Deadpool, Vol. 1: Mercin' Hard for the Money

Deadpool (2018)

by Skottie Young, Nic Klein (Cover Art), Scott Hepburn (Artist)

Collects Deadpool (2018) #1-6.

Deadpool is back to mercin’ for a living! It’s been a while since Wade Wilson has struggled to make ends meet, but things are tough all over. While Deadpool tries to get his humble business back off the ground, a catastrophic threat so unfathomably huge — so mind-breakingly cataclysmic that it defies description — is heading toward Earth, and only one person can stop it! Oh no, wait — it’s not Deadpool, is it? Oh %$@#. It’s Deadpool. Good thing he has a plan. But what happens when things take a turn for the weird — Weirdworld, that is! Find out as Wade ventures into a realm of monsters, sorceresses, Man-Things…and romance? Plus: Halloween hijinks — and a very, very bad day! Hop back on board the Deadpool train as Skottie Young, Nic Klein and Scott Hepburn reinvent the Merc With a Mouth!

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

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Skottie Young has been an illustrator and cartoonist for over ten years working for entertainment and publishing companies such Marvel, Warner Bros., Image, Upper Deck, Mattel, and many more.

He is currently illustrating the New York Times Best Selling and Eisner Award Nominated adaptions of L. Frank Baum's OZ novels with writer Eric Shanower. The series has gained acclaim from both fans and critics.

Skottie currently lives in Illinois with his family, Casey, Baxter and their Saint Bernard, Emma.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Memory wiped Wade sets up an assassin HQ in NYC with Negasonic Teenage Warhead. From a solid start this volume descended into banality. Creators need to try harder with Deadpool, I need to like him, be made to laugh by him, but also have pity for him. Random jokes and violence gets boring after awhile. 3 out of 12, One Star pants pants pants.

2019 read

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skottie “Baby Covers” Young takes over Deadpool and a new writer means it’s time for a new number one! Any good? Nah. So the usual for ol’ Wade!

The opening three-issue story had its moments. A giant puking Celestial threatens Earth and only Deadpool can stop it - hah, puke. Tony Stark’s back and forth with Star-Lord via hologram was kinda funny as was the Batman origin piss-take and Wade’s stuffed toy underwears.

Speaking of, the other stories were plain pants. Deadpool takes a job to whack someone in Weirdworld, a place I’ve never liked; there’s a dismal Halloween story about zombies in a mall; and Deadpool feels blue one day just ‘cos and some joke character’s trying to off him. Snores.

This book’s just another example of Marvel not really having the material for this overexposed (in more ways than one!) character. The demand’s there thanks to the movies (which explains why Negasonic Silly Name is shoehorned into this one) but the stories aren’t. Skottie Young tries but it’s still a boring read.

Title’s good though - heh, Mercin’ Hard for the Money! Ain’t that the truth, eh Marvel?

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

50% | C | Good

"No winks were winked. My suit doesn't even have a wink option"

Deadpool is a mercenary for hire and his job takes him on some wacky adventures, including saving the world with The Avengers

A good start which takes a dip in quality as it progresses. After the first story where Deadpool is in possession of the only thing that can save the world, it drifts into the territory of being slightly too wacky and nonsensical for me. There's still plenty of Deadpool goodness with one-liners, fourth wall breaks and other jokes, but the stories themselves aren't memorable or interesting. It's about what I expected from a Deadpool story: mindless fun, good for a few laughs, but nothing too deep or meaningful.

[L. McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Deadpool... I like Skottie Young... I thought I’d like this more.

What’s it about?
Deadpool is back in the business of killing things for money. When a massive alien threat hits New York, the superheroes all turn to Deadpool as he has the only weapon that can kill the alien thing. There’s also a couple of other short stories.

Pros:
This has some good action. It’s intense and surprisingly gory for a Marvel comic.
This isn’t quite as predictable as I expected. Don’t get me wrong it’s not the most suspenseful read but it still isn’t too predictable, there are even some pretty damn good surprises.
The ending of this volume is pretty great.

