Review by Karl Verhoven

The idea of regular team-up comics hasn’t really resonated with superhero fans since the 1980s, so it was surprising that using Deadpool as the regular character did strike a chord, lasting for three volumes. Perhaps that’s because Deadpool readers liked the idea of his sometimes associating with other headliners and sometimes having leftfield oddities forced into the pages.

Because there’s a different creative line-up on each teaming, there may be discrepancies if you have a fixed idea about Deadpool. Fred Van Lente and Ivan Brandon, for instance, are the only writers to pick up the option of Deadpool’s internal dialogues.

First up for a team-up is Hercules, Lion of Olympus if he’s to be believed. Van Lente wrote the comical adventures of Hercules, while Dalibor Talajić was auditioning for later Deadpool work, so an ideal creative team-up. Both Deadpool and Hercules are trapped in a labyrinth, and while regular Marvel readers may figure who’s behind it, they’re unlikely to guess who’s behind them, given a spooky redesign by Talajić.

Fellow mercenaries the Zapata Brothers are up next in what eventually comes together well from Mike Benson and Carlo Barberi, but it’s a fair while before it becomes a team-up in the traditional sense. If that’s fine, then this is the best of a mixed bunch, with the Zapata Brothers amiable idiots: “How many car bombs in the past month did you fail to detonate because you lost signal?”.

Two Ghost Riders are supplied by Adam Glass and Chris Staggs amid a carnival freak show where Johnny Blaze still has friends. It’s the weakest inclusion, with Glass never capturing Deadpool’s funny patter and including jokes you have to be old to understand (C.H.I.P.S?). Compared with the other artists Staggs doesn’t hit the highspots either.

Ever think you’d see trucker Ulysses Solomon Archer again? Well Stuart Moore obviously missed him, and the idea of Deadpool as a trucker has a little mileage, particularly when their convoy is attacked by racoons. Shawn Crystal was drawing regular Deadpool around the same time, but concentrates too much on his idea of style and not enough on telling the story.

Talajić is back and even better on the unlikely pairing of Deadpool and It, the Living Colossus, out of sorts since an encounter with Doctor Doom. Christopher Long’s plot delivers the usual Deadpool madness alongside surprising pathos and smutty innuendo.

Sandford Greene’s art on the Punisher team-up makes everything seem as viewed through distortion glasses, which is reflected in Brandon’s script being set during the Frankencastle days. It’s an excuse to feature multiple old monsters, but anyone who didn’t enjoy that incarnation is going to be disappointed.

Overall, there are some highs, but more dips below the preferred quality line. Will this be enough to keep Deadpool fans happy before Special Relationship? The entire series is collected as Deadpool Classic 13.