A History of Batman Vs. Deathstroke

So, Deathstroke the Terminator is going to be the villain in the upcoming solo Batman movie. I am of mixed feelings about this, as I find Deathstroke to often be written in odd and confounding ways, ways that put him way stronger than his weight class. But the more I considered it, the more I realized I have the same problem with Deathstroke that a lot of readers have with Batman, and so with a shrug of my shoulders I decided that it was a pretty cool idea, and decided that I wanted to write about Deathstroke.

But how to do that? There have already been plenty of articles on sites with way bigger readership than mine about who Deathstroke is. So I decided to come at it from the angle I'm best qualified for: the specific relationship between Batman and Deathstroke, and their confrontations, as well as a little about my history with Deathstroke. So what you're going to find is a little personal history, followed by a brief bio, and then a spotlight on the comic book and associated media battle between Batman and Deathstroke.

So I first encountered Deathstroke as a reader in New Titans #72 (well, a cameo at the end of #71 technically, but that was one panel), the issue at the top of this post, which was the second part of the famous (or infamous depending on who you ask) "Titans Hunt" story, the one that drastically altered the Titans line-up and began Deathstroke's trip from villain to anti-hero. It was the '90s, after all, and the only thing the big publishers liked more than a hero was an anti-hero. So I got to know Deathstroke as this tortured sort of good guy who still killed. And that was his status quo for a quite a while at DC. He had an ongoing, he guest starred in the various Titans titles a lot, and he never did much for me.

I actually started liking Deathstroke more when he returned to flat out villainy in the first volume of Titans and the Geoff Johns written Teen Titans series. By that point, I had read "The Judas Contract," which remains the definitive Deathstroke story, and other earlier appearances, and there, while he had a code of honor, he was still a hardcore villain. And he's sort of waffled from that over time, sometimes returning to being an almost anti-hero, but usually now being portrayed as a homicidal maniac for the highest bidder. When you factor in the infamous Identity Crisis #3, where he takes out the entire Justice League single handedly by counting on such plot improbabilities as Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern who is not a scrapper, deciding to come at him by punching him instead of, oh I don't know, trapping him in a bubble, and you get a character who is sort of all over the place, often portrayed as a deus ex machina sort of character.

Deathstroke made his first appearance in New Teen Titans #2, created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, where he accepted a contract on the Titans after the Ravager, his son Grant, died in battle with the Titans. Over time it was revealed that Deathstroke was Slade Wilson, a former soldier who had agreed to go through an experimental process that did not work as planned: it was supposed to make him more resistant to chemical interrogation, but instead granted him access to the 90% of his brain a normal human doesn't, which increased his tactical skills and reflexes, as well as enhanced strength, speed, and durability. When he left the army, he became a mercenary and assassin for hire. When fellow assassins kidnapped one of his sons, Deathstroke was not fast enough to save the boy from having his throat slit. While the child, Joe Wilson, survived, this drove a wedge between Deathstroke and his wife, Adeline, that was furthered when, enraged, Adeline tried to kill him, but Slade used his enhanced reflexes to dodge the bullet, just losing his eye and earning his trademark eyepatch; the two split up.

Deathstroke's earliest appearances were all in relation to the Titans, trying to complete the contract that his elder son, Ravager, had accepted from the HIVE to take them down. Eventually, Deathstroke employed Terra, a young metahuman, to go undercover and get him all the secrets of the Titans; which she did, giving him the information he needed to defeat the team. Fortunately, Robin had recently left the team, and returned, with the new identity of Nightwing, with help from Deathstroke's younger son, Joe, who was the mute hero Jericho, to save the Titans and capture Deathstroke. Deathstroke was found not guilty, and returned to his mercenary ways, but had a newfound respect for the Titans.

As I said above, this led to a period of cooperation between the Titans and Deathstroke, a period that included Deathstroke having to kill Jericho, who had been possessed by the Trigon corrupted spirits of the people of Azarath (ah, there's a statement you could only make in comics). As the '90s waned, so did Deathstroke's popularity, and with the loss of his ongoing series, he returned to his status first as a Titans supporting cast member, and then adversary.

Since the return of Jericho, who as it turned out wasn't dead but had used his power to possess people to enter Deathstroke's body and had lain in wait, dormant, until he was strong enough to exert control, Deathstroke has been more of a full-on villain than he ever was before. He has worked with Alexander Luthor's Secret Society, bombed Bludhaven with a nuclear Chemo, and tried to kill the Titans on numerous occasions. The Deathstroke of the New 52 has no real ties to the Titans anymore, and is just the world's greatest assassin.

That was a really elementary rundown of who Deathstroke is, and there's a whole lot more to it, especially when you start to bring in more about Jericho, Grant, and Slade's daughter, Rose, who is the on-again-off-again Titan who took the name Ravager. All of these children have also appeared in the new DC continuity, although none with a real Titans connection (Rose worked for Harvest, the evil being who hunted teen heroes, but that's about it). Also, in recent years, Deathstroke became a regular nemesis of Green Arrow, something made even more a part of the character as he has been a recurring threat on Arrow.

So, with all that laid out, what exactly does Deathstroke have to do with Batman? For a pair of characters with such similar backgrounds (highly trained fighters with massive extended families that are Shakespearean in their trauma), they have actually met face-to-face relatively few times. Mostly, Deathstroke is thought of as one of the main nemeses of Nightwing, as the two have a long history. Deathstroke also had more than his share of run-ins with Tim Drake in his days as Robin with the Titans, and Deathstroke manipulated Cassandra Cain, then Batgirl, with a drug to make her one of his puppets in his vendetta against the Titans. So, what are the notable battles between Batman and Deathstroke, and who came out ahead in each?

City of Assassins (Deathstroke the Termination V.1 #6-9)

The first on page meeting of the two characters, this storyline sees the two initially fighting, and then teaming up, to save the life of a mob hitman who has escaped witness protection. It is an exciting four part story, Marv Wolfman at his best on Deathstroke. It does feature a scene of Deathstroke pretty savagely beating Batman down, which establishes which side of the debate on who would win in a fight Deathstroke's co-creator falls on.

The Death Lottery (Detective Comics #708-710)

When a dying man decides his last wish is to see the wealthy of Gotham die as well, a contract is put out on the wealthiest men in Gotham, bringing assassins to the city for around the world, including low level Batman rogue Gunhawk. Deathstoke, who had previous encounters with Gunhawk, has also come to Gotham to get revenge against the assassin. Batman and Deathstroke fight twice in this arc, the first time with a clear win by Dethastroke, and once with Batman victorious, although he did attack by surprise. This story is from Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan's nearly 100 issue run on Detective, a vastly under-rated run of solid stories, and features a notable instance of Batman using firearms.

Infinite Crisis (Infinite Crisis TPB)

When DC released it's crossover event Infinite Crisis in collection, it made certain strategic art and dialogue changes, as well as adding a few pages of new content. One of those pages was a confrontation between Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Deathstroke. This time, it's Batman who pretty clearly wins, although this is Deathstroke at one of his lowest points, driven pretty crazy by the loss of his family, so you have to take mental stress into account.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One... (Superman Batman Annual #1)

So, Batman doesn't really fight Deathstroke in this issue, but they both appear, as Slade has been hire to kill Bruce Wayne. Needless to say it is not successful. This is a tremendous comic, one that I am always surprised that more people don't know. Written by Joe Kelly, with principle pencils by Ed McGuinness (with various others throughout), it retells a Golden Age story of how Batman and Superman learned each other's identities, while also tossing in counterparts from the morality reversed Earth-3. And not just Owlman and Ultraman, but an unnamed Deathstroke doppelganger, who is obviously Deadpool. And it's written by Joe Kelly, master of the Deadpool quip. Oh, and no matter what some people might want to believe, Slade Wilson/Wade Wilson? Come on, there's clearly a connection.

