Review of Deadpool Team-Up #1 Comic

Written by: Rob Liefeld

Art by: Rob Liefeld, Chance Wolf

Colors by: Juan Manuel Rodriguez

Letters by: VC’s Joe Sabino

Cover art by: Rob Liefeld (cover A)

Cover price: $4.99

Release date: August 28, 2024

Deadpool Team-Up #1, by Marvel Comics on 8/28/24, finds the Merc with a Mouth accepting a deal to retrieve priceless dragon eggs to smooth things over with the Nakatori clan. The mission doesn’t go as planned.

Is Deadpool Team-Up #1 Good?

The big draw for Deadpool Team-Up #1 is the early announcement that this miniseries is not only Rob Liefeld’s swan song for Deadpool comics but his last work for Marvel… ever. Does the first issue read like the greatest goodbye in Marvel Comic history? Well, it’s safe to say that if you’ve ever read a written and drawn Liefeld comic, you’ll get exactly what you expect.

Deadpool Team-Up #1 begins with Deadpool and Ral Dorn of the Dragon Riders confronting a very large and unfriendly dragon named Persillex, demanding the return of dragon eggs. Persillex is unwilling to comply with demands from lowly humanoids, so it begins spewing deadly dragonfire.

If you’ve been hankering for Deadpool to team up with characters you haven’t seen in a long while, this issue gives you all you can handle and more. Liefeld digs deep into the Marvel catalog to pull out characters you have either never heard of or haven’t seen in decades.

The comic switches to a flashback to show how Deadpool got into this mess. Deadpool got a little too friendly with a young woman who happens to be the daughter of Lord Yoshi, leader of the Nakatori clan. When Deadpool jumps out of a high-rise window and makes a hard landing on the street below to escape the ninjas, he runs into Lady Anime, who has an offer to help. If Deadpool can retrieve rare dragon eggs for Lord Yoshi, all is forgiven.

As unusual as the setup sounds, it makes perfect sense for Deadpool. Liefeld invents a scenario where Wade Wilson has to accomplish a deadly task for selfish reasons, and frankly, the setup works better than trying to backdoor in a noble cause or a chance to save the world by coincidence.

Later, Deadpool runs into a pair of Maggia thugs at the rendezvous point for the same objective. In their case, the Maggia wants to keep the eggs out of the hands of NYC’s worst mobsters, so Deadpool finds a little competition brewing. Suddenly, Baron Skagerackrakor (don’t ask me to pronounce it out loud) arrives on a winged dragon… also looking for the eggs. The dragon makes short, fiery work of the Maggia thugs, but Wade runs for it and finds a helping hand in Ral Dorn riding Dragon Man. Dorn wants his magic staff back from the Baron, and Wade wants to avoid getting charred to a crisp. When the fight seems evenly matched, the scales tip in the heroes’ favor when Wolverine shows up.

We conclude the issue with dragon fights, magic portals, and an unwelcome greeting from Crystallium.

Overall, this issue is everything you’ve come to expect from a Rob Liefeld comic. Liefeld’s art is a hatching lover’s dream with tight, athletic action, sharp figure work, and wildly-random-but-somehow-entertaining plot developments. Is this the best Marvel comic ever? No, but it’s designed simply to have fun, and on that count, it works.

What’s great about Deadpool Team-Up #1? As time goes by, fewer Marvel comic readers realize just how wide and deep Marvel’s catalog of characters stretches, so hats off to Liefeld for mixing up the typical team-up model by choosing some obscure partners. Liefeld’s pacing is quick, the dialog is reasonably solid, and the simple plot makes sense… at least at a high level.

What’s not great about Deadpool Team-Up #1? Admittedly, the appearances of several characters come out of nowhere with no context, setup, or explanation. Lady Anime just happened to be standing in front of Deadpool when he landed on the street? Two Maggia thugs just happened to know a rendezvous meeting was happening at the docks? Ral Dorn and Baron Skagerackrakor just happened to converge at the same time and place?

To be fair, it’s fun, but this is the kind of fun that works better if you don’t think about it too much.

How’s the Art? This issue is (unsurprisingly) quintessential Rob Liefeld from front to back. If you’re a fan of Rob Liefeld’s art style, you’re getting exactly what you paid for. On a side note, Rob mentioned in a recent podcast that he can tell his art execution isn’t what it used to be due to the normal changes that come with age and too many years at a drawing table. Frankly, there’s no loss of quality in this issue. It looks great.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Final Thoughts

Deadpool Team-Up #1 sends Deadpool on a wild and somewhat random adventure to retrieve dragon eggs to get himself out of trouble. Rob LIefeld’s art looks as good as ever, and the script is geared for wild fun from start to finish. That said, some of the plot developments range from mildly random to outrageously random, so it’s best to turn off your brain before cracking the cover.

7.8/10

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