Deadpool - Dark Reign (Deadpool (2008) 2)

Deadpool (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Daniel Way, Paco Medina (illustrator)

Norman Osborn hat bei Deadpool eine Rechnung offen. Und Wade macht sich auf, die Schulden einzutreiben. Aber seit seinem Aufstieg an die Macht, ist Norman nur schwer zu greifen. Er ist der Boss von HAMMER und der Dark Avengers. D. h. er hat Leute wie Bullseye, um Deadpool-Probleme aus dem Weg zu räumen. BESTSELLER

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

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 30, 2009

Reviews

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a prime example of what can be simultaneously so great and so frustrating about reading Marvel comics. The good news is that it’s another fun Deadpool collection, but the bad news is that it starts one story, then skips a couple of issues because that was part of a crossover to Thunderbolts, and then returns to actually wrap up that plot in the pages of Deadpool.

If you read just Deadpool or Thunderbolts (I guess there must be a few fans out there for it.) then you didn’t get the whole story. Even if you wait and read the trades you still didn’t get the entire thing because you gotta go get that Dark Reign: Deadpool/Thunderbolts trade for the 4 issues that covered it. It’s a real pain in the ass unless you’ve got a digital Marvel Unlimited subscription, and even then you’ll get pissed off when you gotta go look up what issues of Thundberbolts to read.

Seriously, Marvel wasn’t even a dozen issues deep into this run of Deadpool, and he’s been involved in two huge events and had a story crossover into another unrelated book that resulted into another trade collection. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m just trying to read some goddamn cartoon books about people in funny costumes punching each other. Why is it such a pain in the ass to get a complete story?

Anyhooo.. This would have been a 4 star read with our favorite taco lovin’ mercenary getting into a beef with Norman Osborn about him screwing up a job that would have been a nice payday for Wade. So Deadpool takes a page out of the Mafia’s playbook and just moves that debt over to ol’ Stormin’ Norman. Osborn tries to head this off by using first Tiger Shark and then Bullseye to kill Wade. There’s some absolutely fantastic stuff with Deadpool and Bullseye (Wearing Hawkeye’s outfit as a Dark Reign faux-Avenger.) that involves arrows to the head, meat suits, monster trucks, rocket launchers, and a chainsaw.

However, since Marvel couldn’t just give us this story in a reasonable fashion I’m penalizing them a star.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a scene in this where Deadpool’s got an arrow in his head and he’s staggering towards the reader saying “DUUUUHHHRRR” that made me laugh so much, if the rest of the book had sucked, it’d still have been worth reading. But actually there’s a lot here to enjoy so it’s one highlight among many!

This is Dark Reign-era Marvel meaning SHIELD is no more and HAMMER are the guys in charge. Norman Osborn is the head of HAMMER, the Thunderbolts and the Dark Avengers, and he wants Deadpool dead for knowing certain things about his business. He sends Tiger Shark and then Bullseye, who’s temporarily pretending to be Hawkeye. Let the games begin!

The Tiger Shark two-parter wasn’t that great - he’s just not that good a character - but it was nice to see Hydra Bob at least. Daniel Way does a great job with the Deadpool vs Bullseye story though which has some brilliant moments like the arrow in the head scene, the meat armor scene, and the fight on the highway.

As well as writing a pitch-perfect Deadpool, Daniel Way writes an awesome Bullseye - his earlier Punisher vs Bullseye book is definitely worth checking out if you enjoyed this one AND Steve Dillon draws it! Normally superheroes (or supervillains in this case) fighting each other bores me but Way knows how to make these two characters have an imaginative, entertaining and funny fight.

There’s obviously a chunk missing between the Tiger Shark and Bullseye stories which I think is covered in a separate book, but you can still follow what’s going on in this one without seeing Deadpool fight the Thunderbolts. It probably plays out like this one anyway: fun to see but, inevitably, like 99% of superhero stories, consequence-free.

