We each have our own ways of dealing with loss. Whenever things are really circling the drain, you hear a lot about the Kübler-Ross stages of grief, but personally I find them woefully incomplete. Yes, I’m sure all of her steps are certainly in there, but somewhere between Anger and Bargaining the good doctor forgot a couple of my personal favorites which always get me through the hard times, namely Blame and Random Scapegoating.
Last week, it came to light that Marvel’s Captain Britain and MI-13 was being canceled as of issue #15. This was one of my favorite series of the last year, so naturally I was crestfallen, but the Denial stage would have been hard to pull off. There had already been one false rumor about the book going down for the count a couple of months ago, and although I don’t read sales figures anymore I did notice that nobody exactly responded to that rumor by crying, “What? That’s ridiculous.” It seemed like a plausible thing to have happen, even if you’re not like me, a pessimist who secretly believes he has the psychic juju to kill a book just by liking it. Basically, this time Acceptance was my starting place.
For some reason, though, when I heard about the cancellation the very first thing I did was head to the Twitterverse and say to no one in particular, “Knowing that Captain Britain is canceled but Deadpool has two books and a miniseries makes me want to shake someone by the shoulders hard.”
What did Deadpool have to do with anything? Blame and Random Scapegoating.
I have it in for Deadpool. He is an imaginary person, and he has never harmed me due to his fictionality, but just knowing he’s out there Deadpooling around gets on my nerves if I think about it too long. I suspect Deadpool is responsible for most traffic jams and rained-out baseball games. Back when I had a newborn, I’d periodically have to get up for a 2:00 a.m. feeding, stub my toe hard on the nightstand in the darkness of night, and in my pain cry out, “Gaahh! F***ing Deadpool.”
I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t explain it. Except I’m going to try and explain it right now.
Deadpool is far from the only “character” who gets under my skin like this; he is simply the valedictorian for an entire class, almost all of whom sprung up somewhere with an “X-” in its name back in the nineties. Deadpool. Bishop. Cable. Stryfe. Gambit.
Oh, Gambit. When I look at you, I see blank paper.
All of these characters have fans. Smart fans. Fans with taste. When I look at them, though, all I see is a mishmash of pouches and kneepads. What do any of their names have to do with anything? Isn’t a gambit the move where you sacrifice your pawn? Walk me through how we get from there to energy cards.
And what a spectacular power that is, by the way. Gambit has it; Bishop apparently has it. It seems like there was a whole spate of characters during this era who had the power of Something Something Energy, which sounds a lot like the power to help a writer meet a deadline with only ten minutes to spare.
“Get this, chief: his name will be Word Salad– we’ll just call him that until I open the dictionary to a random page and point to his actual name, pausing to change any i’s in the word to y’s– and his power will be… that he… oh, let’s stick with ‘absorbs energy and blasts out energy blasts.'”
“Okay, but what kind of blasting energy will he blast? Electro-magnetic? Heat?”
“Pink! Pink is an energy.”
Even as I say these hurtful things, I know they are the fruits of an unacceptable prejudice. A good writer, given the raw material and enough freedom, can perform alchemy and create a golden story out of even these leaden ciphers. 80% of the world’s useless x-characters have been safely quarantined in Cable for the last several months; this should be great because it’s keeping them out of books I care about, but instead it’s great because they’ve somehow made Cable into a book I care about. Duane Swierczynski has some kind of unholy gift; this is the first time I can remember Bishop ever serving a purpose, the first time I can remember anyone giving his convoluted time travel backstory any meaning. As interesting as District X was, I spent no small amount of time flipping its pages, watching Bishop write parking tickets and groaning, “You are from the future! Know something!” And Cable? Hell, even the people who created Cable didn’t know or care anything about Cable, and now look at him. He’s gone from this guy who, I guess, had the power of holding a redwood-sized gun with one hand to being this later-years Clint Eastwood character with real vulnerability and a mission that is completely relatable. The axiom that you hear so often really is true: there are no bad characters except for Gambit, only bad writers.
So, where does that leave poor, awful Deadpool? If every character is a good story just waiting to happen, and I know this intellectually, why is there no power in the world that can stop me from hating his stupid, stupid face? It’s not like I haven’t read a Deadpool issue or ten in my attempts to understand the fervor of his fanbase. The King had an album back in the day called 50000000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong, and I always think those words when someone insists that his book is the Greatest Evahhh for the four hundredth time. No matter how hard I try, I always close the book thinking, “They can, though! All 50000000 of them can.”
I just can’t take the cutesy-poo self-referential zaniness from the hilarious amoral cancer-deformed serial killer. (What is it with comics and cancer that makes you look like a bubbling burn victim? SEE ALSO: Warren Ellis’ Ruins, the best argument ever made against the optic nerve.) Let me see if I can guess what happens in this issue: a faceless character who never stops wisecracking like an evil Spider-Man with no Peter Parker goes Deadpooling around on a mission not even he cares about, because caring about things isn’t cool. The end.
