Joe Kelly

On December 11th 1990, Marvel Comics published New Mutants #98 by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, which introduced the world to a mercenary in a bright red costume, by the name of Deadpool. Over time, Deadpool would transform from the grim gun-for-hire he was introduced as, to one of the most recognizable characters in all of superhero comics, thanks to his quick mouth and his liberal disregard for the conventions of the genre.

Over the past couple of decades, a narrative has built up around Deadpool's character evolution: He started out like any other mercenary, sword-carrying '90s badass, and it wasn't until the debut of his Joe Kelly-written and largely Ed McGuinness-drawn solo series in 1997 that the character came into his own. I'd argue that it's not quite that cut-and-dry. Go back and read Deadpool's early X-Force appearances and you'll discover he was still a wisecracker, though a bit more mean-spirited. Where Deadpool really seemed to come into his own, though, was almost a year into his solo series, in an issue that would long be hailed as the best single-issue Deadpool story: Deadpool #11, written by Kelly, with art by Pete Woods.

The Web-Slinger and the Merc with a Mouth are together again, to the delight of their Tumblr fandom and anyone who wants to see as much of these two characters as possible, in Spider-Man/Deadpool #1, by the classic Deadpool team of Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. Spider-Man (that's the Peter Parker, green-glow-around-his-chest-emblem Spider-Man) is just trying to do his Spider-job, but Deadpool (that's the Deadpool who has a movie coming out soon) can't seem to leave him alone.

Many of comics’ most popular characters have been around for decades, and in the case of the big names from the publisher now known as DC Comics, some have been around for a sizable chunk of a century. As these characters passed through the different historical eras known in comics as the Golden Age (the late 1930s through the early 1950s), the Silver Age (the mid 1950s through the late 1960s), the Bronze Age (the early 1970s through the mid 1980s) and on into modern times, they have experienced considerable changes in tone and portrayal that reflect the zeitgeist of the time. With this feature we’ll help you navigate the very best stories of DC Comics’ most significant characters decade by decade. This week, with the release of Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice just six months away, we’re taking a look at the best Superman/Batman team-up comics.

Joe Kelly’s critically acclaimed graphic novel I Kill Giants is being developed into a movie by producer Chris Columbus, and it’s just attracted a star from another major comic book adaptation — Guardians of the Galaxy’s Zoe Saldana has signed on to play a leading role in the film from director Anders Walter, who won an Oscar in 2014 for his short film Helium.

It's been 18 years (that's right, 18 years) since Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness first teamed up on Deadpool back in 1997. A lot (and I mean a lot) of Deadpool comics have been published since then, but for many fans who read that original run, Kelly and McGuinness are still the definitive Deadpool team. Those fans can now officially rejoice: Marvel announced at San Diego Comic-Con on Sunday that Kelly and McGuinness are teaming up again to pair Deadpool with another Marvel favorite, Spider-Man, in this fall's Spider-Man/Deadpool.

  Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura’s I Kill Giants is one of the best and most honest depictions of a child’s reaction to loss in the comic book form. Barbara Thorson, our heroine, is precocious, prickly and daring, devoted to her career as a giant killer. Actual, mythical giants, she insists -- beasts only she is able to keep at bay with her legendary warhammer, Coveleski. After a long day of bein

In official DC canon, Superman and Wonder Woman have always remained just really good friends --- that is, until this October's Justice League #12, in which Geoff Johns and Jim Lee will see the two heroes begin what's promised to be a substantive relationship. Following our exploration of some of Superman's former flames, it's time to check out the Amazing Amazon's past dance cards.

Published between 2004 and 2006, Solo was a DC Comics anthology series with an innovative twist: each issue was created from the ground up by a single cartoonist and collaborators of his own choosing. Edited by DC's head art director Mark Chiarello (Wednesday Comics, DC: The New Frontier), the series offered artists a platform to control their visions completely in the form of original stories, un

I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of Superman vs. the Elite, the latest from DC's line of direct-to-video animated features. With a few notable exceptions, the "DC Universe" line hasn't really thrilled me, and I had absolutely no desire to spend a couple of hours revisiting the story this one's based on, Action Comics #775's "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American W