Daniel Way’s Deadpool continues to delight with its silly and definitely adult humour and interesting, gleefully manic storylines. If you want to read great Deadpool comics, look for the ones with Way’s name on the cover!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this collection, Deadpool first fights the furious Tiger Shark and then has to showdown with the surly assassin Bullseye (except, due to when this story is set, Bullseye is going by 'Hawkeye').

It was certainly action-packed and had a good few yuks but it all felt a bit by-the-numbers, to be honest. I didn't much care for the ending, either, but we'll see where it goes in the next volume.

[Amy Estridh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fav moment: Bullseye and Deadpool giving compliments for the way they tried to kill each other. 🥰

Trivial fact about Wade:
He ships Doctor Doom and Morgan Le Fay as a romantic couple 💕

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really not cool with all of the innocent people being killed.

The bazooka round through the windows was pretty cool though.

3, the violence level in this one was a tad high for my tastes, stars.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to start with a complaint. This trade collects Deadpool #6-7 and 10-12. Where's #8-9? Why, they're over here, in Dark Reign: Deadpool/Thunderbolts! I can understand why the Deadpool/Thunderbolts trade: Deadpool #8-9 and Thunderbolts #130-131 are inseparable if you want to understand what's going on. But I wish they would have packaged Deadpool #6-7 with the previous collection (which only had five issues) or even with the Deadpool/Thunderbolts collection (which is just four stinking issues long) instead of creating this hodgepodge that, if you want the full story, you have to put down halfway through. Rant over.

The second half of the trade is another Deadpool/Bullseye matchup. I seriously love every time Bullseye makes an appearance in a Deadpool comic. I feel like they bring out the best in each other, and I know that any Bullseye/Deadpool story is going to be action-packed, violent, and funny. And so it was.

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've become fond of Deadpool after I watched the live-action movie. This volume is quite a happy-go-lucky read, with altro-violence, good sense of humor---Okay you just can't get Deadpool to shut up, right? --- and hilarious story lines. Plus the Main Character, Deadpool is such a larger-than-life persence that you just have to LOL whenever he is in action---Deadpool, gun-for-hire, the deadless mercenary who would do many, many things for the all-mighty dollar! I hope to find more Deadpool comics in the library.

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

My only complaint is that there is a huge chunk of the story missing (issues #8-9). The story leading up to 8 and 9 and the story afterwards seem pretty dependent on 8 and 9 so WHY WERE THEY NOT INCLUDED!?

Aside from this stupid oversight, the volume is a fun and fast read. Well written with plenty of great laugh out loud Deadpool moments.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I read a lot of superhero comics for someone who doesn't really enjoy them all that much. I read comics because I'm interested in learning about the vast Marvel universe (I need to find the time to dip my to into DC), not because I usually find the plots very interesting. But you know what? I really enjoyed this. Definitely the best Deadpool I have read so far. I wasn't sure if I should continue with him, but I know I have to after that ending.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
"You cannot possibly be this stupid"
Yeah well Deadpool is pretty dumb and so far this is the best Deadpool comic I have read. There are some moments in this that will make you laugh your ass off. I think that scene where Deadpool stabs Bullseye with a meat hook is one of my favorite Deadpool moments ever.

[Elyrria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, the pizza delivery guy scene in the Deadpool movie was inspired by a scene in this comic! Super cool to see where they got the inspiration.

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun, art was really good.

[Saddy But Daddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny & violent. 2 page Die Hard fantasy. Clever.

[Danger]

More sass from Deadpool.

[Pardina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love comic books, but it bothers me how often you need to know the backstory of a character to understand an obscure reference sometimes. Deadpool is a character I'm familiar with, but haven't read extensively, so reading this series, while hilarious, often meant that I had to stop to Google random plot points. It's a little bit like being in a group where everyone is making inside jokes.

Having said that, it's a good read! Deadpool is crazy funny and other than my pit-stops to look up certain references, I enjoyed reading it. I guess I'd need a better starting point to get stuck into the lore of the character though?

