The preview for "Deadpool" #2 gave me the giggles something fierce (yes, grown men can get the giggles, at least if those men have three daughters to help guide them along the path of giggling properly) and typing "'Deadpool' #2" simply complicated that matter. I don't know the source of my sophomoric mindset with this issue in particular, but I'm going to blame it directly on the comic book itself, which does an amazing job of seriously not taking itself too seriously at all.

I grew up with the Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote cartoons running fairly consistently as close to on-demand as things could be in a pre-DVD era. If nothing else, those cartoons encouraged imagination from their sheer outlandishness and rewarded viewers with countless moments of laughter. "Deadpool" #2 is the closest I've ever seen a comic book come to achieving that ridiculous level of absurdity while still holding together a narrative. It's also the first time I've ever read a "Deadpool" comic all the way through. And it most certainly won't be the last if Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan continue to deliver the goods as found here.

I've never been a big fan (hell, I've never been any kind of fan) of Deadpool, but Rick Remender, through his work on "Uncanny X-Force" has given me the ability to see Deadpool as a fun relief in a world of comical dread. Posehn and Duggan amplify that by pitting Deadpool against undead Presidents of the United States and dropping the whole thing in the setting of a zoo. In doing so, the writing duo takes the fun-filled impossibility of Deadpool to a whole new level and ratchet up the disgusting factor quite a bit. They do not, however, let that sour the story. The adventure is briskly paced and the laughs are solid (sometimes sophomoric, other times a little more sophisticated).

It helps, I would imagine, to have an artist so brilliantly gifted as Tony Moore. Not only does Moore fill the book with details (like a newspaper box with a front page dedicated to Deadpool's adventures and hundreds of undead soldiers rising from their graves to answer George Washington's call to arms) but he brings a cartoon sensibility to the book, which -- combined with Val Staples' should-be-patented-and-official comic book color palette -- invites the readers to check their concerns over continuity and reality at the door and just enjoy a comic book filled with absurdity and humor. Staples' colors not only set the tone and assist the story, but he adds some strong effects to the ghost of Ben Franklin and the undead bodies of the trio of Presidents presented here. Sure, some of the artwork in this issue is over the top, but the titular character takes a tumble from an airplane, has a chat with meerkats and shoots the reanimated Theodore Roosevelt in the head while making a wabbit joke. This comic is odd and entertaining, sometimes disgusting and completely irreverent.

I completely agree with my fellow reviewer, Kelly Thompson, on her assessment that the "entire creative team seems well-assembled and completely in sync." From the opening recap page to the setup for the next issue, the story moves along and the creators deliver quite an adventure to absorb and more than enough reasons to re-read and recommend "Deadpool" #2.