Wolverines and Deadpools # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

Marvel has a tendency to kill off or otherwise do away with legacy characters, have a new person step up and take over the mantle... but then have the legacy character come back and now they both share the mantle. This comic might be Marvel poking fun at it self, as both Wolverine and Deadpool have had the exact thing happen to them, and now we got two Wolverines and two Deadpools. Let's see how these four get along.

The issue opens on the outskirts of a small country known as Symkaria where a husband and wife desperately board up their doors and windows in fear of 'the shadows'. It seems the shadows are after children now, so the couple do what they can to keep their kid safe.

Just then two shadow figures show at their door, knocking the barricade that was blocking their path away effortlessly. The man sends his child away and lunges towards the creature with his axe. The creatures impale the man and then proceed to also kill his wife while their child hides and hears all the screams. 

The dark figures comfort the boy as he asks why they killed his parents. They say he will understand soon. The kid agrees to go with them, and the figures say 'he' will be pleased to meet him, as well as the rest of the royal court. 

Later on Logan and Laura arrive on the scene, too late, and survey the damage. Laura comments that it looks like the parents went down fighting. Logan says it seems that Deadpool was right and they do need back up for this. Logan tells Laura that he never liked working with others and Deadpool only reinforces that. Laura says he can't be that bad. Logan says Wade has a way of bringing out the worst in people.

 

Ellie is having a nightmare about a hellish version of her mother reaching out to her. Ellie can't breathe and her 'mother' sets her finger on her forehead saying that she will 'awaken' soon. Ellie gasps as she wakes up and her annoying adopted brother TJ tells her that breakfast is ready.

As we look into the Preston home in Arizona, Ellie enjoys breakfast with her adopted family. Her mother asks how she's been and if Wade is treating her right. Ellie says he's been taking her in missions, mostly doing good things. Just then she gets a text from Wade and she has to go. Ellie says Wade says hi to her mom and mentions he hasn't seen her since 'the Duggan run' (as in Gerry Duggan the writer) and no one gets what that means.

Before she leaves, Ellie gives her mom her hand (like a literal hand) and her mom stated having a Live Decoy Body makes it harder to remember where she leaves her body parts. Ellie says she upgraded the hand to be fireproof now. Ellie's mom tells her to be careful because no healing factor will be able to protect Wade from what she will do if harms comes to her. A portal opens and Ellie says goodbye to the family as she heads out.

Ellie meets up with Wade, Taskmaster and Doug who are now part of a company called Deadpool & Daughters LLC.  Ellie mentions her father telling him being excited about getting to work with one of his oldest bestest friends. Ellie asks what their current mission. Wade says he was going to wait until the 'page turn' but since their names are on the cover, he might as well tell her they're going to be working with the Wolverines.

Wade explains that the Wolverines need help finding missing kids in a spooky Eastern European town. He thinks the real reason he's helping is to put together a father-daughter playdate with his best friend. Ellie notices that Taskmaster isn't coming and says she's glad she took some of his arrows. Doug asks if they really are going to help the missing kids, and Wade says they will. He considers it killing to birds with one stone. Princess, a symbiote-fused hyena, wants to come along but Wade says the writers might have trouble juggling five characters.

Doug opens a portal but warns that they have a lot of interference so they have a small window to go through. Wade tells Ellie they can change into their costume in between pages and prepares to leave. Taskmaster says they're going to order poutine on the company card the moment they're gone. Wade heads out and says 'what's another overdraft fee'.

The Deadpools arrive to their destination and take a look around. Wade explains that mutant kids with all sorts of different powers were getting stolen in the middle of the night. Ellie asks if it could be an anti-mutant group. Wade says villages like these usually stay off the radar unless someone knows where to look. Wade says it seems teleportation and Darkforce might be involved. Just then the Wolverines arrive.

Logan says if he finds out all of this is a con to get them out there, Wade's healing factor will not save him. Wade gushes over Logan calling him 'bub'. Laura asks 'who's the short stack' and Ellie says both Logan and Laura are about 5'2. Wade gushes that Ellie has her first playful barb with a Wolverine. Ellie introduces herself as the 'other Deadpool' and Laura says she was only teasing. Laura says Ellie is rather grumpy for being a Deadpool, and Ellie says Laura is rather chatty for being a Wolverine.

Logan tells Wade that he doesn't like him, and regardless the reasons he brought them here, these people really do need help. He tells Wade that isn't a playdate and this isn't a game. Wade says he's in this for the right reasons and becoming a father changed him.

Just then the villagers arrive asking if they're the ones that came to help. They don't have much but the village pooled their money together to pay. Deadpool gladly accepts the money but Logan says they will do this free. He asks what happened in this town. One of the villagers say the shadows come at night. They formed the town as a haven for gifted children that were exiled from other villages. The shadows can't be killed. A woman adds that her parents were killed when they were trying to save her brother.

Ellie tells the woman in broken Symkarian that they will help her out. Laura asks when she had the time to learn Symkaria. Ellie says she can do more than just heal good. Wolverine says the area is surrounded by the woods, so whatever is causing that is probably there. He'll go with Deadpool while Laura and Ellie check out the town. Wolverine says his tracking skills have always been better than Laura's and he thinks she might learn a thing or two from Ellie. Deadpool gushes about their daughters having their first team up. Wolverine tells the girls they'll do fine and Ellie can't possibly be as bad as her dad.

