanny X-Men and two of the trailer one-shots for Weapon X in the space of one week.  That means we could be here a while.

Fortunately, we're starting this week with a good one.  Agent X is the relaunch of Deadpool. It has the same creative team and supporting cast, but possibly a totally different protagonist.  Or possibly not.  That's the plot, you see.

Agent X is an amnesiac with the letter X carved into his head in two places, the sort of character design which might be a little too literal, depending on what the reason turns out to be.  He turns up at the doorstep of Deadpool's former secretary Sandi and asks her to help him to become a mercenary - a quest in which he is unfortunately marred by a near total lack of ability.

There's a notable shift of tone from Deadpool.  While we're obviously being set up to accept Agent X as "probably Deadpool", there are some interesting clues planted pointing the other way, or at least towards a more complex explanation.  The character's speech patterns vary noticeably throughout the issue - sometimes he talks in Deadpool's typical rambling gibberish, but other dialogue reads very differently.  ("Do you know I find your arrogance tedious, Mr 'Taskmaster'?")  In fact, it reads rather like the Black Swan's dialogue, and at this point I'm betting on some kind of "two minds in one body" plot figuring into this somewhere.

Sandi's willingness to help an amnesiac stranger who's turned up on her door to become a mercenary comes across as a little forced, which is perhaps the single most noticeable flaw here.  The idea is presumably that she hopes it's Deadpool and is playing along accordingly - although there are other explanations - but any new readers starting with this issue might find it a bit of a stretch.  It still seems a bit undermotivated even if you're familiar with the tail end of Deadpool, to be honest.  But it also raises some more questions about Sandi's motivations, which make her a more interesting character than she first seems.

The book is still striking a balance between playing scenes for laughs and writing an effective story, and that's probably made easier now that the lead character is capable of shutting up for more than two panels at a time.  The Taskmaster's training sequences are hilarious, as are Agent X's beleaguered attempts to round up work by going into bars and asking if anyone wants somebody killed.  ("I'm offering an introductory special on anything from simple assault to multiple beheadings.")

On top of this, the book also manages to set up its first storyline, bringing back the Four Winds organisation from the Deadpool run.  The new leader figure is completely out of his depth and knows it, which makes a nice change from the usual gang leader characters.

Whether or not Agent X is Deadpool, the book retains all the qualities that made the previous series worth reading.  Not that that should really come as a surprise, admittedly, given that it's the same creative team.  The mystery as to the lead character is turns out to be more complex than expected, and there's enough of a change of direction and tone to justify the change of title.

Worth picking up.

Rating: A-

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