Classic John Byrne

My favorite scene from Deadpool & Wolverine occurs relatively early in the film. In that scene, Deadpool encounters a version of Wolverine sporting a brown costume (rather than the yellow suit he wears throughout most of the picture). Deadpool describes the brown costume as "classic John Byrne" … just before Hulk moves into frame and pummels the wisecracking Deadpool.

In comic book history, Wolverine first wore that brown costume in X-Men #139 (although the cover still depicted him in yellow). In that issue, Wolverine returned to Canada to reconnect with members of Alpha Flight who were on the trail of the monstrous Wendigo. That story contained flashbacks to Wolverine's first encounter with Wendigo from Incredible Hulk #181. Because Wolverine wore his original yellow uniform in the flashback panels, the new brown costume helped to delineate the past from the present.

Illustrated by John Byrne, this panel from X-Men #139 shows an unmasked Wolverine in his new brown costume. Beside him are Vindicator and Snowbird of Alpha Flight.

Deadpool and Wolverine

I've never cared for Deadpool, but I am enough of a Hugh Jackman fan to see Deadpool & Wolverine, which opened in movie theaters today. Both characters were members of the Secret Defenders at different times, although it would be a stretch to draw many comparisons to that team. Even so, I did like seeing the Human Torch as a supporting character in the film, given his appearances on the DEFENSE Lines letters page as well as the cover of Defenders #62. Of all the surprises in the film, my favorite may have been an "easter egg" referencing illustrator Rob Liefeld.

Deadpool: The Postmodern Poster Boy

Deadpool was hard to ignore during his appearances in Secret Defenders #15-17. With constant quips and unrelenting references to pop culture, the anti-hero's dialogue had a stream-of-consciousness quality about it.

As a temporary member of the Secret Defenders, Deadpool accompanied Dr. Druid (now leading the covert team), the mysterious Shadowoman (not to be mistaken for Spider-Woman), and Luke Cage (billed simply as Cage instead of Power Man). Fittingly, Deadpool complained that Heroes for Hire like Cage gave mercenaries like himself a bad name.

For all his insufferable banter, however, Deadpool had a semblance of self-awareness. Consider his opening words from #15.

Deadpool: Now up ahead, on our left … we see a stunning example of post-modernist expressionism! And when it comes to expressionism, you ain't never had a friend like me!

Deadpool's identification with postmodernism made sense. This was the Copper Age of superhero comics, after all, when cosmic-level continuity shifts became commonplace and deceased characters routinely resurrected from the dead. Within this storytelling framework, the stakes weren't as permanent or lasting as they seemed been in the past, and Deadpool's facetiousness reflected that.

Secret Defenders #15 included an insert with three detachable Marvel Cards for the villain Venom, another popular character to emerge during Copper Age of comic books.

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 15. May 1994. "Strange Changes, Part the First: Strangers and Other Lovers." Tim Brevoort & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Jerry DeCaire (penciler), Tony DeZuniga (inker), John Costanza (letterer), John Kalisz (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (mystic harbinger in chief).