Deadpool #1-4 gives us a dour, sarcastic Merc with a Mouth – whose gory glibness hides a whole lot of pain. Things blow up, people bleed, Wade is actively threatened with death (!!), and a new supervillain is right in Wade’s path. It’s not my favorite Deadpool arc, but it is sufficiently intriguing enough to keep me wanting more.
Deadpool #1-4
Roge Antonio (Artist); Jan Bazaldua and Edgar Delgado (Cover); Jan Bazaldua and Frederico Blee (Cover); Mark Brooks (Cove); Taurin Clarke (Cover); Sean Galloway (Cover); GuRu EfX (Colors); Eric Gapstur (Art for Issue #4); Javier Garron & David Curiel (Cover); Greg and Tim Hildebrant (Cover); Greg Land and Frank D’Armata (Cover); Rob Liefeld (Covers); Miguel Mercado (Cover); VC’s Joe Sabino (Letters); Declan Shalvey (Cover); Ryan Stegman & Sonia Oback (Cover); Matthew Waite (Cover); Pete Woods (Cover); Cody Ziglar (Writer)
Marvel Comics
April 3, May 8, June 12, July 3, 2024
A heartbroken Wade Wilson – who’s coping with a recent break-up – is still a perfectly weird Wade Wilson. Nowhere is that made clearer than in Deadpool #1-4, which continues the events of his last Deadpool series with a meaty twist. I mean, the child of divorce in this case is a huge symbiote in the form of a talking, man-eating dog named Princess, and Wade and his ex-girlfriend, Valentine, are currently sharing custody.
Wade and Princess are deployed to kill a whole lot of bad guys in Quebec and together they do their bloody duty. While trying to locate their target, Wade makes contact with an immortal man, Death’s Grip, who has just as much otherworldly mojo as our favorite merc. Their mutual lack of mortality just might spell trouble when Death’s Grip becomes fixated on Wade and decides to take him out permanently. Later, Deadpool, Princess, The Taskmaster, and his scientist assistant, Doug Siravanta, form a team to combat evil – for cash. When Wade’s daughter, Ellie — whom he left in the relative safety of her mother’s home — uses warp tech to get to him, he realizes she’s inherited his advanced healing factor and has hyper-intelligence. Wade decides to train her to defend herself.
After losing Valentine, Wade is reorienting his life and working on himself – and yes, that’s something Deadpool can do. Writer Cody Ziglar is following Gail Simone’s mandate for writing Deadpool: a comedic character wrapped in tragedy, his colorful, candy-coated exterior a cover for the extreme pain he’s going through, physically and emotionally. There’s a lot of sadness in this arc, and a particularly emotional “post-credits” scene after the main thrust of the action in issue #1.
Ziglar has not forgotten that Wade can be a likable guy who does care about others. His relationship with Princess — and his daughter, Ellie, who becomes a major character by issue #2 — point this out and highlight it. It’s a melancholy Deadpool story, but it never overindulges in pathos. The stakes are incredibly high, as Wade passes the torch to Ellie and Death Grip’s threat hangs over the proceedings. This interesting new wrinkle (can Deadpool actually die?) holds the audience’s interest.
The art is fantastic, and the melee-filled action scenes are a treat. There are some truly great action panels in this series — especially when it catches Princess and Deadpool mid-battle and mid-kill. Antonio’s work is incredibly impressive and gnarly without being eye-poppingly confusing. The three-way concerto between Roge Antonio and Ziglar and colorist EfX sings and intrigues.
This isn’t my absolute favorite Deadpool story, but we have a solid base here for a very interesting saga, and I’m hoping that future issues continue to combine the outlandish with the heartfelt.
