Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars

Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars #1-4

by Cullen Bunn, Tony Harris (Cover Art), Jacopo Camagni (Artist)

Collects Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars #1-4, Secret Wars (1984) #1. Official SECRET WARS tie-in! Well, not that SECRET WARS — we're talking the original epic from 1984! But wait, Deadpool wasn't in that series, right? Wrong! Prepare to learn the terrifying truth as the team behind DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED reveals the crucial role the Merc with a Mouth played on the Beyonder's Battleworld! A role so secret, the rest of Marvel's super heroes don't even remember it! Now, relive the Secret Wars — from Doctor Doom's rise to power to Hulk holding up a mountain — all with added Deadpool! Amid the chaos, there comes...and goes...a costume — but Wade's awesome secret shield is totally for keeps! Prepare to discover how the original SECRET WARS really ended — and how the sassin' assassin saved the universe!

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

121 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2015

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars is an example of concept over story. The concept: Deadpool was secretly in the original Secret Wars from 1984. The story: uh… wanna hear the concept again?!

The original Secret Wars was just awful. It was a garbage comic created purely to sell garbage toys and was written by Jim Shooter, a man remembered for his bullying editorial style when he was running Marvel than his shitty writing. The latest Secret Wars is pretty bad too but compared to Shooter, Jonathan Hickman is the greatest writer of all time. Cullen Bunn puts some of the original Secret Wars’ scenes in this book, the dialogue untouched, so you can see for yourselves how painful it is to read:

The Wasp: “I don’t know where we are, but I suggest we start by introducing each other, all right? I’ll start! Everybody knows us, because we’re The Mighty Avengers. And we’re FAMOUS! But, just in case, I’m The Wasp, and with me are the She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, and Iron Man, who’s really on leave, but with us anyway!”

Oh god make it stop! The scene goes on with clunkier and clunkier exposition as if the reader is utterly braindead. Shooter’s writing is why I abandoned ‘84’s Secret Wars after the first issue, it’s too fucking painful to endure. I get that Bunn putting it in here is part of the very gentle ribbing he’s giving the original Secret Wars but it’s still terrible to read again.

So what about this book? Er... what about it? Deadpool’s inserted into key scenes from the original Secret Wars, he’s temporarily healed and rocks the Magnum PI look, hooking up with Wasp, and then… nothing (not that what preceded it could be called much anyway). Lots of pointless fighting follows and then it ends.

Deadpool is one of Marvel’s most popular characters - his books sell in the same ballpark as Spider-Man’s - and his miniseries always do very well. I’m sure this one sold. I just wish there’d been a story! I’m not at all enamoured with seeing Deadpool wandering around the original Battleworld, I need more than that. If that’s all you’re after, check this one out, maybe the nostalgia alone is enough for you if you’re a fan of the original Secret Wars - otherwise I’d recommend checking out better Deadpool minis like Night of the Living Deadpool or the Killology instead.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's get one thing clear from the start; I absolutely flarkin' love the original (1984) Secret Wars! I was nine years old when it came out and I think that was probably about the right age to read it and get totally sucked in.

Now, from my forty-year-old perspective, I can see it's flaws. I'm aware that this was the first 'event' that triggered all the others that we're gritting our teeth and enduring to this day and that sucks. I'm aware that it was essentially a twelve issue long advertisement for a failed toy range. Despite all this, there is enough of my inner nine-year-old left alive in me for the first Secret Wars to be something of a sacred cow to me.

So, with this in mind, you'd think I'd absolutely hate this Deadpool mini-series that claims to show the 'true' story of the Secret Wars... a 'true' re-telling that puts Deadpool centre stage in all the major events in the series. Well, my friends, nothing could be further from the truth!

I absolutely adored this book! While, yes, it tramples all over Secret Wars, taking the piss out of it along the way, it's also more than that. This series was a honest-to-goodness love letter to the story they're roasting! The creative team on this book clearly love the original as much as I do. The character 'models' are spot on! The artists, while not trying to draw in his style, obviously have great respect for Mike Zeck's original artwork.

Writer Cullen Bunn even manages to pull off a genuinely moving ending that those of you who love the original Secret Wars as much as I do will love.

If everything else that comes out of the new (2016) Secret Wars is utter bilge, it will still have been worth it just for this book.

