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Our character of the month, Deadpool, takes on his final challenger as we approach February. Sick and tired of his constant bickering with Wolverine, Deadpool has abandoned his surly ally in search of a new anti-hero to annoy. By way of elaborate plot device, Deadpool has entered the DC Universe, where former-sidekick-turned-deranged-vigilante Red Hood is waiting to greet him at the end of two gun barrels.
Faced with a terminal diagnosis, Wade Wilson was prepared to die. However, Department K, an offshoot of the Weapon X Program, cured him by instilling in Wilson a version of Wolverine’s accelerated healing factor. Eventually striking out on his own as a mercenary, Deadpool has clashed with super-beings on both sides of the law, with opponents ranging from Spider-Man to Bullseye to Hit-Monkey.
One of the strangest enemies Deadpool has ever faced is the Frankensteinian creation called Evil Deadpool. Born out of a dumpster’s worth of Deadpool’s severed appendages, Evil Deadpool was just as dangerous as the genuine article, but with an even more fractures psyche. Deadpool’s ersatz antagonist proved to be a difficult and unpredictable physical challenge, but it was the confrontation with a dark reflection of himself that truly rattled the Merc with a Mouth. Even after he was vanquished, Evil Deadpool spited the original once more by doing something he wished he could do: die.
Originally serving as the second Robin under the tutelage of the Dark Knight himself, Jason Todd proved to be more rebellious and ruthless than Dick Grayson ever was. After several controversial encounters, some of which involved the deaths of criminals, Jason Todd’s popularity began to dwindle. In the story arc A Death in the Family, DC gave readers a phone number to call and cast their vote to decide whether Robin would live or die. Todd’s fate was sealed by a slim margin, and he was brutally killed by the Joker. Todd would later be returned to life after being submerged in one of Ra’s al Ghul’s infamous Lazarus Pits.
In Todd’s big comeback storyline, Under the Hood, he sought to take over Gotham City’s criminal underworld. However, he wanted this not for selfish gain, but to better control a problem that he believed couldn’t be eliminated through the Caped Crusader’s methods. During this time, Red Hood was also seeking vengeance on those he deemed responsible for his death and tarnished legacy: primarily Batman, Joker, and then-current Robin Tim Drake. All of Red Hood’s machinations led to a final confrontation with his former mentor and his would-be murderer. Red Hood attempted to force Batman to either kill him or let him kill Joker, but Batman was able to prevent both outcomes by stunning Red Hood with a Batarang.