Also, about those jokes: just having the character say, “I know I am in a comic book; I talk to myself in captions” does not constitute comedy all by itself. That’s some autopilot stuff, right there. Perhaps while Deadpool is breaking the fourth wall, he can reach through and accept this phone call from a 1983 Mad magazine, which would kindly like its style back. Afterwards, perhaps he can place a call to She-Hulk to find out how it’s done.
If I just haven’t been exposed to the Great American Deadpool Story, by all means point the way. But before you come for me, Deadpool people, please understand that I am completely aware that a lot of this is irrational. The heart has reasons which reason knows not of. You must have characters like this. You’ve probably said, “Oh, my God, if I hear one more of those ______ people yammering about how good _____ is, I am going to put my head through a plate glass window.” You may have even said it about Captain Britain. Not everything can be for everyone. Taste is subjective and not always controllable. Please keep that in mind before the comments fill to the brim with bile. I can’t help it. I have it in for Deadpool.
Jim Mroczkowski almost made it a year here at iFanboy; it’s a shame it had to end like this. Unfollow him at Twitter or send an emotional e-mail, whatever feels right.
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I actually think that joke about yellow boxes is pretty funny, espically for being only one panel. I guess I haven’t had this happen to me yet. Where a perfectly great series is taken before its time and I just happen to be reading it. My condolences.
I like the 4th wall breaking concept with crazy Starman (Justice Society). I think it works there because there’s a cosmic element and it’s used to relay hints at future events (like Layla Miller I suppose). I agree though that simply breaking the 4th wall isn’t enough. There needs to be purpose behind it. It’s also dangerously easy to fall back on the same jokes all the time.
Deadpool is kinda like Judd Apatow; yeah, he’s funny sometimes, but not enough to regularly pay for stuff with his name on it.
Heh.
And a gambit is where you *risk* a pawn (or any piece) to gain an advantage in position. I think they were going for the "calculated move" definition. In this case, Gambit was a calculated move to make money. 🙂
Oh Christ, Jim! What have you done? Do you realize the shitstorm you’ve just unleashed from some of the user base here? I worry for your safety.
That being said, great article. The image of you cursing Deadpool’s name at 2 in the morning is one of my new favorite things to come from the site. The nice thing about this article is that anyone could just replace Deadpool’s name with their target of choice and pretty much make it work for them.
Hey Hey Hey Hey…..this was uncalled for, and mean spirited!
Deadpool doesnt have just yellow text boxes; he’s got a white one too. So he talks to himself in two different voices. Get your facts right! 😛
In all seriousness, even as a Deadpool uberfan as myself….his whoring out is bugging me. I mean let’s be fair, the 2nd series hasnt come out yet. But we are going to have 2 main titles for him; a mini series, he’s currently in the Messiah War books, his zombified version is also in MZ4….and it’s probably only the start of Marvel whoring him out. I mean once we get closer to his film release, oy vey.
But in defense let me state that Daniel Way is trying to make Deadpool better then he ever has been. Does he break the forth wall? Occasionally. But not as much as he used to. Now Way seems to be focusing on actually telling a good story around Wilson AND eating his cake too by putting a lot of humor in as well. If anything, Deadpool’s hallucinations have taken over the character in all books. Or Pool-O-Vision as he trademark it in the Wolverine Origins arc.
Okay enough with the Deadpool defending. This was a great article Jimski, and everything you stated about the 90’s was so correct. Energy Beams! We need to have mutants with energy powers! That was 99.9% of new character’s powers in Marvel comics. It is all subjective when it comes to who loves who, or who hates what. But if Deadpool is getting two series while Captain Britain is getting cancelled….obviously more people are buying Deadpool comics then Cap. Brit. if Marvel is whoring the character out.
Here: After calculating the sale numbers (from icv2.com) the average sales for Deadpool is 52,150 copies per month. So there’s your reason on why Deadpool is still around and why Marvel is whoring him out…Cause he sells over 50,000 copies per month. That’s about 3x as more copies sold then Cap. Brit.
I like the new Deadpool series, but two comics and a mini series is too much. Besides I’d rather have a Captain Britain comic than a Deadpool comic.
Thanks Jimski for brightening another very crappy morning! I always look forward to your articles, and this one made me laugh out loud. I have yet to get the whole Deadpool phenomenon myself (though I liked Ryan Reynolds’ scene in Wolverine).
I dislike every other character you mentioned, but Deadpool is a guilty pleasure I indulge in every so often. I enjoy his premise, brutally effective killing machine yet ironically over-the-top ridiculousness, quite refreshing in the 616 Marvel Universe. His presence is a novelty, much like Howard the Duck, and provides a dose of old fashioned fun into the same environments laden with drama and dread which we read about month after month.
The backlash begins. Deadpool is the new Wolverine.
I know this article really isn’t about Deadpool.
I don’t have any irrational loyalty to comic characters other than maybe Dr. Strange and Namor and even then I don’t read everything.
I did just read the last Cable/Deadpool trade: Deadpool Against The Marvel Universe, and it was really enjoyable. Art was pretty and the stories were fun.
Anyone who defends Loeb’s Red Hulk might want to see how dumb fun Marvel comics are done right and check out Deadpool and Slott’s She-Hulk.
Sonia and Jim and the list of comics.