Battle Royale (Deathstroke Vol.2 #5)

Deathstroke comes to Gotham. Batman fights Deathstroke. They both get in some good punches. Deathstroke escapes. That's pretty much it. It's some of Tony Daniel's most action packed art, really well drawn, but is pretty much an issue long fight sequence.

Son of Batman

Again, not really much Deathstroke Vs. Batman in here, mostly Damian vs. Deathstroke. This was the first Batman movie in the new DC Direct-to-DVD universe, and introduced Damian in a story VERY loosely based on Grant Morrison's "Batman and Son." And by based on, I mean it introduces Damian and has a similar name. In the story, Slade kills Ra's al Ghul to take over the League of Assassins, and when Damian comes to get revenge on Slade for the death of his grandfather, we get a sort of war of philosophies between Slade's merciless assassin thinking and Batman's value of life. Damian spares Slade,so you can chalk this up a a win for Batman.

Batman: Arkham Origins

On Christmas Eve, Black Mask has hired some of the world's best assassins to kill Batman. And when you're hiring the world's best assassins, you have to get Deathstroke in there. But since the game has Batman in the name, and you're playing as Batman, take a guess who wins this fight? Although I will say Deathstroke puts up one of the best fights of any of the big bads in the game. From what I gather, Deathstroke also appears in the final game in the Arkham series, Arkham Knight, but I don't have a PS4 yet so I don't know how that one turns out, but the game isn't called Deathstroke: Arkham Knight, so I've got to give the edge to Bats there again.


So, what has past experience taught us about who will win in the movie fight between Batman and Deathstroke? Well, it's going to be a big fight, that's for sure, but I have to give the edge to Batman, since it's his movie. Still. it's rare to see Batman fight a character on the big screen who is his physical equal, so I'm excited to see the fight choreography on it, and I like Joe Manganiello, announced yesterday to be playing Deathstroke (and returning to comic book movie acting, as he played Flash Thompson in Spider-Man), so I remain cautiously optimistic on this one.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/9

The Baker Street Peculiars #1
Story: Roger Langridge
Art: Andy Hirsch & Fred Stresing

I love Sherlock Holmes. I love the work of Roger Langridge. So a comic by Roger Langridge working in the world of Sherlock Holmes is guaranteed to catch my interest. But being that this is a Roger Langridge project, it's not going to be a straight adaptation. The issue introduces us to three children, street smart Rajani, sweet Molly, and upper crust Humphrey (along with his dog/valet Wellington), who start the issue chasing after what seems to be a lion statue come to life. Artist Andy Hirsh has a style well in line with Langridge's own, and his page layouts and especially a page where the kids are chased by a police officer feel like a natural fit. The kids' personalities  compliment each other nicely, creating a cast that is charming an likable, but distinct. Rajani is a street kid, while Humphrey is going to the boarding school St. Baskerville's (another Holmes nod, obviously), with Molly as the middle ground between them. Their meeting with "Holmes" officially makes the kids part of Holmes's network of informants and agents, usually called irregulars. The big twist at the end, though, is that Holmes is not in fact Holmes, but is Mrs. Hudson, Holmes's redoubtable landlady. It's clear from her reaction when Molly says that her grandfather says all Molly can be is a housekeeper and never a detective, that Mrs. Hudson understands what it's like to have people react to her like that; Langridge's comics, as fun as they are, never exist on just that one level of fun. There's always more to them. And so the kids are now helping "Holmes" investigate the statues that have been going missing all over London. And while Mrs. Hudson does not believe in any magic that may have animated the statues, we readers know different, and the title of the series, "The Case of the Cockney Golem" gives readers who know their myths another hint of what's going on. It's great to have a new Roger Langridge series with it's usual mix of charm, wit, and warmth, and the extra flavor ofSherlock Holmes is going to make The Baker Street Peculiars something really special.

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4
Story: James Tynion IV
Art: Freddie Williams II & Jeremy Colwell

The inter-company crossover is a tricky beast. You have all these moving parts, and all these characters, and it can be easy to just make it this big slugfest. But after three high octane action issues, the fourth issue of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes a step back. Aside from some sparring between Batman and Leonardo, and some off panel fighting, this is a character issue. While the Turtles and Splinter are trapped on Batman's world, with the mutagen that created them due to wear off any time now and leave them as normal animals, and three of the brothers are just living and enjoying their time: Leo is sparring with Batman, Donatello is looking at Batman's tech, and Michelangelo is infuriating Alfred by riding his skateboard in the house. But the interaction with the infuriated Raphael is the centerpiece of the issue. Raph is furious about how little is being done, and views Batman as a poseur, and lets him know. It's not exactly an uncommon argument in fandom, about Batman just being a rich guy whop beats on crooks. But when Bruce picks up Raph in the Batmobile and takes him to Crime Alley and explains to him the whys and wherefores of what he does, well James Tynion has a really good understanding of who Batman is. Meanwhile, Shredder and his new ally, Ra's al Ghul, have been able to open a portal to the Turtles home, connecting to a signal from that world, and who pops out but one of the Turtles main allies, Casey Jones. The battle between Jones and the League of Assassins is entirely off panel, which is a shame, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing Casey fight all sorts of monster and mutants as the series reaches its climax. It was also nice to see Tynion revisit Dr. Mahreen Zaheer, the Arkham doctor he wrote about in his "Endgame" back-ups, something you don't need to know to appreciate the scenes with the Foot Clan Ninjas in Arkham, it's a nice nod for those of use who are big Batman readers. If you're a fan of either of these franchises in comic or animated form, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a must read.

The Haunted Mansion #1
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Jorge Coelho & Jean-Francois Bealieu

After writing about Joshua Williamson's decidedly non-all ages Nailbiter on Friday, it's interesting to visit his work that, while still tinged with horror, is decidedly more family friendly. The most recent "Disney Kingdoms" mini-series from Marvel is inspired by my favorite Disney ride, Haunted Mansion. Danny is a kid who recently lost his grandfather, a world traveler and adventurer. Before his grandfather left on his last adventure, he promised Danny that the two of them would investigate the local haunted house when he got back. But now, Danny has lost his grandfather, and his parents are both not taking it well either. But one night, not long after his grandfather's death, a spirit from inside the house reaches out and calls Danny to come to the house to help save his grandfather's spirit. And so Danny sets out for the mansion, and when he gets there, the house is filled to brimming with all sorts of spirits, most of them seemingly malevolent. And so, after talking to the spirit of the fortune teller Madame Leota, Danny knows that he must find a way to stop the ghost of the evil Captain to save his grandfather and the other good spirits in the house. The first issue already has a few images cribbed right from the ride, and I'd be disappointed if all the more of them don't pop up over the rest of the series. Artist Jorge Coelho draws the ghosts and goblins really well, making them perfectly creepy and right in tone with the writing. But he also draws the more benevolent spirits in a way that is otherworldly but not frightening. Williamson's writing walks that perfect line for all ages horror. I think we don't give younger readers enough credit; they're more resilient than grown-ups think they are a lot of the time. If you're a grown-up who likes to share a spooky story with the little ones in your life, I think The Haunted Mansion is going to be a great choice for you.