Cons:
I didn’t care about the non-Wade characters very much, hell if anything I disliked them in this.
The dialogue is often a bit cringe-worthy which is unfortunate and kinda surprising considering the writer.
Aside from the gore this book seems too censored. I know it’s Marvel and they usually censor a fair bit but when there’s things in every issue and words in every speech bubble that you have to censor just make it a mature readers comic for fuck’s sake...

Mixed thoughts:
The story is... I dunno. On one hand it is kinda fun but on the other hand some parts of it feel too ridiculous even for Deadpool.
The art is mixed. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, mostly meh.
The humor. So I usually find Deadpool funny and Young usually writes good humor but not every joke in this book really lands well. Sometimes it’s hilarious but other times it feels like they’re trying to cram at least one joke into every panel even when there’s not a good joke to make so some of them end up being a bit cringe-worthy... Really a mixed bag in the humor department.

Overall:
This book is not as great as I had hoped it would be but it isn’t bad either and I will probably read more of Young’s Deadpool run eventually. It has some stuff I liked, stuff I disliked and a lot of it is kinda mixed which I guess makes sense as the entire book seems to be.
Worth checking out if you’re a fan of Deadpool or Skottie Young’s writing. I’ll put it this way comparing it to other Young comics I’ve read: I liked it more than Middlewest but it’s not close to I Hate Fairyland levels of greatness.

3/5

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as Deadpool as ever!

Skottie Young excels at bringing the funny, as fans of his work know. A cosmic being of great power threatens to destroy the Earth, and only Deadpool can stop him, much though the Avengers might wish otherwise.

But if you're a DP fan, the stories are secondary. You're really here for the fourth-wall-breaking humor, and all the geeky comics fan sight gags that litter the panels. For instance: DP’s costume has been burned away, but he's casually sprawled in an office chair, his crotch strategically covered by an action figure standing on a desk in the foreground. But the gag is enhanced if you happen to recognize that the figure is Man-Thing.

If you're not a fan of Deadpool, this book probably won't change your mind. But, for fans at least, it's definitely recommended!

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t normally read traditional superhero comics, but Deadpool was so much fun in the movies, I figured I’d check it out, see if it translated well on the page. And sure enough, he’s still fun and sassy and smart alecky, albeit not on the same level, the suit really does need that awesome Reynolds comedic timing. Also, it really is difficult for me to enjoy the traditional guys in tights thing and there are so many superheroes in this thing, Avengers and all, the entire comic universe.
Deadpool is great because he isn’t a traditional superhero, unbound by values and morals, he does it for money, as the title suggests. Mercin’ it for all its worth. And frequently in various states of undress since his supersuit doesn’t appear to have the same blastproof qualities the rest of the sups do.
This graphic novel collects 6 individual books, the first 3 are one continuous adventure of Deadpool being the only one to defeat a terrifying foe from outer space and thus the Avengers reluctantly have to ask for his assistance. The other 3 are individual standalone kind of stories that for me were much more enjoyable.
All in all, the book was fun and showcased its smartass protagonist nicely, even for people who might be somehow (gasp) still unfamiliar with him. If you are those people, do yourself a favor and watch the movies. Like immediately. They are the wackiest cleverest funniest meta takes on superhero genre out there. The art was good here too, traditional superhero art very well done. Great muscles and great reds. Overall, yeah, fun was had. Wouldn’t be opposed to reading more. But would really love a third movie.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad enough to get less than 3, but it just barely earned that. This run could get better once the stories start to actually influence each other and seem to matter at all. This collection of a bunch of one-offs got kind of old quick. I will say this is the first time I did not hate every second of being in Weird World, but I am also fine with never going again.

[Mags · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard issue Deadpool - you get what you expect.

[ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have never enjoyed a solo deadpool title before; i like his dynamic with other characters and prefer the team ups...
that said... this was great!
really my only issue was with issue #4, i hated the whole thing where the story was all exposition through phone messages, i found it boring. i like the new villain we're getting, though.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art, the Deadpool we see here is a little bit different from what I've used to and the story leaves more to be desired (maybe it should be read as mini-stories?), but it looks like the creative team has lots of potentials.

