Rob Liefeld is returning to his most famous co-creation, Deadpool, for one last go round this summer, and he’s keying in on the vibes of the Merc With a Mouth’s big MCU movie debut Deadpool & Wolverine by paring up Wade Wilson with a different Marvel character in each of Deadpool Team-Up’s five issues.
Wolverine will be along for the ride, naturally, as will Liefeld’s recent creation Major X. Then there’s Gwen Stacy/Ghost Spider, the Hulk, and even cult-favorite early ’80s hero Crystar, the Crystal Warrior. They’ll all come together with Deadpool due to the return of a “forgotten Marvel character,” which, honestly, also describes Crystar.
If you’ve never heard of Crystar, you may have seen some of the short-lived ’80s toy tie-in hero’s cover art, since death punk pioneer Danzig used a skull drawn by Michael Golden on the cover of Crystar #8 for the cover of his first album, and his primary logo.
You can see Crystar on Liefeld’s main cover, he’s got a blue crystalline body and a red crown and trunks. Liefeld also provides a foil variant for Deadpool Team-Up #1, seen further down.
“Rob Liefeld is finishing his work on Deadpool with his final blockbuster story in DEADPOOL TEAM-UP, a five-issue series launching in August. No one captures the Merc with the Mouth’s lovable insanity like Liefeld does, and in classic Deadpool fashion, Wade is holding nothing back in this latest round of unbridled action and high-stakes adventure,” reads Marvel’s announcement.
“In addition to featuring Deadpool’s supporting cast—from his fan-favorite allies to deadly enemies and everyone in between—DEADPOOL TEAM-UP also sees Wade assemble a crew that’s wild even by his standards!”
Liefeld is vowing to retire from Deadpool following the conclusion of Deadpool Team-Up. But Kiss retired too, and so did the Rolling Stones. Sometimes rockstars have a way of returning to their greatest hits, so we’ll see.
“Everyone has that one comic with that obscure character that they always wanted more of. l, myself, have several of these and I pulled them from relative obscurity from the deepest corners of the Marvel Universe and placed them next to Deadpool, right at the center of an all new, cataclysmic adventure!” Liefeld told ComicBook, who initially broke the news.
“This is some wonderfully weird stuff and I’m so excited to share it with the world. I promise you some familiar Marvel faces and take them to brand new places. Deadpool Team-Up is the most fun I’ve had in years! I’d like to thank CB Cebulski and Mark Basso for making this a great experience!”
Deadpool Team-Up #1 goes on sale August 28.
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