Deadpool, The Merc With a Mouth

For my comic book analysis, I decided to read some issues of Marvel’s Deadpool. The names of these issues were Suicide Kings, Secret Invasion and Dark Reign, all in chronological order.  Often called the merc with a mouth, Deadpool is the main character of these comics. Since this is the Marvel universe, several other Marvel super heroes such as Spiderman make appearances within one issue or even several. The main overall plot is Deadpool seeking mercenary type jobs because that is exactly what he is; a mercenary. He is often sought after by “employers” because he is the best within his field. This is mainly due to his incredible ability to regenerate any wound that is inflicted upon him; Deadpool is virtually indestructible. It is also important to mention that Deadpool is slightly insane and this is due to all of the experimentation that was conducted on him to study his power.

When analyzing the structure of these Deadpool comics, I noticed some important defining factors. The most obvious detail was the use of words to describe an action. This style is similar to a sound effect and is very common in Marvel’s comic books. An example of this would be Deadpool landing a punch on somebody and a particular phrase (usually gibberish) hovers above the scene to give the blow more realism. In my opinion, I would say that Deadpool comics are picture dominate especially during crucial action scenes. I personally like this style because Marvel artists make it work very well; it has been implemented ever since Jack Kirby first developed it. I also like how there are different looking word balloons with unique text styles which help describe Deadpool’s “multiple personalities” very well. As for the art itself, it is definitely closer to the realistic side of the spectrum. However when the artists decide to show the reader Deadpool’s inner thoughts, the style often transfers to the cartoon side. This technique helps show just how insane Deadpool really is; not to mention it also helps add to the hilarity factor. When looking at Scott McCloud’s description of panel to panel transitions, the most commonly used transition used in Deadpool comics would have to be action to action. Even though this type of transition is dominant, other transfers such as subject to subject and scene to scene are blended in as well. The only problem I see with the use of scene to scene transfers in these particular comics is that the story tends to jump around a bit. Readers who are new to Deadpool might be thrown off by the randomness seen at some points as the story unfolds.

Deadpool was originally created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza and debuted in New Mutants which was published in 1991 (a spin-off of the X-men franchise). At first, Nicieza told Liefeld that this character concept was too similar to that of Deathstroke from Teen Titans. After some “modifications” were made to his design, Nicieza gave the real name Wade Wilson to Deadpool as a joke and reference to Deathstroke or Slade Wilson. Deadpool received his first ongoing title in 1997 which was written by Joe Kelly with the artist Ed McGuinness. Deadpool himself quickly gained popularity as a hero due to his unorthodox character. The particular issues I read were published by people such as Way, Medina and Barberi. Even though all of these comics were published by several different artists and writers, the concept of Deadpool remains the same to this very day. 

Deadpool Suicide Kings Cover