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Deadpool: The LTN Guide to the Merc with a Mouth

Details: Category: Comics; Created on Sunday, 02 August 2015 16:32; Written by KTP

Deadpool: The LTN Guide to the Merc with a Mouth

He’s been in all the X-Books, dated Death, took on Wolverine and lived, carried Thor’s hammer, yelled at Michael Jackson, breaks the fourth wall at the drop of a hat, had a decent video game, and is now going to be headlining his own movie. Overexposed? Maybe. Funny? Depends on who’s writing it. There’s no doubt that he is a staple at Marvel for being a little crazy and over the top. For those that are clueless as to who the hell this “Japanese Spider-man” is, we hope to shed a little bit of light for you.

Deadpool was created Rob Liefield and Fabian Nicieza as an inside joke being related to DC’s Deathstroke. Slade Wilson to Wade Wilson. Get it? Well, what became as a semi-recurring wise-cracking thorn in the New Mutants side eventually found his way to Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. They slapped a supporting cast of Weasel and Blind Al, and weren’t afraid of making Deadpool an idiot from time to time. Kelly also wrote it like it would get canceled at the drop of a hat. This formula slowly snowballed the character to the popularity you see today.

Deadpool is not afraid to throw his troubles as a punchline.

Comic Origins

Because of his mental state, Deadpool can’t remember things very well. What we do know is he did a small stint with the Army and later taking jobs as a mercenary all over the world. Finding out he had a terminal case of cancer, he volunteered into the Weapon X program which was the same that gave Wolverine his adamantium bones. Getting artificially enhanced with a healing factor that was modeled after Wolverine’s, it made him almost unkillable and really, really ugly. The cancer mixed with his healing ability also made him a bit loopy.

You know things are pretty bad when Deadpool is the voice of morality. One of the best moments in Remender's X-Force run.

He did a long stint as a villain and mercenary, making an enemy of Cable and working for various crime lords all over the world like the Kingpin, Hammerhead, and Tolliver. Deadpool eventually befriended Weasel who supplied him with various tech like a teleportation belt, so not only do you have a guy that can’t be killed, a master assassin, and won’t shut up, he also can get in anywhere. He also teamed up with Cable through a period where they met his other sidekick, Bob, Agent of Hydra. Bob’s not with Hydra anymore, but sometimes the brainwashing gets the better of him.

Deadpool fell on the wrong side of Norman Osborn during the Dark Reign storyline where Marvel villains played the role of heroes for a short time. After purposely causing Norman grief, he decides that playing hero is the way to go much to the dismay of the rest of the Marvel Universe. Due to the popularity of the character, you can easily find him outside of his own book with other superhero teams saving the day in a very Wade Wilson way. You know, like shooting venom infused dinosaurs through New York or cutting off strips of his arm to feed to a near dead teammate.

Current Run

The man with the face that would make Spawn blush managed to get married to Shiklah: Queen of the Undead. He also has a daughter too which puts him high on the list for most messed up father ever. If you’re afraid that’s it sounds too soap opera-ish, don’t. He managed to piss off Blade, Dracula, Carnage, and murdered a bunch of evil dead presidents along the way.

Violence against zombies fits like a glove.

Recommended Reading

Deadpool Classic (Joe Kelly/ Ed McGuinness)- Probably the best place to start. The run managed to be pretty goddamn funny while actually having a supporting cast that was solid. It introduced us to Weasel, Blind Al and developed Deadpool into the tortured hero with a mouth. Highly recommended as a starting point.

Cable and Deadpool (Fabian Nicieza/ Reilly Brown)- The odd couple of comics that worked surprisingly well. Even though Cable ran off towards the end of the series to the future or something the Deadpool was strong in this one lasting to 50 issues.

Deadpool (Daniel Way)- This one is jarring and might get you in a fight in some places. In one hand it made Deadpool a household name in comics. In the other, it created “Waypool” and turned what was once a tortured wisecracking hero into “lol memes and guns”. It has its moments.

X-Force (Rick Remender/ Jeremy Opena)- Not completely about Deadpool, this run has the X-force acting as assassins to stop mutant threats. It was an awesome run on its own and Deadpool was written amazingly well. Notable moments are talking morality with Wolverine and giving Kidpocalypse a stack of skin mags.

Deadpool (Brian Posehn/ Gerry Duggan/ Tony Moore)- The current run sees Deadpool fighting dead presidents, has a 70’s tie in, and takes on SHEILD. He also gets married and finds out he has a kid. So far it’s pretty good and worth a run through.