Deadpool & The Mercs For Money Vol. 0: Merc Madness

Deadpool & the Mercs for Money (Collected Editions)

by Cullen Bunn

Deadpool might be an Avenger now, but he's also got his own private team of mercenaries...the legally-cleared-to-be-called Mercs for Money!
Got a problem you can't solve on your own and a pile of money you'd like to be rid of? Just call Deadpool, Stingray, Massacre, Solo, Foolkiller, Terror and Slapstick and watch as that problem is shot, stabbed, eviscerated, pulverized and generally made bloody!

Collecting: Deadpool & The Mercs For Money 1-5, Deadpool: Masacre

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

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2016

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

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jesus, this was exceptionally boring.
I'm not even sure what to say about it other than it felt like a generic, phoned-in version of every other DP comic out there. Minus the funny stuff...



I'd give it one star, but I liked the vampire trucker. Plus, as snoozeworthy as the main storyline was, that retarded bonus issue with Massacre (the Spanish Deadpool) reminded me that it could have been soooooo much worse.
Ugh. *spits*
It was so awful, I actually skimmed it.
Do you know how bad the dialogue has to be for me to skim a comic book?!



Blech. Unless you're a Deadpool completionist, skip it.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

A five issue Limited Series introduces what is meant to be an on-the-edge mad cap tale of Deadpool and his own group of manic mercenaries. Although I gave it 6.5 out of 12, I remember it been painfully forced humour, and it was the story lines that maintained and kept my interest.

2017 read

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deadpool and his Mercs for Money - Stingray, Terror, Foolkiller, Slapstick, Solo, and Masacre (the Spanish Deadpool!) – find themselves in possession of a supposedly future-predicting robot. Do they use it to learn how to avoid mistakes in the present or help people prepare for the future? Nope, they tries to make bank by selling it to the highest bidding supervillain!

Generally Cullen Bunn’s a pretty good Deadpool writer but his Mercs for Money book is utter crap. The story is flimsy at best and full of pointless fighting, none of which is entertaining to read. There are also too many characters in this book. Besides Deadpool and Slapstick, the other characters are totally indistinguishable. Neither Stingray, Terror, Foolkiller, and Solo have distinctive personalities and Masacre is completely incomprehensible unless you can understand Spanish!

I liked the Ozarks Kingpin who could easily be an Eric Powell character, and, once Deadpool and the Mercs joined the Highwayman (a vampire trucker), things slightly improved as it all went briefly Fury Road-ish. The Declan Shalvey covers are cool too. It’s not a lot of good stuff though and the book is mostly an unmemorable and unfunny bore. I like Deadpool but the Mercs for Money are the suck!

[Jorge Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing Special. Just another Deadpool series generated by the success that the character has been having in the past few years.
It doesn't add anything new but still a fun read.


Nada del otro mundo. Es otra serie de Masacre surgida a partir del éxito que el personaje tiene desde hace unos pocos años y que se ha visto intensificado por la película y la nueva serie de Gerry Duggan.
Pese a que no aporta nada nuevo, sigue siendo una lectura entretenida.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another Deadpool book that was pretty entertaining for the most part but not much more. The overall precognitive robot meets hillbilly gangsters plot didn't do much for me, if I'm honest, but there were some pretty funny lines and I got a huge kick out of seeing the Crazy Gang show up! More obscure Marvel UK characters, please! Yes, just for me! Hey; now Marvel's downplaying the mutants it'd be the perfect time to bring the Warpies back!

Just me then? Arsebadgers.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know a limited series has done something right when it gets promoted to ongoing. Here we have a book which focuses on the Deadpool and his recently recruited gang of lunatics mercenaries, the Mercs for Money. The difference between this and the main series is this is a team book instead of a book about Deadpool. He's in it but it's not all about him here.

The Mercs end up with a robot that can apparently predict the future so they decide to sell it. Obviously such a thing is very desirable amongst the villains of the Marvel universe, although this is a Deadpool book so many of the villains are the more bonkers ones from Marvel canon. I won't spoil it by revealing exactly who appears but there's a lot of fun to have there.

The plot of this book is frankly pretty weak and I hated the non-ending. But what makes this book good is that it's basically a long battle between the Mercs for Money and a group of assorted villains in varying scenarios. I'm not usually a fan of fight-y comic books where it's all battle and no plot but I actually did like this one.

It's Bunn's use of the characters that really works well. There's all those great (and not so great) villains and then the Mercs themselves. It's fun seeing them working as a team for a whole series, something which we haven't seen much at all in the main Deadpool title. The mercs are all really well used, especially Slapstick who has come out of no-where to become a new favourite character of mine.

