This June, Deadpool will join some of Marvel’s most iconic covers in a new series of variants drawn by his co-creator. Rob Liefeld, who drew Deadpool’s earliest adventures, will return to what is arguably his greatest creation in May with Deadpool: Badder Blood. To celebrate, Marvel is releasing variant covers for five titles shipping that month, each a homage to a classic Marvel cover.

As reported in AIPT, the new initiative, called “Homager'' (in-keeping with the spirit of Badder Blood) will feature Deadpool riffing on five classic Marvel covers, which were drawn by some of the industry’s all-time greats; each of the variants will be drawn by Rob Liefeld. Among the icons Deadpool will gently poke fun at are Mike Zeck’s cover to Secret Wars #7, which introduced Spider-Man’s black symbiote costume, Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four #52, which introduced the world to the Black Panther, and Jim Steranko’s iconic cover to Captain America #111. These covers will appear on Spider-Man #8 (out May 3), Fantastic Four #7 (May 17), and Captain America: Cold War Omega #1 (June 14.)

Rob Liefeld Honors Marvel's Best

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May’s Homager covers are the latest in a long string of iconoclastic riffs by the Merc With a Mouth on some of Marvel’s best covers - and there is no one better suited for the task. Since his first appearance in the final issues of The New Mutants over 30 years ago, Deadpool and his fourth-wall breaking abilities have endeared him to fans the world over, and this trait followed him when he was adapted to live action in 2016, played by Ryan Reynolds.

Deadpool is Perfect For Poking Fun at The Past

The final two covers in the set are a riff on two Frank Miller classics: the first for Daredevil #163 (where Hulk is replaced by Venom) and the collection of the first Wolverine miniseries. These will appear on Daredevil #12 (on sale June 7) and Wolverine #34 (June 14.) Speaking on the Homager initiative, Liefeld says:

Marvel has a world class library of historic and recognizable comic book covers, and when they asked me to make some Deadpool covers for their Homagers series, I jumped at the chance to pay proper tribute to iconic images from Marvel Legends, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Mike Zeck and Frank Miller! These were a blast to create and I’m excited to share how I inserted Deadpool into classic Daredevil, Wolverine, and Fantastic Four covers!

Of the many characters who have made their debut in the last 30 years, few have achieved the mainstream success of Deadpool, and now his creator is returning, not only for a brand-new miniseries, but also a line of hilarious riffs on some of Marvel’s best. Yet the Homager initiative is not Liefeld making fun of the past, but instead honoring it. The artists Liefeld is paying tribute to, such as Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko and Frank Miller, helped transform not only Marvel Comics, but the industry as a whole. Liefeld, through the founding of Image Comics, likewise reshaped the face of modern comics, making this tribute all the better.

Deadpool’s continual breaking of the fourth wall allows him to call out tropes and clichés, and makes him perfect for (good naturedly) poking fun at the past. Very few creators working today understand Deadpool like Rob Liefeld. Liefeld not only co-created him but drew his earliest adventures. Now, Liefeld has returned to shepherd his greatest creation one more time in Deadpool: Badder Blood, celebrated by Marvel in these epic covers.

Deadpool: Badder Blood is coming from Marvel Comics June 2023.

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Source: AIPT