Laura surveys the scene and sniffs the foot tracks of what has been through the town. She senses that there is something bad in the town and it's their job to find it. 

As Wolverine and Deadpool survey the woods, Wade actually has a serious question for once. He asks Logan how he's able to raise a kid with powers. He admits nothing would be scarier than losing Ellie or her being disappointed in him. Logan says that feeling is good because it means he cares. His biggest worry is if Laura turns out to be just like him. Deadpool admits he'd love Ellie to get a film franchise or at least a Legends figure. Wolverine says that For all of Wade's faults, he admits he has a good heart. He always cared for the underdogs like back during his X-Force days and it's the only reason he decided to come and help.

Suddenly Wolverine smells something and detects an ambush. Wolverine pops his claws but gets slashed along the side by a shadow. Deadpool kicks the culprit into a tree, which turns out to be Agent-X, who has similar healing powers. Deadpool asks if he's kidnapping kids. X says he isn't but his master is. Wolverine stabs X in the back. Agent X says if he wanted a demonstration of his healing powers, all he had to do is ask. He pulls a gun and holds it up to his own throat. He shoots himself and the bullet goes through him and into Logan's eye. 

 

Deadpool is impressed but Agent X says they plan to do worse to his daughter. This angers Deadpool, rightfully so, and X kicks him hard enough to knock his jaw out of place. X says they should get bloody for old time's sake. Deadpool pops his jaw back into place and says they'll see who gets tired of bleeding first.

Elsewhere, the other two Deadpools search the town and Laura can't get a proper on the scent. The debris is making it feel like the scent is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They see an old woman run up ahead and they give chase. The woman collapses on a work bench and Ellie tries to ask if she's OK in broken Symkarian. Laura suddenly yells for her to look out. 

The woman turns out to be Lady Bullseye in disguise and she attacks both girls. Laura asks what she's doing and Lady Bullseye says she came for Ellie. They have been sending invites to her within her nightmares but the calls go unanswered. They were ignored so they were sent after her directly. Ellie fights Lady Bullseye, who notes that she using Daredevil's fighting style. Lady Bullseye says her skills as foundational at best and she lacks actual fighting instinct. As Ellie is kicked to the ground, she tells her she hasn't seen her family's ultimate technique... a knife throw. Lady Bullseye easily blocks the knife with her sword, but this actually leaves her distracted long enough for Ellie to hit her with a flying knee to the face.

 

Lady Bullseye says her king cannot be kept waiting so she will show her the truth that awaits her. She turns into a shadowy figure that resembles Ellie's mom. As the shadows start to wrap around her, Laura jumps in and kicks Ellie out of harm's way. Lady Bullseye says they have only delayed the inevitable and vanishes into shadows. Laura is surprised she can do that.

Elsewhere, Logan asks Wade what is going on as he's taking longer to heal than usual. Wade says his healing factor isn't what it used to be and there was a whole story arc about it. As they prepare to attack Agent X, Lady Bullseye appears to grab him and they both vanish into shadows. Deadpool is surprised that Lady Bullseye is 'in this book'. Wolverine says they have to return to town immediately since he smelled some blood on her and it belonged to their girls.

Elsewhere, Lady Bullseye and Agent X return to report to their boss, apologizing for failing. Agent X says he failed less than she did since his job was mostly to distract Wolverine and Deadpool. Their boss says it's Ok since they got to test out Ellie. Their boss is none other than the Shadow King and he plans to use Ellie as his new vessel.

 

My Thoughts- 

So despite Deadpool gushing about a playdate and 'take your daughter to work' day and whatnot, there are people that actually need their help. I am surprised that the villain is the Shadow King, despite the all the shadows and Lady Bullseye mentioning 'her king'. I don't know who to expect before I opened the book, but I was definitely not expecting the Shadow King.

I haven't read up on current Wolverine and Deadpool comics, but it looks like Taskmaster helped train Ellie. She can copy fighting styles and that includes learning a new language on the spot. 

While Wolverine and Deadpool have their established dynamic, I am more interested in seeing how the other Wolverine and Deadpool interact. Wade leaves an impression, so it's assumed that Ellie would be just as talkative and annoying. Laura keeps giving her flack, but rather than bounce back, Ellie takes it personally, so Laura has to reel it in. Laura's a bit of a smartass even when Ellie is asking serious questions, so it'll be interesting to see how they'll learn to get along.

Speaking of serious, I did like the serious moment Wade and Logan had regarding raising daughters with a similar skill set. From what I heard, Wade originally wanted to keep Ellie away from his mercenary life, but well... here we go.

As always Deadpool brings the 4th wall humor, and everyone around keep saying 'yeah... I don't know what that means'. There were several lines and I think my favorite is wishing Ellie had a film franchise or at least a Legends figure. I mean... we'll see how many movies Ryan Reynolds has left, but we'll see if we'll eventually get to throwing Ellie Camacho. Granted Laura has been in movies already but X-23 has been around way longer, first appearing in the X-Men Evolution cartoon. There probably is a higher chance of her eventually getting a Legends figure. I wouldn't be surprised.

 

I'll be looking forward to see the next issue. We'll have to see why the Shadow King wants Ellie in particular, and how they know so much about her mother that they're able to use her against her. We'll see what happens next time!

One last thing to add is how annoying Ellie's adopted brother is. I did find this panel funny though. C'mon Marvel, we all know what finger he was really using.