Deadpool, Volume 9: Institutionalized

Deadpool (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Daniel Way (Writer), Carlo Barberi (Illustrator)

After the fallout - nuclear and otherwise - of the Merc with a Mouth's antics in Arizona, the government is faced with an impossible question: what to do with Deadpool? Luckily, Deadpool's gamma-powered legal defense team provides an answer: stick him in an institution! When you think about it, it might be the only solution - after all, he really does need some professional help...as well as protection from the enemy: himself.

Collecting: Deadpool 40-44

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Humor, Fiction, Superheroes

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2012

Reviews

[Kemper · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I told you that Deadpool was in a mental hospital, and his psychiatrist is an unhinged woman who falls in love with him you might reasonably assume that it was the title engaging in some of it’s typical meta-satire of the genre to poke a little fun at DC’s Harley Quinn, right?

Unfortunately, instead of doing anything clever the entire story is an extended gag about how she’s not a supermodel so DP finds her disgusting. This is a guy whose face would let him play Freddy Kruger without using make-up, and he was recently hooking up with a disgusting alien during his space adventure. But hey, this chick is UGLY!

They could have done something with this if they would have played up the angle of it being a twisted version of the Harley/Joker story, or if the main point was that this woman is just too crazy even for Deadpool. That’s actually touched on, but you always get the impression that if this lady was hotter than DP would be totally into the whole thing. Even though there’s actually a few good moments where the shrink is making some valid observations about DP’s mental state it’s all tossed aside for the lazy and cheap stuff.

Disappointing.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, you set off just a few nukes in a battle with the Hulk over the American heartland and people start calling you irresponsible and crazy! That’s what happened to Deadpool as he’s carted off across the pond to a British nuthouse. Why? His shrink’s in love with him. Hmm, maybe she should be one of the inmates!

Daniel Way’s Deadpool run is like a rollercoaster in terms of quality. After a couple of good books, woooah, back down to crap, then up we go again, comics are improving before wooooah the drop back down to crap! Unfortunately Institutionalized is down there with the Vegas book as one of the worst entries in the series.

The crazy psychiatrist falling for Wade story wasn’t funny and there wasn’t much else besides that. Even Deadpool’s bored and spends portions of the book chain-napping! The decent part came at the end, not just for signalling that this crap was over, but because it sets up a tantalising new character for the next book. That and Carlo Barberi’s art were the only pluses of this comic for me.

Deadpool, Volume 9: Institutionalized is enough to drive you crazy with boredom - a disappointing effort from Daniel Way.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never given a Deadpool book such a low rating. I hope this doesn't start a trend. Deadpool ends up in a prison for the insane (I guess? this isn't clear) in England, because Reasons. Or not, since nothing here feels remotely English, with the cringe-inducing attempts at writing English accents being the worst by far. Aside from (apparently) leading the way to the Evil Deadpool storyline in the next collection, there's nothing even remotely of substance here. Unless you're a Deadpool completist, leave it be.

[Amy Estridh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so this volume annoyed me. It could've been so freaking epic. DP is institutionalized and his mental state is deteriorating after he went on a failed suicide rampage. Turns out there's a psychiatrist, Dr. Ellen Whitby, who's been obsessed with him for years and is pretty unstable herself. And this had the opportunity to become a really fucking epic love story, Deadpool style! But here's the ticker -

She's not the typical sexualized comic hottie with the boobs and nonexistent waist and blabla, you know the deal. So Wade, who always seeks validation and love from literally ANYONE(!!), gets grossed out when it comes in the form of her. This pisses me off for several reasons. ⌌
⌌ It's honestly a bit out of character. Not only has he stated before that he'd "do anything with a pulse", but he also seeks affection from every possible corner. So I honestly have a hard time believing that he would be disgusted in this case.
⌌ Wade is literally scarred everywhere and people are scared shitless of him because of how he looks!!!! And now he's supposed to be like "you're into me? nah you're ugly, that's gross"
⌌ I tolerate a lot of the patriarchal dynasty in comic books because I enjoy them so much and I rarely complain about these things, but seriously. Come on. Make the women look unrealistic to please the male gaze, fine, but don't draw a woman that for once looks completely realistic and write her like this - they call her ugly and a "goblin" constantly and makes fat jokes; she's neither (and even if she was, it's outdated and pathetic, no one thinks that shit is funny anymore.)

