YOU ARE DEADPOOL

released OUT NOW! Publisher Marvel Comics

Writer al ewing Artists salva espin, Paco diaz

Taking inspiration from ’80s 2000 AD offshoot Diceman as well as Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, this five-parter takes Deadpool’s fourth wall-breaking to the next level, allowing you to become the Merc with the Mouth as he’s propelled on a spurious mission through the first three decades of Marvel history.

The format takes some getting used to as you move through the pages in a non-linear fashion, hopping from numbered panel to numbered panel. The eventual outcome depends on what specific course of action you choose to take, and you can sample issues 2-4 in any order, as Wade visits the Marvel Universes of 1967, 1974 and 1985.

Al Ewing’s plot is thin but he has a lot of fun gleefully sending up key moments of Marvel history, ranging from Deadpool gatecrashing the Hulk’s gamma bomb-fuelled creation to him confronting Man-Thing in the Nexus of All Realities. Paco Diaz and Salva Espin’s work channels the distinctive style of classic Marvel artists – issue three’s skewering of Deadpool by Bullseye, for example, neatly homages Elektra’s demise at the hands of the same villain in Frank Miller’s seminal Daredevil #181.

Even for non-gamers, You Are Deadpool is a rollickingly good ride that quite literally offers something different each time you read it. Stephen Jewell