wp_query question about if..while

Hi all,

I have been playing around with wp_query this weekend but am not sure how to rewrite this into the wp_query:

<?php query_posts($query_string.'&showposts=1'); ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
some stuff here
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

I thought this would work:

<?php
$featurePosts = new WP_Query();
$featurePosts->query('showposts=1');
?>

<?php if ($featurePosts->have_posts()) : while ($featurePosts->have_posts()) : $featurePosts->the_post(); ?>
Stuff here
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

Is this right as it does not let me display <?php comments_popup_link('0 Comments', '1 Comment', '% Comments'); ?> within the ‘other stuff’

Thanks for any assistance.