WARNING! WARNING! OBLIGATORY DEADPOOL POST! Yeah, you read the title right. For a long time I did not like The Merc With The Mouth, The Regenerative Degenerate, the DJ DP himself. And if you're here thinking "how can you hate Deadpool? His movie was awesome" than I got some news for you. This has nothing to do with the movie.
I became familiar with Deadpool when "Secret Invasion" came out in 2008, and further looked into the character when he made a playable appearance in "Marvel vs Capcom 3", it's sequel, and then never again because "MvC Infinite" was stupid. Now I know the character pretty well, and "pretty well" translates to "I actually read his comics. At the time of this post being written, my podcast The Comic Buffet-which you should listen to if you're sick of reading-has covered five Deadpool stories. These being The Deadpool Killogoly (Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe, Deadpool Killustrated, and Deadpool Kills Deadpool), Deadpool The Duck, and an arc from Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn's run on Deadpool called "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly". The latter will be revisited for a Comic Buffet in honor of the movie's sequel, as we did the same story for the last movie.
I tell you all this because A. I really need more downloads on my podcasts and B. because I recognize the popularity of the character. Thing is, I didn't fall for it. I feel most people like Deadpool because he's funny, he's not high-strung like the typical superhero, and he's "Memetastic". But me? Never got into that. So he's funny? Most comic book characters are without being annoying. So he's not high-strung? Again, most superheroes can be pretty casual. And being "Memetastic"? Well, excuse my honesty, but being into memes is not a personality.
Look, I'm happy people like Deadpool. I'm happy if anyone likes anything comic book related. And if liking Deadpool got you to pick up a few issues than thank you for helping the industry and enjoy your books. But I can't find something enjoyable if there's no surface behind it. I don't like Doctor Doom because he's super powerful, I like him because he has a sympathetic backstory and his rise to power gives him complexity. I don't like Blue Beetle because he looks cool, I like him because he's some teenager trying to fill the shoes of a gadgeteer he's never met (pre-Rebirth anyway). And I cannot enjoy a character just because he is funny. This is the part where I say "But" again.
I like Deadpool now. Not because of the movie. Not because of the video game. Not because of the cartoon. And not because some of my closest friends won't shut up about the guy. I like him because I understand what Gerry Duggan has been trying to say about Deadpool for the last six years. Deadpool is a miserable, unhappy, unsatisfied, underachieving, mentally ill victim who hides behind jokes. He makes references, he makes people laugh, he does stupid stuff, all to hide the fact that he is unstable. He has family he either doesn't remember or doesn't want to remember. He has been through so much pain that his laughter is simply a cry for help. Help he doesn't think is good enough. Help he doesn't think he deserves. In the last six years, Deadpool has become a millionaire, he's founded a team, he's been an Avenger, he's worked for SHIELD, and he's become close friends with the likes of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. Deadpool didn't meme or shove his way into the spotlight of Marvel Comics. And he didn't get there by just being Deadpool He got there because Duggan gave Deadpool a soul. He gave Deadpool the heart of a hero, something this poster-boy has been lacking for decades. And now that Duggan is leaving the book, Skottie Young will inevitably suppress Deadpool back into the pop culture slut he used to be. A joke with no voice. A hero with no heart. And just in time for his last movie.
Thanks for reading.
Can we talk about how Colossus is more loyal to the comics in "Deadpool" than any of the X-Men films?
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