This book surprises me in a lot of ways. Sometimes in that it’s the only good Deadpool book on the stands, and other times on how far Daniel Way will take the humor in this series. However, Way also does some surprising things in this series that even I don’t see coming. Like how the end of the Hawkeye arc had Deadpool committing suicide….didn’t see that coming. Here this issue does the same, although it’s not as twisted as that suicide.

We have yet another appearence of Ghost Rider in a Deadpool book. Apparently Marvel thinks these two are just perfect for each other. What boils down at first is yet another confrontation between the two and it was getting entertaining. Then Rider’s ‘Penance Stare’ comes in and that’s when the issue does a complete one-eighty. What happens next is a sort of re-telling of Deadpool’s origin. Before you yawn let me state that there are no jokes in here, nor does it do the complete obvious. What Way does is basically show us just how much pain Deadpool has been in since joining the military and subsequently joining Weapon X. There has been an underlining of depression with Way’s take on the hero and here it continues. The fact that we know Deadpool has tried to commit suicide since 18 sort of brings a bit new light into the character. The issue continues to show just how horrible Deadpool’s life has been during his early days. I found it to be quite enjoyable to read because it feels like nothing else I’ve read from Deadpool before.

I think Barberi does some of his best work with this issue. He has always done a good job since Paco Medina left the book, but his pencils always looked ‘shady’ at times. Here I can’t find really a single problem with this book. The effects involving Ghost Rider were fantastic and when we get into the flashbacks it gets even better. Every character looks amazing and the perspective from Deadpool stays consistant from the beginning to end.

There have been a lot of great issues by Daniel Way in this series for the past two years. To me, I really think this might be the best issue to date. It has everything you wouldn’t expect from a Deadpool book. If you’re looking for a hilarious Deadpool issue then you’re not gonna find it here this week. Way decided to give us characterization and he fully delivers it here.