Add me to the legion of folks that groaned out loud when I realized Deadpool was still going strong with multiple titles and Cap. Britain is being cancelled. I just don’t get it at all.
Great article. But I have to say, it’s not really Random Scapegoating. While I’m aware Capt. Britain isn’t selling well, it quirks my brow to see that Deadpool is getting two titles. No matter how good Way’s run on Deadpool is I just can’t see Deadpooling being a character to hold two titles. And I look at a dual-Deadpool title as part of the reason that Capt. Britain is being culled so soon.
Deadpool has a fanbase because Deadpool fans know what good stories there are, such as the Joe Kelly and Gail Simone issues. Also, Deadpool fans know that he is more than just a 4th wall breaking character who talks to his own captions. Saying that the character is nothing but that is like saying the Hulk in Jeph Loeb’s series is the definative Hulk. Different writers can really make a character shine brighter when written. For instance, compare Jason Aaron’s Wolverine to Daniel Way’s or Jeph Loeb’s.
Plus, don’t rope in Captain Britain’s cancellation into the fact that ‘Pool has two titles. The reason he has more titles is because his fans simply demanded more of him when he was on hiatus for awhile. If the Captain Britain fanbase is as devoted as the Deadpool fanbase, I’m positve Marvel won’t let a good thing stay dead.
Don’t attack Deadpool, Wolverine is the one with 4 ongoing titles. Yes 4.
If anything Wade is lucky he just got a second title and Wolverine didn’t get a 5th. Captain Britian was a great title that I’ll miss a lot but the merc with a mouth is a great character who deserves all the attention he’s finally getting.
@madi900: you took the words right out of my mouth.
Jimski kinda hints at this when he points out that his hatred is irrational, but I want to quickly point out that it’s faulty logic to pin the demise of Captain Britain (or any series) on another series, whether it’s Deadpool’s 2nd series or Wolverine’s 19th.
Marvel will only publish books that are profitable. Consumers will only buy what they want (or what they need to collect to have a complete run if they’re of that persuasion). Marvel will only publish a second Deadpool series as long as it is profitable.The same held true for Captain Britain. Readers speak with their wallets, and all the critical acclaim on the ‘net doesn’t really mean much next to a sales chart.
With you all the way here, Jim. I’ve never been a fan of the character and the fact that MI13 is gone sucks.
Having said that, I don’t hate Deadpool in this Messiah War crossover.
Not only is it Deadpool’s fault that Captain Britain got cancelled, he is also responsible for the global economic crisis & swine flu. Deadpool totally drinks pee out of dixie cups.
Let’s not forget DP didn’t even have his own book for a long long time, so now the fans (who the books are for) are getting something extra. No one is forcing anyone to read any DP book or any of the 15,000 X-Men or Wolverine titles. If you hate the character, don’t read his books. Problem solved.
If anyone is SERIOUSLY saying Deadpool’s new books are why Captain Britain got cancelled (no one is, right?) — if Captain Britain sold more, it wouldn’t have got cancelld, even if DP had 20 books.
Absolutely NO ONE said anything about Deadpool books being responsible for any cancellations. No causal relationship was stated or implied.
Reading comprehension is fun!
I am a Deadpool reader, but I am far from the hardcore fan who thinks he’s the be all and end all of characters. To me, Deadpool is just what would happen if Deathstroke and Ambush Bug had a kid. And Deathstroke and Ambush bug are both far superior characters o Deadpool. Now, I like Deadpool. but I don’t get this crazy devotion to him. And idk if it’s been said but Deadpool’s name actually does have meaning.
I love that whenever someone says a book doesn’t get enough attention, someone quickly counters by equating sales to quality. These two statistics have almost nothing to do with eachother. There are great books that sell almost no copies and terrible books that sell thousands. That’s just how it is. It’s the same in film, music, television and any other form of entertainment that I’m currently too lazy to list.
See what you’ve done, Jim? I hope you’re happy, we’re all fightng again.
I’d like to start up a fund to get Paul Cornell to come to my house and tell me what he was going to do with the next few arcs of MI13. Either that or he can tell stories about how he would kill Deadpool.
Either way i’ll be happy.
As much as I liked the Captain Britain series and its cast of characters it had too much stacked against it. Its not like other team books filled with character you know and love. Casual Fans know Cap, Wisdom, and Blade but only real hardcore fans would know the black knight, brother blood, spitfire. The invasion was a good jumping on point but we reqaly didnot have time to care for these character enought to go into a 6 issue arc about dracula. sad to see it go, but It was a good book that one day will get re=launced. Plus now we can have that Deadpool/Gambit cross-over book 😛
@cyberauron: I can’t speak for everyone (and I won’t spoil anything) but when stuff happened to people in the last issue I freaked out. That was a total "holy shit" moment. Cornell fleshed out these characters fantastically and really made me care for them.
I think the Dracula arc has been the best arc for this book and possibly the best for any book that I read in a while.
@Josh — Read PraxJarvin’s post. Someone did both state & imply it. "And I look at a dual-Deadpool title as part of the reason that Capt. Britain is being culled so soon."
@Conor — If that awesome snarky comment was for me (?) I was talking about Prax’s comment, not Jimski’s article.
