Over 25 years ago, the comic world was introduced to a different kind of hero, one whose snarky comments and penchant for breaking the fourth wall made him an instant favorite. Created by artist-writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool, a/k/a Wade Winston Wilson, made his debut appearance in The New Mutants #98 in 1991.
In his first outing in The New Mutants and subsequent issues of X-Force, Deadpool was depicted as a villain. However, he later evolved into his more recognizable antiheroic persona in his solo book. Originally, Wilson was an ordinary person living with his highly dysfunctional family in a small town in Ohio. After deciding to become a mercenary, Wilson bounded around the country getting military training from various sources. Later on, he was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, and decided to enter the Weapon-X program. This program was attempting to inject a normal human with Wolverine’s healing factor. As a result, Wilson gained an accelerated healing factor that makes him effectively immortal. Unfortunately, the procedure also made him severely mentally unbalanced.
Thanks to his military training, Wilson is also an expert marksman, swordsman, and hand-to-hand combatant. He also carries a number of weapons in his “magic satchel” and often uses devices that grant teleportation and holographic disguises. Taking on the moniker Deadpool, the unpredictable mercenary has served as a member of X-Force and the Thunderbolts, along with being a self-professed member of the X-Men and the Avengers. The widely popular Merc with a Mouth went on to star in numerous comic titles and was adapted into such animated series as X-Men, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, and Marvel Future Avengers.
Following his criticized portrayal in the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds reprised his role as Deadpool and worked to adapt the character more faithfully in the eponymous 2016 film. This film saw the biggest R-rated opening weekend and the biggest Friday-Sunday opening weekend after bringing in $132.7 million at the box office. It was also the biggest opening weekend for a first-time director, as the film marked Tim Miller’s first feature film directorial credit.
The critical success spawned a sequel, Deadpool 2, which grossed nearly $785 million worldwide, becoming the ninth highest grossing film of 2018, as well as the highest grossing R-rated film and the highest grossing X-Men film. This film was followed shortly by a PG-13 recut version of Deadpool 2 called Once Upon a Deadpool. This version of the film parodied The Princess Bride and saw Deadpool telling the story of the film to a kidnapped Fred Savage. While Reynolds has frequently commented on his interest in making a third film, there has been no confirmation as to when the film will be released.
As fans anxiously await news on the Deadpool franchise, why not bring a piece of the character’s enduring history home? Hake’s Auction #226 is offering Liefeld’s pen and ink original art for page 27 of New Mutants #98. Despite Deadpool’s overwhelming popularity today, the character appeared on just seven pages in his debut issue, of which this is one. The artboard features three panels: a large splash panel showing a bandaged Deadpool; a close-up of Cable and Domino; and a third panel spotlighting Cannonball, Sunspot, and Boom-Boom. This page represents an rare opportunity to obtain a piece of original art from the debut issue of one of Marvel’s most popular comic book characters. Privately held since shortly after publication, this is the first time this art has been offered at auction.
Bidding on this important are piece, along with the numerous other lots currently being offered, closes on March 13-14, 2019. Head over to hakes.com to get started today!