[Sarah ⭐ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly didn’t enjoy it at all even tho I love Deadpool ☹️

[Oneirosophos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful.

[Kore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah Deadpool! I love Deadpool. He’s one of my favorite Marvel characters. I’ve been reading Deadpool comics since they first started in the 90s and they are always hysterically entertaining. This volume of insanity perfectly adds to the DP empire.

[Anja von "books and phobia" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Da ich Deadpool bisher nur aus den Filmen kannte, wollte ich mir den charismatischen Sprücheklopfer auch mal als Comic gönnen. Dafür suchte ich mir extra einen Band heraus, für welchen man gerade mal einmal wissen wusste, wer Deadpool überhaupt ist. Wer einmal im Internet seinen Namen gegoogelt hat und da 2 oder 3 Informationen erbeuten konnte, war somit schon bestens ausgestattet.



Der Band spielte nach Deadpool 2 und zeigte mir erst einmal, welche Probleme es bereiten kann, Söldner zu sein. Immerhin muss ja Leute finden, welche einen fürs töten bezahlen. Nicht immer leicht weswegen man auch mal nimmt, was gerade da ist. In Deadpools Fall war dies der Auftakt zu einer der Reihe der wohl kuriosesten Aufträge, in welchen ich meist das Gefühl hatte, das Deadpool selbst, das Meiste abbekam. Nicht gerade selten musste er neue Knochen oder gar ganze Körperteile nachwachsen lassen, was aufgrund seiner Sprüche nicht selten urkomisch war.



Über die Story selbst möchte ich trotzdem nicht allzu viele Worte verlieren, denn hier soll sich wirklich jeder selbst von Deadpools Wesen überraschen lassen. Ich kann aber verraten, das es schräg, abgefahren und stellenweise wirklich krass war und ich förmlich am Band festklebte. Wer übrigens auch noch auf Überraschungen, unerwartete Wendungen und andere Marvelhelden steht, dem dürfte es genau wie mir gehen.



Neben vielen Lachern und extrem viel Spannung, waren es aber doch die Bilder, welche so manche Situation auf eine völlig neue Ebene von Unterhaltung hoben. Schön viel Farbe und die ein oder andere karikaturhafte Figur gaben dem Ganzen noch den letzten Schliff, ohne dabei auch nur einmal übertrieben zu wirken. Im Gegenteil, von Zombies bis hin zu den doch sehr oft entstellten Körperteilen Deadpools passte einfach alles.



Für alle die Variantcover oder Arbeiten anderen Künstler sehr schätzen, bot der Band natürlich auch noch ein paar echte Schmankerl. Nicht nur nach der Haupthandlung fand sich eine ansehnliche Galerie an Bildern, sondern auch zwischen den 6 Storys. Zu gucken gab es also genug, auch wenn so einige Werke, zumindest meinen Geschmack etwas überstiegen. Aber man kann ja nicht alles mögen.



Mein erstes Comic-Abenteuer mit Mr Pool neigte sich fast schon zu schnell dem Ende. Kaum aufgeschlagen, konnte ich mich nicht mehr von den herrlich kuriosen Storys abwenden, welche allesamt abgefahrene Handlungen und den aus den Filmen bekannten Humor mitbrachten. Für Einsteiger ist dieser Band, über die in ein rotes Körperkondom gestopfte Großklappe bestens geeignet.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a seminal run by Gerry Duggan, Deadpool finally changes hands to proven comic scribe Skottie Young, with mixed results.

What I loved most about Gerry Duggan's Deadpool, and even Daniel Way's to a lesser extent, is that Deadpool felt like he was growing as a character. He's one of those characters that can kind of fit into any kind of story if it's told right, but there's a worry that he'll become a stagnant joke rather than an actual person, and that's the danger I feel that this series is running right now.

Gone are the multi-part stories that build on what went before, replaced instead with some one and done and two-part stories that basically just throw Deadpool into some crazy situation and let him shoot his way out of it. Some of them have interesting premises, like the Weirdworld issue, while others just seem like a repetitive slog to read through, like the opening few issues. There's no momentum, and no drive, just Deadpool being Deadpool, which is fine for a while, but I thought that was why Marvel had those secondary Deadpool mini-series going on, so that they could actually do something progressive with him in his solo series.

