Deadpool is getting a fresh #1 this week in Wade Wilson: Deadpool, and while the legacy numbering is #351, the #1 is definitely earned with a new direction and creative team on board. The issue is packed with plenty of humor, but a dark cloud is following Wade as we try to unpack why he’s asking for pain while quipping like a madman. It’s a combination of new and old, with a hook that will capture your interest.
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1 comes out of the gate swinging, with Wade on a mission for the first half that entails killing a whole bunch of farmers tied to the drug trade. All told, there are about four scenes, but each feels important as they progress a plot far more interested in figuring out why Wade is a little different this time around.
What isn’t different is Deadpool’s healing factor, which is used quite a bit in the first half. Deadpool takes some major damage, all the while leaning into the pain and asking for more. Thankfully, writer Ben Percy and artist Geoff Shaw remind us that Deadpool can die, with the character falling down stiff more than once. He’s not unstoppable, but does need time to heal, and it’s a good reminder that there’s a limit to his healing factor.
While Deadpool bleeds in all sorts of ways and makes others bleed back, Percy uses plenty of puns and similar cheesy humor to keep Deadpool peppy in this issue. There’s also a very bold moment where Deadpool comes out of a cow, but I’ll let you discover that on your own. The delicate balance of humor and tone is struck well, as the overt violence, like bullets to the brain, balances with Deadpool’s unflinching lack of care and practically suicidal approach to his job. Simply put, Deadpool is cracking wise, but it’s not lost on the reader that something emotionally is wrong with Deadpool that he needs to work out.
That bullet hole looks painful.
Credit: Marvel
That becomes clearer as the story progresses, first in a meeting with Hammerhead, and then later while Deadpool sits on the edge of a building. The final pages are a nice parallel to the opening action sequence, with a fast pace that seemingly gives Deadpool a bit of hope when the first half was kind of a downer. All the while, instead of being the zany and annoying Deadpool, something isn’t quite right. That’s abundantly clear in a scene with Blind Al. It’s nice to see the longtime roommate back. Deadpool is obviously sad, and while this issue doesn’t explain exactly why, the tone is obviously a bit different. At its core, something deeper is happening here, or at least it feels that way.
Shaw draws the heck out of this issue, like a stunning double-page splash of all the ways Deadpool has died of late, to the gruesome bullet hole through Deadpool’s eye early on. The action is intense, the costume looks believable and realistic with all its armor and wrinkles, and the expressions are clear through the mask.
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1 successfully repositions the Merc with a Mouth by pairing familiar chaos with a clear emotional shift. Percy keeps the humor sharp while planting seeds that something is deeply off with Wade, creating intrigue that carries the issue forward. Shaw’s detailed, visceral artwork enhances both the violence and the character acting, helping ground the story even when Deadpool is at his most outrageous. The issue does not reveal all its cards, but it sets a compelling tone, suggesting this new era will explore Wade’s pain in fresh ways without abandoning what fans love about the character.
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