First Appearance Friday ~ Deadpool

It’s been several weeks since I have done one of these suckas and I figured it was about time I got off my ass and popped one up. So I figured, If I’m going to jump back into this...why not start with a bang and cover a character that you all should have at least heard of!!! I’m talking about Deadpool folks.

My comic nerds are going to scoff at this as they are fully aware. It’s the rest of you that need an education and that’s why I’m here. All of you non comic peeps here (the majority) should at least know who he is based on the highly successful films starring that dreamboat Ryan Reynolds. If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about...you need to crawl out from under that rock you are living under and get with the damn times!!! Crypto is and has been in the toilets people...it’s ok to watch a movie once in a while and escape this depressing hole we are all collectively in. You might even like it!!!

Anywho...first let me tell you a bit about how he came about. Deadpool first burst on the scene back in February of 1991 in a title called The New Mutants. That series ran to 100 issues and he appeared towards the end of the run in issue #98. This is now a mega key issue, but I’ll cover that in a bit. For now, bask in the delicious glory of this tasty issue. Anyone here own a copy???

Deadpool was dreamed up by the creative team of then penciller Rob Liefeld, and writer Fabian Nicieza. Deadpool was initially introduced as a villain but slowly morphed into the Merc With a Mouth that he is now....basically an anti-hero.

His name is Wade Wilson and he is a disfigured mercenary with the superhuman like ability and accelerated healing factors. Okay...The basic story is that Wade is sick and partakes in a weird experiment that is supposed to cure his cancer. Instead it ends up transforming him into a grotesque person with the cancer practically oozing out of him. Hence...the costume to cover up how unsightly appearance. The experiment which is the same that Wolverine underwent, ends up mutating him to give him crazy strength and the ability to constantly heal.

He is a wise cracking son of a bitch and often breaks the 4th wall, which is a term that means the character ignores the boundaries that separates him/her from the story. They basically acknowledge the audience and converse with them which is s fun treat not only in the comics but in the film as well.

A show that recently excelled in doing this was Netflix’s House of Cards. Kevin Spacey’s character Frank Underwood would often break down that wall and talk directly to the viewer as he revealed his cunning and ruthless plans and thoughts.

But back to the Pool...one of the reasons that he initially caught on was due to how he looked. Guns?!? Swords?!? Insane amounts of pouches?!? Yup yup yup! Pouches were kinda the shit in the 90’s!!!

So much so that Liefeld recent poked fun of himself for it in a recent issue of Bloodstrike for Image Comics. Ridiculous...but at least he can laugh at himself a bit. He’s actually a really nice dude. We’ve spoken to each other several times and he’s always a class act.

Dammit Blewitt...stay on track!!! Weapons...having an entire arsenal will lead to a ton of violence and nonsense which is one place where the movies excel. Have you seen the films?!? Ultra gory and violent!!! They are a ton of fun and Ryan Reynolds really has committed to the role so much so that he often does tons of wacky promos and stunts as Deadpool. He messes with Hugh Jackman in their “feud” on the regular which is always fun to see. I actually hope Hugh comes back to reprise Wolverine once more and they can properly cross paths as I think it would be a blast.

While the films are Rated R and “for mature audiences”, the fact remains that Deadpool has tremendous mass appeal. Go to any comic convention and you are going to see a bunch of dudes in tights cosplaying as him. I see t-shirts everywhere displaying one of a gazillion awesome pieces of Deadpool art.

Mugs!

Statues!

Action figures!

Wallets!

Chia Head?!?

An endless supply of wacky variants of Funko Pops!!!

It’s literally endless!!! There is so much merch. out there featuring this son of a bitch!!! It’s just a cash machine for Marvel.

Nothing is off limits regarding Deadpool!!! Nothing!!!!!! He’s got a crew he chills with called the Deadpool Corps. It consists of characters like Lady Deadpool, Dogpool, Kidpool, Headpool...yeah you heard me right...

For fucks sake...there’s a Squirrelpool!!! They even made a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Statue of the fucker which fetches a few hundred clams!!! (I own one by the way)

The point I’m trying to get across if you haven’t picked up on it already, is that he is a phenomenon. You might think it’s all ridiculous but all of this nonsense...just kinda works for Deadpool. He is t going away. He’s only growing in popularity. I sell just as much Deadpool stuff in my shop as I do Spider-Man & Batman. That is insanely impressive for a character who is preeeeeetttty much a blatant ripoff of a DC character. Oh...I forgot to mention this...

Ever hear of DC’s Deathstroke???

Ya know...masked dude? Kills people with guns and swords? Has pouches? Yeah...his name is SLADE WILSON and he appeared over a decade before Deadpool did. Fucking SLADE WILSON!!!! Lol...I Always get a laugh outta that...

The similarities are too ridiculous to ignore, even though I believe Liefeld claims it’s NOT a ripoff...I’ll let you decide...

Either way, I am a fan. I do enjoy the outright silliness of the character. Marvel has cashed in many times on his success by doing sweet cover art for some of their books. They have done several “theme” variants that have run through their titles..of which have nothing to do with Deadpool. Just plug him onto a Squirrel-Girl cover...why not?!?

Some of his variants fetch some big coin too, like the Siege 3 Mail Away variant. Marvel did a douchey move several years back when DC was finishing up their Blackest Night storyline. They offered retailers the opportunity to rip off 50 covers of any Blackest Night books. By sending them into Marvel, they would then send you 1 of these in return. These rarely show up as when they do, fetch biiiiiig bucks!!! A copy recently sold for $1800 bucks a couple of months ago!!!

While on the topic of moonshine, let’s see what his 1st Appearance is currently bringing in...shall we?!? Looks like raw copies in nice shape are bringing in between $200-$300 bucks. We sold one a few months back for $250. Want a graded slab?!? CGC 9.8’s look to be around the $800 range.

I could go on and on...There is endless amounts of cool things to show ya!!! But I won’t. Not only because I currently have to take a massive piss, but because it’ll bore the shit out of ya. So I’ll end with showing off a cool San Diego Comic Con Exclusive DVD and VHS Set that I snagged at the Fox booth a few years back...they are even signed by Ryan himself!!! Cool tidbit...there are only 100 of the VHS made!!!

Thanks for letting me bore ya!!!

Blewitt