Spider-Man 2099 #8
Story: Peter David
Art: Will Sliney & Rachelle Rosenberg

Peter David is a writer who plays a long game. After a two parter involving Inhumans and terrigensis (the second part of which was excellent, and due to a problem with shipping to me local shop I only got this week as well), we return to Spider-Man 2099 Miguel O'Hara's tragic love life. And not tragic in the, "Oh, no Mary Jane can't know I'm Spider-Man way," but in the, "My fiancee's mother faked her death and I just found out," way. Yes, thanks to keeping Tempest, Miguel's fiancee, in the hospital, Miguel's employee, Jasmine, wounded in the previous issue, sees Tempest, and Miguel storms the hospital looking for answers. And at the hospital, he finds the room Tespest is in being guarded by Man Mountain Marko, a C-List Spidey villain (not to be confused with Cain Marko, the considerably harder to fight Juggernaut). I really liked the fight scene between Miguel, both in and out of costume, and Marko. Will Sliney's fight choreography is excellent. You need a good handle on layout when you're dealing with an acrobatic hero, and Sliney has that in spades. I also think the panel where Miguel loses his temper with his assistant Raul when he finds out Tempest might still be alive is phenomenal, his look of rage chilling; he also lets his fangs slip, so I'm wondering what that's going to mean for future issues (see, like I said, David plays the long game). The way David writes Miguel at this point rings very true to me. Many super-heroes, when faced with a tragedy or a mystery close to them, do this cold, rational approach. Not Miguel. He goes in guns blazing and filled to the brim with anger. And while, with a little help from a friend, he succeeds, it looks like things are only going to get worse. I also have to admit that when Man Mountain Marko showed up, I kinda laughed him off, but David makes him a threat through his actions; this guy has no qualms about threatening the most innocent people, and so I hope he comes back soon so Miguel gets a chance to lay him out. Peter David has been weaving a lot of threads throughout the first eight issues of this volume of Spider-Man 2099 (not to mention the ones left over from the previous volume), and I think those threads are finally tightening into something that is going to only get more exciting.


Dan Grote takes on the book he was born to talk about, Joe Kelly's SpiderMan/Deadpool...

Spider-Man/Deadpool #3

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, & Jason Keith

I’ve avoided writing about this book up to now largely because, quite frankly, I needed to take a break from writing about Deadpool.

Spidey and Deadpool are an odd pairing. On one hand, teaming up Marvel’s two biggest jokers sounds like a naturally funny book. On the other hand, it forces one of them – specifically Spidey – into the role of straight man. In any other Marvel Team-Up, old Double-P would be the one getting asked to stuff a sock in it.

Spider-Man/Deadpool plays off current continuity, in which Peter Parker is the CEO of a major tech company and Wade is a universally beloved superhero, Avenger and head of his own band of misanthropic mercenaries. He’s also been hired to off Parker by an as-yet-unseen enemy, and he sees cozying up to Parker’s errand boy, Spidey, as the best way to get close enough to him to do the deed. Spidey can’t stand Deadpool, but he sees that Deadpool actually has an understanding of what it means to be a good guy and is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

In the meantime, they partner up with each other’s supporting casts and punch baddies from Spidey’s rogues gallery. In this issue, they tackle the obscure nihilistic duo Styx and Stone, who are terrorizing a Bolivian drug-farming village Wade and the Mercs for Money were hired to protect.

Once Spidey realizes he’s protecting a drug farm, he climbs up on his high horse, but Deadpool – who earlier in the issue rode an actual horse, which he later forgets about – ends up providing the situation’s moral nuance:

“We’re not here helping Scarface or Pablo Escobar. Look at these people – it’s cook drugs or get shot for half of them. Then it’s get shot or farm drugs for the other half. We don’t all get to be white guys in America. What they’re doing is for their own survival.” Also, “The check cleared.”

Having successfully checked Spidey’s privilege, DP continues to surprise the wall-crawler by introducing him to his daughter, Ellie, thoroughly melting whatever was left of Spidey’s anti-Deadpool heart.

“Just when you think you know a guy you hate,” he says as he webs off.

Don’t get too misty, though. While they were in Bolivia, Wade had one of his mercs, Foolkiller, scan Spidey for weaknesses, looking for a way to take him down so he can take out his boss, Parker, because Wade believes they are two different people (Hobie Brown, the former Prowler, dresses up as Spidey early in the issue so Spidey and Parker can be in the same room at the same time).

This book does a great job showing how Ed McGuinness’ art has evolved over the years. McGuinness’ original, short-lived run on DP showed off a blocky, cartoonish style that ultimately got him gigs drawing the Hulk and Superman. Here, his edges are rounder and his heroes trimmer. Merc-for-Money Slapstick may be the tiniest heroes he’s ever drawn (unless he drew the Atom at some point while at DC).

While this book reunites the creative team from the original Deadpool ongoing, it’s no nostalgia trip. Kelly and McGuinness are telling a brand-new story, and so old DP mainstays like Blind Al, Weasel, and Deuce the Devil Dog are nowhere to be found. That said, after 15 years away, Kelly may have a firmer grasp now on what makes Deadpool tick than he did when he originally wrote the character. Spider-Man/Deadpool is an excellent companion to Wade’s solo series, and if you’ve got the dollars to commit to a second Deadpool title each month, this should be the one.

Thursdays with (Wade?) Jack: The Final (?) Chapter Of Joe Kelly's Deadpool Revisited

Today’s reading: Deadpool #30-33, July-October 1999

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Pete Woods (#30-32), Walden Wong (#31) and David Brewer (#31-33)

And now, the retcon you’ve all been waiting for ...

T-Ray is Wade Wilson. Deadpool is some guy named Jack. But not Jack Hammer. That’s Weasel, whom we haven’t seen since issue #14. None of this may be true, but also all of it may be.

Confused? Good. Let’s begin.

Issue #30 takes us back to that old den of mercenaries and plot setups, the Hellhouse, where Wade’s current boss, Alestaire Grunch, has come seeking aid from his former partner, Patch, the merc den mother of diminutive frame and demonstrative mustache. Alestaire is wracked with guilt after setting up Deadpool to take the Atlanta job arranged by T-Ray in issue #28, the one that reunited him with his dead wife, Mercedes.

Things have changed at the Hellhouse since T-Ray declared himself boss at the end of the “Drowning Man” story in issues #12 and 13. Most of the mercs have sided with the mystical albino, while the last two loyal to Deadpool – C.F. and Fenway – have gotten a lot meaner-looking to compensate.

Meanwhile, Deadpool has finally opened up to Mercedes – and the readers – about the night she died: Once upon a time in Maine, Wade and Mercedes Wilson were in love. They had a nice, cozy, secluded little place, where they spent a lot of time listening to Patsy Cline records and reading. One day, the two went down to the river for water when they came upon a frozen, hulking behemoth with a bandage on his nose. They took the man in and nursed him back to health, until one day, in the middle of a blizzard, the man killed Mercedes and left Wade for dead.

