The Deadpool: Bad Blood graphic novel is making a return to comic book stores this spring. Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld teamed with writers Chris Sims and Chad Bowers to deliver Deadpool's first original graphic novel in 2017, and now the action-packed story is making a comeback as a serialized comic miniseries. The new printings available in April will feature new cover art by Rob Liefeld, who has transformed the Merc With a Mouth from a popular X-Men and Marvel Comics character to a feature film superstar played by Ryan Reynolds, who has headlined two tentpole movies with a third in the works from Marvel Studios.
"I don't know which call was better, the one in 2017 where Marvel told me that DEADPOOL: BAD BLOOD was the #1 graphic novel for the month or the call last month when Marvel told me they wanted to break the 100 pages up into a miniseries for audiences that may have missed the first time around!" Liefeld said. "Deadpool! Cable! X-Force! Kane and the debut of Thumper! This is my favorite work, a personal work, and I'm so thrilled we are releasing it in an all new format! Get your hands on it this April!!!"
ComicBook.com can exclusively reveal one of the covers for Deadpool: Bad Blood, which displays Wade Wilson holding a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other hand. His signature red-and-black costume also shows some slight damage to it. We also spoke to Liefeld, who provided details on the single-issue release of the graphic novel.
"You know, it was an idea. Marvel approached me with that, and I was super excited. It made sense. It was five years later," Liefeld said regarding Marvel deciding to release Bad Blood again. "And the icing on the cake is, I was at my retailer yesterday picking up some books and he told me he was going to order it like a new Deadpool number one because a lot of people couldn't afford a hardcover in 2017. And that was music to my ears."
Liefeld also added what he loved about the story: "It remains my favorite work. I love everything about it. The pacing, the drawing, the characters, the coloring, the scripting, it just really came out great. And, so I just believe that, digging it out and splitting into singles is exciting. And when they said, 'We want to do new covers' and of course, because the graphic novel was 100 straight pages. Now it needs page breaks and new entry points. So it will be, every issue will have new pages facilitating the fact that it's being released in a different format."
Finally, the Deadpool creator also revealed new details on its follow-up, Deadpool: Badder Blood.
"Deadpool: Badder Blood, if it was going to be released as singles, is well past the two issues," he said. "It's been drawn, colored, finished art for two issues worth of work, and is in Marvel's hands. The idea is to roll Badder Blood on the heels of Bad Blood. And again. I dig it. I really enjoy working with the guys. I really enjoy working with everyone at Marvel and the synergy. And when they want to flip the light switch, it's exciting because when you have something you believe in, it's even more exciting. A guy told me yesterday 'I love how excited you get about everything.' Well, double that for this. I'm really excited for this. You and I are old enough to know that in the '90s when Friends and Seinfeld ruled Thursday nights, they couldn't have new episodes all the time, right? And they had a campaign that said, 'If you haven't seen it. It's new to you!'"
The description for Deadpool: Bad Blood reads: "Wade Wilson has been shooting, stabbing and otherwise annoying people for a long time. He's made a lot of enemies. But one he just can't quite place is the brutal Thumper, who keeps showing up out of the blue to pound him into jelly. What is Deadpool's past connection to this beefy face masher? Wade has as much of a clue as you do! So he decides to call in some help from an old friend: Domino! Can he and Domino get to the bottom of things before Deadpool meets his maker again? Answers might lay in a secret mission from years ago that brought Deadpool and X-Force together."
Deadpool: Bad Blood #1 goes on sale April 6th, with Deadpool: Bad Blood #2 following on April 20th.