Deadpool is popular and crossovers are popular, so of course Marvel would regularly have Deadpool tie in to whatever big event is happening at the time. The book surprisingly steered clear of the recent Avengers: Standoff crossover, but it made up for that with last week’s Deadpool #13, a giant-sized issue that contained an entire four-issue crossover with Daredevil and Power Man & Iron Fist. That story proved to be a lot of fun, but the Deadpool creative team has a bigger challenge ahead of it as the book ties in to Civil War II, an event that has been largely devoid of fun.
Luckily, writer Gerry Duggan has been able to turn crossover lemons into sweet lemonade with his tie-in issues of Deadpool, and this preview of next week’s issue #14 shows that he’s not letting Civil War II derail the book. These opening pages focus on Deadpool’s relationship with his demonic wife Shiklah before jumping to his new team, The Mercs For Money, and this Civil War II tie-in arc will largely focus on Deadpool’s role in that group.
No matter how the story turns out, the book is going to look great thanks to the return of artist Mike Hawthorne, inker Terry Pallot, and colorist Jordie Bellaire, and it’s especially nice to see Bellaire back on the title after an extended break. The two splash pages in this preview are excellent examples of how Bellaire sets the mood with her colors while adding dimension to Hawthorne and Pallot’s linework (the folds in those bedsheets!). The reunion of these artistic forces is a far more compelling reason to check out this book than a Civil War II tie-in.