Review of Comic from Wednesday 11/4

Deadpool #1

Story: Gerry Duggan

Art: Mike Hawthorne, Terry Pallot and Val Staples

Hey, everybody, Deadpool’s alive! Not only that, he’s one of the most popular heroes in the Marvel Universe! And he’s an Avenger! And he’s helping fund the Avengers! And he has his own team of Heroes for Hire who all dress like him! And he wears a sweet black business suit with a red tie and a hood that I want to incorporate into my own personal fashion!

Deadpool’s Heroes for Hire appears to double as a job-creation program for some of Marvel’s least popular heroes. There’s Solo, the handsome mercenary; Slapstick and Terror, both of whom had short-lived series in the ’90s; Stingray, one of the lamer Avengers; Madcap, who has been retconned as the source of Wade’s second voice during the Daniel Way run; and Foolkiller, another guy who shoots people. When Wade’s too busy fighting alongside Steve Rogers, Rogue and the rest of the Avengers’ Unity Team, his crew goes out dressed like him to steal guarded thumb drives, assassinate targets and perform at bar mitzvahs.

Incidentally, the page in which Luke Cage finds out Wade’s using his old team name without permission is the book’s funniest.

But what of Deadpool’s newfound family, the ones who burned up alongside him as the incursion destroyed the old 616 and 1610 universes? Oh, they’re around, but the fuzzy feelings from issue #250 appear to have subsided, because let’s face it, as we learned just last week, Deadpool doesn’t really know how to treat his supporting cast well for any extended period of time.

His demon wife, Shiklah, is extremely disappointed in Wade for spending more time do-gooding and less time vanquishing his enemies. So she’s cheating on him with her old Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos co-star Werewolf by Night … and Medusa.

SHIELD Agent Preston, who spent some time in Wade’s head and knows all his secrets, is flabbergasted to learn he’s out to kill whoever killed his parents, which was actually him, but of course he doesn’t remember. And her partner, Agent Adsit, he who looks like Pete Hornberger from 30 Rock, has become a drunk. No word on Michael the necromancer or the ghost of Ben Franklin.

Wade’s had brushes with success before. Gail Simone kicked off her run back in the early aughts by having Deadpool believe himself to have killed four big rival crime lords, making him one of the most sought-after mercs in the world. Deadpool’s Heroes for Hire is a bigger, more commercial enterprise, however. He’s got more employees, he’s selling merchandise and he even occasionally does pro bono work. Frankly, Sam “take it to the hotline” Wilson should be taking notes.

But every once in a while, Wade still needs to get his own hands dirty. The issue ends with a hit on one of his seemingly lesser enemies, a New York City zoning officer, that screams “Well, that’s going to have consequences.”

Oh, and this issue guest-stars ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. Just FYI.