This is a fun limited series although I have my doubts to how well it work as an ongoing. The Mercs for Money are a new team but they are a really strong one and work together brilliantly in this volume.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t mind this, but it definitely wasn’t exceptional at all. It’s a pretty standard Deadpool story, not much crazy different or exciting about it. It was a little fun at the start, but as it continued I became less and less interested. Besides the main issues, the Massacre issue at the end was terrible though. The badly translated english isn’t funny, it just makes it hard to read - plus the story itself is pretty bad.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first issue when it came out, then dropped it because there was literally too many Deadpool titles at the time.

Now that I've come back to it, I actually like it well enough. I think it needs more backstory about the other team members, but it's fairly good. Plot was interesting! Not laugh out loud funny but like a constant smile kind of thing.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a saying when it comes to my taste in music that applies to other aspects of my interests. 'The worst Queen song is better than no Queen song at all.' I have certain things I like where even if it's the worst of the worst, I'd rather be entertained by it than just being bored.

That's kinda how I feel about Deadpool's Mercs for Money era. It's perhaps the Merc with a Mouth's least entertaining period and yet, if I had to choose between reading a trade paperback full of these guys' exploits or watching paint dry, I'll take Wade Wilson and Co. every time.

One of my biggest pet peeves with the Mercs for Money involves the line-up. There are essentially 7 members of the group, if you count Wade Wilson's leadership of the team. Living cartoon Slapstick is hilarious. Avengers reservist Stingray is a funny running joke on how that's not how the 'World's Greatest Heroes' do things. I've been a fan of immortal hit man Terror since I read his Christmas themed issue years ago and I love how he's kinda turned into a parody of Serpico and Donnie Brasco. Anti-heroes Solo and Foolkiller help to ground Deadpool into being a responsible leader. I'm not sure why you've got 2 moral anchors on the same team. It feels like overkill. And then there's Masacre...

Known as the Mexican Deadpool, Masacre speaks only Spanish. I'd have no problem with the character speaking exclusively Spanish if the writers/editors (or both) would translate what he's saying. But this was published during the Axel Alonso era of Marvel, which means these issues were released under the guidance of the worst editor the House of Ideas ever had. Each issue comes with a snarky editor's note telling readers to learn Spanish if they want to know what Masacre has to say; once again alienating readers instead of embracing all sides of the fanatic spectrum. So with not understanding what 1/7th of the team has to say and being treated like dirt because I know French and American Sign Language instead of Spanish, I don't feel as connected to the Mercs with Money compared to other Deadpool series.

'Merc Madness' is a 5-issue series in which Deadpool's team comes into possession of a robot that might have insight into the future. Turns out this machine is one of those legendary Recorders and after going through a rip in the fabric of space, it was ingrained with unlimited knowledge of the multiverse. Naturally, Wade Wilson sees dollar signs; immediately putting it up for auction. This puts a targets on the backs of the Mercs with Money until they can deliver the Recorder to the secret hideout of the highest bidder.

Along with the main story like this trade paperback includes the one-shot Deadpool: Masacre. Apparently it's a Cinco de Mayo special issue (for those of you who like to collect holiday themed comics). At first, I'm apprehensive because if I know anything about Masacre, it's that he speaks untranslated Spanish. However, from what I can gather from intro at the beginning of the special, writer's Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn wrote the entire script in English, translated it into Spanish and then back into English in order to hilariously massacre everything in some odd Marvel version of the kid's game Telephone.

As a result, you do get this hilarious Batman-like origin story of the Mexican Deadpool. Bloody too! However, based on how the editor's keep telling their readers to learn Spanish if they've got complaints about not understanding what the characters has to say, the idea behind this one-shot seems insensitive. Don't get me wrong! I love Deadpool's irreverence and I'm not calling for the character to be cancelled. It's just another example of how Axel Alonso was just as irreverent, crude and crash like the rest of us; he just couldn't care less what his white, older customer base wanted. Some might applaud that way of thinking. But as someone who majored on the business side of the culinary industry, I know that such alienation isn't how your run a multi-national company. Alas, Alonso had to offend somebody. He just chose to turn away the population who had the most spending power.

It's not my favorite Deadpool volume. But as a fan of the character, I'm going to keep it. Though I'm culling from my massive collection, this one will stay. How else can I say I have the entire gambit of Deadpool stories?

