Deadpool Wants Death

As many of you know, I'm gunning to work on Deadpool and if I'm able break the the door down, I'd love to play with some of Wade's friends (not it that way), so I was looking forward to the latest issue of Deadpool (#36) as it promised a tearful reunion with them...

After taking out the galaxy's Numero Uno merc Macho Gomez and stealing his space ship to fly off and take his status, too, Wade's trip to outer space concluded with his obliteration of Id the Selfish Moon--but--though successful--Wade was left feeling empty, "In space, no-one can hear you win."

So Deadpool's returned to Earth, looking for some love. Looking for his friends...

Crash-landing on the island he'd previously left Hydra Bob on--and inadvertently decimating the-world's-biggest-popcorn-kernel that Bob's just spent the last God-knows-how-long proudly creating, Wade seeks reaffirmation from his bud--but finds that, not only is it not forthcoming, but that Macho Gomez is still alive and has rounded up Wade's friends to take him out! And Bob's just alerted them.

What follows is an all-out fight as Gomez, Taskmaster, Weazel, Sluggo, The Great Lakes Avengers' Big Bertha, and Blind Al and her dog Deuce attempt to kill Deadpool--and for a moment there, they succeed. Deadpool dies and is briefly reunited with the love of his life, Death; whereupon, she informs him that this is what he's always wanted from his friends. To deliver him to her.

Then Wade's healing factor kicks and he's brought kicking and screaming back into the land of the living; his friends--except for Bob--having dispersed.

I'd hoped for more from Wade's reunion with his buddies--particularly from Blind Al, who I'm a big fan of from her days as Wade's roommate/hostage in Joe Kelly's seminal run on the book--and Al, and some of the others assembled, wanting to kill Deadpool is inconsistent with what's come before from them, which writer Daniel Way attempts to get past with the Death-love argument (the implication being that some of them want to kill him because they do care about him).

I can't really swallow what Way's selling here without there having been more exposition on the individual characters' motivations, but bringing Death, and Wade's feelings for her, back is consistent--and welcome--as are Wade's fun psychotic love/hate exchanges with Hydra Bob, bookending the issue, and the art from Sheldon Vella, which hits the right tone.

Introspective, following his meeting with Death, Wade has a dialogue with himself which runs: "Okay, so... what I'm looking for is friends--which I'll never have...that'll kill me--which'll never happen...because I want somebody to care about me. Except no-one ever will."

If Wade's head was a mess before, it's a huge mess now.

There's only one solution.

Death.

Things have taken a darker turn and from what I've seen of what's coming up for Deadpool, this isn't gonna go well for him...