One big thing to note in Deadpool’s flashback: Wade Wilson has long, brown hair and a full beard. In nearly all previous drawings of pre-cancer Wade to date, he is depicted as having short, wavy blond hair and a little bit of scruff. It’s actually one of his go-to image inducer disguises.

Post-flashback, Wade is summoned to the Hellhouse, which works out as his next stop was tracking down Alestaire anyway. But to quote my favorite Star Wars character, it’s a trap. The T-Ray-aligned mercs are ready for Wade, and so he must stab, shoot and kick his way through a gauntlet of Street Fighter knockoffs, with the help of Patch, C.F. and Fenway.

The four of them manage to subdue the rest of the mercs, but the issue ends with Alestaire seized upon by a horde of possessed cats in a fit of karmic retribution, and Monty strung up in the Hellhouse by Deadpool’s old teleportation belt, having appeared there in a burst of green flame.

His friend in desperate need of medical attention, issue #31 opens with Deadpool taking Monty to the only place that might know how to treat him: Landau Luckman & Lake.

Except their old pal Zoe Culloden isn’t the same determined cheerleader she was in the run-up to “Dead Reckoning.” She’s an overboss now, and despite ordering Monty decommissioned for “experiencing unauthorized emotions” (aka kissing her), she’s decided Monty is LL&L property again and reclaims him. As for Deadpool, she incapacitates him and throws him in a cell, along with Mercedes and pilot Ilaney Bruckner, who were along for the ride.

Fortunately, Wade always keeps explosives wrapped in latex in his stomach for just such an occasion. A little boomsy-boom later, the three are taking up arms – even Mercedes, who by now is starting to grow accustomed to her husband’s hyperviolent lifestyle – against a squad of LL&L stormtroopers.

Meanwhile, Zoe, who has been tending to the unconscious Monty, begins to feel pangs of guilt. Finally, his brain starts to register activity again, and she sees what he’s dreaming about – him and Zoe on a date, Monty walking and rocking a pretty sweet purple deep V-neck sweater. This gives Zoe the push to take out her own men and aid Deadpool and company in their escape, and also quit LL&L.

Zoe and Monty teleport off into the sunset, but before they go, Monty offers one final prediction:

“Through that doorway sits your last opportunity at a normal life with the woman you love. If you take it, go somewhere T-Ray can’t find you. I promise you, you’ll live happily ever after.”

Wade, Mercedes and Ilaney step through the LL&L portal and wind up in Maine, at the house the Wilsons once shared, where T-Ray lies in wait. Seriously, Monty was never that good of a precog.

By issue #32, T-Ray is using more magic than he has ever been shown using before. He’s interfering in teleportation matrices, changing his appearance, casting illusions and trapping Wade, Mercedes and Ilaney in their own nightmares.

Being an ancillary character, T-Ray gives Ilaney an out, telling her she can go back home and let the main cast settle its business. But the former Alpine hermit has become a thrill junkie who feels indebted to Wade for pulling her back into the world:

“Before I meet Deadpool, my life is nothing. Loneliness. Thinking of suicide. Just guilt and pain. But that maniac thought enough of me to save my life. My worthless, pathetic life. I will never forget that debt. So you can take your cowardly offer, Herr T-Ray, and SHOVE IT!”

T-Ray responds to Ilaney’s bravado by calling her a piggie (seriously with the fat-shaming, you guys!) and having her eaten alive by little green bat-demons that transport her into an illusion in which she is forced to relive over and over the plane crash that drove her into hermitage. Among the passengers inserted into the illusion are Mercedes’ parents … whom Deadpool does not recognize.

Also unrecognizable to DP, the Hawaii beach where Wade and Mercedes spent their honeymoon. And the spot at their Calgary college where the Wilsons first met. And the fact that today is their anniversary.

Issue #32 closes with another visit to the scene where Wade and Mercedes rescue their frozen future killer. Except things are different this time. Their guest has a mustache instead of a nose bandage and is wearing familiar red-and-black pants.

Next issue, T-Ray tells Mercedes what we’re all meant to believe at this point: “I am Wade Wilson. Your husband. Happy anniversary, angel.” Honey, if that’s true, you married a real creep.

Amid more flashbacks, T-Ray tells the story of a mercenary named Jack who had long, brown hair, a mustache and wore a maskless version of Deadpool’s suit. He had failed a mission in Canada and ran across the border seeking to disappear. There, he was rescued by the Wilsons. He planned to kill Wade – drawn by artist David Brewer looking more like the pre-cancer Wade we’ve seen before – and steal his identity. Instead, Jack killed Mercedes. He thought he had killed Wade, too, but Wade was rescued by the people seeking to kill Jack. They trained him to become a mercenary as well, and he studied further in Japan to learn sorcery.

Jack, in the meantime, had snapped and believed he truly was Wade Wilson (If this is true, this is only the first time he’d lose his grip on sanity, the second being after the Weapon X cancer treatments that turned him into Deadpool, as shown in the Deadpool/Death ’98 annual).

To twist the knife further, T-Ray gives Mercedes a portion of his magic, turning her into a leather-lady version of the Goblin Queen from Inferno. He then shows Wade everyone he’s ever killed, from Ajax to the Executive Elite from his very first miniseries. (The “here’s everyone you’ve ever killed” schtick will resurface in the Deadpool vs. Thanos mini.)

At this point, T-Ray believes he has won and truly crushed Deadpool’s spirit. That’s when DP starts to laugh. He gives a long speech, but here’s the good bits:

“You ever see that old cartoon with the squirrel who’s trying to eat a coconut? Chuck Jones, I think. This squirrel finds a coconut and thinks that he’s hit the giant acorn motherlode, only he can’t crack the nut. It’s too hard. So he gets a jackhammer, he throws it downstairs, runs it over with a truck, nothing. Finally, he pushes this monster up a gazillion stairs all the way to the top of the Empire State Building and heaves it. Crack. Slowly, the shell peels back. And you know what’s inside? Another coconut shell. That squirrel is in cartoon hell. That squirrel is me. … But just like that squirrel, in another month or so, the cartoon reruns, and I try again.”

He talks about how he doesn’t regret trying to do the right thing, in spite of all the terrible things he’s done. He apologizes to Mercedes for everything. Then, he confronts his other victims:

“As for the rest of you – ahem – I wouldn’t apologize to you if you threatened to consign me to spend all eternity smothered in chocolate sauce and trapped in a Roseanne Barr/Star Jones sandwich! I’m glad you’re dead! If I could, I’d kill you again! Then I’d go back in time, impregnate each of your mothers to make sure you were born, and I’d kill you again! So if you want me to turn into some sort of bleeding heart and weep out an apology, you’re gonna have to rip it out of me!”

Now that’s the Deadpool I know and love.

DP gets in a few last licks on T-Ray, but Mercedes uses magic to teleport herself and T-Ray away and free Ilaney from her nightmare, effectively ending the battle. Deadpool, meanwhile, is left to fight his victims, which sends him, for the first time in a while, to the place between life and Death, where he can meet up with an old flame … for at least the next 30 days.

