Another Fine Addition to the Prank Bank

*Cover to* ***“Deadpool: April Pool’s Day #1”*** (published April 1st, 2026) written by Gail Simone with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg and art by C.F. Villa, Robert Gill, and Ig Guara
Cover art by David Baldeó*n and Rachelle Rosenberg*

The Merc with Mouth. April Fool’s Day. A match made in heaven! Or at least that’s what Deadpool thinks. Writer Gail Simone and an all-star team of artists come together to tell a story of love, war, and fate of the universe as we know it! Join me as I break down this special one-shot and give my thoughts on it after the fact! Y’all know the drill!

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for “Deadpool: April Pool’s Day #1”

April Pool’s Day

Our story starts off in what appears to be a fantasy realm of some kind as a wizened old man is imprisoned in chains, sentenced to death for the crimes of heresy. He pleads to a mysterious figure to abandon whatever it is he has in store as it will result in not just chaos but the deaths of millions, if not billions. His captor dismisses him, referring to him as “Marlin” as he ominously declares it has already begun.

I’m sure this couldn’t possibly go wrong!

We shift focus to the apartment of Deadpool, who greets the city of Brooklyn by exposing himself over on the balcony. Pretty standard morning ritual, all things considered. We’re quick to find out that Wade is beyond excited, given the date is April 1st, which he celebrates as April Pool’s Day. As our regenerating degenerate starts getting things in order for whatever mayhem he has in store for this most Pooliest of Days, he is quickly reminded that he went home with Outlaw. She asks him if he has time for one more session of “bronco bustin’” and he initially turns her down, only to quickly change his mind upon second thought.

Yeah, Outlaw really doesn’t like pranks. At all.

A whopping four minutes later(!), the two lie in bed as Outlaw asks him just what is it about pranking people that’s so important, especially given how most people hate it. He avoids answering…just in time for Outlaw to discover a fake snake in the bed (one that Wade would have painted flesh colors had he more time). This goes over exceedingly well naturally as the super-strong fellow mercenary literally caves in Wade’s chest and breaks the bed before taking her leave. But Wade takes this in stride, actually calling it one of his better dates. Not long after, a mysterious portal opens up before the Merc with the Mouth. Deadpool’s costume transforms, giving him a more sword and sorcery vibe as a figure shortly steps through. Announcing himself as Starr the Slayer, this warrior confronts Deadpool, who of course doesn’t take the interaction seriously until violence happens. And does it happen!

After mistaking Deadpool’s mask lenses for the eyes of a demon, Starr goes on the offensive with his sword. Deadpool initially chalks it up for an April Pool’s prank but as the fighting escalates, realizes that the “Fauxnan” means business. He (unsuccessfully) attempts to stab him with a butter knife before the two crash out of the window as Starr demands “the demon” return him to his kingdom. Starr suddenly gets teleported out of thin air, leaving his sword behind, as Deadpool is less fortunate. Much less fortunate. He splats on the ground in a visceral mess but begins to literally put himself back together (no thanks in part to the Brooklyn natives going about their business).

As Deadpool celebrates finding a new sidewalk sword, he’s quickly met by a strange woman claiming to have cheated on him with someone named Buzz Baxter. He’s quick to notice a “My Love” logo hanging over their head as well as seeing the captions plastered over her head. Deadpool himself has his clothes transformed once again as he now looks to be right at home inside the romance genre, as tanks and soldiers suddenly step out of a portal. As Deadpool attempts to piece together what on Earth is happening, we change scenes to see where Starr wound up. The sword and sorcery warrior arrives before a wizard, the very same wizard we met at the beginning of the comics. Starr demands answers as the wizard reveals himself to be…Wally!

If you’ve been keeping track and are well-versed in your comic history, you’ll come to realize that these are all characters and comics from Marvel’s past, specifically when they published stories that weren’t about superheroes. And that’s where we get our big reveal: Wally the Wizard tells Starr that they are being forgotten and that he seeks to save another multiverse of a sort, the Genre-Verse! Genres from westerns to war to horror to romance to martial arts epics are displayed as Wally begins explaining his master plan.

