[Meeting…] Deadpool

There are many characters who at some point in their history experience stages of oblivion to the point of almost disappearing, this possibility being much greater in recent characters or those too closely related to a specific era that has gone out of fashion.

The case of today's character, Deadpool (also known as Massacre) is one of the few who, despite having an expiration date (like many characters created in the 90s) had an unexpected resurgence that captivated the public, yes, at the cost of losing part of its original essence to become a representative of the absurd in the house of ideas.

MERCENARY WITH A MOUTH MOUTH

Deadpool had his first appearance in issue 98 of New Mutants where he was simply an assassin hired to kill Cable. His remarkable skill with weapons was only comparable to the high number of words that came out of his mouth without anyone asking him anything. The mercenary with a mouth was born.

It's an open secret that The creation of Deadpool was directly inspired by Deathstroke The Terminator, one of the most dangerous and efficient mercenaries in DC Comics. According to some sources, Liefeld showed a sketch of the character to Fabian Nicieza explaining his history and abilities and Nicieza told him "That's Deathstroke!" So, given the evidence, they decided to make a parody of the DC Comics character. If Deathstroke was a serious, lethal and very professional guy, Deadpool would be just as lethal (well, not as lethal) but more comical and talkative. To top off the parody, Deathstroke's (Slade Wilson) real name served as the inspiration for Deadpool's (Wade Wilson). At least we have to admire that Nicieza and Liefeld did not deny their influences, as many authors do.

Despite his resemblance to Deathstroke, many of those not familiar with comics used to confuse Deadpool with Spider-man, something that is not unusual, since the design of the suit can remind us of the spider hero, if you add guns and weapons. In addition, Spider-man is also talkative and annoying when he fights, although he uses it as a weapon of distraction, not out of habit, like the mercenary with a mouth.

THE REMEDY IS WORSE THAN THE DISEASE

Having made his origin and inspirations clear, it is appropriate to tell the story of Wade Wilson, a guy who is diagnosed with cancer that will end his life in a short period of time. Totally desperate, Wilson undergoes an experiment by the Canadian government to try to cure himself, something that will radically change his life.

The experiment cures his illness, while giving him superhuman powers (such as the ability to regenerate) and leaves him totally disfigured and mentally unstableAt that moment Deadpool begins his new life, shooting, cutting and talking non-stop, alone or accompanied by his old enemy, Cable.

As a "90s" character full of muscles, weapons, testosterone and violence, Deadpool's days were numbered; sooner or later teenage readers would grow up and consider him something flat and uninteresting. Fortunately This character's dementia became an improvised lifeboat, since the scriptwriters clung to it to make Deadpool go from being an old-fashioned secondary character to becoming a breath of fresh air to the point of becoming one of the publisher's most famous.

Any reader of superhero comics knows that the inconsistencies, references and clichés in these types of comics are so constant that it is impossible not to make fun of them. Just like other characters had done previously (like Lobo in the 90s or Hulka in her time as a lawyer like Ally McBeal) Deadpool started breaking the fourth wall (talk directly to the reader) to make some joke or inappropriate comment, which the rest of the characters in the comic do not understand but which makes a lot of sense to the reader.

For example, you could buy a Deadpool comic and see that on the cover there was an incredible scene full of secondary characters and that the character said "what is on the cover has nothing to do with what is inside the comic", or that, after having "reset" the Spider-man universe thanks to a pact between the spider hero and Mephistopheles, Deadpool would throw it in his face saying "hey, not all of us can solve our problems by making pacts with demons", something that Spiderman is incapable of. to understand (remember, his story was reset, so he doesn't remember anything).

With the parody of the comic book world underway, Deadpool would win over the rest of the public by making references to everything that was even remotely popular, so It is not unusual to see him talk about celebrities, television shows, video games, movies, or mention and parody DC Comics events and characters. (there are the Deadpool Corps in response to the events that occurred in the Green Lantern Corps collection).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Deadpool is a character who was lucky enough to overcome his first and forgettable stage to become a mascot within the world of superhero comics. No serious hero worth his salt wants to be around Wade Wilson voluntarily, so his friends and companions tend to be other outcasts like him (like Bob, a pathetic Hydra soldier “kidnapped” by Deadpool who becomes his companion).

This “emptiness” that the other heroes make of him is something especially funny, since groups like the Avengers and the

Anyone who wants to enjoy the adventures of Deadpool has it very easy, since his regular collection is very fun and some of his stories have been compiled in volumes, and it is also very easy to find this character in other people's collections because Marvel has dedicated itself to exploiting him as much as possible in recent years.

The movie of Deadpool (which I haven't seen yet) seems to respect the character quite a bit and can serve as an approach for those who want to see him in action or want to forget about his unfortunate appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.