So there you have it, 33 issues of comedy, violence, self-loathing and guys named Jack. The “Who is the real Wade Wilson?” mystery is revisited by subsequent writers. Both Deadpool and T-Ray are proved to be unreliable narrators, and the rotating cast of artists and inkers over the past few issues has kept things so inconsistent as to render either view plausible.

From here, Christopher Priest takes over writing duties and does things like make Deadpool realize he’s a character in a comic book and induct him into a new Frightful Four alongside his old nonbuddy Taskmaster. The series will run through issue #69, to be resurrected as a Gail Simone-Udon Studios body-swapping book called Agent X. This is followed by the Fabian Nicieza-penned team-up book Cable & Deadpool, then a solo series by Daniel Way, and finally the modern creative team of Gerry Duggan, Mike Hawthorne, et al.

As for Kelly, he would go on to write Action Comics and JLA for DC and the soon-to-be-a-movie I Kill Giants series for Image, and co-found Man of Action Studios, responsible for cartoons such as Ben 10 and Ultimate Spider-Man. He and artist Ed McGuinness also recently returned to our favorite mercenary in the new series Spider-Man/Deadpool. So he’s doing alright.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this deep dive down memory lane, and hopefully we all enjoy the Deadpool movie, which bows tomorrow. I won’t say this is the last Thursdays with Wade post – if this series proves anything, I’ll always have something to say about the man in the red-and-black pajamas – but it’s the last for a while. So until next time, may your katana always find its mark, and may your chimichangas be thoroughly microwaved.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 20

Today’s reading: Deadpool #26-29, March-June 1999

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Pete Woods (#26, 28 & 29) and Walter McDaniel (#27)

You just saved the world, and your book’s been spared from cancellation. Now what?

This is the question Joe Kelly is left to wrestle with as he continues writing a series that was supposed to end with issue #25.

Fortunately, there’s one big mystery left over from the previous 25 issues: Why does T-Ray hate Deadpool so much?

The answer to that question is one big retcon that has since been unretconned, reretconned and contraretconned, in what can only be described as the Continuity Curse of the Kelly Run.

But first, a cast reshuffle, a Howard the Duck villain, and a pointless fight with Wolverine!

Deadpool has pulled up stakes from San Francisco and moved into the Bolivian fortress he raided in issue #1. And he’s got a new roommate. Blind Al is, inexplicably, out, and Montgomery, the former Landau Luckman & Lake precog, is in. You may recall from the end of issue #25 that Monty kissed his true love and co-worker, Zoe Culloden, who upon promotion to overboss had him decommissioned and thrown out of the company because she couldn’t handle having a skinless, wheelchair-bound boyfriend.

Wade also has a new pilot: Ilaney Bruckner, whom you may remember from the Ajax story. Turns out she didn’t die after all!

(Writer’s aside: This seems like something I should’ve known and pointed out in writing about Ilaney earlier, right? Yes. If I’m being completely honest, the eight issues that make up Kelly’s Deadpool denouement kind of faded from my memory, save for the big T-Ray reveal at the end and the fight with Wolverine.)

Sadly, much like before, Ilaney is the butt of a number of fat jokes that I still maintain were wholly unnecessary.

Despite having saved the world, Wade is still a miserable sack of stuffing. Part of him believes all he did was curse the human race to remain unhappy as a result of getting to keep its free will. He’s no longer on the LL&L payroll, and so he’s gone back to mercenary work, though this time for a Moroccan gentleman named Alestaire Grunch who tortures cats and used to be the business (and life?) partner of Patch, the diminutive old curmudgeon who runs Hellhouse.

Wade’s also going a bit nuts … OK, nutser. He’s begun hallucinating a beautiful, raven-haired woman who hangs out with bunnies and pours liquor into milk jugs. And so he’s started seeing a shrink. Or rather, he’s started seeing Howard the Duck villain Doctor Bong. His prescription, or Deadpool’s interpretation of it, at least: Go fight Wolverine.

Logan just so happens to be in San Francisco’s Chinatown district, visiting a generic old friend. And he’s brought fellow X-Man Kitty Pryde along with him. Kelly does a great job of mocking Wolverine’s narration boxes from the time period, that mix of violent 1970s antihero appropriating Eastern zen wisdom:

“Smell is the sense that most closely links us to memory. A breath of half stale air in a district like Chinatown unlocks a glut of images. Old friends, lovers, dead goat on a beach, my tricycle, Ginger, the spice and the castaway, chopsticks jutting out of a guy’s eyeballs like cockroach antennae. Sometimes, I wish that when I smelled an egg roll, it just smelled like an egg roll.”

Deadpool disguises himself as an old-lady street merchant but drops the ruse once Wolverine’s sniffer susses him out. He then proceeds to provoke Logan, who doesn’t appear to be in a fighting mood until Wade hits Kitty with an uppercut straight outta Street Fighter. As Wade and Wolvie exchange blows, Wade comes to the realization that he knows the woman in his hallucinations.

“She’s just the broad who stole my heart a long time ago, then got dead,” he tells Doctor Bong. Issue #27 closes with the actual woman of Deadpool’s hallucinations running from some unseen terror in Atlanta. She drops a locket, inside which is a picture of her with a man, and the inscription reads, “Love always, Wade.”

Issue #28 opens with some creepy looking narration boxes we haven’t seen in a while, familiar green flames and a fella in a cloak plotting to make Wade Wilson’s life miserable from afar. We’ll get back to him.

In the meantime, Alestaire’s got a new assignment for Deadpool, in Atlanta of all places, a job that came on magic paper that turns into green flames (SEE?!). The target, the raven-haired woman from Wade’s hallucinations. But he’s not the only merc on the job.

Enter Bullseye. How long has it been since these two crazy kids hung out?

“Issue sixteen. Greece,” Wade replies, a mere hint of the fourth-wall breaking that will become far more pervasive under the next writer, Christopher Priest.

Deadpool sees this familiar woman as the key to his sanity and tries to talk his old friend out of making the hit. Bullseye responds by stabbing Deadpool in the side and bounds off to do his anything-can-be-a-deadly-projectile schtick. They have a pretty sweet fight that ends with Bullseye taking a boomerang-shaped spoiler to the chest. Despite the mask – and the face covered in scars beneath it – the woman, Mercedes, believes Deadpool to be Wade Wilson, her long lost husband. And Deadpool believes Mercedes should be dead.

But wait, when was Wade ever married? Was this before or after Weapon X? How come this wasn’t mentioned in the Flashback Month issue? And what does T-Ray have to do with any of this?

Patience, my friends. We’re getting there.

Issue #29 opens with Deadpool forcing Latverian scientists to run DNA tests to prove Mercedes isn’t a clone, by threatening their prized collection of Star Trek memorabilia.

Monty, meanwhile, wants to know who this woman is who’s sleeping in Wade’s bed and why he’s never heard of her, despite spending years researching his life in preparation for him to become the Mithras.

Deadpool doesn’t get very far in explaining when a horde of zombies comes crashing into his Bolivian pad, led by none other than Black Talon.

For those who did not read this past fall’s Deadpool vs. Thanos miniseries. Black Talon is a voodoo priest who wears a rooster costume and practices necromancy. He comes seeking Mercedes because as a resurrected dead woman she is a near-perfect construct and he wants to learn her secrets.

This fight scene is played nearly entirely for laughs, including Deadpool’s own. Assisting in the hilarity is Monty, who, given his physical appearance, attempts to blend in with the zombies, grunting things like “Brains is good food” and “Eep op ork ahh ahh.”