Weird that Deadpool and I have similar fantasies. Wait, no -

Back on Earth, Deadpool is under assault by the war genre soldiers who unceremoniously pump him full of lead. Shocked that he’s still somehow alive, the soldiers prepare to bring him back to Wally the Wizard, only for Deadpool to get back up and take the fight to them. He cleans house, ranting about how he’s been felt up and shot multiple times, and that while he was okay with being felt up, it’s the shooting he takes issue with. Just as Deadpool stands tall over the soldiers, Wally appears and beckons for Deadpool to step into the portal that appears. Wade obliges and finds himself in the realm of fantasy, once again having his clothes transformed appropriately. It’s here that Wally explains to Wade that, due to being forgotten, his entire realm is fading away into nothingness, and that the same fate awaits the realms of romance and combat, and the other genres. He manifests comic books - or sacred texts - and further explains that these worlds will only exist so long as people remember them.

But it is Deadpool’s kind - the caped kind (ie, superheroes) - that predominantly exist nowadays. The meta reveal culminates with Wally explaining he’s going to open up portals from across the Genre-verse that will not invade Earth 616 but replace it entirely, pushing them out to be forgotten and canceled, much like they were. Deadpool resolves to save reality as we know it, but Wally scoffs, calling him a fool that no one would ever believe. Eventually, he casts a fire dragon to keep Deadpool from returning to Earth, but Starr the Slayer intervenes, holding off the magical spell long enough for Deadpool to save his world and warn others.

This one hurt. Cable of all people not believing Deadpool was a big ouchie in the heart.

Shortly after returning, Deadpool in earnest tries to warn the fellow heroes of the Marvel Universe, but none of them believe him, given both the date and his reputation for pranks and jokes. Spider-Man, the X-Men, Outlaw, and even Cable refuse to believe Deadpool in a series of increasingly heartbreaking panels. In a last-ditch effort, Deadpool heads to the Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, as he pleads his case to Benjamin J. Grimm, aka the Thing. And without hesitation, Ben believes Wade’s story at face value and offers his aid. The two arrive on the streets just in time as portals open up from across the Genre-verse.

Deadpool quickly dispatches a monster and a group of martial artists from different worlds as the Thing pushes back a tank, forcing the war comic soldiers to retreat. More and more portals open up as Deadpool muses that they’re outnumbered, only for Thing to reveal he called in backup. Spider-Man (both Peter and Miles), Rogue, Gambit, Iron Man, Storm, and Dr. Strange all arrive on the scene and quickly join the fight, trying to contain the invaders without causing serious harm. Iron Man thanks Thing for calling them, but Thing points out it should be Deadpool they should be thanking, calling him a hero and telling him to take a bow. Deadpool is briefly overwhelmed by the genuine praise as the heroes wrap things up.

A novel, if not somewhat cynical idea to save the other genres of comic books!

Wally the Wizard surrenders, acknowledging the worlds of the Genre-verse can’t fight their powers or their popularity, resigning themselves to be destined to the void. But Deadpool offers a solution, albeit a bizarre one: the creation of a theme park where people buy exorbitant amounts of money to remember these forgotten characters and stories, which in turn keeps them alive. We jump forward two years as Deadpool visits the Genre World theme park, delivering flowers to the romance comic characters as he checks in with Iron Man and the Thing. Tony updates them on the next phase of the park attractions as Ben mentions it’s good that they’re reminding people that it’s not all “just about mutants and fightin’ Galactus”. Wade sincerely thanks Ben for believing in him when no one else would. He asks to shake his hand if that’s alright, to which Ben accepts…only to get a jolt of electricity courtesy of a hand buzzer. As a furious Ben chases after Wade, our comic reaches its conclusion along with a lovely reminder to read older comics.

Genre Clash!

I went ahead and looked up many of these titles and characters after reading this book and I have a newfound appreciation for Marvel’s non-superhero past.

I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m not a huge Deadpool fan. I like the character in doses, as I feel too much of the character can be, well…too much. But when I heard who the creative team was for this April Pool’s Day special, I knew I had to give it a chance. And honestly, I’m very glad I did. Gail Simone, joined by Rachelle Rosenberg, C.F. Villa, Robert Gill, and Ig Guara, tell a pretty entertaining and self contained special that captures the irreverent and off the wall humor and action of Deadpool but also manage to tell a tale that’s not only engaging but hits pretty deeply, given the nature of this hobby and industry that has touched countless lives.