Beauty, of course, is very much in the eye of the beholder. If you have no particular affection for the original SW series, you won't get much out of this.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

More ridiculousness with that oddball anti-hero ("I'm just like Spider-Man, but with guns and charm") of the MCU. This time he takes a page from Forrest Gump - or were they going for an even more obscure reference like Woody Allen's Zelig ? - and is awkwardly inserted into the Secret Wars event back in '84. Nothing really groundbreaking here - the expected zingers and humor, of course, courtesy of DP - but the 'bonus round' short story "Contest of Champions" (featuring assorted B-listers in the streets of East St. Louis) was actually kind of funnier.

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Continuing my tradition of having never read a Deadpool story that I enjoyed.

[Travis Duke · Rating 2 out of 5]

So deadpool was in the original 1980's secret wars... hmm ok. With all the new deadpool stuff it's all starting to feel the same. Take a funny idea in the marvel world and throw deadpool in it. That said if you want to laugh or are looking to laugh at marvel then sometimes Deadpool fits the bill. I wasn't expecting much and that's what I got. There are funny moments with his makeover and the costumes, and his usual jabs at other heroes so it's fun in that respect. The story is meh, the relationship with the alien was actually fine but thats not a lot to stand on. Need a quick laugh then read it, but i sure don't think these types of comics are worth owning really.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the main titled story the filler was okay and only 3 stars.

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 3 out of 5]

В тая книжка положението е: "Дайте да вкараме Дедпул в тая стара история, че е популярен, да направим един миш-маш със "забавни" моменти и малоумни диалози, един инфантилно-сърцераздирателен такъв и да видим к'во ще стане. Децата ще се избият да купуват - гаранция!"

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just like Spider-Man but with guns and charm.

- Deadpool

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 3 out of 5]

Калън Бън продължава да прахосва страхотния потенциал на тоя герой в уникално дебилни миш-маши...

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my interview with writer Cullen Bunn here: https://youtu.be/7V1aFB6KyMw

If you read the original “Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars,” then this is fucking hilarious.

Deadpool is hit or miss for me, but this one cracked me up.

It’s a fun little book with a lot of laughs. I really liked it, and it kinda perfectly compliments the source material that it lampoons.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.75 stars. The best part of this one was the “bonus chapter” where the b-list heroes are involved. Always bonus points for Doop! A lot of people don’t like reading Deadpool because he interjects in places where he comes off annoying, and while I’ve never ran into that before this one, I couldn’t get away from it here. Admittedly I’ve never read the original Secret Wars, so I might’ve enjoyed this more if I had. Regardless, I didn’t enjoy reading this one so I’m glad it was a quick read. The art was great though!

[Logan Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10:
This was really fun! While I haven’t read the original Secret Wars run from 1984 (despite owning it….), I still really enjoyed this Deadpool story! We see him step up to be the hero while touching on his humanity, especially when it came to his interactions with Wasp and Lizard.

Reading this collection reminded me how much I love Deadpool and how I need to read more about the merc with a mouth.

[Shane Stanis · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wacky and wonderful version of the Beyonder!

This is pretty much everything I would want from a SW parody, tho there was a bit of low hanging fruit I couldn’t believe Bunn didn’t take advantage on - particularly tea with Galactus. I mean, what could be more Deadpool than that?

[Caron · Rating 3 out of 5]

★||Actual Rating: 3.5 stars||★

Review to come soon

[Kelly Sedinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. It probably needs a more thorough recollect of what happens in SECRET WARS than I had. Still, a fun reimagining of one of the first big Crossover Event comics.

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun ride but nothing really happens, Deadpool is dropped into the Secret Wars event and shenanigans ensue.

There are some attempts at romance in this but as you know it's a mini series it's not going to go anywhere so looses it's impact, apart from Deadpool no one else gets gets any stand out moments or time to shine. His look changes though this twice, wish they had played around with it a bit more because that was gold.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun, light read. Good Deadpool.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the colorful style of some 80's comics even though the writing is sometimes difficult to get through. I remember seeing the original Secret Wars when I was a kid and thinking "that looks awesome." I guess Deadpool thought it looked awesome too because he has somehow willed himself into the 1980's Secret Wars. The continuity is sort of a mess to follow but if you just have fun with Deadpool interacting with your favorite retro characters, this book is a blast. Deadpool, of course, gets on everyone's nerves and even boinks a classic Avengers character. He also grows a mustache and manages to kick a little ass. I loved it. I wanted to sit here and read the whole thing. And I actually chuckled a few times. I thought I was dead inside, but turns out I can still find humor in a disfigured man's time-travelling nonsense. Thumbs up, dude!