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I always love myself a good Deadpool story, as he has quickly become one of my favorite comic book characters of all time. I even love it when he is the star of some pretty awful stories because they are usually awful in an immensely fun and exciting way if that makes any sense at all, but I unfortunately cannot say the same of Deadpool & the Mercs for Money, Vol. 0: Merc Madness; I truly wish that I could. Written by Cullen Bunn and with art by Salva Espin and coloring by Guru-eFX, this graphic novel (which collects issues 1-5 of Deadpool & the Mercs for Money as well as a bonus issue - Deadpool: Masacre) isn't awful in a fun or exciting way; it's just awful. The plot was all over the place for me and never focused on much long enough to keep me interested, and all I could do was keep thinking, Where is this going? (The answer to that question unfortunately ended up being, Nowhere interesting.) The plot focuses on Deadpool's motley crew of mercenaries - The Mercs for Money (which includes Stringray, Solo, Foolkiller, Terror, Slapstick, and Masacre) - as they try to sell an apparently prophetic robot to the highest bidder. It's hard to say much more than that because, as I said, the plot never really focuses on much of anything for a long period of time, and I hesitate even to boil the plot down to that. The only Merc for Money (besides, of course, Deadpool and besides Masacre, but I will discuss Masacre shortly) that I found even remotely interesting was Slapstick, and even that was pretty marginal. (The story also ends on an unresolved cliffhanger, but I really don't feel interested enough to do research and find out whether or not it's ever concluded in further issues.) Another reason why I found this graphic novel rather laborious is that there is a fair portion of it that is in Spanish, and that meant that I had to repeatedly stop reading so that I could translate the Spanish into English. One of the Mercs for Money is a character of whom, if I am to be completely honest, I had not been aware prior to reading this graphic novel; he goes by Masacre, and he is essentially a Mexican version of Deadpool, even wearing very similar getup. He apparently used to be a priest but became a contracted killer after he met Deadpool and was inspired by him. His parts in Deadpool & the Mercs for Money are, as I said, all in Spanish, and it was so frustrating to have to keep translating his lines so that I could understand what he was saying. It didn't even make sense because (even though it made for some light humor) none of the other Mercs for Money seemed to understand him even though he seemed to understand them, so if he was able to understand them, then why couldn't he speak in English? Please note that I am not (I cannot stress that word enough) the type of person who believes that if you live in America, then you need to learn to speak English. I do not believe that because there is no such language as American. Many Americans speak English which, of course, originates from England. The United States, on the other hand, doesn't technically have its own language, and there is so much beauty in the diversity here. My complaints are therefore not founded in that kind of mindset. I just don't understand why someone would speak in a language that no one around them understands if they are capable of speaking a language that those around them do understand. Why waste your breath on people who are not listening to you (as is made evident multiple times throughout the story) because they don't understand you? He is otherwise, however, a pretty cool character. As previously mentioned, there is a bonus issue included in this graphic novel - Deadpool: Masacre. The issue is written by Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan, illustrated by Scott Koblish, and colored by Nick Filardi, and while it fortunately is not in Spanish, it is intentionally (for purposes of humor, I would imagine) badly translated into English, and that makes it a bit difficult to follow. Reading comics or graphic novels should never feel like a laborious task, and if it does, then something is very wrong. Well, something is very wrong here.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t without its flaws. This was a genuinely funny and well-crafted Deadpool story. Watching him bounce off the other Mercs and various Marvel villains was both comical and entertaining. The art had a cartoonish style, but in a very “Deadpool” way that fit the tone perfectly. Overall, it was a fun ride. Bunn clearly understands Deadpool, not only delivering humor and entertainment, but also avoiding the over-the-top ridiculousness that some other writers lean into.
What brought the volume down for me, however, was Masacre. He’s an intriguing character, but the complete lack of translated dialogue was frustrating. If the gimmick is to leave it untranslated, fine, but having him take up entire pages of text with no translations or context becomes more irritating than clever. I’m all for encouraging readers to learn another language, but without any kind of translation or reader guidance, it just disrupts the experience.
The side story at the end was another sore point. The translations that were actually provided made little sense, and rather than having an actual translator involved, it felt like an early version of Google Translate was used. As a result, half of the speech bubbles were incoherent, which was incredibly frustrating and almost ruined the book for me.
That said, aside from those issues, it was still an enjoyable adventure with Deadpool and the gang. I’d recommend it, just be prepared for some language barriers.
Grade: B-

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cullen Bunn tackles the merc with the mouth and .... well its a Deadpool comic that's for sure.

The problem with Deadpool and other characters that are similar ::coughHARLEYQUINNcough::: is that if you don't give them something for us to empathize with, they become one note, hacky comedians essentially. Instead of a secretly good but misunderstood vibe, they get very one dimensional.

And that's the major problem with this book. First off, Deadpool is pretty much a side character in this story. We spend equal if not more time with the other mercs than we do with DP. And when he does chime in its just for a joke or a hair brained decision or something equally as frivolous. It also doesn't help to have this cast of misfits if the misfits themselves are kind of.... boring. Except Masacre, I like him.