@Anson — I don’t think anyone is linking sales to quality, it’s just that if a books sells a lot, they will keep publishing it. It’s a business!
@cyberauron. The best part of Captain Britain is that it was mostly characters that people weren’t familiar with. We were meeting new people and learning really interesting things about them. There’s been tons of characterization in the opening (and I guess, only arcs.) I care about these characters way more than most of the characters who turn up in the x-books and avengers books month in and month out, not to say I don’t have my favorites in those casts.
@WadeWilson: You should have @ed your comment. General comments are assumed to be responses to the article.
Er, my apologies. I could’ve sworn there was a post above where someone mentioned they still felt (however irrationally) that Deadpool’s 2nd title had something to do with Captain Britain’s cancellation. And then I saw the comment about Wolverine’s 4th title, and it seemed the conversation had begun heading that direction. Not sure if I misread that while skimming the comments or if something was deleted. Didn’t mean to throw any gasoline on the (nonexistent) fire.
@anson17 – I don’t think anyone was equating quality with sales. Sales only serve as a statistic to reveal WHAT THEY ARE BUYING and nothing else. Sales = publication worthiniess, and nothing else.
@anson17 @reg5000 you guys like them because you were reading from the beginning. I was saying that for casual comicbook readers wouldnt pick this up because it was full of characters they didnt know. MI13 never grew its audience past the first couple of issue
@cyberauron: You’re making a lot of untrue assumptions. We in fact read an e-mail on one of our shows from someone who randomly picked up CAPTAIN BRITAIN and enjoyed it.
I, myself, have no history with any of the characters beyond The Black Knight.
@Wade – thanks for catching and quoting that comment! I knew I had read that somewhere! :feeling vindicated:
@cyberauron: I didn’t know who half of the characters were before I picked up the first issue and I was immediately enthralled. That’s good writing
At some stage we all came across our favourite characters for the first time so the argument that just because you didn’t know them means you won’t enjoy their stories is fairly erroneous.
If you didn’t like MI13 then that’s cool and i’m not going to blame you (or Deadpool) for the book’s cancellation. No individual is to blame. It is just the world we live in. It sucks, but i’ll deal.
@Conor – LOL I said "If anyone is SERIOUSLY saying Deadpool’s new books are why Captain Britain got cancelled" (I know Jimski isn’t serious, I can actually read, you know) When I said ANYONE, I meant ANYONE. Sorry that wasn’t clear enough to you.
@reg5000 Yes you picked it up on the first issue. you were introduced to these characters
@conor like everyone else I assume, but in theory did the user pick up #1.
@wadewilson Again, I said *part of*. To ape Conor reading comprehension is fun. I’m not saying it’s a 1:1 relationship, but Marvel generally keeps X amount of ongoing titles a month (at one time I know it was 20 ongoing title, 10 minis, it’s probably different now) , the subtraction of one allows for the publication of another. So in that sense, yes… Captain Britain is being canceled in favor of some other title for obvious financial reasons, most likely it was for Deadpool. It’s the only "new" ongoing I can think of off the top of my head. It could just as easily been canned for the production of, say, Pet Avengers or Destroyer. I never claimed that it was trading quality for a lesser title, just that yes, in a sheer cause effect relationship, the cancellation of Captain Britain allows for the production of another Deadpool title. My comment was that Jim’s point that it constitutes "irrational scapegoating" is a bit of a misnomer. On some level, it’s very rational scapegoating and not entirely random, if Captain Britain was selling well possibly… Iron Fist or something else would be canceled in lieu of a new Deadpool, Wolverine or perhaps the Astonishing X-vengers. As well, I just said that I don’t see Deadpool holding down two titles. I don’t see how it’s a sound financial decision for Marvel. Maybe it will pay off and be a bigger success than Capt. Britain? I don’t know. On the other hand, I don’t want to see Deadpool’s book fail for his fans – despite not being one of them.
@daccampo I’m actually agreeing with you, but Marvel also prints a limited amount of ongoing titles a year. People seem to be ignoring this fact, so yeah… It’s not a 1:1 casual relationship, but there is a relationship to be drawn between Marvel starting a new book or not.
@Anson I don’t think I said anything about the quality of either book. While I certainly think Capt. Britain is better than Deadpool, I have no real idea. Daniel Way could be writing the "War and Peace" of Comics right now. I don’t know, nor do I care. It’s totally a financial decision on Marvel’s part. And that’s not wrong of them. Their a business. But you also can’t look at the situation and say "No, you can’t draw that casual relationship," because 1) I can, 2) it’s most likely it does exist, even if it’s not these two titles. Someone’s favorite title will be canceled in favor of someone else’s. It’s a fact of life of comics!
In all this talk of Captain Britain’s sales and relative merits, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s really important, how ridiculous Gambit is.
@cyberauron: Nope, it was number 12. Here’s the show. (It was a user review, not an e-mail).
@cyberauron: You are correct in saying that having read issue one first I was "properly" introduced to these characters. That isn’t a requirement for enjoyment though. I believe the user Conor is referring to (and apologies if i’m wrong in this) did not pick up issue one but grabbed a later issue. They still enjoyed it.
