Cover: Alvin Lee & Udon & Arnold Tsang

Deadpool #65

May 2002 · Marvel · 2.25 USD; 3.65 CAD

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“Healing Factor, Prologue”

★ 1st appearance — Outlaw

About this Issue

Deadpool #65 marks the beginning of writer Gail Simone's celebrated 'Healing Factor' arc — the final five-issue run of the original 1997 series — and is the first appearance of three characters who would anchor an entire spin-off title: the telepathic German assassin Black Swan, the Japanese operative Nijo (who resurfaces as Agent X), and mercenary Inez Temple (Outlaw). The issue reframed Deadpool from a mid-tier cult character into a self-made mercenary entrepreneur running 'Deadpool Inc.,' a status-quo shift that gave the Merc with a Mouth fresh narrative ground after years of uneven creative stewardship. Simone's arrival also revived the character's signature interior monologue voice — the 'little yellow boxes' style — after previous writers had largely abandoned it, a storytelling choice that would prove enormously influential on how later creators handled Wade Wilson. Because the arc concludes with Deadpool apparently dying and Nijo emerging as the amnesiac Agent X, this single issue sets in motion an identity-mystery that sustained an entire follow-on series and kept readers debating whether Alex Hayden actually was Deadpool for over a year.

writer Gail Simone · letterer Dave Sharpe · artist, inker, colorist Alvin Lee (Udon Studios) · artist, inker, colorist Udon's Rob Ross · artist, inker, colorist Udon's Eric Vedder · artist, inker, colorist A-Zero (Udon) · artist, inker, colorist TR2 (Udon) · inker Udon Chief Erik Ko · cover Alvin Lee, Udon, Arnold Tsang

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $5

CGC 9.8 · 200 in census $83

CGC 9.6 · 100 in census $45*

CGC 9.4 · 40 in census $36*

CGC 9.2 · 17 in census $33*

CGC 9.0 · 15 in census $32*

CGC 8.5 · 8 in census $26*

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CGC 8.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM · Direct $33.6 Direct $34.99 NM · Direct $35 NM $44.69 NM- $45 NM $64.95 NM $64.99 MINT · Direct $69.99

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History

Marvel brought Gail Simone onto the book specifically to close out the long-running volume with a defined final arc before a planned line-wide X-Men franchise rebranding — the same editorial wave that transformed Cable into Soldier X and X-Force into X-Statix. Simone has noted publicly that the relaunch had not been planned when she accepted the assignment, making it a surprise mid-flight pivot. For the art, Marvel paired her with UDON Studios — a Canadian collective of artists working in an anime-influenced house style who had just completed a Taskmaster miniseries — with Alvin Lee as the primary penciler. Editors Mike Marts and Mike Raicht shepherded the book under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, and the issue's 'Healing Factor — prologue' chapter title signals Simone's intent to structure her brief tenure as a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end rather than a string of standalone adventures.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Black Swan: a German mutant assassin raised in the Bavarian circus, capable of implanting disruptive 'telepathic viruses' in a target's mind — he serves as the central antagonist of Simone's entire arc.
First appearance of Nijo (Minamiyori), the Japanese operative who blames Deadpool for his brother's death and later resurfaces as the amnesiac mercenary Alex Hayden / Agent X, the protagonist of the 2002 Agent X spin-off series.
First appearance of Inez Temple, alias Outlaw — a fellow mercenary with a flirtatious dynamic with Wade who becomes a recurring supporting character across the Agent X series and Cable & Deadpool.
First appearance of Ratbag, the homeless man Deadpool takes in as his personal biographer, who plays a pivotal emotional role in the arc's climax.
Written by Gail Simone (her first issue on the title) with art by UDON Studios (primarily Alvin Lee, Rob Ross, Eric Vedder), lettered by Dave Sharpe, and edited by Mike Marts and Mike Raicht under EIC Joe Quesada.
Covers the prologue to the 'Healing Factor' story arc (issues #65–69), which serves as the closing chapter of Deadpool vol. 2 (the 1997–2002 series) before the title was cancelled and replaced by Agent X.
Issued in both a Direct Edition and a Newsstand Edition; the issue has been collected in Deadpool Classic Vol. 9 (2013), the Deadpool Classic Omnibus Vol. 1 (2016), The Adamantium Collection (2017), and the Deadpool Epic Collection: Agent X (2025).
The story arc's central dramatic engine — Deadpool accidentally stealing credit for Black Swan's 'magnum opus' assassination of the Four Winds crime lords — is established here as a flashback, setting up a villain whose grievance is rooted in professional pride rather than conventional villainy.