Rocket is back on August 9 in ROCKET #4 and per usual, the heat is on! Written by Al Ewing with art by Adam Gorham, our favorite trash panda finds himself in a pinch for some fast cash after his attempts to win back his ladylove goes horribly wrong.

So what’s a genetically-altered space rodent to do? Well, he happens to find himself in the same place as none other than the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool. “Is that a bar? Is that a cell? All will be revealed,” teases Ewing. So when life hands you a crazed, possibly schizophrenic, semi-heroic lemon with a knack for shooting first and asking questions later, I guess you make some lemonade…and then rob the mob after you’ve quenched your thirst with said lemonade.

“Artist supreme Adam Gorham – who, as ever, knocks this issue so far out of the park it might as well be in space itself – asked me when we met in person if I was interested in doing a Space Kingpin and I’ve done my best to give Rocket that kind of adversary,” notes Ewing.

“The creep’s name is Cordyceps Jones, and he’s got a particular talent that biologists reading this may already have picked up on, that’s going to end up being quite a headache for at least one of our heroes,” says Ewing confirming that yes, he is a mushroom, because space. “One of the things I’m fairly proud of with this series is building various Swiss-watch space heists, and while the one in this issue is fairly simple, it’s probably one of the strangest. How do you steal a man’s brainwaves,” asks Ewing.

This issue also boasts a brand new omniscient narrator. “That’s right, this issue is narrated entirely by Wade Wilson himself, using the prose gutter provided, and giving it his best noir,” says Ewing. That should prove interesting considering the duo don’t really know much about each other. “All Rocket knows is that Deadpool’s an Earther, that all the other Earthers hate for some reason, and Earthers also seem to hate clean water and a livable climate, so he’s not going to care to much about that,” notes Ewing. However, Deadpool does care about Rockets lack of knowledge when it comes to hilarious pop culture references. “I mean that extended bit about the Evergreen Forest – pearls before swine, man, pearls before swine,” recalls Ewing.

The end of the issue does see our two friends – we’re using a very loose interpretation of friends here – going their separate ways. Wade back to his own story and Rocket on a quest for vengeance. “It wouldn’t be a hard-boiled noir space-heist furry mammal story without a little revenge on the big bad responsible for all the hero’s troubles…which, in this case, is Castor Gnawbarque III, a criminal CEO, and beaver, with his teeth buried in a tasty log of illegal activity that’s about to come back to bit him, like a beaver, because he’s is a beaver. I don’t know if I made that clear,” jokes Ewing. I don’t know guys, sounds like the guy pulling the strings might be a gopher or something…

Catch all the inevitable puns, guns and heroes on the run in ROCKET #4, written by Al Ewing with art by Adam Gorham, out August 9.