You Are Deadpool is a 2018 comic book series produced by Marvel Comics, written by Al Ewing.
The plot is very simple: Deadpool has been given a time machine by Zarkko, the Tomorrow Man, occasional foe of the Mighty Thor, and due to an accident has been sent careening through time to various decades. In order to get back to now, he will need to find some way to recharge it. Simple enough, right?
Well, not so much, since the series is a Choose Your Own Adventure story, where YOU are Deadpool (fancy that). Using a special die (or your own from home), You must determine what path Deadpool takes, and whether he'll even survive...
Roll to Detect Tropes:
- '90s Anti-Hero: Spoofed to oblivion in issue 4, when in the 80s Deadpool encounters a group of Canadian scientists seeking to create a hero exactly one decade ahead of their time... and they've succeeded, with a surly overmuscled Grasshopper. Of course, he's no match for one of Liefeld's own bad boys!
- All According to Plan: Only the Arranger, master of scheduling, could have predicted Deadpool would land in such a precise spot, and then plan to pants him on arrival.
- Anachronic Order: As befitting a comic written in a CYOA style, the panels are not remotely in linear order. Sometimes, they'll even play on the reader just going by the order they're printed on the page.
- Bar Brawl: The mini-game for issue 4 is Deadpool navigating his way through Josie's Bar.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Ghost Rider's friend-who-is-not-Jesus gets really irate when his not-Jesus-ness is questioned, and advances on Deadpool.
- Bittersweet Ending: Deadpool saves the multiverse from Zarkko, albeit at the cost of a lot of Deadpools, but he realizes he's not THE Deadpool, just an out-of-continuity version, and therefore will never see his daughter again.
- Brick Joke: Deadpool's quest for a toilet in issue 4's bar brawl. It's only on the absolute last page of the physical comic that he gets to it (since the digital edition leaves out the preview page, it's not included there).
- Bring My Brown Pants: Brad Baily, the Grasshopper of the 60s, refuses to tell his girlfriend who he is because she'd lose control of her bladder, a fear proven true if Deadpool unmasks him.
- The Bus Came Back: Issue 3 is a bonanza of obscurilicious 70s characters, such as Rufus Carter (from Masters of Kung-Fu), Dakhim the Enchanter (of various Man-Thing stories), Ghost Rider's "friend" who is not Jesus, and Justice Peace (okay, actually from the 80s, but he's a time traveller).
- The Cameo: Comic writer Kieron Gillen helps Deadpool demonstrate the badness / sadness system in issue 1.
- Clumsy Copyright Censorship: Spoofed (natch) with issue 2 having Wade crash the Fantastic Four's origins, but Reed Richards and Sue Storm are always conveniently just off-panel, and even refuse to be addressed by name... until August 2018. This results in Ben Grimm blaming Johnny for flying into the cosmic rays, much to Johnny's total bewilderment, and then the two forming half a super team.
- Epic Fail: Roll really badly in issue 5's minigame, and Deadpool's attempt to euthanize a horse results in him shooting a man.
- Genre Shift: In issue 3, Deadpool's encounter with Justice Peace causes the issue to momentarily become a gritty 70s UK sci-fi story, complete with Deliberate Monochrome and gritty ultra-violence.
- Improbable Weapon User: Kieron Gillen and his alarmingly effective +1 sandwich, which he uses to kill Deadpool.
- In Spite of a Nail: Regardless of how Deadpool's demonstration with Gillen goes down, he's more interested by the nearby Skaven figurines.
- Kryptonite Factor: Nixon's one weakness; 60s music!
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Wade momentarily mistakes Rufus Carter for Nick Fury (either Ultimate, MCU or Marcus Johnson flavor, take your pick), because they are both black men with eyepatches. Just Rufus has an afro and wears turtlenecks.
- Wade even notes the similarities between Justice Peace and Judge Dredd, idly wondering if their encounter counts as a crossover.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Dhakim the Enchanter is one of the few who seems to realize he's fictional, and introduces himself to Deadpool by saying he was "kind of a big deal" in the 70s (a somewhat exaggerated statement).
- Living Lie Detector: If Deadpool successfully persuades Rufus Carter to hand over a *Gem, he asks how Rufus can be sure he's on the level. Rufus's response? "You ain't been trained to lie to Rufus Carter, baby."
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Deadpool's antics cause this on more than one occasion.
- Intervening in the fight between Nixon and Steve Rogers results in the ex-president tearing Steve's head off.
- Issue 5 reveals Deadpool's antics were all part of Zarkko's plan to overthrow the TVA and reboot the cont- err, multiverse.
- No-Sell: There is nothing Deadpool can do to Rufus Carter that'll work. Mock him? Doesn't work. Insult his fashion sense? Nope. Attack him? He dies.
- "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Issue 3 has one after the appearance of Ghost Rider's friend who is definitely not Jesus, pointing out how they couldn't get away with that even in the 70s.
- Off with His Head!: The end result of Deadpool fighting 80s Grasshopper, either by decapitation or his head just falling off from shock.
- Once an Episode:
- A mini-game of some kind (the stealth game in issue 1, the poetry slam in 2, the bar brawl in 4).
- Deadpool running into a Grasshopper, no matter when or where he is.
- Opinion Flip Flop: Should Deadpool defeat 80s Grasshopper with anatomically correct artwork, he'll declare the 90s were terrible. If he just decapitates him, he'll say they were awesome instead.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Deadpool has a run-in with Daredevil in issue 4, where ol' Hornhead is in Matt Murdock's apartment, holding a coffee mug labelled for Matt Murdock, and wearing a shirt proclaiming "definitely not Matt Murdock". Fortunately, Wade can't remember if he's supposed to remember whether DD is Matt or not.
- Punctuation Shaker: It is pronounced *Gem. The asterisk is silent.
- Self-Deprecation: One of the Zarrkos mentions that their new, rebooted multiverse will be a break from all that "Eighth Cosmos mcgubbins", before wondering whose idea that even was. Al Ewing was the primary culprit, having introduced and developed the idea over in his run on New Avengers and The Ultimates.
- Shout-Out:
- Deadpool's arrival in the New York of the past is met by a "I'm walkin' here!"
- Richard Nixon introduces himself by going "arroo", like his depiction in Futurama.
- Dracula introduces himself by counting how many monsters he has. And he has four, four monsters!
- Issue 5's description of Zarrko's version of the multiverse declares "The Shroud marries Black Cat! Hyperion has a son!" In other words, riffing on what the Distinguished Competition was doing over in their titles at the time.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Ghost Rider's friend, who is not Jesus, and wants to stress that very hard. Just because he's an All-Loving Hero who shows up only when Johnny needs him to save him with the power of love and parables. Honestly. Not Jesus.
- Take That!: After defeating Dracula, Deadpool murmurs it's just lucky he doesn't have a topknot (as in, how Marvel's modern depiction of the Count wears his hair).