Eventually, though, the old ultraviolence kicks in, and Mercedes screams for Wade to stop mercilessly wailing on Black Talon, who by now has lost control of his zombie horde, which has turned to dust. Wade responds in sadly characteristic Wade fashion:

“Maybe you didn’t notice, but this chicken McNugget impaled me with a ten-inch steak knife! Healing factor or not, I’d say I’m entitled to a little payback! So get off my hump before I forget my life has gone ape snot since you breezed back into it and wish I’d never saved you in the first place!”

Mercedes runs off, and Deadpool lets slip to Monty this key bit of backstory to close out the issue:

“Years ago, in the snow, “Crazy” (the Patsy Cline song, later featured in the Deadpool video game) playing in the house behind us, my wife was murdered, and all I could do was watch.”

The story of Mercedes’ death, and how Deadpool and T-Ray play into it, will be revealed across the final four issues of the Kelly run, which we’ll cover in next week’s final Thursdays with Wade before the Deadpool movie premiere. See ya then!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 19

Today’s reading: Deadpool #23-25, Dec. 1998-Feb. 1999

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Walter McDaniel and a bunch of different inkers

In which our hero saves the galaxy by kicking Captain America in the balls.

The Deadpool-as-cosmic-savior plot that’s been building since issue #1 comes to a head in today’s three issues, collectively titled “Dead Reckoning.” Of the three issues, #23 and 25 are double-sized, much of which is dedicated to finally revealing and explaining what exactly is coming to usher in utopia on Earth, why Tiamat wants to stop it and just how much of a douche Overboss Dixon is. We also finally get the full story on Gerry the bum.

To wit, the alien entity headed toward Earth is a ball of eyes and tentacles that looks a bit like Shuma-Gorath from the Marvel vs. Capcom games. It doesn’t so much kiss and make better everything on a planet as it does render all life into a zombielike state of bliss, devoid of free will. We see this happen in multiple scenes on other planets and as the creature passes Shi’ar and Skrull warships and even the Watcher.

Tiamat, the alien creature that killed Noah in issue #22, is trying to stop what it calls the Destroyer at the behest of an alien council. Essentially, he’s the Deadpool for the other side, without the personality. He doesn’t speak Earth languages, so he can’t be communicated or reasoned with. As a result, when Deadpool and Tiamat fight in issue #23, Tiamat beats Wade near to death.

As is revealed later, however, much of what makes Tiamat so nasty-looking is body armor the same color as his turquoise skin. Without it, he’s kind of smooth and harmless. The people giving him his orders are following their own set of predictions, carved as hieroglyphics into the walls below the facility in Puerto Rico where Noah met his death. A big part of the story is showing how these predictions, and those of Landau Luckman & Lake precog Montgomery, don’t tell the complete story and are manipulated for either side’s ends.

Gerry the Bum is Gerry LeQuare, the fourth L in the intergalactic holding firm of what used to be called Landau, Luckman, Lake & LeQuare. He lives in a 1970s-chic apartment underneath Golden Gate Park, and he’s been watching Deadpool for years, nudging him toward becoming the Mithras by doing things like letting T-Ray beat the crap out of him in issue #13.

Dixon, after mind-wiping Monty and setting up Noah to be killed, finally cements himself as pure evil. When Deadpool uses a belt he grabbed off Noah’s corpse to teleport away from his battle with Tiamat, Dixon has blackout troops blow up the Deadhut with Wade, Al and Zoe in it (Don’t worry; they all escape). He’s apparently been manipulating and cherrypicking from Monty’s predictions for years, which would explain the number of times M got things wrong. And he somehow manages to trick Captain America into taking Deadpool’s place as the Mithras, even though Cap clearly distrusts and dislikes Dixon.

After the Deadhut explosion, it takes Gerry and Al some time to find Deadpool. When they do, they have to drag him, kicking and screaming, from the mother of all pity parties, as if he hadn’t just backslid in issue #22. Much of issue #24 sees Gerry teleporting everywhere from the Hellhouse to LL&L in search of Wade, until he realizes in issue #25 that it’s not a question of where he went, but when (cue the Doctor Who theme).

Using Noah’s bodyslide belt, Wade had traveled through time, to his fight with Alpha Flight’s Sasquatch waaay back in issue #1. Hidden from view, he listens to Zoe and Noah – who themselves were hidden from the view of Deadpool and Sasquatch – commenting on the fight and wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t chosen to dive into the radiation vat and prevent a nuclear meltdown back then. He believes Noah didn’t believe in him at all, which he didn’t, at least not at first.

“Deadpool is a semi-talented mercenary who got lucky that Langkowski (Sasquatch) told him how to shut down the reactor. He’s not a hero simply because he didn’t irradiate the Southern Hemisphere,” Noah says.

Wait for it.

“Deadpool’s a hero because he tried to prevent disaster.”

Squeeze me? A baking powder?

“With no logical reason to think he could succeed … a self-centered killer with nothing to gain went against all of his natural instincts and tried to save the day. Not for a reward, not under orders of a waving flag, he did it because in some corner of his heart, he just knew it was the right thing. I’m not saying Wilson is definitely the Mithras. He still needs to train, to work. But from what I’ve seen today, even if, God forbid, we were wrong about him, he’s shown me he’s got the heart of a hero.”

Wade still needs convincing, though. He returns with Al and Gerry to Gerry’s underground hippie lair, where G reveals he’s been manipulating Wade since jump and that each of his defeats – by T-Ray in issue #13, Ajax in the Deadpool/Death ’98 annual and Tiamat in issue #23, were necessary for Wade to fulfill his destiny.

“After T-Ray, you figured out that playing hero and being a hero aren’t the same. After Ajax, you believed you were worthy of a glorious destiny and reached for the brass ring. Finally, after Tiamat, you’ve learned that destiny alone isn’t worth spit. You’ve learned that you’re just a mook caught in a big black tornado, with one shot left at doing the right thing.”

Wade still needs convincing though (man, for a killer, this guy is emotionally needy). Our final pep talk of the arc comes from Blind Al, who hands Wade a gold medal and relates a story about an old friend from her World War II spy days whom she called Blondie and described as “a newsreel darling, a bona fide hero” but who wasn’t afraid to admit being scared.

(PSST! SHE’S TALKING ABOUT CAPTAIN AMERICA!)

“Gerry, crazy fruitcake that he is, is right about you,” Al tells Wade. “You’ve been trying to be a hero all this time, so of course you blew it. ’Cause it’s not a thing you can try to be. It’s not a thing you can aspire to. Hell, it’s not even what we need. We just need a guy who’ll try to get the job done, and remember to duck long enough to finish.”

NOW Wade’s ready to go kick some ass and crack wise. He teleports to Egypt, where the Destroyer has been predicted to touch down, and finds Cap fighting Tiamat. As Wade tags in, the council that’s been advising Tiamat communicates telepathically with Deadpool and tells him everything about the Destroyer and its quest to eradicate free will. They strip Tiamat of his gnarly looking armor – which apparently wards off the Destroyer’s influence – and give it to Deadpool, just in time for the Destroyer to possess Cap.

