DEADPOOL #2 (1997): “Cutting Class at Ninja High”

Deadpool decides to ask Siryn out on a date to a monster truck show.

He begins the courtship by spying on her.

Now, stalker humor is not acceptable today. But in 1997, this was pretty funny. More on the Siryn romance next issue.

Meanwhile, Weasel gets kidnapped by ninjas–but Deadpool has a tracker on him so he can find and rescue his “friend.”

Note how Deadpool seems actually crazy when he talks to himself. I know I’m not alone in finding Joe Kelly’s take on Deadpool the most interesting and genuinely funny but, again, it’s hard to imagine something this edgy and controversial passing through the Disney-owned Marvel editorial board today. It’s funny. Books like this one and the Punisher reboot by Garth Ennis were part of what helped Marvel survive the disastrous late ’90s, but the company has moved far past these roots. This latest round of Marvel movies has been mostly bland and forgettable–ever since Infinity War. I hear Disney is now considering a reboot of Punisher that will be as gritty as the largely (mostly excellent) Netflix show, so maybe they’re remembering Marvel’s past (in a good way).

Back to the story, this is where things get interesting…

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…He’s being held by Taskmaster.

So, fun fights with Taskmaster and his students.

At first, DP is captured.

But of course in the end, Deadpool rescues Weasel and asks if he wants to work with him again.

Deadpool being a horndog really becomes a signficant personality aspect in the hands of Joe Kelly.

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