DEADPOOL #3 – October 1993

“…And Quacks Like A Duck…”

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Joe Madureira (penciler), Harry Candelario (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Glynis Oliver (colors)

Summary

The Executive Elite capture Deadpool and scan his memories for information on Tolliver’s will. They learn that Deadpool joined the Weapon X project to be cured of cancer, resulting in his scarred appearance. Weasel arrives to rescue Deadpool and the pair steal the second disc required to gain access to Tolliver’s will. The discs reveal that Tolliver’s will is in a monastery in Nepal, along with a “Zero unit” robot. Meanwhile, Copycat also learns of Tolliver’s monastery and is attacked by Slayback when she arrives.

Continuity Notes

Deadpool is established as horribly disfigured in this issue. His flashback also shows that he served in the Weapon X project with Kane, after Kane nearly died during the Six Pack’s final mission.

The Zero robot was Stryfe’s teleporting robot during the early X-Force issues. He shows up a few times during the next year before going back to obscurity. Giving Tolliver a connection to Zero is another hint that he is linked to Cable’s future.

I Love the ‘90s

Deadpool makes a joke about Hillary Clinton hyphenating her maiden and married names, which was a controversy during this time. Does she ever use “Rodham” anymore?

Summary

This isn’t very different from the other issues of the limited series, except for the flashback scenes that attempt to humanize Deadpool for the first time. Making Deadpool sympathetic has been a recurring problem for most of the people who have written the character. It’s the obvious problem that occurs when a villain never intended to be a solo star gets his own series. Joe Kelly and Fabian Nicieza have attempted to make Deadpool honestly reform, but it never seems to stick. The trick this mini continually uses is to have Deadpool be the target of someone else’s attack, which automatically makes him an easier protagonist to root for. It still allows Deadpool to crack jokes and join in on the action without making him seem truly villainous. Even when Nicieza does show Deadpool’s dark side, with the casual way he kills the Executive Elite, it’s not presented as some horrible act. Deadpool’s sense of humor also softens the impact of the scene, but it is the type of thing that would get old in a monthly series.