From the “Cup Of Joe” interview with Marvel Exec Ed Axel Alonso:

“And in October – drum roll, please — we’re launching “DeadpoolMAX,” by the creative team of David Lapham and Kyle Baker. For Immature Readers. We have a story to tell, and the only way to tell it is through MAX. Will it be sophomoric? Yes. Will it be fun? Yes. Will it be smart? Define smart.”

It’s Lapham and Baker. So expect wonderful writing and, give the cover above as an indicator, expect Baker’s art to be a little less sterile and computer generated than it has sadly been recently. And that makes it a definite one to pick up and get excited about.

David Lapham’s Stray Bullets, it’s no exaggeration to say, blew everyone away when it came out in 1995. A fantastic, unexpectedly wonderful comic from a creator previously known only for his artwork on various Valiant/Defiant superhero comics (If you don’t remember them – don’t worry – I wish I didn’t).

It established Lapham as a phenomenal talent and someone to watch out for, and since then he’s had variously successful series for various companies, although none quite so spectacularly impressive as Stray Bullets.

It’s a terrible shame then that, as this FPI search page will show you, the majority of Lapham’s Stray Bullets is out of print and Lapham has put the series on hiatus. Over on his website, Lapham talks of bringing them all back soon but until then, for those of you who’ve never seen the strip, the first 4 issues are up online, complete and completely free:

(No, look. Definitely look. From David Lapham’s Stray Bullets.)