| Blind Al | |
 Deadpool's prisoner, Blind Al. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Deadpool #1 |
| Created by | Joe Kelly (writer) Ed McGuinness (artist) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Althea |
| Species | human |
| Partnerships | Deadpool |
| Notable aliases | Blind Alfred |
Blind Al is a supporting character of Deadpool, a Marvel Comics antihero. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc In Comic books and other stories with a long history first appearance refers to the first occurrence to feature a Fictional character. Joe Kelly may refer to Joe Kelly (author Joe Kelly (comics, comic book and animation writer Joe Kelly (racing driver Edward "Ed" McGuinness is an American Comic book Artist and Penciller, best known for his work on Superman Deadpool is a fictional Comic book character sometimes depicted as a Mercenary or Antihero; he appears in books published by Marvel Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc
Al (also known as Althea or Blind Alfred) first appeared in Deadpool #1, living with him in "The Deadhut", his house in San Francisco. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city At first her relationship with him was unclear, but over time it would reveal itself as highly complex and bizarre.
Contents |
History
Al is a skinny old woman who, as her name suggests, is blind. Her origin is never explicitly elaborated. It was eventually revealed that she was somehow involved with British intelligence, although in what capacity is unknown. She was already blind by this point and has been most of her life. Wade Wilson, the mercenary who would eventually become Deadpool, was hired to kill her in Zaire where she was stationed. The Republic of Zaire (pronunciation; République du Zaïre was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between October 27, 1971 What actually occurred is unknown, but apparently Wilson killed everyone around except her, allowing her to flee. Years later, after he had gotten cancer, received a healing factor from Weapon X, gone insane, and became Deadpool, Wilson met up with Al again and captured her. A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in Fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate This article is about the clandestine government anti-mutant project for the reality-jumping team of antiheroes see Weapon X (Exiles; for the individuals called Weapon Traditionally insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to himself and others
Thus began the bizarre relationship between the two, with Al acting as a cross between a prisoner, friend, housekeeper, Greek Chorus and mother-figure to Deadpool. The Greek chorus ( choros) is believed to have grown out of the Greek Dithyrambs and Tragikon drama in tragic plays of the ancient At times Wade could be unbelievably cruel to Al. He would frequently insult her and play cruel pranks, taking advantage of her blindness. He forbade her visitors and would kill anyone who tried to help her escape. When she angered him he would put her in "The Box", a small room filled with sharp objects (although he never actually locked the door, counting on her fear of him to keep her imprisoned). He also forced her to cook and clean for him, and dangled the prospect of freedom in front of her, only to snatch it away.
On the other hand, Al seemed to wield a subtle authority over him, and seemed to be the only person who was not afraid to stand up to him. The pranks never bothered her, as she was more than clever enough to get back at 'Pool (putting laxatives in his food was a favorite), and she was even sharper than him when it came to insults. Laxatives (or purgatives) are foods compounds or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool most often taken to treat Constipation. When the series opened, Al had already been with Wade for years, and a sort of peace had developed between them. Al seemed grateful for having food, a roof over her head, all the Matlock she could "watch," and safety from those who wanted her dead, all in return for doing a few chores and putting up with Wade's twisted sense of humor. Matlock was a long-running American Television Legal drama. The show ran from September 23, 1986 to May She was his closest confidant (even more so than Weasel) and trips to The Box had become so infrequent as to be unheard of. Weasel is a fictional character who appears in the Comic books published by Marvel Comics. She held an immense debt of gratitude for Deadpool for saving her life, and it gradually became clear that she was sticking it out with him because she believed that he had the potential to become a truly good person, and she hoped her influence over him would encourage him in that direction. She also hinted that she had a rather dark past, and felt that redeeming Wade would help her make up for past deeds. They shared an adventure together through time, where Al ended up impersonating May Parker. May Reilly Parker commonly known as Aunt May, is a Supporting character in Marvel Comics ' Spider-Man series She seemed as much a parent as a prisoner to him, and he even gave her Deuce the Devil Dog as a present. Deuce the Devil Dog is a fictional Marvel Comics' character who is in fact just a Guide dog.
