Maybe.   Possibly.   Not certain.  Will I give the next issue a shot?  Yes, I will, but only because it looks like Rocket is going to meet Shocket.   

The actual Howard part of the issues are four stars, and Gwenpool is like fifty billion, though, so no lie, I am going to miss Gwenpool.   Badly.   But I'll give Howard a shot for Rocket, and see if I want to continue after that.  

That being said, aw!   Ms. Poole If You're Nasty has come to an end.   I'm in mourning.   I know some people roll their eyes at the Gwen Stacy craze (Spider-Gwen, Gwenpool) but I actually like her.   I like her as Spider-Woman and I like her mashup with Deadpool.   She manages to keep her personality to some degree, but also keeps some characteristics of her mashups.  That is, as Gwenpool she keeps the sassy sense of humor - which to be fair she shares with Gwenpool - and her warmth, but she's not all there.   She jumps into danger without a second thought. 

She did so at the beginning as Spider-Woman, although that was to protect people and not just for funsies.   As soon as she realized that jumping into danger could harm the people she was trying to hurt, she started to plan, to do what she needed to as the situation demanded. 

I find Gwenpool charming for many of the same reasons that I find Deadpool charming, while I like Spider-Gwen for a lot of the same reasons I like Spider-Man.   I like Gwen, too.  At least in Spider-Gwen, you see her out of costume, out of character, as simply Gwen.   She's warm, she's kind, she's talented and smart.  I like her both in and out of costume. 

I'm sure I'll get tired of this if it goes on too long.   I'm sure I'll get tired of it if it's poorly written.   For now, though, Gwen-mashups have been wooing me as successfully as any character mashup could.   Hell, Gwenpool got me to buy, and read, three issues of Howard the Duck, a title I'm only lukewarm to slightly warm on so far.  

The trend hasn't lost it's charm, so I'd like to see more Spider-Gwen and more Gwenpool.

Yup.  Forgot to check for this.   It's the latest Howard the Duck, which I care less about than I do about the Gwenpool story.   Although Linda and Shocket.

Linda and Shocket!

That's pretty exciting!

Anyway, got it held at Newbury.   May have to subscribe to this and Spawn. 

It's not as wacky as Deadpool, it doesn't make the same social statements, and so it's in this weird place for me: funny, but something I'm comparing to something else, something else that gives me something more.  

It's not that it's not good, but much like Books of Doom, it's more that I see how much more it could be. 

Still, I laughed out loud a lot, so I would suggest this. 

First the first cousins are super surprised when their son is crazy.   Now they're creating female clones of males that are intended as mates for those males.  

Oh, Howard and Rocket are gonna be in for a huge shock when they meet Linda and Shocket.    And Linda and Shocket had a far superior story to tell here: engaging, emotional, full of adventure and humor amongst all the fuckery.    And yes, Shocket is just as trigger happy as Rocket.  The first time she shoots a gun, she says, with a great deal of shock:

And Linda the Duck acts as a sort of Groot to Shocket's Rocket.   The thing is, Rocket doesn't work especially well alone, dripping cynicism.   It's the little moments of friendship and loyalty that endear me most to him; as buried as they are under that ultra-violence and bluntness, under that need to tell everyone exactly where they stand, they are there, particularly with Groot. 

Rocket simply doesn't work as well alone; he needs a Groot to work against.   And while Shocket and Linda are their own characters, despite their origin story, they are also formed by the connections they make.   Not only do they consider themselves sisters, The Collector also put them in the charge of a man they come to consider their father.    This small family is something that Groot and Rocket did not have, and they prove nurture can, and will change things.   (Although I also believe Nature has something to do with it, particularly with Rocket and Shocket: they are more alike than Howard and Linda, after all, and they have more to say about nature and genetics in this debate.)

I can totally see Rocket sleeping like this, but that is Shocket.   Rocket doesn't show up at all in this series.   Linda may not have the exact level of empathy and compassion that Groot does, but her bond with Shocket is very similar to the one Rocket and Groot has - or it acts in the same way narratively.    When you need to see those moments of loyalty and love shine through with Shocket, it's because of either Linda or their dad.  

Linda also is more level headed.   This isn't quite as like Groot as you'd think: Rocket, in particular, notes that Groot can be a dreamer, imagining an ideal world, or too generous for his own good rather than showing the kind of quick thinking and evenness in a business deal that Linda shows.   She's sharp, she's quick to jump on a deal, or maximize a bad situation to her advantage and Groot would show far more care for others made out in this case.   And yet, she still fills Groot's role: when Shocket needs to be pulled back from needless violence, it's Linda there to make sure her own strengths keep Shocket from that violence which would then cause them more headaches in the future. 

And then there's glorious, glorious Gwenpool. 

Drools.   Gwenpool.   I'm dreading issue three, when the Gwenpool ends.   Must has more Gweenpool. 

Also, yes, the internet decided to stop being a dick.   I'm gonna take credit for that, because clearly I shamed it into behaving properly!

I need particular screen caps, and either my internet - I'm betting this - or Tumblr is dicking me around. 

That being said, this will be up as soon as Tumblr decides to post, or more likely, the internet decides to stop being a dick and actually allows me to post.