Buuuh Daniel Way. Not cool.

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another atrocious piece of garbage to add to the Deadpool pantheon. I had higher hopes for this one, since it starts off with a decent premise (Deadpool has been institutionalized and is being treated for his particular breed of insanity). I was hoping there'd be some fun to be had in DP's analysis, but nah. They abandon that plotline pretty hard for, oh, the 1000th story about a woman who falls head over heels in love with Deadpool for no discernible reason other than that he is a man and they are needy/crazy. Also, for good measure, Deadpool beats her up a couple of times because he isn't interested in her! So, if you were hoping for a hilarious romp about a man beating a defenseless woman because she is "too ugly," here's your book!

If you have ever thought comics don't have a "woman problem," please read this and explain to me why any of the way this character is treated is ok. She's introduced as Deadpool's psychiatrist, who plans on using innovative techniques to cure him of his mental illness. Ok, fine. But then, right out of the gate, every man in the comic starts talking about how ugly and fat she is? Seriously, almost every man comments on her looks. It's presented as a joke of some sort, but it made me physically angry. I was hoping there'd be some sort of redemptive moment that made all these weird jokes okay, but there isn't. It turns out she's actually just completely insane, which I guess is meant to make us retroactively say "Sure am glad they made fun of how fat she is" (the artist's version of "fat" is just a normal human woman, by the way).

Oh, and the hitting. Deadpool kicks this woman at one point because she dares to hit on him. Then, later, he punches her because she tries to kiss him. There's a weird scene where she goes to the hospital and a doctor asks her if she has an abusive boyfriend, and she says "Yes" and then just leaves to go find Deadpool again. I think the point of this scene, however, is to further establish how crazy she is for thinking that Deadpool is her boyfriend, rather than deal with the fact that this woman (who is not a superhero or fighter or anything!) has been beaten up by a man.

This, along with David Lapham's completely atrocious Deadpool Max, are seeking to permanently tarnish my view of this character. I mean, I can't really get behind a guy who beats up defenseless women (or any defenseless person at all, for that matter) and then expects me to laugh at his stupid burrito joke two seconds later. I'm trying to just view this as the fault of a few (impossibly shitty) writers, but it's getting to be kind of hard to do. Marvel continually allows Deadpool to function as one of the most vile characters in comics, and yet we're still supposed to root for him. I'll finish the Deadpool comics I already own in hopes that this stuff goes away, but if I get through them and this hasn't made a drastic improvement, I'm done with this character forever. Thanks for ruining something that was once great, Marvel.

[Lissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

After the Hulk doesn't kill Wade, Deadpool is brought up on charges and defended by Jennifer Walters (She Hulk). Unable to be housed in The Raft because of a technicality, Wade is instead sent to a mental institution for superhumans and is placed under the care of Dr. Ella Whitby.

I didn't enjoy this book at all. Like most of Way's Deadpool run, it isn't funny in the slightest. Most of the "jokes" revolve around Whitby's figure and appearance. She's not drawn particularly big (yes, she is plump, especially in this comic where Jennifer is drawn with boobs that defy gravity and wearing to court a skirt so short that you can almost see her butt), but she looks rather average, which somehow translates into hideously ugly for most of the characters in the book. And even though Deadpool is hideously ugly due to his scars and his healing factor taking on his cancer, it's "let's make ugly and fat jokes about the slightly overweight doctor"-palooza. No thanks.

Getting really tired of your sh!t, Marvel. No wonder I don't read many superhero comics anymore.

[Heather D-G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This continues Deadpool’s quest for self-annihilation. Meh. Not my favorite and the unfortunate Dr. Whitby story arc didn’t help. A bright spot was Deadpool hitching a ride with the queen of England, but the rest of this volume was only so-so.

[zxvasdf · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you can see from the rating, it's not exactly my favorite Deadpool story, especially after the Hulky home run last trade issue. But... while not being as funny as the staple Daniel Way Deadpool story, this actually echoes WAy's other explorations of MArvel's psyches, namely that of Wolverine.