[Solace Winter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Deadpool, so it's hilarious. It's nothing to do with anything at all really, at least currently going, so it loses a star for lack of relevancy.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever romping revisit to the original Secret Wars. Quite liked this one and finally seeing what Wade looks like all healed up was a hoot too. (He looks like a porn star. But in a good way.)

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give this 4.5. It's hilarious and a quick read!

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars and Secret Wars #1 (May 1984-October 2015).  Deadpool finds himself transported to Battleworld with a group of superheroes and pitted against a group of supervillains by the mysterious Beyonder.  As Deadpool discovers that Battleworld could hold everyone’s dreams, he also learns that Battleworld could be the place he finally finds true love…but true love and dreams come at a cost.

Written by Cullen Bunn, Warzones!:  Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars is a quasi-spinoff title to Marvel’s Secret Wars big event series.  The collection features art by Matteo Lolli, Matteo Buffagni, and Jacopo Camagni and reprints the original Secret Wars #1 (May 1984) by Jim Shooter and Michael Zeck.  The issues were also collected in Deadpool Classic—Volume 19.

I’m not always a huge Deadpool fan, but the idea of a Secret Wars spinoff that really is an actual spinoff title for the original Secret Wars sounded kind of fun.  The original Secret Wars was about the time I started collecting as a kid and I read and reread the issues I had over and over again.  It is fun to revisit those issues and see a different spin on them.

The series has a lot of Deadpool’s irreverent humor, but it doesn’t actually seem to take it far enough.  I guess the goal of the series was really to have Secret Wars play out just like it did in the comic instead of really providing any social commentary on “Big Event” series and make it potentially canon.  This misses the opportunity to point a lot of jokes at the series (I actually felt that the short Contest of Champions story was actually more on point in this sense).

It doesn’t mean that the series doesn’t have some great moments.  The best part of the series probably is a small joke for kids who grew up in the ’80s.  In Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #2 Deadpool finds a room full of shields that show images.  The Secret Wars toys released with Secret Wars had all the characters have a holographic shield showing things like their secret identities.  It was a throwaway part of the toy and a fun joke to poke fun at this randomness of action figures from the time.

While Deadpool generally pushes things too far, Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars isn’t quite far enough.  It is still a fun read, but if you are reading it for Deadpool, you might find it lacking.  If you are a fan of Secret Wars (the original), it is definitely worth checking out (but it might be beneficial to reread Secret Wars before hitting this title if it has been a while).

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typowy Deadpool, tym razem w wydarzeniu z 1984 roku, gdzie chyba jeszcze nie istniał jako postać. Ale że mamy Tajne Wojny, to przy okazji Bunn postanowił zaszaleć i odnieść się do wydarzenia sprzed 30 lat...

I wychodzi mu to nieźle, zwłaszcza że do omawianego tomu dołączono pierwszy z dwunastu oryginalnych zeszytów Secret Wars, co jest nielada gratką, bo pozwala spojrzeć na to jak wyglądały komiksy kilka dekad temu. Autor mieli materiał źródłowy i daje nam coś świeżego, wrzucając w wir wydarzeń naszego najemnika, który jednak jakoś nie poruszył mojego serduszka.

Mamy kupę herosów na obcej planecie, poszerzony o udział Wade'a w wydarzeniach. Mamy jego romans z pewną postacią. Masę żartów. Mało udanych. Już nie mówię o śmiechu, ale uśmiechu. Deadpool nie jest też na tyle ironiczny, na ile bym się spodziewał. Jasne, ciężar opowiadania jest nieco inny niż w dotychczasowych wydarzeniach z Marvel Now!, ale to nie tłumaczy całości.

Na swoje szczęście autor przewidział jeszcze rundę bonusową, czyli dodatkowy zeszyt, gdzie nieco na uboczu jakiegoś eventu Deadpool wraz z ciekawą zgrajką stają do walki między sobą, na widzimisię Grandmastera i zamaskowanej postaci. Krótkie to, fajnie zarysowane i nieco za mocno przegadane, ale wypada na plus.

