Deadpool may be a bonafide movie star now, but the Merc With a Mouth’s original creator, big-name comics writer and illustrator Rob Liefeld, is taking his wisecracking baby on a new adventure in a standalone graphic novel.
Liefeld introduced Deadpool in a 1992 issue of The New Mutants, and he’s written the character several times since then. The upcoming outing, though, is notable because Marvel doesn’t release too many graphics novels, preferring instead to release single issues and collections. A new story from Deadpool’s original creator, combined with the anti-hero’s massive popularity, makes Deadpool: Bad Blood seem like a pretty safe bet.
The official plot description for the comic, which is being written and illustrated by Liefeld with some writing help from Chris Sims and Chad Bowers, is pretty brief. Deadpool will run into a new enemy “known only as Thumper” that he feels like he might have some sort of past connection to.
Preview pages show that Deadpool will encounter Cable, Domino, Star-Lord, members of the X-Force, and more.
“Shooting, stabbing and otherwise annoying his way across the Marvel Universe has made Deadpool his fair share of enemies over the years. Even though his sordid past contains no shortage of unfriendly faces, there is one he can’t quite place. A brutal new foe known only as Thumper. Who is this new menace that has the Merc With a Mouth so outmatched and outgunned? What is Deadpool’s past connection to this new baddie?”
The art looks, uh, fine. Dragging Liefeld’s artistic abilities — especially his inability to draw feet — is a common pastime for snarky comics fans. Here, Liefeld’s proportions are still wildly stylized, but the faces look slightly less constipated than past work, and the coloring is sublime. It should be a fun romp.
This is fine.
Look for Deadpool: Bad Blood on May 17.
