Deadpool (2012) #1-6

Deadpool #1-6

Originally released in 2012

Written by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn

Art by Tony Moore

When a necromancer revives the deceased Presidents of the United States as zombies, it's not exactly good publicity to have Captain America decapitating Harry S. Truman, so SHIELD has to turn to Deadpool.  I figured I'd try a Deadpool comic today - I'm not sure if the first trailer for Deadpool 3 will be shown today or not (it's Super Bowl Sunday, and Deadpool 3 is the only MCU movie coming out in 2024), but I figure now seems like as good of a time as any for me to read one.

The book is fairly gruesome, taking advantage of the undead presidents and Deadpool's healing factor, though I'm doing my best to cut around that.  It's kind of funny that detailed shots of intestines are perfectly fine, but most forms of swearing have to be censored.

Deadpool is assisted in his quest by the ghost of Ben Franklin, though it's unclear at first if this is actually Ben Franklin's ghost or a hallucination that Deadpool is having after being shot in the head by Abraham Lincoln. (That is not a sentence that I expected to type) A visit to Doctor Strange clears it up in an amusing manner:

Duggan and Posehn have a lot of fun with writing these issues, with some presidents (Washington, Lincoln, JFK, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Reagan) getting more focus than others. In particular, based on what I've read about him, they seem to have gotten Theodore Roosevelt's personality down.

It's an entertaining romp, taking Deadpool all over the US and into space, and the SHIELD agents that he meets (including the rogue SHIELD necromancer Michael, who mainly seems to be named that in order to include an Arrested Development reference) are fun inclusions and more than just serious foils to Deadpool's zany antics.

It's a gruesome breezy romp that doesn't dive particularly deep into Deadpool's character, but it makes for a good introduction to who he is. Having some US historical knowledge helps (otherwise, it might not make sense when Richard Nixon is hell-bent on tearing down the Watergate hotel, or why William Howard Taft is stuck in a bathtub), but it's not necessary to enjoy this.

Also, it has Deadpool fighting Russian monkeys in space - what more can you ask for?