Way gets into Deadpool's head while throwing at him an fugly(I don't see it. Blame the artist. He's too good to make a chick ugly) professor of psychiatry who's hell bent on curing Deadpool. And then some. Still a must read for Deadpool fans.

[Natalia Rox · Rating 4 out of 5]

When reading this I must have said," This guy is a fool!" twenty times. I absolutely loved it. Very entertaining and I am throwing wishful thoughts into the universe for a movie. Ryan Reynolds did a great job the first time.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unremarkable filler. And really mean-spirited filler at that.

[S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't normally rate things (because it's what they want you to do), but this is some misogynistic garbage right here.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deadpool, Volume 9: Institutionalized was published back in 2008, right before Disney bought Marvel. It was substandard storytelling like this that forced Marvel into that position. Scroll on down, and you will read a lot of 1 and 2 star reviews, each with their own valid points. Daniel Way gives us Deadpool, a 6'2" mass of scar tissue and cancerous sores and lesions, who is hypercritical of Dr. Whitby's appearance. More, he gives us the Wade Wilson, who apparently attempted suicide by Hulk in the previous volume, failed, and no insight into what that failure means.

The issues also include Crossmoor Prison, which first appeared in issues of Excalibur as containing the Juggernaut. Multiple escapes by the Juggernaut have resulted in the institution's funding being cut, and housing superpowered, but not superhuman (and this distinction is integral to the foundation for Deadpool being shipped off to Crossmoor) criminals. Among Deadpool's podmates are the laughable Jack Serious, a Joker-parody--even as Deadpool, Wade Wilson is a parody of DC's Deathstroke, SLADE Wilson--and the Foolkiller, a vigilante who previously disintegrated criminals with his "purification gun." There is no explanation as to why these two characters, not previously described as British, are interred at Crossmoor, nor any hint as to why the other inmates seem to have some rapport with Foolkiller rather than an existential dread of him.

Way's writing is pretty sloppy all around. Deadpool's release/escape is deux ex machina with no logic, and Carlo Barberi's artwork is terrible. The angular linework combined with poorly executed computer generated shading is crap, and if Dr. Whitby is meant to be portrayed as morbidly obese or deformed it does not come across in the art. Dave Johnson's depictions of her on the covers reprinted inside make her look like Sam Keith's Julie (from The Maxx) or perhaps a Rocking Jellybean character, not like the obnoxious troll that every male character herein seems to take sadistic delight ragging on. In fact, it is Johnson's covers and the "break-up" between Death and Deadpool that save this from a one star rating from me.

I was initially surprised to find this for $2.99 in NM condition from an online comic store that sells Dynamite's John Carter trades for $5.99 each. Not so much now.

[Misbah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deadpool has been sent to a maximum security prison where he's being held in the psychiatric ward. His doctor, Dr Whitby, thinks she can save him. She tells him that she became a doctor because of his case and wants to help him get better. Her treatments seem to help but are also making Deadpool really sleepy and unresponsive.
When he first arrived at the prison Deadpool thought the other inmates were laughing at his scars so he best all of them up and secretly damaged the face of one of them. That guy ends up getting reconstructive surgery. Whitby spends most of her time trying to fix Deadpool and that makes the prisoner with the facial injuries jealous because he's in love with her. He's also upset because he's up for parole and he wants to stay in prison to be closer to Whitby. He takes out his anger on Deadpool.
The guy gets paroled and Deadpool is sent to solitary confinement. When Whitby goes to check on Deadpool she immediately realizes something is wrong and runs out of the prison after the recently paroled prisoner. She throws herself at him and confesses her undying love...to Deadpool. Since they both wore masks (Whitby let Deadpool wear his to hide his scars), the two of them easily switched places and got what they wanted.
Deadpool soon realizes that Dr Whitby is seriously unhinged, not just because she loves him but also because she wants to be like him and had been going around murdering people. Deadpool tries to get away from her but she finds him, revealing herself in an unflattering Deadpool costume. He goes to her apartment after she leaves for work to find some proof that she's a murderer and finds his own body parts -- enough to make another Deadpool -- chilling in the fridge.
Totally freaked out, Deadpool goes to stop Whitbys plan to kill the persons Warden. She gets blown up by her own hand but somehow survives the blast. When Deadpool tells her he loves someone else she shoots herself in the head and dies.
Deadpool throws out his assortment of body parts.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

The follow-up to the really strong Deadpool, Volume 8: Operation Annihilation is a misfire. A very failed attempt to parody the Harley Quinn character by having a psychiatrist in a British mental institution fall in love with Deadpool and be willing to do anything to be with him. But Deadpool who, just two volumes ago, was married to and in-lust with an enormous conventionally unattractive alien, isn't interested In Not Harley because she's "ugly", although she's drawn as a mildly frumpy but pretty much normal looking woman.

