Still on the Shelf #20 - Giant Sized Deadpool/Agent X

October of 1998, in an effort to raise sales for the title, Marvel Comics proclaimed to be "Deadpool Month." Not only was the regular monthly title released, but also we were treated to weekly (out of continuity) offerings of Deadpool. Here is what Marvel put out:

Deadpool: Mission Improbable was your typical TP of the time, collecting the first five issues of the ongoing Deadpool series. If you can find yourself a copy these days, it is a quick and easy way to get up to speed on the early days of Joe Kelly's run.

Baby's First Deadpool Book was nothing short of utterly ridiculous (in a fantastic way). Included in this "activity book" was: Dresspool, where you were invited to cut out several various outfits and dress a naked Wade; "Make Way For Deadpool," a Deadpool and Blind Al fairy tale; "The Etiquette Lesson," a side by side comparison of what Captain America and Deadpool would do with things like trash-disposal and respect for your elders; "Friends Share Because Friends Care," a nursery rhyme featuring Deadpool and Blarney the dinosaur, on their way to a birthday party, and their plane crashes in the snow and Deadpool gets really, really, hungry; "The Alpha-dead," and "Pool-by-numbers." This is nothing short of hilarious.

Encyclopedia Deadpoolica: This is an idea I am surprised did not catch on with other books. In short, this was an issue-by-issue recap of the first two Deadpool minis, and the regular series all the way through issue #22. In addition, each issue recap had some "behind the scenes" info, and the Encyclopedia featured a "Pop-Culture References Glossary," to help readers figure out obscure jokes based on out-of-date references. In all, this was a wonderful idea.

Deadpool Team-up, starring Deadpool and Widdle Wade: Widdle Wade was a pint sized version of Deadpool that often popped up in the "Last Issue" recaps page of Deadpool. This comic, I suppose, was intended to let us all know who Widdle Wade was.

Perhaps the greatest joke in this issue was on the cover itself, where the confused reader found a "Secret Wars II continues in this issue" tag on the upper right hand corner. And in some strange way, it did. I am not going to even try to explain this issue in much detail, but to say that aside from the humor, the book is worth checking out. You will find a brief "back-story" into Deadpool's sumo wrestling past (yes, he was a sumo-wrestler) here, that never gets brought up anywhere else, ever.

Finally, in keeping with the spirit of the month, Wizard released a "free with purchase" Deadpool #0, where Deadpool went head to head with "The Lamest Dead People in the Marvel Universe!" This issue features a naked Aunt May and four Gwen Stacy clones in lingerie serving Deadpool drinks. In all, it is extremely wacky and cheap, if you can find a copy.