However, Deadpool soon hit a low personal ebb, and the peace between them became strained. This culminated in a trip to the box after it became clear that Blind Al had been keeping visits from Weasel a secret from him. She got her revenge however, by coldly shunning him, and referring to him as "master" to highlight his cruelty. The guilt he felt was enormous, and he eventually declared her a free woman. She refused to leave so he teleported her away from him, preferring not to keep her imprisoned, even of her own free will.
Since then her appearances have become much more sporadic, although it is clear that she and Deadpool are still in contact. Most recently she appeared in Cable & Deadpool #36, where Wade approached her to validate his plan to restore his reputation by battling Taskmaster. Cable & Deadpool was a Comic book series published by Marvel Comics beginning in 2004. Taskmaster is a Fictional character, a Supervillain in the Marvel Universe.
Personality
In keeping with the humorous tone of Deadpool's stories' Al's personality was not what one would expect from an imprisoned old blind woman. She was tough as nails, cynical in the extreme, and able to beat even the wisecracking title character in a battle of insults. When they matched wits, Al usually got the better of Deadpool, making his pranks backfire and treating him like a spoiled child. Al even once sabotaged all of Deadpool's weapons, her rationale being that his death would be the worst case scenario, and then she wouldn't have to worry about retaliation.
Despite their antagonistic relationship, Blind Al occasionally showed that she genuinely cared for Wade, as when she refused to leave him after being granted her freedom, and baked him a cake when he attempted to become a hero.
Deadpool gave Al Deuce (which Weasel had won from Foggy Nelson in a poker game) as a joke. Note Foggy Nelson is also a semi common name for grey cats Franklin P Although the dog adored her, she seemed to think of him as nothing but a moronic flea-factory, and promptly had him fixed. However, when Weasel escaped from The Box, she asked him to look after Deuce for her, as she feared for his safety around Deadpool.
Her hobbies included "Needlepoint, thimble collecting, planning escape routes. Needlepoint is a form of Canvas work Embroidery, in which Yarn is stitched through a Canvas ground fabric. . . typical old lady twaddle. " She loves the show Matlock, and also expressed a fondness for the Daily Show. The Daily Show (known in its current incarnation as The Daily Show
Questions of Identity
It was once implied that Blind Al might actually be Betsy Ross, aka Golden Girl. Golden Girl is the name of two fictional characters Superheroines in the Marvel Comics universe who were active during the 1940s This has since been retconned as a red herring. Retroactive continuity is the deliberate changing of previously established facts in a work of serial fiction In Literature, a red herring is a narrative element intended to distract the reader from a more important event in the plot usually a Twist ending.
Joe Kelly originally intended her to be the first Black Widow: "We were going to do the origin story of Blind Al, and show her as the original Black Widow and show how she was responsible for Wade getting cancer". Black Widow, in comics may refer to Black Widow (Marvel Comics, a Marvel Comics character Black Widow (Timely Comics, a character from [1]. This, likewise, is no longer considered canon.
One interesting fact about her has never been altered, however. It is implied that she dated Captain America before he was frozen in the 1940s. She described her last meeting with him while giving Wade a pep talk and, although never named, the description matches. She also had possession of a golden medal from him, which she gave to Deadpool. When he later lost it on a battlefield, Captain America found it and recognized its origin, even mentioning the name "Al".
It is unclear exactly how old Al is. While Deadpool engaged with the Great Lakes Avengers during his series' run in the late 1990's, Al was noted as a sexagenarian. The Great Lakes Avengers are a Superhero group team that appear in the Fictional Marvel Universe. Later, Deadpool described her as a "septagenarian", but she claims to remember Flapper-dresses, which she disliked because they made her butt look big. The term flapper in the 1920s referred to a "new breed" of young Women who wore short skirts bobbed their hair listened to the new Jazz music
References
- ^ http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9820 Comic Book Resources - Reflections: Talking Everything with Joe Kelly
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