At its core, beyond the raunchy jokes and gratuitous (and often hilarious) violence, the book delves into the meta commentary of how the superhero genre has completely overtaken the overall medium of comic books, which is especially relevant for Marvel, which once published a bevy of stories beyond just the exploits of capes and tights. And for full disclosure, I, myself, currently almost exclusively read superhero comics from the Big Two. And that’s not to say I don’t like other genres and from other publishers. Far from it. I just happen to love my superhero content. But I also recognize that the specific genre of superheroes overwhelmingly dominates the space between sales, recognition, and brand power, which can make it harder for other comics to thrive today, to say nothing of the non-superhero comics of yesteryear getting their due. It’s that sort of self-aware commentary that drives the book and delivers a great narrative without getting too preachy.

I absolutely loved the theme and messaging the book was conveying and while it could have very easily concluded with Deadpool, and by proxy, Marvel, basically telling these almost forgotten stories from under appreciated genres to get lost and simply deal with the behemoth that is superhero story telling, it was endearing that Deadpool was the one to come up with a solution for them, albeit with a slightly cynical take to monetize them. The end of the issue also has a nice little message reminding folks to read old comics which in turn prompted me to go out of my way to pick up some older non-superhero comics to flip through. In fact, after reading this issue, I did some research on the characters and comics referenced and I’ll be on the hunt for some Starr the Slayer comics very shortly!

Beyond the overall plot of the issue, the characterization is on point for Deadpool. Simone really goes beyond the surface level expectations of Deadpool’s brain just being a cesspool of sex and violence (those are Wade’s words, not mine!) and shows us a side of the character that is often glossed over in favor of fourth wall breaking jokes and slapstick style comedy. Yes, those things appear in Deadpool comics and this is no exception but there’s also a very welcome depth beyond that, to which I’m grateful and appreciative for. We’re reminded that for someone who can heal and regenerate from virtually any injury and is functionally immortal, he is surprisingly vulnerable emotionally. The scene where he desperately asks for aid from the superhero community hits hard as they turn him down, believing it to be another one of his “April Pool’s” pranks. All of them save one.

It was really heart warming that Ben Grimm was the one person who believed in Deadpool.

The MVP of the issue, which I did not see coming, was none other than the idol o’ millions, Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing. Due to either his experience in dealing with the absurd or just because he’s a real mensch, Ben believed Deadpool, and not only does he call in the cavalry, but he also makes a point to let them know that it’s Wade, not himself, who is the real hero of the day. It’s moments like this that cement the fact that Ben is not just one of the most reliable heroes in the entire Marvel Universe, but also one of the most beloved. His presence here was absolutely fantastic. And no, I won’t be apologizing for that pun.

The art here blends classic superhero imagery you’d expect from Marvel while also evoking the different styles of the other genres mentioned here. Rachelle Rosenberg ensures the panels pop with bright and bold colors when it calls for it, but also offers darker and muted palettes as we step into the worlds of sword and sorcery or war tales. Joining her are artists C.F. Villa, Robert Gill, and Ig Guara, who work together to seamlessly integrate the various genres into the story without disrupting the narrative. As the genres slip over into the Marvel Universe, we see the stylistic differences between “Starr the Slayer”, the “My Love” romance comic characters, “Sgt. Storm and the Ragin’ Raiders”, and the others, which all delightfully give the story a sense of scope of such wild magnitude, given the implications of these genres invading and replacing Earth-616. There're countless great sequences here in the book as well: the banter between Outlaw and Deadpool following his “snake in the bed” prank, Deadpool’s battle with Starr, the reveal of the Genre-Verse, and the assembled heroes rallying to Deadpool and the Thing all come to mind and are just a few of the stellar examples of the fun and varied art here!

Final Thoughts and Review

Starr the Slayer was an almost test run of Conan the Barbarian prior to Marvel obtaining the rights to publish stories of the character.

Overall, Deadpool: April Pool’s Day delivers a fun standalone story that anyone can appreciate, ranging from diehard Merc with a Mouth fans to people only familiar with the character through other media or even folks who just know the bare details of the character. It’s funny, raunchy, violent, and ultimately has a nice message at the end.

Final Review: 9/10

“Pool of the Dead” honestly sounds very metal.

In Deadpool: April Pool’s Day, Gail Simone crafts an engaging and clever story that essentially sums up who Deadpool is as a character in a way that’s both accessible to virtually everyone and equally as entertaining. The meta-commentary here was a delight that hit harder than expected and the cameos from other Marvel heroes help wrap up this special in a neat chaotic bow.