As the Sentinel of Liberty, the Destroyer tries to sweet-talk Wade into letting him zombify the Earth while they punch each other. Part of Wade thinks being a smiley vegetable is preferable to his life of pain and suffering. But he comes to his senses and, as stated earlier, kicks the possessed Captain America square in the nards, then makes a beeline for the Destroyer, destroying it.

Had this been the series’ last issue, as was previously intended, everything would have been wrapped up pretty neatly. Deadpool saves the day, the three L’s have Dixon put away, Zoe is promoted to overboss, it’s implied that Gerry and Al may have gone off together, etc. The only truly unhappy ending appears to belong to Montgomery, whom Zoe has “decommissioned” after he finally kisses her. Overbosses gonna overboss, I guess.

But Marvel decided not to cancel the book after all, and Kelly stays on for eight more issues, which we’ll cover as this weekly countdown to the Deadpool movie churns on. See you next Thursday!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 18

Today’s reading: Deadpool #21 and 22, Oct.-Nov. 1998

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Walter McDaniel and John Livesay (#21) and Anthony Williams and Andy Lanning (#22)

Back before Marvel decided to chronically renumber all its titles, every 25^th issue was treated as a big deal. There was an epic battle, or a key character was killed or brought back to life, or at the very least a holofoil or gatefold cover.

Issue #25 of Deadpool, for a bit, was also supposed to be the series’ last issue, making it doubly important.

But we’re not at issue #25 yet. We’re at issues #21 and 22, oh-so-close to the final story arc, “Dead Recknoning.” And the producers are off-camera, telling the talent to stretch to fill time.

Last issue gave us a nice breather and some quality bro-time between Deadpool and Montgomery, Landau Luckman & Lake’s chief precog. The next two issues see Wade being groomed to take on a just-introduced alien creature named Tiamat who is apparently the only thing standing between Earth and a Mithras-conceived utopia. Wade’s orders: Kill.

So, Zoe Culloden’s spent 20-some issues telling Wade he can be a hero, a good guy, not a piece of human garbage, and what does he have to do to save the galaxy? The one thing he’s been trained to do all his life that he’s been trying to get away from for months now – except for that one time with Ajax; he had it coming.

Wade reacts to this news by falling into old habits. He gets stinking drunk on a park bench while toggling through the options on his image inducer (Pre-cancer Wade! Barrio gangster! The doctor who tried to have Weasel committed in issue #6!). He freaks out when someone teleports into his house and sees him without his mask on. He socks Zoe in the stomach. He stalks Siryn. He gets in a fight with Cable (perhaps his oldest habit). Call it “Drowning Man 2, the Re-Drown-ening.”

By this point, everyone’s a little sick of Wade’s self-pity schtick. Fortunately, his oldest enemy – who at this point is six years out from co-headlining a series with Wade – knows a thing or two about fulfilling destiny … and, um, taking out the trash.

“No one thanks the garbage men, Wilson … It’s part of the job. But everyone still needs us. Without us, the world drowns,” says the man whose sole purpose in life prior to 2000 was to kill Apocalypse. “I ain’t dead yet (at this point, Cable has been poisoned by the techno-organic virus within him, so he thinks he’s dying), and the trash still needs to be picked up.”

By issue’s end, Deadpool is back at LL&L and ready to drag the cans to the curb save the day. Just in time for the overbearing Overboss Dixon to deliver some bad news.

Noah is dead.

You guys remember Noah, right? He’s the other guy who works at LL&L who has a name. Works with Zoe but takes his orders directly from Dixon? Well, yeah, he’s dead, killed by Tiamat while scoping out a facility in Puerto Rico.

Because Dixon sent him there to get killed. Noah apparently had begun to grow a conscience and a spine, questioning the overboss one time too many. And Dixon remains so convinced Deadpool will fail his mission that he will kill and mindwipe his own people to ensure that happens. To make the matter more of a shame, Dixon had apparently just recommended Noah for enrollment in the overboss program, which must be the LL&L equivalent of “He had two weeks till retirement.”

Oh, and guess who’s back? Gerry the bum! Last seen giving an unconscious Wade a pep talk in issue #14, everyone’s favorite burned-out hippie who’s more than meets the eye shows up in issue #21 floating and sipping tea in the Sanctum Santorum of Doctor Strange, who’s having a hard time coping with the fact that DP, whom he describes as “a living maelstrom of negative energy,” is being trusted with the fate of humanity.

“You know as well as I that sometimes destiny just points his finger and chooses someone … He’s very stubborn that way,” Gerry says as Strange drops his teacup and saucer in shock.

Finally, let us wrap with another Great Moment in Pool-o-vation! When Wade returns to LL&L at the end of issue #22, ready to do what needs to be done to save the Earth, he offers the following words to Zoe and Monty:

“You wanna scare a Girl Scout, do it yourself. You want to see a grown man cry like he’s just seen Bea Arthur naked? You leave it to me.”

Ladies and gentleman, I do believe this is canonically the first in what will be a long line of Deadpool’s patented Bea Arthur references, although in the future they will betray more of Wade’s fondness for the de facto leader of the Golden Girls.

Next time on Thursdays with Wade, Deadpool faces his destiny as “Dead Reckoning” is at hand. See ya then!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 17

Today’s reading: Deadpool #20, Sept. 1998

Story by Joe Kelly and James Felder

Art by Pete Woods and Walden Wong

We haven’t had a pure, honest-to-goodness breather issue in a while. Much of Deadpool’s second year has been pretty dark, full of Death, elder abuse, rape, and little guys whose heads explode.

Wade’s overdue for a palate cleanser, so he does what anyone in his position would do: He kidnaps Landau, Luckman & Lake’s preeminent precog, Montgomery, and takes him to Monte Carlo to make a fortune gambling. He also gets to fight Batroc the Leaper. Yay!

All selfish gains aside, Deadpool wants to thank Montgomery for pulling him out of his funk by giving him a glimpse into his future in issue #17. Monty made three vaguely worded predictions that more or less came true: He closed up The Box, his personal torture chamber, and freed his prisoner/roommate, Blind Al (though she doesn’t seem to want to leave); he kissed Death and was brought back to life after Ajax fatally suckerpunched him; and he watched his former tormenter, Dr. Killebrew, sacrifice himself to save Wade from Ajax, proving beyond shadow of a doubt that villains can become heroes.

So yeah, it’s time to party. Deadpool uses his image inducer to disguise himself as Ricardo Montalban and covers up Monty with a flimsy poncho and sombrero. They make their way through the casino, absorbing slot machine jackpots till Deadpool decides to try his luck at the table games, which is how he comes to win the private suite of one Georges Batroc.

Montgomery initially expresses misgivings about using his abilities for fun and profit. Then the stereotypically snooty Batroc calls him a cripple, and all bets are off. Watching Deadpool dive, Scrooge McDuck style, into a pile of money on what used to be Batroc’s bed, Monty feels like he’s starting to get Wade’s whole deal.

“These feelings … This blurring of morality and ethics … I think I’m beginning to understand how you must feel sometimes. For example, who wouldn’t think himself a monster after the way you were forced to abandon Vanessa or what you were tricked into doing to …”

Now, for all the strides he’s made since “Drowning Man,” Wade Wilson is still a guy who does not like other people poking around in his business, so he threatens to kill Monty and then marches outside for some air and to complain about how horrible his life is ... to a freak in a wheelchair who can’t be surprised and can’t bring himself to confess his true feelings to Zoe Culloden.

