IN 1991 HE WASN’T FUNNY.
Deadpool — the character everyone loves was invented six years after he first appeared · Comic King
Deadpool — The Complete Comic King Guide
Two things about Deadpool surprise almost everybody who comes in asking about him. The first is that in his original appearance he is not funny at all — he arrives in 1991 as a straight mercenary villain hired to attack a team of teenagers, with no jokes, no self-awareness and none of what made him famous. The character people actually love was invented six years later by a different writer. The second is that his first appearance, New Mutants #98, is simultaneously one of the most valuable modern comics and one of the most common — several hundred thousand copies were printed, and whether yours is worth thousands of dollars or sixty depends almost entirely on its condition. That second fact is the single most useful thing on this page, and it is where we start. Comic King carries Deadpool in Edmonton across all of it: this week's issues, the back-issue run, and honest assessments of what you have. If the issue you want isn't on the shelf, we can special-order or source it on request.
Quick Facts
Story: A mercenary who cannot die, talks constantly, and knows he is in a comic. Funny, exhausting, and considerably darker underneath than the costume suggests.
Length: In comics since 1991, across several solo volumes and a large number of concurrent titles today
Status: Ongoing — Wade Wilson: Deadpool launched in 2026, with other Deadpool titles having run alongside it.
Publisher: Marvel Comics.
Age guide: ⚠ ADULT — extreme violence, crude humour and sexual content. The films are adult-rated and the comics match them.
The merchandise is aimed at everyone; the comics are not.
Formats: New issues · back issues · graphic novels · Epic Collections · omnibus editions.
At Comic King: New issues weekly, back issues across every era, and we establish grade before we quote on New Mutants #98.
A Common Comic That Is Only Valuable Perfect
New Mutants #98 is the most misunderstood modern key we handle, and the misunderstanding runs in one direction: people know it is valuable, and they do not know that the value is conditional. Here is the shape of it. A copy graded CGC 9.8 has been trading in the region of four to eight thousand dollars. Drop two steps to a 9.6 and it is closer to eight hundred to fifteen hundred. Drop to a 9.0 — still a perfectly presentable comic that most people would describe as being in good shape — and you are looking at something in the region of sixty to a hundred and twenty dollars. Those figures move constantly and we always check live sold comps rather than quoting from memory, but the shape does not change: this is a fifty-fold spread across a handful of grade points. The reason is straightforward once you see it. Several hundred thousand copies of this comic were printed, at the absolute peak of the early-nineties speculation boom, so raw copies are not remotely scarce. What is scarce is a 1991 Marvel comic with sharp corners, a flat spine and no colour-breaking stress — the paper and binding of that era were poor, and almost nobody stored them properly because nobody knew this particular issue would matter. So the scarcity here is a CONDITION scarcity, not a print-run scarcity. Practically, that means we will not quote you a number on this book without looking at it properly, and neither should anybody else. If yours is a genuine high-grade candidate we will tell you and offer to broker the CGC submission, because on this comic that grading fee is the difference between two numbers that are not remotely alike.
The Run, Era by Era
Thirty-five years, organized. Every era of Deadpool, the one issue that represents it, and why collectors care:
The Keys — Issues Everyone Hunts
New Mutants #98 is the key and everything above applies to it. It carries three first appearances in one issue — Deadpool, Gideon, and the character presented as Domino, though that last one is worth a note: she was later revealed to be Copycat impersonating Domino, so whether this counts as Domino's true first appearance is genuinely argued and you will see listings claim it both ways. We establish which claim is being made before buying or selling, because it affects how the book is honestly described. Below that, the run is affordable and interesting. X-Force #1 from 1991, the book that replaced New Mutants, was polybagged with trading cards and printed in enormous quantities — it is a perfect artefact of the speculation era and, outside sealed high grade, essentially bin material. We will tell you that kindly. Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1 from 1993 is his first solo series with early Joe Madureira art, affordable and a nice entry key. Deadpool #1 from 1997 is the start of the Joe Kelly run, which is the book that matters to readers rather than to speculators. And on anything from 2008 onwards, be aware that Deadpool is one of the most heavily variant-covered characters in comics — the cover routinely matters more than the issue number, so we price by cover rather than by number. Key prices move constantly, so we buy and price against live sold comps — ask and we will pull them up on screen together.