The premise doesn't work for me. But also, the jokes aren't funny. I don't mean they're offensive or that they aged poorly (though a few have), I just mean they're not amusing. There were several moments in the previous volume that I thought were clever and genuinely well-conceived. Here, not a single joke lands.

Unless you're desperate to see how Wade goes from fighting The Hulk to whatever awaits the reader in Deadpool, Volume 10: Evil Deadpool, I'd skip this volume and go read a proper Joker/Harley Quinn book instead.

[47Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

I welcome the reduced focus on Deadpool - I guess I've had just about enough of him - but this story doesn't make a lot of sense, nor is it overly funny like the stories in the beginning of the series. It feels like it's losing steam. Maybe Deadpool isn't built to have long-running series?

The Crossmore Prison for the Criminally Insane is Deadpool's new home. As crazy people always do, he claims he is not crazy. Ella Whitby brings him to her experimental wing that has yet to prove itself effective. He puts her other inmates in the hospital for laughing at him, so he rapidly makes new enemies, but Ella is determined to cure him.

Ella eventually pulls a less-hot-Harley-Quinn and devises a plan to set him free. He doesn't share her feelings, but she follows him like some sort of groupie, revealing that she is more like Deadpool than he thinks - she admits to murdering people. Deadpool investigates her home for evidence and finds several body parts of his in Ella's fridge. In the end, her obsession goes as far to kill herself rather than not be with Deadpool.

[Felix Zilich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Идеальный Дэдпул в моём представлении - это Том Харди из фильма «Бронсон», поэтому случайно прочитанная арка из рана Дэниела Уэя оказалась пока лучшим произведением про Уэйда Уилсона из того, что довелось видеть. После очередной эпичной попытки суицида Дэдпул приходит в сознание в британской психушке. Его постоянно держат на таблетках, поэтому четвертая стена в его голове постепенно твердеет, а Леди Смерть хлопает дверью и уходит. Вдобавок к этому, почти весь комикс герой проводит без костюма и маски, в простой больничной пижаме, тупык шутеек не шутит, только ядовито бурчит, время от времени ломая и калеча соседей по палате. Превращение болтливого наёмника в нового Карателя с обожженным ебальником Темуры Моррисона поначалу понравится далеко не всем, но под финал терпеливых ждёт годный фансервис. В сюжете появится даже королева Елизавета Вторая.

[Devin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As for my first Deadpool comic book, I rather enjoyed this one. I did find it a little slow to begin with when Deadpool was in prison, but as soon as he broke out it picked right up. It was entertaining, funny and compelling enough to make me want to read the next volume. 4/5 stars to Deadpool, Volume 9: Institutionalized by Daniel Way

[Mish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this one sm,,,
I do hate how this comic portrays women tho! Like it's 2008 so I get it but DAMN. The Dr? Most normal looking woman yet she's ugly?😭 just putting her face in extreme contortions. Anyway she's so real for falling in love with Wade,, becoming obsessed.
The suicide everything,,, a deadpool comic NEEDS this kinda hurt too his character HURRTS.

[Rix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daniel Way is...frustrating. So much of his work is considered 'classic deadpool' and I admit there are elements of it that I like but there's no substance here. Just a lot of jokes about a woman Wade doesn't find particularly attractive. Shame.

[David Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't mind it. Some good character turns in the tale. Didn't love the art of Deadpool or the lack of action. Twice it cut away from a fight to verbally recap events instead. Nice contained set of 4 comics though considering.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadpool meeting a woman that’s crazier than him was interesting. The doctor was truly psycho and obsessed with Deadpool. It was interesting to see Deadpool being the sane one for once haha. Anyway it wasn’t an amazing read but it was fun.

