Deadpool: Secret Invasion (Comics) | Review

During 2008's Secret Invasion comic book crossover event, Marvel Comics hired writer Daniel Way (Bullseye: Greatest Hits, Ghost Rider: Vicious Cycle) to come up with a tie-in story featuring everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth and he didn't disappoint.

His take on Deadpool proves that sometimes the best strategy is complete chaos. While the Marvel Universe scrambles to figure out which heroes are actually alien imposters, Wade Wilson decides to flip the script in the most unhinged way possible.

This isn't your typical crossover tie-in that feels obligated to service the main event. Skrull invasion becomes a playground for Deadpool's particular brand of mayhem, creating something that works both as a standalone story on its own and a twisted commentary on the paranoia gripping the Marvel Universe in desperate times.

The genius move here is having Deadpool voluntarily surrender to the Skrull Empire and offer his services as their ultimate weapon creator. While everyone else runs scared, Wade walks straight into enemy territory like a total lunatic.

While everyone else is playing defense, Wade walks right up to the aliens and basically says "Hey, want to make some Super-Skrulls?" The Skrulls, naturally suspicious but intrigued by his Weapon X background, decide to hear him out.

What follows is a master-class in unpredictable storytelling. You're never quite sure if Deadpool is genuinely helping the Skrulls, playing some 4D chess game or just winging it because he's bored. The beauty is that Wade probably doesn't know either.

His plan involves helping them create the ultimate Super-Skrull using his own messed-up physiology but every step forward seems to create three new problems. It's classic Wade Wilson logic: fix everything by breaking it worse.

The story leverages Deadpool's enhanced healing factor and mental instability in ways that make perfect sense for a Secret Invasion tie-in. His scattered memories and multiple personalities become assets rather than quirks, making him essentially unreadable to the shape-shifting aliens who rely on understanding their targets.

The paranoia and "who can you trust" themes that define Secret Invasion get filtered through Deadpool's fractured psyche, creating something that feels both completely absurd and strangely coherent within the larger Marvel narrative.

The collection also includes "Horror Business," a two-part story that shows Deadpool's post-Secret Invasion adventures. This subplot shows how Wade deals with horror elements after the alien invasion chaos, exploring different facets of his character beyond sci-fi setting.

What makes "Horror Business" work is how it contrasts with the Skrull invasion plot. While the main story deals with alien paranoia, these issues ground Deadpool in more traditional horror territory, showing his versatility across different threat types and genre conventions.

Artist Paco Medina (Legendary Star-Lord: Face It, I Rule, New X-Men: Mercury Falling) perfectly captures Deadpool's manic energy. Wade genuinely feels unhinged without becoming a cartoon and the Skrull designs maintain that classic creepy factor while still being visually distinct.

The action sequences flow pretty naturally and Medina knows when to pull back and let the quieter character moments breathe. He understands that even chaotic characters like Wade need some space for genuine emotional beats.

Way's writing strikes a difficult balance between genuine humor and character development. The dialogue feels authentically Deadpool without relying on cheap meta-jokes or fourth-wall breaking. When Wade does break character, it feels earned rather than obligatory. The pacing keeps you guessing, much like dealing with Deadpool himself.

Additionally, Carlo Barberi handles the "Horror Business" story with a noticeably different visual approach than Medina's work on the main storyline. Barberi's style creates a distinct mood that complements the supernatural themes without clashing with overall aesthetic.

This volume succeeds because it treats Deadpool as more than just comic relief during a major Marvel event. Way understands that the character works best when his chaos serves a purpose, even if that purpose is completely bonkers to others.

Secret Invasion backdrop provides the perfect framework for Wade's particular skill set, creating a story that feels essential rather than tangential. The paranoia-driven event actually amplifies what makes Deadpool work best.

If you're looking for a traditional superhero story about stopping a global-scale alien invasion, then you should look elsewhere but if you want to see how Marvel's most unpredictable character handles an impossible situation by making it even more problematic, then this tie-in delivers exactly what you'd be hoping for.

Deadpool: Secret Invasion is the first story arc in Deadpool's 2008 solo series, which covers issues #1–5, where Wade Wilson hilariously inserts himself into Marvel's Secret Invasion event, going head-to-head with the Skrulls in his usual unhinged style.

You can read it as part of Deadpool by Daniel Way: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 trade paperback, which collects this arc along with some follow-ups. It's also available to access digitally on both Marvel Unlimited and Comixology.