Deadpool : the especially unhinged

Abstract

In this dissertation, I argue that the medium of the comic-book offers new possibilities for the presentation of philosophical ideas. Because of this, it holds certain advantages for the presentation of such ideas over the academic paper. To do this, I present the comics of the Marvel Comics anti-hero Deadpool as an example of the exploitation of the medium for philosophical purposes. I interpret the philosophy behind Deadpool’s comics as drawing upon existentialist and Mādhyamika Buddhist ideas (among others). While doing so, I focus on the ways in which the comic-book medium contributes to the presentation of such ideas in ways that the academic paper does not. The presentation of such ideas is most efficacious in Deadpool’s comics when metafictional devices are used. Therefore, I focus especially upon these, and argue that these devices are used in such a way that many of them cannot be reproduced in other media.