[Elliot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear, the Ella Whitby storyline is kinda crass and sexist isn't it?

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harley Quinn, anyone?

[Amanda Kespohl · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I got sucked into reading Deadpool comics by reading "Night of the Living Deadpool" and the story arc that began with "Dead Presidents" and continued on through "Soul Hunter", "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", and "Deadpool vs. S.H.I.E.L.D." The Deadpool in those comics was confident despite his appearance and had a witty, quirky sense of humor and an odd charm for a merciless killer. And lest you think him shallow, he had moments of vulnerability and sadness that read as genuine without him wallowing in his misery. I loved that guy, and I'd read about him doing just about anything. Seriously, if that Deadpool wants to sit somewhere and read a damn dictionary out loud, I'll buy that comic, because I bet he'd still make it awesome.

This volume's Deadpool? Uh, not so much. This Deadpool is a whining, brooding, self-pitying basketcase who has to wear his mask because he's self-conscious and is trying to cope with all of these Serious Feelings. He's also not even remotely funny, even when he tries, which is so seldom that I had to check the cover to make sure this was actually a Deadpool comic. And the part where a man who is horribly disfigured and covered in sores acts grossed out by the affections of an average-looking woman wearing glasses who seems to be about a size 12 because she is just hideously ugly and fat makes me think this comic book was written by a 13 year-old boy. So, yeah, I'm not impressed. I only gave it two stars and not one because it wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it, but I still feel only slightly better off than if I'd just taken $20 out of my wallet and lit it on fire for a lark.

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worst collection of Deadpool yet. There are some moments of Deadpool being zany that get this its second star, but everything else is pretty much garbage.

The Doc is the worst. Especially considering the art vs the dialogue about her. They repeatedly refer to her as ugly and fat. But she's not really either. The decision to have a character like this be either of those things is questionable but to not commit to the art? Even worse.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh rating this one was hard because I seriously loved the story but dang if comics aren't so effing misogynistic sometimes!I almost always overlook the over sexualized female characters who are ridiculously over the top and other characters that are the extreme opposite like Big Bertha and Macho's wife (can't remember her name) but the way they shame the first "normal" looking, fully clothed female I've seen in this run is ridiculous. I'm a big girl so when I see someone smaller than me being constantly ridiculed and called a troll, ugly, fat, goblin, unpleasant, rotund and numerous other put downs, it doesn't sit well with me. Obviously I still love Deadpool and I'm going to keep reading but it's still frustrating.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadpool is placed in a mental institution...in England...for some reason.

The first half of the volume is pretty boring as we listen to a doctor drone on about her methods and have the same argument over and over again with the warden. Plus Deadpool was very un-Deadpool with very little humor and violence that was necessary even by Deadpool standards, and that was before the mind-numbing treatment.

I did enjoy the She-Hulk cameo, too bad it was a small courtroom scene with no interaction with Deadpool.

The 2nd half picks up, as the story comes to gather and we see more of the Deadpool we know as he cracks jokes, pulls switch-a-roos, and spares Queen Elizabeth.

Also liked the cliffhanger ending.

[Ithlilian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was just ok really. I didn't laugh aloud at any parts, and most of it was spent explaining the way the institution ran rather than watching Deadpool antics. It's nice to get a little bit of background on the Evil Deadpool story, but other than that I can't think of much that is good about it. It kept me entertained, so it wasn't bad, but it's self explanatory: Deadpool is in a mental institution. He doesn't really do much to try to escape, and is coddled by one of the doctors. A "twist" occurs towards the end, but it's not really explained that well so it loses value. Oh well, it's Deadpool, you will probably read it.

[Alex Sarll]

In which Deadpool - who is after all insane - ends up in a home for the criminally insane. Except, it's in England. An England which neither looks nor sounds remotely like England - the working classes, in particular, sound more like Australians. Seriously, how come US comics creators can reliably capture life in the Savage Land of dinosaurs at the South Pole, or on the planet Oa at the universe's centre, but none of them can watch a British TV show and get some approximation of a country a few hours' flight away?
And yes, he meets the Queen.