I have to admit, I had been very close to dropping Wolverine Origins up until volume 4 (collecting Wolverine: Origins #16-20 and Annual #1), in which did just enough to maintain my interest, largely due to the appearance of Captain America, Bucky and Nick Fury in the World War II flashbacks. The appearance of Deadpool on the last page of issue #20 had me eagerly anticipating the release of volume 4.

I pre-ordered Wolverine: Origins Volume 5 - Deadpool Premiere HC (Wolverine) from Amazon, fortunately before the value of the Aussie dollar took a nosedive. Wolverine: Origins Volume 5 collected issues #21-27 (even though Amazon only list it as containing #21-25) and begins with Deadpool having been hired by a mysterious third party to catch and kill Wolverine. The action takes place in San Francisco, and basically follows Deadpool doing what he does, running around, wise cracking and blowing stuff up. The running battle spans three plus issues, as you'd expect of two guys that can pretty much heal from any wound. In the end though, it's Deadpool that gets the upper hand, managing to bring Wolverine down.

As Deadpool has Wolverine restrained and strung up over a swimming pool, with the intention of drowning him, Wolverine's son Daken arrives and proceeds to cut off poor Deadpool's hand. Daken flicks the switch that would drop his old man into the water, however an explosion throws Wolverine against a wall and he remains on land. A single handed Deadpool then goes toe to toe with Daken. In the mean time Wolverine is able to free himself. » Read the rest of the entry..

Apparently I'm a sucker for an "untold origin story", because when I saw Bullseye: Greatest Hits for $2.99 from the Things From Another World scratch and dent sale, I couldn't pass it up.

The trade paper back, Bullseye: Greatest Hits, collects the five issue mini-series, with the story itself attempting to reveal the origins of the man that became the ultimate thorn in Daredevil's side. The mini-series ran from November 2004 through until March 2005 and was written by Daniel Way and illustrated by Steve Dillon, the same team behind Wolverine Origins.

Bullseye: Greatest Hits opens with Bullseye being held in a top secret underground government facility, where he is being interrogated by two special agents, who are attempting to learn the whereabout of some nuclear weapons that Bullseye was responsible for stealing. This interrogation is used as the plot device through which to reveal snap shots of Bullseye's origins.

Bullseye reveals that when he was a child he displayed the uncanny knack of being able to hit any target with any sort of projectile, as seen when he kills a bird with a yo-yo. When his family is killed, following a bungled attempt by Bullseye's older brother to murder their abusive father, young Bullseye is put into foster care. He takes up Baseball, but his boredom for the game leads him to kill his opponent, as is depicted on the Mike Deodato drawn cover of issue 2.

This is when Bullseye first gains the attention of the US government, and is subsequently recruited then sent out into the field. It doesn't take Bullseye long before he goes rouge. Following his first battle with the Punisher, Bullseye heads back to the US, where we are treated to various glimpses of his first encounter with Daredevil and the King Pin as well as his murder of Elektra.
» Read the rest of the entry..