The artwork is mostly an even split between Scott Hepburn and Nic Klein, who excel at the gross and the over the top, which fits Deadpool nicely. Hepburn's probably my preferred artist of the two, but Klein's no slouch either. They're both kind of less-stylized Tony Moores, if that helps draw a comparison.

Deadpool as a character has so much potential, and you only need to look back on the last few runs to see how to do something good with him. But this just feels far too safe. It's okay to start that way, but I hope things pick up soon.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though when I first heard Skottie Young is writing Deadpool, I was like NO. Stick to drawing kid heroes on covers and whatnot.. He actually did a solid job. Fun, interesting and a fresh Deadpool.
So I liked it, and the artwork was great too!

Recommended if you're a fan of Deadpool!

If you wanna start reading Deadpool for the first time, this ISN'T the way to go though!

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I'll ever get this character.

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend whos obsessed with deadpool gave me the first 6 issues. I just cant seem to get into deadpool. Not sure what it is.

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did actually quite like this but after a few days, I forgot what I read which isn't a great sign. The only reason I remembered it is because I scrolled to far and glimpsed someone else's review.

The humour is a bit try hard, it was nice to see Teenage Megasonic Warhead in this but she doesn't really do much. Neither does Deadpool really, it's just a few stories cobbled together without much narrative, it's more about Deadpool going back to his roots and being a merc. As for the rest the evil celestial was good, even though I forgot it. Weird world was ok, the zombies had been done a few times before and the bikers where hilarious.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tomo que se lee facil, entretiene y te deja un buen sabor de boca con varias historias de Wade Wilson en una cruzada llena de sangre, traición, asesinatos y situaciones que no sabes por donde tomarlas pero no importa, sean zombies ancianos o celestiales asesinos asqueroso, todo se deja leer con un guión entretenido y un arte detallado y muy agradable.

[Larina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Перша книга в моєму житті, яку я прочитала польською 🌝

Комікси були моїм першим читацьким досвідом рідною мовою в дитинстві, мабуть це тепер буде новою традицією для вивчення нових мов.)

Ну а Дедпул є Дедпул)

[John H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was pretty weird.

[Heaven Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Plots were a little unbalanced, even for Deadpool but still highly entertaining.

[LP]

Noting the artist Scott Hepburn bc i like his style. haters gfy but i like negasonic teenage warhead and the zombie story and the one where dp was sad. i thought this was fun!

[Jonathan Lee B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deadpool by Skottie Young Vol. 1: Mercin’ Hard For The Money is candy-only trail mix

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a change from Duggan, which I guess is what that mind wipe was all about. This is a very episodic take on Deadpool, which leads to some issues that are pretty good and some that just didn't work for me.

[Vanki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro las historias los personajes secundarios los chistes todo es absolutamente perfecto muy bueno el dibujo el guión definitivamente uno de mis cómics favoritos

[Yoshiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Życie bohatera potrafi być mocno wymagające i jednocześnie przeraźliwie rozczarowujące. Przekonał się o tym Wade Wildson, który oczekiwał od bycia superbohaterem czegoś zupełnie innego. Ratowanie świata, współpraca z innymi herosami, niemożność robienia tego, co się chce – nudy! Najlepiej jest więc wykasować sobie pamięć i powrócić do tego, w czym było się dobrym i sprawiało wiele radości – czyli bycia „najemnikiem”. Przerwa w istnieniu na tym rynku odbija się jednak na ilości potencjalnych zleceń. Brak ciekawej pracy, a co za tym idzie permanentny brak pieniędzy, może się jednak skończyć, kiedy uda mu się zorganizować własny komiksowy event. Jest to jednak odległa przyszłość, wpierw będzie musiał on do tego przekonać kilku ludzi.