Can I ask who you’re favourite character is?
@Jimski wtf is that thing on Gambit’s head? It was on every super hero in the early 90s (even Jean Grey, see also http://www.freewebs.com/xxspicedxx/Jean-Grey-Card.jpg ), yet everyone *except* Gambit seems to have dropped it.
Also, I will never lose sight of how ridiculous Gambit is. Never never never.
I have a card in my wallet that has my name, birthday, blood type, known allergies, and the line "Gambit is stupid" on it.
Never forget.
@Conor: I would have assumed that Gambit was just one of your allergies.
I was one of those X-Men cartoon guys that loved Gambit. When I got into comics I was curious as to why he wasn’t around anymore. Then I picked up a trade of a Gambit solo series and my questions were answered.
Having said that I still want to like him. He just needs to be written better I think.
@Prax – If reading comprehension is fun, I guess pointless arguing of semantics is more fun, because there’s a lot going on. I wasn’t attacking you or your post, & because I didn’t say *part of* in my response, my reading comprehension is lacking??
If it makes you feel better, I’ll correct my huge mistake. You think that Deadpool is *partially* responsible for Captain Britain being cancelled.
That’s all I was quoting. I wasn’t trying to argue.
The IFanboy wants his own river of slime…
If you want purpose for Deadpool read Deadpool Classic TP #1 (maybe you already did…) despite it not being that good, it adds something to the character. And as far as I remember, the cancer didnt’ cause the face – the cure caused it, so that adds something to the character as well. Think of him as the hunchback of Notre Dame but with guns.
Goodbye Horses’ lyrics seem fitting for the article…
@Prax, whoops wasn’t trying to call you out. Sorry, man. It was more of a preemptive post than anything. It came up a lot on the eisner’s post too. Sorry for the misunderstanding, although you did make good points about sales v. quality anyway.
@REG5000 In no particular order Pete wisdom, Bucky Barnes, Madrox Union Jack Deadpool, Gambit,
@conor Professor conor why can I never win an argument against you 😛
@Anson No problems! Again, I’m not a fan of Deadpool, but his fans should get a fair shake. I’m just saying… the books aren’t published and canceled in a vacuum.
@Wade I don’t want to get into a fight, dude. I don’t hate the character and I don’t begrudge you the second title coming out. I’m not *mad* at Deadpool for getting a second book – that’s ridiculous. As I said above, sure there’s no direct correlation from title-to-tile.
@Prax. Very true.
@ameliadaz The nineties truly seem to have been the Tiara Years. What were their functions? Maybe they were reinforced and protected the wearer from blows to the temple.
@chlop: did you just make a Ghostbusters 2 reference? Ghostbusters… two??
The funny thing (to me) is that, when I had the unenviable task of doing Deadpool research (you’ll never know how much I give for you people) I found myself reading the Wikipedia entry and thinking, "Some of this backstory is pretty interesting! I wish somebody was doing a book about this guy right now, instead of One Joke McGee over here."
@cyberauron: Conor is smarter than three regular people combined.
Clearly, the solution to all of this would have been for Deadpool to join MI:13.
Then everyone would be happy. 🙂
Yeah I don’t really like Deadpool either.
That is all I have to contribute, heh.
@Diabhol: You need to go sit in the corner now and think about what you’ve said.
I really don’t hate Gambit, as he’s one of the few things we Cajuns have in comics. I just wish he’d get rid of that homeless man’s coat, headgear, and cut that "rebel" hair. I do like his "grey area" mindness and relationship stuff with Rouge, for the most part. Bishop and Stryfe, on the other hand, can be done for, oh and never found something I liked in Havoc either. In all fairness, though, never read too much with him. Anyway, I do like how this article is really an "insert character here" piece. I side with Jim on wanting to believe that all it takes is a good writer wanting and fully developing on making lame characters good. I think Geoff Johns is pretty good at it, over at DC.
Oh, and MI:13 is great and it does feel bad. I hope those characters get pick up by other good writers and used. What did the you gus think of the start of Cornell’s Young Avengers?
@psguy
I didn’t think the first issue of Dark Reign: YA was perfect by any means, but it wasn’t bad for a first issue. Cornell threw some really interesting ideas in there, mostly with Melter. He seems to be the new YA who actually wants to be fighting crime. I think the second issue will be a lot better when we actually get to see the two teams interact and clash. Here’s hoping, anyway.
i smell a deadpool podcast? ((even if there talking bad about you at least there taking about you )) thats all i have to say about that.
I’d watch that. Assuming we can get a Captain Britain and MI13 podcast as well.
Fair’s fair.
@reg5000: I thought about it. It still works. 🙂
i used to feel like that about Booster Gold…and just today i found myself missing reading Booster Gold (when Geoff Johns wrote it , of course)
@Diabhol: Not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening, not listening.
The one good thing about MI13 being cancelled is that Deadpool will never ever appear in this title.
*sighs* Why does the family always fight on holidays!? Just once I wanna have a good dinner with the family….instead we always fight about stupid stuff.
Basically what @comicBOOKchris states is my thoughts on everything in general.
