Here is an archive of all the past top five lists I've done over the years.
As Deadpool has become more and more of a popular character, he has made a number of guest appearances over the years. Let's check out his top five guest appearances!
NOTE: It doesn't count as a "guest appearance" if he is in the name of the comic (like Deadpool/Daredevil '98) or if it is a direct crossover with Deadpool (like Part 1 is in Deadpool's comic, Part 2 in the other comic, etc.) or if it is a Deadpool story in an anthology. Also, it doesn't count if he appears as a member of a team in that team's book (like when he appears in Uncanny X-Force, the Red Hulk Thunderbolts or Uncanny Avengers). In fact, I'm also going to go a step further and not count guest appearances where Deadpool appears AS a member of a team (like when the Uncanny Avengers recently guest-starred in Black Knight, for instance). Finally, and this is a tricky one, but I am going to also eliminate all appearances in the pages of New Mutants/X-Force preceding Deadpool's first mini-series. The theory being that until he appeared in his own title, he wasn't really a GUEST in X-Force, was he? He was just an X-Force character period (he even had a trading card in X-Force #1!). Appearances in OTHER books would count, but not X-Force. Once he got his own book, then sure, I'd count them then. Okay, with those rather complicated rules in play, let's see what we can see!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Avengers #366
In one of his earliest guest appearances, Deadpool shows up in a back-up story in Avengers #366 by Glenn Herdling, Mike Gustovich and Ariana Lenshoek that continued the story of Bloodwraith, a character that Herdling had just introduced in that year's Avengers Annual. Deadpool and Bloodwraith are both looking for some weapon that is supposedly powerful. The MacGuffin leads to at least an awesome three-way sword duel between Deadpool, Bloodwraith and Black Knight...
Interestingly, the Bloodwraith almost kills Deadpool later in the issue, but the ebony sword had been sated by the sacrifice of Victoria Bentley earlier in the story and so the Bloodwraith doesn't kill Deadpool.
Nomad #4
This was part of a crossover with the Punisher and Daredevil that involved a bunch of bad guys meeting in Las Vegas to discuss how to split up the Kingpin's criminal empire (after he was taken down in Daredevil #300). To set the scene, the villain Bushwhacker shows up trying to hunt down a criminal (there representing the villainous Lotus) who Bushwhacker believes has stolen the daughter of Bushwhacker's ex-wife. The guy is there with a prostitute friend of Nomad's. Nomad gives the baby he travels with (who he named Bucky) to the prostitute and then discovers that the criminal is ALSO being hunted down by Deadpool, due to a deal gone wrong between Lotus and Deadpool's then-employer, Tolliver...
Fabian Nicieza wrote this issue, which was the first time Deadpool appeared outside the pages of New Mutants/X-Force, and as the co-creator of Deadpool, he nails Deadpool's appearance here. Pat Olliffe and Mark McKenna drew the issue.
Heroes for Hire #10-11
John Ostrander did a good job capturing Deadpool's voice in this two-parter when Deadpool joined the Heroes for Hire for a mission (regular Heroes for Hire artist Pasqual Ferry penciled the first issue while fill-in artist Scott Kolins penciled the second issue).
Hulk #13-15
Gerry Duggan was writing Deadpool's ongoing series when he took over writing Hulk, as well, from Mark Waid. Duggan began an epic storyline called The Omega Hulk, where the Hulk begins to eliminate other gamma-irradiated heroes. Deadpool plays a key role in the final part of the storyline (the whole thing is drawn by Mark Bagley and Drew Hennessey). First off, he is hired by the Hulk...
And then we learn his role...
Like Nicieza on Nomad, Duggan clearly knows how to write Deadpool, so it works well. And I liked that he played a major role in the storyline.
Go to the next page for the start of the top five...
5. X-Force #47 (X-Force #56)
At the end of X-Force #46, Siryn, who has been trapped in an asylum, contacts Deadpool, as X-Force writer Jeph Loeb followed up on the Deadpool/Siryn relationship established in Deadpool's second mini-series. So in X-Force #47 (by Jeph Loeb, Adam Pollina and Mark Pennington), Deadpool rescues her, but in the end, he ends up taking her place...
As an epilogue, Siryn then frees Deadpool in X-Force #56 (by Loeb, Pollina and Bud La Rosa and Mark Morales)...
This was a lowpoint in Deadpool's comic book career, as he was just trapped in an asylum for almost a year and no one particularly cared.
4. Avenging Spider-Man #12-13
In this very clever two-parter by Kevin Shinick and Aaron Kuder, Deadpool visits Spider-Man in a dream and then, well, lots of trippy dream stuff happens, beautifully illustrated by the brilliant Kuder...
However, there is a fun twist involved for the second part, as you see, it wasn't REALLY a dream, but the Hypno-Hustler and Deadpool made Spider-Man THINK it was a dream and then manipulated Spider-Man into freeing the Hypno-Hustler from prison while "dreaming." The second part sees Spidey take on the Hypno-Hustler and eventually defeat him with Deadpool's help (the issue ends with Spidey getting his revenge on Deadpool initially helping the Hypno-Hustler - it's funny stuff).
3. Wolverine #88
This early Deadpool guest appearance was pretty much all about Adam Kubert, right from the stunning cover...
Not that writer Larry Hama didn't write a fun story, as he did, but this was really about spotlighting Kubert, right down to him having THREE double-page splashes right in a row!
Sadly, Kubert didn't finish the issue, and the fill-in artist filled the rest of the issue with shockingly blatant Jim Lee traces. But the Kubert stuff is enough to get it this high.
Go to the next page for the top two!
2. Amazing Spider-Man #611
This much-anticipated issue saw then-Amazing Spider-Man Brain Trust member Joe Kelly writing Deadpool again, as Deadpool is hired to occupy Spider-Man so that Spidey misses a few things (most importantly that Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin, has been kidnapped). Eric Canete drew the issue. It's an explosion of fun...
1. Wolverine Origins #21-25
This story arc by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon served to revitalize Deadpool as Way's new take on the character led to a new ongoing series starring Deadpool by Way.
Way's take was to sot of embrace the craziness of Deadpool and take it to a whole absurdist degree...
Dude drops a PIANO on Wolverine!
And, of course, this classic bit from later in the story...
Not since he first appeared in the pages of New Mutants and X-Force did an appearance by Deadpool mean as much to the character, hence its place at #1.
That's the top five! Agree? Disagre? Let me know!