Na temat różnych pomysłów Marvela można dyskutować godzinami i zawsze znajdzie się tyle samo ich entuzjastów co przeciwników. Na pewno jednak wszyscy są zgodni z tym że firma potrafi maksymalnie wykorzystać potencjał swoich bohaterów i ich popularność. Nie inaczej jest w przypadku zamaskowanego najemnika, który od zawsze miał sporo grono fanów. Na wyżyny swojej rozpoznawalności wypromowały go jednak filmy z genialną rolą Ryana Reynoldsa. Trzeba było więc jakoś wykorzystać filmowy sukces i przenieść kinowy klimat w komiksowe realia. Owocem tego jest właśnie album Deadpool Najemnika śmierć nie tyka #1.

Scenarzystą, któremu powierzono zadanie nowego „otwarcia” przygód Deadpoola i zaciekawienie nimi nowych czytelników jest Skottie Young. Śmiało można napisać, że wywiązał się on z tego zadania znakomicie i rozpoczął swoją przygodę z najemnikiem od naprawdę mocnego uderzenia.
Autor nie marnuje tutaj zbyt wiele czasu na mocne rozbudowanie historii czy szczegółowe wprowadzenie czytelnika w nowe realia. Skupia się on głównie na tym, co „najważniejsze”, czyli widowiskowej (czasem brutalnej) akcji, masie zwariowanego humoru, łamaniu czwartej ściany i błyskawicznym tempie prowadzenia fabuły. Wzoruje się on tutaj, kiedy tylko może na najmocniejszych zaletach filmów Ryana Reynoldsa, przekładając je na komiksową popkulturę. Nie zapomina on jednocześnie o urozmaiceniu panteonu bohaterów, pozwalając na zabłyśnięcie tutaj wielu znanym twarzom z uniwersum Marvela. W kilku scenach to właśnie bohaterowie drugoplanowi kradną uwagę odbiorcy i zapewniają mu porcję świetnej komediowo-sensacyjnej treści. Same zaprezentowane więc tutaj historię są w porządku, potrafią zaciekawić i rozweselić. Na pewno nie należy jednak oczekiwać od nich czegoś „niesamowitego” i „innowacyjnego”. Całościowo album nadal opiera się na kliszach tego co już znamy i tego, co w dłuższej perspektywie może być nudnawe.

Całkiem dobrze zostaje tutaj zaprezentowane połączenie dynamicznej, krwawej treści, żartobliwych elementów dzieła i komiksowego artyzmu. Duet Klein/Hepburn sprawdził się całkiem dobrze jako rysownicy poszczególnych rozdziałów. Ich prace potrafią przykuć wzrok, dopasować się do treści i jednocześnie cały czas trzymać ogólną stylizację znaną z innych komiksów Deadpool.

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/recen...

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the back of this graphic novel, there is a "Parental Advisory" warning. Normally with Deadpool this means language and some bloody violence. Here, they meant extreme gore and grossness! LOL
Deadpool, fresh off the mindwipe (of the previous series), is running his own "Merc for Hire" business, complete with Negasonic Teenage Warhead as his secretary and scheduler (this relationship, established in the movie, continues to make me smile to no end...). Business is slow, but picks up drastically when Groffon the Regurger (yes, this means he throws up all over everything), a barely known Celestial, comes to Earth, and the Avengers have to get Deadpool to save the day. Apparently, he is the only one who has the weapon to kill Groffon.... but that is because he hired a "Space King" to send him AND give him the weapon to kill him, all in an effort to boost his business! LOL
Next adventure takes him off to Weirdworld for a bounty. Accompanied by Hydra Bob and Negasonic (though them only to the drop site), Wade embarks on a crazy-weird years long adventure in search of his prey. He even gets married to Jennifer Kale, the Swamp Queen (making him the Swamp King of Weirdworld), and becomes stepdad to a bunch of little Man-Things. LOL Once he finds his prey though, he's out, leaving the Swamp Queen with a war to fight... she vows vengeance...
Throw in two more stories: 1) Involving Black Talon and zombie cursed "fitbits". and 2) a hilarious story about a depressed Deadpool avoiding assassination by a villain out for revenge... named Killpuddle. LMAO
Hitting the road hard, without all the continuity chaos of the previous series, and we have a great Deadpool book again. LOL but not for those with weak stomachs.
High recommend.