@peterporker: Oh it’s gonna happen my friend. Cause when the film comes out; they have no choice. Heh Heh
@TNC: The beauty of being your own boss is that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.
@ ameliadiaz: I always thought the thing that Gambit wore was a face bra of some sort…I’m not justifying it, its just what it seems like it is 😉
@Jimski: the great thing about Deadpool being exposed now is that in the future, different creators will get a crack at the character, and will hopefully write more of the stories like the ones that impressed you. I have my fingers crossed that Joe Kelly will come back!
@conor: Oh you did a whole video on Punisher and a SE podcast for the film. Not gonna do one on Deadpool? Dont make me laugh 🙂
@comicBOOKchris: Well so far two people have done Deadpool….Benson and Diggle…yeah not so great there. I’d love to see Van Lente or Greg Pak do him in the future.
@TNC: I never said there wouldn’t be a special edition audio show.
@conor: No video show? *sniffs* Some day…..some day…
Hear hear Jim
Based on my limited exposure to both Gambit and Deadpool I quite enjoyed both characters, but then again I missed alot of the nineties and early noughties.
@Vuk: Consider yourself lucky my friend.
Say what you want about Deadpool. Either he, or this topic, appears to spark pasion. I suspect it is both.
@ astyak: If by passion you mean intense hatred then you are correct.
Aside from his recent appearance in Messiah War there has not been a single time when Deadpool has not made me regret buying a book.
Judging by the passion in this thread:
DEADPOOL IS THE GREATEST CHARACTER EVER.
You know what else? I finally get Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Sports Night’. It’s a comedy too good to be funny.
@ TNC: I’d say that he is the most polarising character ever.
If we’re using your logic to decide greatness though then Grant Morrison must be the most amazing writer to ever grace a comic book.
My friends and I have a running joke about this, actually. Whenever someone particularly infuriating comes up, like the cast of The Hills or that lady from "Jon & Kate + 8," it is customary for one of us to bray, "Well, we’re talkin’ about her, aren’t we? Huh? HUH?" and nudge whoever is closest.
@Jimski: I had a friend who used to do that too. He’s not with us anymore.
I just wanted to pipe in and say that, as the author of the previously mentioned Cap. Britain review, #12 was actually the second issue that I read. Being new to comic books, virtually everyone other than Batman, Superman, Spider-man, etc. are completely new to me. I’ve had no problem jumping in anywhere, and I would recommend it to anyone. If a book can’t make you understand or feel for characters that you don’t know, then it probably isn’t being written well. Captain Britain was/is written well.
That said, I agree, Deadpool sucks.
@reg5000: I’m just joking about the Deadpool statement. I would think it would be clear is a joke after that HILARIOUS Sport’s Night riff. But that’s lost with the ages I suppose 🙂
@TNC: They really need to invent <sarcasm> tags. I’ve also never seen Sports Night.
@Rustyautoparts: Welcome to the party my friend. Pull up a chair.
@Conor: Wow, man, you just got all ironic and forth wall-y with the reading and comprehension comment.
@TNC: you have to take the conformation of a Deadpool movie with a gain of salt. it might not happen.
So Deadpool, ‘ay? Like most things in a certain time, in certian place, it’s alright, i suppose
Funny thing, I loved Captain Britain and MI 13. It’s a great book (also, I kinda love PC). But I love Deadpool too. I enjoyed the hell out of Gail Simone’s run on the book years ago. But I don’t read it now because, it’s written by Way and no good can come from that. Good writers can make any character worth reading. Case in point I read Cable. Let me repeat that CABLE. Duane Swierczynski must be some sort of magician to make that happen but I think it’s a helluva good story (also Iron Fist is awesome, just saying).
@TNC – Why would you want a Deadpool show? Just like this article was basically a hate letter: "Dear Deadpool, you suck", a show would be more of the same thing.
Anyway, I’m glad this thread has given all you DP haters a forum. 😛
PAUL CORNELL TO WRITE NEW DEADPOOL SERIES!
the campaign starts here people!
@WadeWilson: I think you’ll find that the world is the DP hater forum.
If you left out the "l" in "Deadpool", you’re left with "Deadpoo".
Deadpool is the perfect example of what is wrong with comics today. There are too many titles. They are glutting the market with so many titles nobody can keep up with it all. And everything is so intertwined with everything else it’s impossible to get everythnig straight. The industry needs another crash. Please.
@conor haha I was right rusty did read from the beginning. my crazy theory still holds true.
Out of morbid curiosity, for all the haters out there have you ever picked up an arc of deadpool or are you going with that one issue where he guest starred in another series.
@conor disregard previous post. i must be more tired than I thought. I automaticaly latched on to the second word in his post.
@queenriki your right about that. Fabian Nicenza wrote the Gambit series back in the 90’s and it was great. It was one of the first series that got me into comics and started a whole back issue search for the rest of the series. After that series they started to totally missuse his character. i would realy like that series in trade
I read the arc of Cable and Deadpool that included a Pick of the Week (!!!) as well as the last issue of that book, the first arc of the new book, and the atrooooocious Thunderbolts crossover that put my interest in Thunderbolts into the ground and shoveled dirt atop it. There have been others, but they were of a sameness. I’m not going to keep drinking vinegar until I like it.
