Deadpool Classic - Volume 2

DEADPOOL CLASSIC: VOLUME 2
Now this is more like it! This is when Deadpool's really started to come into his own as a a character thanks to writer Joe Kelly. No one can underestimate the business acumen of Marvel Comics, as they obviously realize that this is the most highly requested run of comics in Deadpool history. To make sure they got maximum dollar from fans, they put the first issue of Joe Kelly's run in Deadpool Classic: Volume 1 and the rest in this volume, forcing fans to shell out money for both of them.

Kelly does a lot of things in these few issues to really jumpstart Deadpool's story. For starters, he breaks Deadpool away from all that confusing X-Men continuity. Deadpool is given his own supporting cast and his own little niche in the Marvel universe that allows him to stand apart from those boring mutants. Deadpool still works as a mercenary, but now it's a fun profession. He hangs out at a local bar full of other mercenaries who receive job faxed offers from the bartender, an ex-mercenary himself. During his off time, Deadpool hangs out at his own house, where he keeps an elderly woman named Blind Al imprisoned. It's a very odd relationship, as Blind Al is very much Deadpool's prisoner, but also his caretaker as well. The two develop an odd understanding and Blind Al offers Deadpool a lot of sound advice and reassurance. That isn't to say that everything's peachy. The two prank each other habitually and in his darker periods, Deadpool does take out his frustrations upon his captive by locking her up in the attic. A lot more happens in that relationship, but not in this particular volume.

This volume is more concerned Deadpool's quest to be a hero, the underlying theme of Kelly's entire time with the character. Deadpool is a classic asshole character with a good heart. He's a mercenary and makes his primary income killing people for money, but deep down inside himself he does want to do good sometimes. It's just that his natural tendency to be a sociopathic murderer doesn't gel well with the hero thing. Kelly has to use a rather bland and stupid "prophecy" as the impetus for Deadpool's conversion to good, but at least the process in fun. Throughout Kelly's run, Deadpool tries really hard to do the right thing at times but just mucks it up because he's unable to understand what's really happening. Either that or Deadpool is duped into doing something evil for money and then has to reverse his actions to save the day. Sometimes he comes through, but it's not a given.

Deadpool is a character with extremely low self confidence in himself, especially as a hero. As an asshole, it's often easier for Deadpool to just give up and do the evil thing again, claiming that he's always been an asshole anyway and people were stupid for believing he could change. The great thing about Kelly's run on the title is that whenever Deadpool tries to pull that card, he has a supporting cast of characters around him who won't let him. In this particular volume, Siryn plays that role. When confronted with people who believe in him and have seen the type of heroism he's capable of, Deadpool has little choice but to recognize that he is capable of being much more than a mercenary, pushing him to try and realize his potential.

We don't get to see too much of the "heroic prophecy" plot develop in this volume, mainly because the last few issues revolve around Deadpool trying to fix another one of his screw-ups. Deadpool is hired to break a woman named Mary Walker out of a psychiatric facility. Walker is better known a Typhoid Mary, a Daredevil villain who possesses the rather ambiguous telekinetic power to influence men's minds. A victim of child abuse and a former prostitute, Walker has serious psychiatric issues and her main goal in life seems to be hurting all men so that they can never hurt her again. In a comedic little twist, one of Mary's more sane personalities hired Deadpool to kill her while one of her murderous personalities hired Deadpool to free her. Naturally, Deadpool mucks it up by taking the larger amount of money and helping Mary escape.

Afterward, Deadpool pulls his usual routine, trying desperately to insist that he did the right thing. One of Deadpool's recurring ambitions is to actually be considered a superhero and allowed to join fancy groups like the X-Men and he keeps this dream alive no matter how much other superheros shun him. When a big name superhero teams up with Deadpool, he's usually willing to listen to anything they have to say just so he can feel like they're friends and partners. In this scenario, it's Daredevil who has to convince Deadpool that he isn't doing the right thing by helping Mary and that she needs serious help. Surprisingly, it's revealed that Deadpool knew this the whole time and was merely helping Mary reunite with Daredevil in the hopes that it would force her to confront some demons and voluntarily lock herself up. Of course, Mary killed a bunch of people in the process and runs away from Deadpool rather than go back into treatment, so his plan didn't really work out. Deadpool's far from the smartest guy around, but his heart is usually somewhere in the vicinity of the right place.

This volume of Deadpool is an excellent little beginning to the series and strikes that perfect balance of wise cracking humor and actual character development. Joe Kelly starts things out slow, so while none of the overarching stories really get going in this volume, you can definitely see where things are heading and start to get excited for the obstacles Deadpool is going to face in the future.