[Stephanie Suke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t see that it was book number two in a series, Deadpool: dark reign by Way Medina, is a book about the controversial superhero deadpool. It ties in with the first story, secret invasion. Dark reign continues on about Deadpool’s struggles with society and fighting the villains. He fought many different villains along the way, but the true villain he was after was Norman Osborne. Norman was a bad guy and stole a lot of information to kill the skrull queen and gain everyone’s love. Overall this story was okay. The artwork was very stereotypical superhero comic like. The main theme was to eliminate the crime from the city and the author did a really good job of portraying that.

[Gavin Abdollahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOAH!
THIS JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!
This was funny, full of action, and VERY entertaining. Deadpool at his best.
One of my favorite things about this Deadpool run is that it's clean... Well, yeah, it's kinda violent, but nothing over the top. Nothing too bad comes out of Deadpool's toilet (mouth), and there's like no bad content. (You know what I mean.)
All in all, GREAT! One of he best comics I've ever read!

[Tristan Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Daniel Way on the Deadpool books. He totally captures the character on a multi-dimensional level, and not some 90's anti-hero that kept rolling on like Wolverine or the countless others from the Weapon X project. Plus this book reunites Bullseye with Wade, and Bob comes back as well. Always a fun read.

[Sonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and silly "spy vs. spy" with Deadpool and Bullseye (as Hawkeye.) A nice pairing of psychos!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh, I like Deadpool and Bullseye's relationship. New BROTP, for sure. Also, usual Deadpool madness and awesomeness so, yeah, great comic book.

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

mad

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun two-story collection of Daniel Way's Deadpool that, unfortunately, has a hole in the middle because Marvel's trade paperback program has been edited by drunk roosters since its inception.

The good news is that the missing part of the story is covered by a recap page which isn't visually as striking as the story it recaps but it's just as interesting. What you miss: a bunch of characters you've never heard of are the current team of Dark Reign: Deadpool/Thunderbolts. They try to kill Deadpool for Norman Osborne but they fail. (Actually, the interactions between Deadpool and Taskmaster during that story are fun but they're not necessary to understanding the second story in this collection.)

The highlight of this collection is the relationship between Deadpool and Bullseye. It's immature, silly, and not going to give you any real emotional response because, hey, this is a Deadpool book. It's a good Deadpool book. After a few years of Fabien Nicieza's atonal Cable & Deadpool, Volume 1: If Looks Could Kill run, it's nice to have a Deadpool book written by someone who knows both what he's trying to say and how to say it in Deadpool's voice.

If you only know Deadpool through Ryan Reynolds in movies (but not the Wolverine Origins movie), Daniel Way's run on these books is the perfect introduction to him in comic form.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand how challenging it can be to collect comic book series into volumes when they have crossovers, but is there ever really a time when it's okay for half of the story to be missing from a volume? I don't think so, but that's what we get here. Deadpool faces Tiger Shark (the Marvel version of King Shark, but he's not nearly as entertaining) for two issues, gets beat up a lot, and then the plot jumps over a crossover and suddenly Deadpool's facing Deadshot. There's a brief paragraph synopsis to explain the basics, but it really doesn't provide much detail. And that's another thing - the synopsis for the volume provides details about the story that aren't present anywhere in the stories themselves.
What is here is vintage Deadpool; lots of violence, a fair number of funny moments and over-the-top situations, and Deadpool takes a lot of damage here. The art is well done, pulling back from some of the more gruesome moments but intimating enough. All of that is fine; it's just not well supported. And don't get me started on the last page; it's a shock ending that has little provocation and is a turn-off.
Fans of Deadpool will enjoy it, but for others it's just barely got more positives than negatives.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2.
In the wake of Secret Invasion, Deadpool discovers that he's made a powerful enemy in the shape of Norman Osborn, new head of the Avengers. After surviving attacks by contract killers such as Tiger Shark and HYDRA Bob, Wade find himself in the sights of Hawkeye AKA Bullseye.

The first half of this book was fairly standard Deadpool fare, with quips, shenanigans and over-the-top violence. Fine, but definitely nothing new. However, the second half, in which Deadpool and the new villainous Hawkeye go toe to toe was much better.