@IroncladMerc – you know, right? That you don’t have to get and read everything, right? That they aren’t all related to each other or needed to understand or enjoy each other. I doubt many book readers say "damn those publishers, 11,090 new books to read this week", but I might be mistaken.
I’ve never really read any Deadpool so I don’t have any attraction to the character. I remember liking Gambit in the 90’s, but I was also like 8 when he first appeared, which means I was very impressionable. The only story I’ve read with a halfway decent Gambit is the one by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. He’s got a very noir voice in that story.
For people seeking more info about Gambit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znk1F6BXBAU&feature=channel_page
@cyberauon I have the entirety of Agent X which is one of my favorite runs on a book (A deadpool book notoriously missing it’s main character) by Gail Simone. Really, I only picked it up for the Taskmaster, but I ended up enjoying it. And I read Cabe and Deadpool until about issue 36? Despite my dislike for Deadpool, I thought the title was awesome and that Deadpool was pretty cool. Trying him in other books that my Deadpool-loving friend told were awesome came off as mediocre to me, most of them insipid. I will say the highlight was Deadpool turning the Rhino into a key chain. So I don’t dislike Deadpool for lack of trying.
embrace the change!!! the time of deadpool is here
This is all hypothetical, but what happens when the Deadpool film comes out….it’s a massive hit? I’m not saying it’ll be like a great film; just that the money it will get in the box office is enormous. Oh my god will that be a funny yet troubling period for all comic fans. Funny for me cause Deadpool became a huge hit; but sad cause Marvel will most likely put Deadpool into EVERY single comic….not just in random spots.
@TNC
Deadpool will never reach extreme overexposure, and we have Wolverine to thank for that. When measuring how exposed someone is, Wolverine is always at the top extreme level, and no one will ever surpass him. So he will perhaps be in alot of books, but its most likely we will say "Well Logan is making 10 more appearances than him this month!"
@comicBOOKchris: Good point. Then I propose to Marvel a comic.
‘Deadpool vs Wolverine’ A six issue mini where one will live….and one WILL DIE! Then also appear in every single Marvel comic to show the winner. Make it like a Lenny and Squiggy appearence in ‘Laverne & Shirley’.
@TNC
I’m going to write the solicit to the first issue to that series:
"BECAUSE YOU ASKED FOR IT!!! Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld team up to bring you the most insane fight of all time! Wolverine may be the best at what he does, but does he have the wits to keep up with the Merc With A Mouth?! That’s right Marvel fans, it’s a deathmatch between your two favorite Weapon X’ers: WOLVERINE AND DEADPOOL!! So what if this is the 100th time you’ve seen it, ITS GONNA BE EXTREME! TO THE MAX!! WHO WILL WALK AWAY?! WHO WILL DIE?!?! We can tell you one thing True Believers, this is the fight you won’t wanna miss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Wolverine is even making a guest appearance in the Spider-Man newspaper comic strip pretty soon. Then, I think that crosses over with Ziggy. One of those sentences is even true.
@comicBOOKchris: That sounds like a great comic! But Jeph Loeb is writing it!? Nooo!!! Damn you Marvel!!
@Jimski: Please let the Ziggy crossover be true…
I don’t like Deadpool. However, Deadpool Vol 1, #11 is a highly entertaining and creative story in which Deadpool goes back in time for some reason and his antics are used to explain the silver age wackiness from one of the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man stories. Good, fun comicbokking with a less than interesting character!
I like pie
@comicbookchris Wow… Marvel should hire you to write their solicits. You managed to write a fake one that gives away less information than the average Marvel one!
I’ve got no particular interest in the Way book, but I don’t think ‘Cable/Deadpool’ deserves to be tarred with the same brush. The cover you’ve got the visual for is typical Liefeld schlock but the book itself is often wondrously-insane and ingenious meta-commentary on Liefeld schlock. I’m even about 90 percent sure that it’s like that on purpose.
Caution: Do not post when cranky or bald.
@JJ: What does that mean exactly?
Thank you Jim!! I have some friends that love Deadpool very much and I just never got it. I will be re-reading this article after every little deadpool-lovefest my pals throw at me. Thanks again for the article
@Jimski nonthing will beat the punisher archie crossover. By the way O blame wolverine for MI13. Think about it. Weapon x comes out and than mi13 gets cancelled. Coincidents I think not
@cyberauron. I wouldn’t make that claim until we see the Punisher v. Eminem crossover. Hopefully Jimski or another one of the iFanstaff will take a crack at that one when it finally comes out. It’d probably be the best article ever written on iFanboy.
@Jimski: I enjoy the fact that Wolverine is showing up in the Spider-Man comic strip a good three weeks after his movie debuted. It’s almost like Stan Lee only heard about the movie on the Wednesday before it premiered and thought, "Maybe I should exploit this thing."
Wow! I’ll be honest, I never thought of Deadpool as an overly controversial character. I just sort of figured he existed in this little corner of the MU for people like me who like to laugh sometimes. Go figure.
