Review: Deadpool #50 – Even the Dead(pool) may die…

Deadpool #50
Writer: Daniel Way
Art: Carlo Barberi, Walden Wong [Inker], and Dommo [Colorist]

Longtime Deadpool fans know that Wade Wilson is in love with the one thing in the world he can’t have:  Death.  In Deadpool #50, Daniel Way kicks off the biggest story of his 4-year run on the book–an epic that might just grant the Merc With a Mouth his wish.

The “Evil Deadpool” story arc ended with Wade’s evil clone being killed by a dart that negated his mutant healing factor.  [That’s, you know, the thing that keeps him from getting killed dead!] They’re on a comic site, dude…  They know what a healing factor is.

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Upset that he wasn’t in the projectile’s path, Deadpool sets out to find out who took the shot so he can finally feel death’s cool embrace.  In order to accomplish this, he sets up a complex game of a chess–a game that he doesn’t even know how to play–involving his X-Force teammates (“The Horse Heads”); Bob, Agent of H.Y.D.R.A. (“The Wheelbarrow”); Daken (“The Shooter”); and The Kingpin and Typhoid Mary (“The Ones That Go Diagonally”).

As the issue plays out, Deadpool attempts to play all of these “pieces” to draw out who it is that can kill him.  Of course, there’s one piece in the game that Wade doesn’t account for:  “The Wild Card.”

Way manages to squeeze in elements from all corners of the Marvel Universe in this extra-sized first part to what may be his magnum opus on the series, and Deadpool’s coup de grâce, while Carlo Barberi’s pencils remain consistent with his earlier work on the book.  Among the better moments of the issue are Psylocke attempting to read through the clutter of voices that is Wade’s mind and a panel where Fantomex explains how the chain of command in an assassination conspiracy tends to work.

[And they said comics weren’t educational…]

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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Roger Riddell
Roger Riddell
Essentially Peter Parker with all the charm of Wolverine, he's a DC-based B2B journalist who occasionally writes about music and pop culture in his free time. His love for comics, metal, and videogames has also landed him gigs writing for the A.V. Club, Comic Book Resources, and Louisville Magazine. Keep him away from the whiskey, and don't ask him how much he hates the Spider-Man movies unless you're ready to hear about his overarching plot for a six-film series that would put the Dark Knight trilogy to shame.