Having made his embarrassing confession, Wade rewards Monty by getting him sloppy drunk, at which point Monty proves what a horrible precog he actually is:

“And then he’ll do Titanic Two, cause he needs the money to support his plastic surgery habit,” he says of James Cameron. And then, “Mikey Jordan winsh the Mastersh in 2005! Place yer bets!”

Wade responds to this pish-posh prognostication with “Man … where were you when I bought all that stock in Marvel Comics? Sheesh.” Marvel had declared bankruptcy in December 1996. You’ve come a long way, baby.

The topical humor is interrupted by Batroc, who comes a leapin’ for vengeance. He pushes Monty out a window 15 floors up to the hotel pool below. Monty predicts a 6 percent chance of survival and lives, the rush giving him a new lease on life and the wherewithal to pitch woo to Zoe when he returns to the LL&L offices.

Deadpool, meanwhile, returns the favor to Batroc, tying him up and dropping him out the same window in a panel laid directly on top of the letters page. The fall – which does not end in a dip in the hotel pool – breaks both Batroc’s legs, his purple-pantyhosed meal tickets.

Wade and Monty part ways, having successfully bonded and taught each other a thing or two about a thing or two. Monty returns to work, where Overboss Dixon is waiting for him with a pair of the company’s finest brain surgeons. Y’see, Dixon hasn’t taken too kindly to “his property” going AWOL, and so he feels a punishment is in order.

“Wipe him clean. A 48-hour increment should do it,” he orders. The issue ends with a close-up shot of the flowers Monty was to give to Zoe.

Next time on Thursdays with Wade, in issues #21 and 22, Deadpool learns what he needs to do to fulfill his destiny, and when that freaks him out, he gets a pep talk from an old frenemy and future series co-headliner. See ya then!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 16

Today’s reading: Deadpool #18 and #19, July-August 1998

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Walter McDaniel and John Livesay

Ilaney Bruckner is having a bad day. Actually she’s probably been having a series of bad years, but it’s hard to tell, given what little backstory she has.

No sooner does she get home to her remote alpine cabin from collecting firewood than a masked man in a red-and-black bodysuit and tattered, oddly form-fitting overalls arrives at her door with a man who resembles Wilford Brimley with a ponytail slung over his shoulder. The masked man demands shelter so he can nurse his companion – whom he does not seem to actually like – back to health. He also slings a never-ending series of fat jokes at both the Brimley-esque fellow and his hostess, who while thickly proportioned is still curved in all the ways that count by ’90s comics standards.

Feeling threatened, Ilaney grabs her shotgun and fires off a shot or two, but the masked man is agile and dodges the bullets. He commandeers her weapon, apologizes to her in her native German and then asks to use her snowmobile. Someone is coming for him, with a menacing voice that echoes across the Swiss Alps. The masked man, whom his pursuer identifies as Wilson, fires off Ilaney’s last bullet at his target, an armored hulk of a man. Wilson misses, the but the sound triggers an avalanche, burying the man Wilson identifies as Ajax and in the process destroying Ilaney’s house, her refuge from the unclear events of her past. Not only that, but as they make their getaway, the weight of three people wrecks her snowmobile, her lone means of transport.

Wilson, who at this point is wearing only a mask, pants and boots, his bare torso resembling one giant, muscular scar, says Ajax will not stay buried and will come for them. He explains that a long time ago, he blew a hole through Ajax with two automatic assault rifles at point blank range. Killebrew, his portly, elderly companion, rebuilt Ajax, and so Wilson believes the doctor, presently slumbering in a cave by a roaring fire, knows how to stop him. Ilaney questions his life choices, and Wilson fires back at her about being a hermit.

“You don’t know … you don’t know me,” Ilaney says. “And I do know hate. … Oh, do I know hate.”

Just then, Killebrew comes to. Ilaney offers to get Wilson, who’d left to find more firewood, but Killebrew stops her, confessing he has no idea how to stop Ajax.

When Killebrew finally admits as much to Wilson, Wilson throws him clear across the campsite. The two men argue about whether cycles of violence can be broken and how to let go of hate and anger. Wilson would seem to think such things are not possible – it’s hard to tell when they argue in English – and appears ready to deliver a killing blow to the old man. So she whacks him across the head with a torch. Asked why she did it, she tells Killebrew once more that she knows about hate, and that she’s tired of running, though there will be much more running before the day is done.

That’s when Ajax shows up again. End first issue.

The second half begins with Deadpool and Ajax wailing on each other. Ajax clearly has the upper hand. Ilaney and Killebrew watch, helpless, as the masked freaks go at it. Finally, Killebrew says goodbye to Ilaney and jumps on Ajax’s back with gasoline and a torch in a bid to slow his creation. As Ajax burns, he picks up Killebrew and snaps his neck. Wilson and Ajax’s Dr. Frankenstein gets to die a hero.

Ilaney grabs Wilson and runs till they hit a cliff, Ajax screaming “YOU’RE NEXT! YOU’RE NEXT” behind them. At this point, Wilson starts arguing with no one (It’s actually the ghosts of the Weapon X rejects, but she doesn’t know that). With Ajax barreling down on them, they jump into the water below. The plunge knocks Ilaney unconscious. Wilson revives her with mouth-to-mouth, then makes sex jokes. More arguing, as if someone were telling Wilson to leave Ilaney behind.

As Ilaney shivers in Wilson’s arms, she hallucinates reliving her past.

“N-no, colonel … I don’t want to b-be safe anymore. … D-done that to d-death. … I want to fly again. … I’m a g-good pilot, sir. … I tried. … T-tried to save them. … But after the accident. … I c-c-couldn’t sleep … because I could hear them screaming … sm-smell burning. … B-but hiding. … N-no g-good any more … I want to live. … I want to f-fly. K-Killebrew changed. … He got what he wanted. … I w-want to change. … I want m-my life back-k. Can I fly again, sir?”

“Yeah, kid. … You can fly,” Wilson tells her as she slips into oblivion.

A lot of other stuff happens in these two issues. Deadpool drowns Ajax and cracks his neck at the bottom of a lake. Killebrew becomes a Force Ghost. The reject ghosts don’t move on after Ajax dies and question whether they should have sent Deadpool on a blood quest given how hard he’s been trying to become a hero. Montgomery the precog lets Zoe Culloden know her superiors have tapped the substitute Mithras in case Deadpool doesn’t make the cut. Blind Al dithers on leaving the Deadhut again.

But on rereading this story for the first time in years, it occurs to me this two-parter should have been Ilaney’s story. In the age of Rey and Furiosa, Ilaney appears woefully underwritten, and it’s a shame she was created just to die. It would have been interesting to see her narration boxes tell the story of Deadpool and Ajax’s final battle, on top of her terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

As for Ajax, he’ll stay dead and buried for a good, long time, till 2015’s Deadpool vs. Thanos miniseries, when he shows up because Death (capital-D Death, as in Deadpool’s ex) has disappeared, leading to resurrections all over the universe. The man born Francis Fanny will also be the big bad in next month’s Deadpool movie, played by Ed Skrein.

Next time on Thursdays with Wade: Deadpool and Monty do Monte Carlo, as we get back to this Mithras Directive business. See ya then!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.