I hope Bunn can bring something a little deeper to Deadpool because right now, we just have what is essentially a human one liner machine that fights bad guys sometimes.

[Edward Fenner · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read a Deadpool comic or graphic novel. Alas, this was not the best Deadpool graphic novel, unfortunately, not by a long shot. The artwork is okay but not great and while the basic plot is fine, the storytelling is a bit jumbled and dull. Deadpool is not at his best game here (maybe because there are too many other characters to contend with). I was annoyed by Massacre - the Mexican Deadpool's dialogue being strictly in Spanish with no subtitles or translations anywhere. I don't read that language and lost out on whatever he was saying and doing. And I wasn't going to type tons of text into Google Translate to find out.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun 5 issue read about Deadpool and a group of misfits. My best explanation would be if Deadpool had his own team like the Avengers, he would have the mercantile. The villain was super entertaining with being the broken robot who could tell the future, and it was really enjoyable during the auction scenes. What I didn’t care for was having the Deadpool who only spoke Spanish, and there were zero translations. Pretty unusual as I have read other comics that provided translations. Definitely enjoying reading Deadpool as he is comical.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I have gotten out of the swing of reading graphic novels or maybe I haven't been reading enough of the rest of DC and Marvel to get what is being lampooned. It must be difficult keeping the quips separated by the individual personalities of the characters.

Also, this is a set up for a new team series. Sometimes with all the introductions, it can get a little odd trying to share the stage.

[Gabrielle C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dead pool and a team of merchs sell a robot that can "see" the future. he sells it to the highest bidder of badies and has to deliver it to their base. Fending off people trying to steal it from them. In the end blows it up. This was one of the weaker deadpools. it was hard to get thought. it did have some funny moments, but i couldn't save this one. there are alot more stronger deadpoool stories out there.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that was dreadful although I got it for free from the library. (they were handing it out ??!) I admit Deadpool isn’t my thing in the first place. Still this seemed…. not so great. I need characters I can root for and this had nothing. I have absolutely no interest in reading more. 🤨

Gotta go read something fluffy and cute with absolutely no blood and gore stat.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadpool's new team gets their own miniseries. The book utterly fails to reintroduce them, develop them, or make them distinguishable in any way. But it's funny nonetheless.

Deadpool and his team find a fortune telling robot which everyone seems to want. Guest starring damn near everyone: Taskmaster, Mephisto, the Mole Man, Lord Deathstrike, The Crazy Gang (!). Even Slayback!

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deadpool lead action horror.

[Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estoy entre 3.5/5 y 4/5.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I was glad when it was done. The best part by far was Massacre.

[Angelika Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting it to be funny...

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I really want to read about these other mercenaries and I don't think I enjoy seeing Deadpool obliviously making their lives miserable. The goofy plot elements were fun enough.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was generally just boring, difficult to get into and then the plot felt like it was a rehash of Vision’s storyline. The banter was good but not enough for me to reread.

[Iconic Greatness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short Funny and to the point.

Its nothing but chaos and irresponsibility and good storytelling.

Deadpool is not to be taken series

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone Masacre is my favorite and I don't even understand Spanish.

[Franny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alex G · Rating 5 out of 5]

YALLLL new deadpool variant es mi nuevo amor

[Alex Sarll]

If ever there were a character where the stories don't exactly need to make sense, it's Deadpool. So it's not inherently a problem that his new team of ruthless mercenaries includes an also-ran sappy former Avenger such as Stingray, or that the new Foolkiller* is happy to take direction from an absolute idiot like Wade Wilson. The issue is that - for me, at least - none of what follows was particularly funny. And Bunn can do funny, and on paper the set-ups here should amuse, but the corners of my mouth resolutely refused to twitch upwards as they would have during the Daniel Way run. And as a rule I don't even much rate Daniel Way.

*A concept which has really never been done justice - he should be the Punisher, but for idiocy which isn't quite crime. Left the keytones on and you're typing on public transport? Not moving down the carriage? Blam. And just so we're clear, that would make him not an antihero, but a straight-up hero, albeit possibly the sort misunderstood by a wrong-headed world.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid Deadpool team-up book. Seems like just a few writers definitely "get" the character, and it seems that Cullen Bunn has a decent grasp without being too jokey. The main selling point for me was a side-issue introducing a Mexican copycat Deadpool named Massacre. His issue was written in English, translated to Spanish, then back again through something like Google translate (oh sorry, a highly skilled translation according to the book) for some of the goofiest stilted dialog in any comic. Great stuff.