Archives: Prelude to the Deadpool Corps

Prelude to the Deadpool Corps

Issues #1-5

All issues released in May, 2010

Team

Writers - Victor Gischler

Art - (1)Rob Liefeld (2)Whilce Portacio (3)Phillip Bond (4) Paco Medina (5) Kyle Baker

Colorist - (1) Matt Yackey (2) Thomas Mason (3) Tomislav Tikulin (4)Edgar Delgado

All Covers by Dave Johnson

This is a very fun series that I picked up as a set quite a while ago. Unfortunately, I never got my hands on the regular series. It lasted a total of 12 issues and, since rereading this prequel, I will be ordering the 2 Trade Paperbacks.

All 5 books were originally released on the same month, which is a very odd marketing strategy. The covers are a very cool concept. All 5 members of the Deadpool Corps are shown on all five covers in a race, and it features who the book is about. All seem to be snapshots taken within moments of each other in slightly different perspective. That alone makes it worth getting these books in the floppy form, instead of the Trade Paperback. Lots going on in the background, and lots of Deadpool type humor.

The premise of the book is that some cosmic force(the Watcher)has commissioned Deadpool to jump through a multitude of universes to collect 4 other alternate-earth Deadpools to save the universe. It sounds convoluted and weird, but you just have to kind of go with it.

In book 1, Deadpool gets Lady-Deadpool. He saves her butt from being destroyed by General America(Alternate Universes

remember?) The General has a Bionic arm to replace the one cut off by our normal Deadpool some time ago, and he is not happy. Lady Deadpool is every bit as fun of a character as the original Deadpool. Just as egotistical, just as nuts and just as funny

The art in this book is by Rob Liefeld and he seems to have been born to draw Deadpool.

Book 2, we get introduced to Kid-Pool. He goes to the Xavior Orphanage for Troubled Boys. I love that Kidpool is secretly wondering to himself if he will outgrow the voices in his head.

That little statement just cracked me up. We get to see a lot of interactions with kid wolverine, and kid Cyclops(who acts just like

you would think he would act as a kid. Also a great scene with Xavior trying on wigs to impress Emma Frost. This is, by far, the funniest book of the series and the art is my favorite.

Book 3 is Dog-pool. He was being experimented on and he is presumed dead, dropped in a plastic bag and left in a dumpster. As you can probably guess, Dog-Pool has the Famous Deadpool regeneration ability and he comes back to life and is really ugly. He finds a home with the Carnival when they discover his abilities and they drop him in acid, shoot him out of cannons, etc. Deadpool eventually saves him and recruits him. The art felt very "cartoony" it

did fit the tone of the book very well

Book 4 is Head-Pool. It is the disembodied head of a Deadpool that,

of course, will not die. Deadpool plays a very large in this book, stuck on an island where guys are hunting him for sport. As I am sure you already guessed, this did not end well for them....at all. Art was good, but not as great as the first 2 issues

Book 5 was when they all get together as a team. They were fighting, and destroying what looks like an army of care bears. It is always entertaining to see a sword go through a very bloody but otherwise cute teddy bear. While I enjoyed the art in the other books a lot, this was one of the the worst art I have ever seen in a book. It goes between a horrible CGI to Doodles to watercolor

All in all, this was a great series and it makes me so excited to buy the Trades of the regular series.

I give it and overall score of A