It's been too long a time since "Deadpool MAX" #12 shipped, ending the book's first volume. After an arduous wait, finally, lovers of violence and monkeys can rejoice, kick back, grab a beer, and read the first issue of "Deadpool MAX II!" Okay, it's only been three weeks since "Deadpool MAX" #12 came out, but, for fans of this comic, that's two weeks and six days too long. Deadpool and Bob are back to take down Hydra and clear Bob's name after he was framed for an act of terrorism that killed most of Cincinnati. Their first stop? A chapel with a monkey. Welcome back, boys.

The laughs are rapid and fierce in this issue with Deadpool and Bob first taking down a janitor for Hydra in the back of a porn shop (with dialogue from a porn flick providing the running commentary for the fight) before noticing that Hydra has taken one of those megachurches hostage. It's absurd and hilarious from pages of neither character saying anything except for "Hydra" to Deadpool wanting to save the pastor's monkey, not seeming to care about Hydra at all. "Save the monkey, save the world" indeed.

The funniest part of this comic is the corrupt preacher of the megachurch who tells a parable about Paul running into a tricked out Julius Caesar (complete with a picture of Caesar with bling, a fancy car, and a bikini-clad lady friend) that he admits isn't in the Bible, but, trust him, he has secret knowledge the average person doesn't get. His viagra-related mishap is even funnier and he makes for a perfect guest for this issue and fits perfectly into this world. After all, why does he have a monkey? It doesn't matter!

More welcome than this series returning is that Kyle Baker is still aboard to do the art. It just wouldn't be the same comic without his Deadpool wearing bandages over his costume or Bob following suit now. A panel where Deadpool acts like a monkey is staged wonderfully. His realist style is merged with wacky cartooniness to create a world that very much looks like what you'd expect a 'realistic Deadpool' world to look like. Vaguely like ours, but brimming with visual insanity and energy.

The wait may not have been long, the book may not be any different, and the relaunch may be entirely arbitrary, but everyone in the world is made a better person for the return of "Deadpool MAX." That Marvel continues to publish this comic is the surest sign of the publisher's intelligence, so willing to allow mockery of itself and its characters out into the world when the quality is so high. If we're lucky, David Lapham and Kyle Baker will never depart this book and we'll eventually get volumes three through, like, twelve.