Kreska. Jest poprawna, w niczym się nie wyróżnia. Fakt, fajnie jest zobaczyć Deadpoola z wąsem, ale... Chciałoby się więcej. Nieco kulą u nogi w tym tie-in są dialogi. Ja wiem, że Najemnik z Nawijką musi "godać", ale żeby jeszcze robił to dobrze...

Plusik za bonusik w postaci zeszytu z 1984. Doceniam pomysł, szkoda tylko że postarano się o więcej.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel Universe doesn’t do much for me. Nor do the conventional superheroes. But there isn’t much conventional about The Merc with a Mouth, the charmingly abrasive, sarcastic and only somewhat heroic character who enjoys casually taking a sledgehammer to the fourth wall.
And so I’ve read and enjoyed some Deadpool comics. This one, though, not so much.
The premise here was to take a classic eighties comic adventure, one of those huge productions with all the supers uniting and fighting an intergalactic supervillain, and infuse it with some Deadpoolness. To be fair, the comic needed it, as you can plainly see from the original included at the end of this book. The original that’s all too serious and much like most Marvel comics of its time dramatically overwritten, overexplained and goofily drawn.
This collaboration is an improvement in every way, it looks and reads more fun. But still not enough fun because one can only do so much with a stale premise and clichéd supers.
The concept is entertaining much in the same way as Deadpool movies being by far and away the most entertaining (and clever) of all of Marvel Universe productions, but it only goes so far.
At the end of the day, Deadpool does better on his own with his own comically bizarre adventures and not following the preset, same old, trite and tired Marvel playbook. Ta-da.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first "Secret Wars" was a massive Marvel cross-over event that, well, was ultimately about selling toys. A bunch of Marvel's major characters are thrown together, and the story that follows doesn't always make a lot of sense; in particular, the heroes don't always act like their usual comic book selves. Those inconsistencies are explained in "Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars" with one disturbingly fitting solution: Deadpool was there all along! There to enrage some heroes, goad others into actions that might otherwise be out of character, and otherwise fill in a lot of narrative gaps.

For anyone who read "Secret Wars" growing up in the 80's, this book is probably going to lean a little more towards a 5-star review. For other readers, there's not a whole lot of context here, other than the re-published first issue of the original series at the back of the volume, but it's still a fun ride if you don't take it too seriously.

[Adrian J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is not, in fact, set in the original Secret Wars event.

It does not - despite what many reviewers online will tell you - resolve inconsistencies in the original story.

It is just silly Deadpool being silly Deadpool, in a story full of holes which, if taken seriously, would CREATE many inconsistencies in the original story.

It is evident from the opening pages that it isn't "canon". It's there to be laughed at.

Thing is, Bunn doesn't write Deadpool very well, so it all falls flat. He has a few emotional moments thrown in; if he'd gone that route all along, and made it serious!Deadpool, it could have been great. But instead those few emotional moments are just meh.

Also, the artwork is inconsistent.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I'd have loved it, but I didn't. I guess the original "Secret Wars" is just too holy to trow Deadpool in it and let him play with it. There were few moments witch I liked, some made me laugh a bit but in the end I just wanted to read this comic as fast as I possibly could.
What I get from reading this comic is just a list of comics I want to read also. Hopefully they are more satisfying than this one.

[Nasty Knob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like some of this went over my head, due to the fact that I've never read the original Secret Wars storyline from the '80s (however, the first issue is also included in this TPb). That aside, I found this to be a highly entertaining and amusing Deadpool yarn, and it's easily the best story I've read so far from this new Secret Wars series. Thankfully, there is minimal use of two-page spreads in this particular arc.

[Christopher Dodds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing I love the different take on the Secret Wars with DeadPool being in it really works because of his crazy humour and fourth wall breaking. It was crazy fun and full of great moments but some sad and funny ones at the same time, would definitely recommend this to any one to have and purchase because it is great.

[Jason Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

It captures the insanity that is a mainstream comic book crossover even, I love the throwback to the 1984 secret wars.

Do yourself a favour and skip to the end and read Secret Wars (1984) #1 first as you'll better appreciate what they are doing by injecting Deadpool into that story.

It's kind of amazing how poor the dialogue and plot is in the original Secret Wars.