To bring an opposing opinion to this argument, I’m the guy who gave MI:13 shot after shot and just didn’t get it. Maybe there’s something wrong with me, but… I dunno, the characters just seemed so cliched and overwritten. The Black Knight becomes aloof and sarcastic… as a plot device? Eh, not for me, I suppose.
That said, against my better judgement, Way really has me with this run with ol’ Wade. With Deadpool, either explore the interesting depth the character has, or just get out of his way and let him have fun. Nothing wrong with a little of the latter, says eye.
I hesitate to mention that I also like the Rulk series, for fear that I might get yelled at so much my caps lock key will explode.
@Casey: I like to laugh. CAPTAIN BRITAIN was very funny.
@cyberauron: Sorry if I wasn’t clear, but I didn’t start reading at the beginning. I started reading at issue 11, which I bought at the same time as 12. I think the arc started at 10? So yeah, techinically Conor was wrong that issue 12 was my first, but I certainly didn’t start at the beginning.
… And that’s why you always read the whole thread before posting. Sorry, cyberauron, I’ll go back to my room now 🙂
@conor: If you like to laugh then go pick out Deadpool #11….in stores now!
*man resembling Daniel Way drops off a bag with a dollar sign on it*
@casey. I like Captain Britain because it was funny among other things. It was probably the most fun book I pull. Can’t get any more lighthearted than that book without getting into "zany" territory. Don’t really need zany in my life.
EDIT: When I mean #11….I mean #10 of course. Did I mention I live about a month into the future?
@Conor: Did not mean to imply that you didn’t, nor that people who don’t like Deadpool are humorless. I just meant that I never thought that this many people cared about him, let alone cared so much as to hatethe fellow.
@Anson: Maybe I didn’t get far enough for all that. The first issue didn’t grab me in that way, nor the subsequent issue that I picked up later in the run on the iFanboy’s suggestion. Like I said, it may not be for me. I didn’t mean to suggest that it was of the grim and gritty.
@CaseyJustice I also did not enjoy ‘Captain Britain.’ It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Everything isn’t for everybody.
From this ridiculously long comment thread (which I willl probably forget to check up on because it has no e-mail follow up feature to tell me what’s up) I hope that someone told you that while Deadpool has a few titles out there right now, he’s not exactly the most popular character around. His titles have been canceled many, many times.
Captain Britain and MI 13 got cancelled because not enough people love that character to start with or want to give it a chance. I don’t imagine a lot of current marvel readers could even tell you Britan’s power set.
As for not liking Deadpool, if you’ve read enough of it, who’s going to convince you? Maybe with his current writer you’ll like Deadpool’s anbics (the secret invasion issues were great dark humor), but I’m guessing no. That’s the tragedy of comedy. If I think Jim Norton’s hilarious, I can’t take his type of humor and serve it to too wide an audience, because of the nature of it.
I thank Bea Arthur that Deadpool is around. The Marvel U needs its comedy; Deadpool is the court Jester of Marvel, and I have loved all the crazy crap he’s gotten into.
@vishus: Well said, sir.
Who’s vishus, and what did he say that’s so great?
Sid Vishus from that band…
No, that’s not right either. Did I derail the conversation? I’m glad. Love Deadpool or contract conjuntivitis!
@Vicious: Or just conjugate your contraction.
I only enjoyed Deadpool during Cable & Deadpool. Two characters who embodied everything X-treme and dumb about their (era of) comics were reworked and revitalized and repurposed to the point where they were actually intriguing and appreciative. It took 50 issues to get to that point, but not all character-defining runs take up 6 issues. It was a great book, and utilized the potential the two had for growth and significance.
Then came Daniel Way and Wade went back to being a random twit.
My point: the closest thing to the Great American Deadpool Story – and Cable one, too – that we may ever get to has come and gone. Whoever’s reading Deadpool now is wasting their time and money.
@DudeVonDoom: I am? Yay! I’m part of a brainwashing!
I know Deadpool and Cable are in this Messiah War right now…..and I wish I actually bought that in issues just to see that….But I wouldnt mind seeing the current Deadpool teaming up with Cable in the present timeline. Then again they’re both in solo series for a reason; cause C&D didnt sell well towards the end.
BTW; is Wilson being a random twit when he purposely gets his head chopped off so he can get Osborn’s wallet at Avengers Mansion? Well….that doesnt sound good on paper, but it did the job.
@DudeVonDoom I venture to say that, if somebody is buying a book and enjoying it, they are by definition not wasting time or money. Now trying to convince somebody that they don’t like a thing they like — or vice versa — is technically free, but certainly a less-than-productive use of time.
Deadpool is much more funnier than Captain Britain in my opinion. And this is serious because fun should be a main element of Captain Britain, and it’s done very very good in Deadpool.
Probably the reason you people love CB is because of the characterization, and for that, I’m sorry it’s gone (didn’t impress me tough in the single issue I read-Issue 10).
Oh and I’m sure that for some fans (including me) the Deadpool character had more than just one good story. Maybe the kind of humour in his books isn’t fun for you, and it’s a matter of taste. I still don’t get it tough because it’s more than one kind of humour in that comic book.