Every Format You Can Buy
Screen & Series Status
Updated August 2026: the 2016 film transformed Deadpool from a cult character into a top-tier commercial property, and his screen presence has stayed strong since — which means a large share of the people asking about him arrive knowing the films and nothing about the comics. That is worth knowing before you buy, because the 1991 character and the film character are genuinely different, and the comics that read like the films start in 1997 rather than at the beginning. On the publishing side he is busy: Wade Wilson: Deadpool is the current title with others having run alongside it recently. Ask us what is on the rack this week rather than working from a list. Exact dates for anything on screen live in the Consolidated Ordering Calendar, not on this page.
Collector's Corner — Grading, Care & We Buy
This is the page where grading matters more than anywhere else in the shop, so here is exactly how we handle it. We do not quote a price on New Mutants #98 without examining the copy, because the spread between a 9.8 and a 9.0 on that book is roughly fiftyfold and no honest number exists without a grade attached. We look at corners, spine, colour breaks and the staples, we tell you what we think it would grade at and why, and we show you live sold comps at that grade on screen. If we think it is a genuine high-grade candidate we will say so and offer to broker the CGC submission rather than buying it cheap from you — that is a better outcome for you and it is how we would want to be treated. The second habit is the title check: his first appearance is in NEW MUTANTS, a title that ended two issues later and became X-Force, so a seller with a New Mutants run very often does not know what is in it. We search every one. The third is the honest context that this franchise forces: almost everything printed alongside New Mutants #98 in 1991 is worth very little, because print runs across the whole industry were enormous that year. #98 is the clearest exception on the wall, and only in top grade. One exception should not raise expectations for a whole box, and we will say so plainly. We also stock the bags, boards and boxes that keep a collection worth grading in the first place — which on this book is not a small point.
FAQ - Straight Answers
How much is New Mutants #98 worth?
It depends almost entirely on condition, far more than on any other modern key. As a rough shape at the time of writing: a CGC 9.8 has been trading in the region of four to eight thousand dollars, a 9.6 in the region of eight hundred to fifteen hundred, and a 9.0 — which is still a comic most people would describe as being in nice shape — somewhere around sixty to a hundred and twenty dollars. Those numbers move and we always check live sold comps rather than quoting from memory, but the shape holds: it is roughly a fiftyfold spread across a handful of grade points. The reason is that several hundred thousand copies were printed at the height of the early-nineties boom, so the comic itself is common — what is rare is one in nearly perfect condition, because the paper and binding of that era were poor and almost nobody stored them carefully. Please do not accept a price on this book from anyone who has not looked at it properly, ourselves included. Bring it in, we will assess it in front of you, and if it is a high-grade candidate we will tell you and offer to broker the grading.
I loved the films — which comics are actually like them?
Start with the Joe Kelly run, which began in 1997. This matters more than it sounds, because the Deadpool of the films — the jokes, the fourth-wall breaking, the mixture of comedy and genuine bleakness — did not exist when the character was created. In his 1991 debut he is a straight mercenary villain with no humour whatsoever. Joe Kelly invented the version everyone knows six years later, and Christopher Priest and Gail Simone developed it further. So if you go back to the beginning expecting the films, you will be reading the wrong comic and probably conclude you do not like him. After Kelly, Cable & Deadpool is the natural next step — fifty issues, and the double act works better than either character does alone. Come in and tell us you came from the films and we will put the right book in your hands rather than the earliest one.
Is Deadpool suitable for a younger reader?
Generally no, and this one is worth asking about rather than assuming, because the signals are genuinely misleading. Deadpool merchandise is everywhere and aimed at everyone — plush toys, lunch boxes, T-shirts in every size. The costume is bright, the character is funny, and he appears in all-ages Marvel material occasionally. But the main comics are adult: extreme violence, constant crude humour and sexual content, matching the adult certification the films carry. They sit near each other on a shelf and look similar from across a room. Marvel does publish all-ages material featuring him, and we can point you at it. Just ask us before you buy — it takes ten seconds, and it saves the conversation nobody wants to have afterwards.