Deadpool: Secret Invasion SC

Writer/Artist: Daniel Way, Paco Medina, Carlo Barberi

Publisher: Marvel, $14.99

Why You Should Know It: For those unfamiliar with the character, Deadpool is Wade Wilson, an insane mercenary who can regenerate from any wound and who will accept pretty much any job. Deadpool gets another shot at a regular series from Marvel, this time dropping him smack into the middle of the Secret Invasion event of the past year.

The current run of Deadpool has been enjoying healthy sales and a giant media push due to the character’s inclusion in the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Deadpool sales have always been solid though and this new series already had a huge fan base just waiting for it to exist. In general, we can never keep back issues of any of the previous Deadpool books in stock and the single issues of this current series have gone through numerous reprints.

Any longtime fan of Deadpool should love this series because it offers exactly what people expect of the character; a dark mix of slapstick, over the top action, and insane randomness. New readers are coming in at a good time since Daniel Way has a good handle on the character and has added some nice touches.

Personal Review: Ideally you should never force a new title to launch through a crossover, but the potential sales boost was probably something Marvel couldn’t pass up on. I wasn’t a big fan of the Secret Invasion, which actually made the first story in this collection enjoyable because it really has very little to do with the main event. Deadpool has to deal with some Skrull aliens but it isn’t necessary to read the entire Secret Invasion to jump into this. The second half of the trade deals with zombie nurses and a hit job gone bad which is a better example of a self contained and fun Deadpool story

Way can script a fun Deadpool story, which is all the story needs to be. It’s an odd mix of dark and morbid with a somewhat lighthearted element to it. Think Spider-Man meets Army of Darkness, with a bit of Monty Python. The best element of Deadpool is his ability to break the 4^th wall and speak to the reader, something that Way does through a mix of timing it just right in the dialogue and taking advantage of Deadpool’s narration as the character argues with himself continually

Deadpool has never had a set art style, which is common in mainstream comics but even then most publishers only want certain styles mixed with certain characters at any given time. Medina and Barberi offer a blend of a clean line and simple approach mixed with a slightly cartoony feel. The overall effect works pretty well and they have a good flow with the scripting.