Both Deadpool and Bullseye are ruthless, deranged killers and seeing them get increasingly creative in their attempts to kill one another was very entertaining to read. I also liked the interpersonal dynamic between them, with Bullseye/Hawkeye seeming genuinely hurt when Deadpool accuses him of not having a sense of humour. The book then ramps up just how much fun these two are having trying to kill each other, but only one can be victorious (and the other will have to use cunning and outright lies to get away).

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Michael T. Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadpool is a lot to take when he's not properly balanced, and that's kind of the problem with the first half of this arc - the Tiger Shark story feels like it's oversaturated with pop culture references and thin on coherency (even for a Deadpool story). Also, I have no idea why there are so many "Die Hard" references in a comic where a guy fights a shark-man in Florida - there isn't really any obvious link there to connect the themes.

The second half, where Deadpool fights Bullseye, is stronger, but that's because Bullseye generally serves as the POV character - he's the one with a character arc and who we spend the most time with outside of the fights, and that helps the story function a bit better.

It's also funny how much from this specific arc wound up in the first Deadpool movie - there is a scene where Deadpool orders a pizza and then reveals the delivery guy was his target, and a scene where Deadpool has a traumatic brain injury (in the comic, it's an arrow instead of a combat knife).

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 30 seconds it took me to finish Dark Reign, rate it three stars on Comixology, and pop onto Goodreads, my rating rose by a star. In that time I thought about what I liked about v.1, what v.2 gave me that's different, what got improved, and how hard I laughed in places and realized I had to go up to four stars.

In whatever Marvel timeline hellhole this occurs in, Deadpool (fresh off the events in v.1) has an enemy in high places willing to hire some badass assassins to get rid of him. If you're just reading Deadpool comics (like me) you have no idea who this antagonist is, but it's all good; the important thing is watching Deadpool yak and flashback his way through the killers.

It's not as constantly funny as v.1, but the funny highs far eclipse it. Meanwhile, the plot is more cohesive and less goofy. I like funny, but goofy is a different matter. And I could go for more of those flashbacks.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deadpool fights Tiger Shark who is helped by Hydra Bob. The latter informs Deadpool about everything, even helps him take care of Tiger Shark in his clumsy way. Osborn is behind everything. Deadpool wants the money he is owed by Osborn for the information on killing the skrull queen. Osborn sends in the Thunderbolts to cancel the debt, but that's another collected edition that is totally worth reading. It has a hot chick in it too.

The Thunderbolts effectively fail, though Deadpool gets some inside help. He is still gunning for Osborn who sends Bullseye, a bloodthirsty bastard with a tactical mindset. Deadpool plays around with him until Bullseye calls for a truce. He offers to pay to have Deadpool stand down for a while, until Osborn's shaky plans go belly up. Deadpool gets some well-deserved pay and downtime, but not for long.

[I DRM Free · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deadpool Vol. 2: Dark Reign sees Deadpool get attacked by Tiger Shark, his orders to behead Deadpool and deliver it to who hired him. But who did hire him? And why?

Deadpool finds out it was Osborn who had stole the data he stole from the Skrull. He used that data to become the hero of Earth defeating Skrull Queen. S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists and H.A.M.M.E.R. has replaced it, with Osborn as the head. And he will do anything to cover up how he came into power.

After Tiger Shark fails, he sends Bullseye to finish the job. But Deadpool likes his new friend Bullseye and loves playing with him.

This is another great set of comics in the Deadpool series with lots of humor, action, gore, gags galore.

As the previous volume, this one has DRM. -1

[Amit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

After defeating skills, Deadpool is on mission to recover his data and get paid.
For that he has to fight Osborn who is on mission to launch new initiative for earth superheroes, called hammer.
Shark and arrow man arrive to decimate Deadpool.
Artwork is great and you can see so many things in each Illustration.
Writing is funny and Story is enjoyable.
When you eat pizza before killing pizzaboy and call FM station for advice when you have an Arrow through your brain; you cannot be any other superhero, only Deadpool can do that
.
Funny brutal superhero in the hands of great writer and excellent artist.