This series has had pretty wide swings in terms of quality. These final issues are among the better ones–but not the best. Deadpool has a Savage Land adventure with Ka-Zar.
While there, he accidentally causes a teleported invasion of Manhattan by dinosaurs who symbiote-infected dinosaurs.
When they start to infect Deadpool’s own brain, he saves the day by selflessly giving himself a lobotomy.
The book ends exactly where it began, with Deadpool on the couch watching TV, only this time he is not lonely…
I like these last issues because they play to the overall biggest strength of this series. Cable and Deadpool is at its best when it plays with what is going on in the bigger 616 universe without tying directly to it. Stories that showed Cable’s reaction to big X-events, including forming his own island nation for example, and stories that are more satirical, like this one. In the pages of Mighty Avengers, there’s a symbiote invasion. Deadpool ups the ante on that by adding dinosaurs. Nicely done.
I also like the ending. Most Marvel characters never really change. Spider-Man’s marital status gets retconned. The “dead” Captain America will return. Etc. There’s a few exceptions here, and Bucky Barnes is perhaps the most notable. It’s also a tradition that when a creative team leaves a book they also try to reset the character for the next creators. Here, there’s a soft-and-subtle change: Deadpool was created as a loner without much (any) care for humanity. He was a sociopath. Now, he’s a sociopath with friends.
Solid ending for an unsteady series. Cable goes from here to a very strong solo book. Deadpool next appears in his own solo book as well, but it’s written by Daniel Way. (Actually, Deadpool is kinda perfect for Way’s style, which is nonstop action without regard to making sense.)