diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb b/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
index ad683afb..696aa318 100644
--- a/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
@@ -84,7 +84,9 @@ class Pry
         text = text.sub(/^[ \t]+$/, '')
 
         # Find the longest common whitespace to all indented lines
-        margin = text.scan(/^[ \t]*(?=[^ \t\n])/).inject do |current_margin, next_indent|
+        # Ignore lines containing just -- or ++ as these seem to be used by
+        # comment authors as delimeters.
+        margin = text.scan(/^[ \t]*(?!--\n|\+\+\n)(?=[^ \t\n])/).inject do |current_margin, next_indent|
           if next_indent.start_with?(current_margin)
             current_margin
           elsif current_margin.start_with?(next_indent)
diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers/documentation_helpers.rb b/lib/pry/helpers/documentation_helpers.rb
index 536c7718..95fd6193 100644
--- a/lib/pry/helpers/documentation_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers/documentation_helpers.rb
@@ -4,14 +4,18 @@ class Pry
     # This class contains methods useful for extracting
     # documentation from methods and classes.
     module DocumentationHelpers
+
+      module_function
+
       def process_rdoc(comment)
+        return comment unless Pry.color
         comment = comment.dup
-        comment.gsub(/<code>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/code>/m) { Pry.color ? CodeRay.scan($1, :ruby).term : $1 }.
-          gsub(/<em>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/em>/m) { Pry.color ? "\e[1m#{$1}\e[0m": $1 }.
-          gsub(/<i>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/i>/m) { Pry.color ? "\e[1m#{$1}\e[0m" : $1 }.
-          gsub(/\B\+(\w*?)\+\B/)  { Pry.color ? "\e[32m#{$1}\e[0m": $1 }.
-          gsub(/((?:^[ \t]+.+(?:\n+|\Z))+)/)  { Pry.color ? CodeRay.scan($1, :ruby).term : $1 }.
-          gsub(/`(?:\s*\n)?([^\e]*?)\s*`/) { "`#{Pry.color ? CodeRay.scan($1, :ruby).term : $1}`" }
+        comment.gsub(/<code>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/code>/m) { CodeRay.scan($1, :ruby).term }.
+          gsub(/<em>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/em>/m) { "\e[1m#{$1}\e[0m" }.
+          gsub(/<i>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/i>/m) { "\e[1m#{$1}\e[0m" }.
+          gsub(/\B\+(\w+?)\+\B/)  { "\e[32m#{$1}\e[0m" }.
+          gsub(/((?:^[ \t]+.+(?:\n+|\Z))+)/)  { CodeRay.scan($1, :ruby).term }.
+          gsub(/`(?:\s*\n)?([^\e]*?)\s*`/) { "`#{CodeRay.scan($1, :ruby).term}`" }
       end
 
       def process_yardoc_tag(comment, tag)
@@ -46,10 +50,17 @@ class Pry
         code.sub(/\A\s*\/\*.*?\*\/\s*/m, '')
       end
 
+      # Given a string that makes up a comment in a source-code file parse out the content
+      # that the user is intended to read. (i.e. without leading indentation, #-characters
+      # or shebangs)
+      #
       # @param [String] comment
       # @return [String]
-      def strip_leading_hash_and_whitespace_from_ruby_comments(comment)
+      def get_comment_content(comment)
         comment = comment.dup
+        # Remove #!/usr/bin/ruby
+        comment.gsub!(/\A\#!.*$/, '')
+        # Remove leading empty comment lines
         comment.gsub!(/\A\#+?$/, '')
         comment.gsub!(/^\s*#/, '')
         strip_leading_whitespace(comment)
diff --git a/lib/pry/method.rb b/lib/pry/method.rb
index 57b923c6..519218b5 100644
--- a/lib/pry/method.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/method.rb
@@ -311,11 +311,11 @@ class Pry
           info.docstring if info
         when :ruby
           if rbx? && !pry_method?
-            strip_leading_hash_and_whitespace_from_ruby_comments(core_doc)
+            get_comment_content(core_doc)
           elsif pry_method?
-            strip_leading_hash_and_whitespace_from_ruby_comments(doc_for_pry_method)
+            get_comment_content(doc_for_pry_method)
           else
-            strip_leading_hash_and_whitespace_from_ruby_comments(@method.comment)
+            get_comment_content(@method.comment)
           end
         end
     end
diff --git a/lib/pry/module_candidate.rb b/lib/pry/module_candidate.rb
index 9e9f7e69..bcbde96c 100644
--- a/lib/pry/module_candidate.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/module_candidate.rb
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class Pry
         return nil if file.nil?
         return @doc if @doc
 
-        @doc = strip_leading_hash_and_whitespace_from_ruby_comments(Pry::Code.from_file(file).comment_describing(line))
+        @doc = get_comment_content(Pry::Code.from_file(file).comment_describing(line))
       end
 
       # @return [Array, nil] A `[String, Fixnum]` pair representing the
diff --git a/spec/command_helpers_spec.rb b/spec/command_helpers_spec.rb
index 883f863c..2a36b57e 100644
--- a/spec/command_helpers_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/command_helpers_spec.rb
@@ -5,5 +5,25 @@ describe Pry::Helpers::CommandHelpers do
     @helper = Pry::Helpers::CommandHelpers
   end
 
-  # FIXME: currently no tests
+  describe "unindent" do
+    it "should remove the same prefix from all lines" do
+      @helper.unindent(" one\n two\n").should == "one\ntwo\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should not be phased by empty lines" do
+      @helper.unindent(" one\n\n two\n").should == "one\n\ntwo\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should only remove a common prefix" do
+      @helper.unindent("  one\n two\n").should == " one\ntwo\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should also remove tabs if present" do
+      @helper.unindent("\tone\n\ttwo\n").should == "one\ntwo\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should ignore lines starting with --" do
+      @helper.unindent(" one\n--\n two\n").should == "one\n--\ntwo\n"
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/documentation_helper_spec.rb b/spec/documentation_helper_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7623ffb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/documentation_helper_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+require 'helper'
+
+describe Pry::Helpers::DocumentationHelpers do
+  before do
+    @helper = Pry::Helpers::DocumentationHelpers
+  end
+
+  describe "get_comment_content" do
+    it "should strip off the hash and unindent" do
+      @helper.get_comment_content(" # hello\n # world\n").should == "hello\nworld\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should strip out leading lines of hashes" do
+      @helper.get_comment_content("###############\n#hello\n#world\n").should == "hello\nworld\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should remove shebangs" do
+      @helper.get_comment_content("#!/usr/bin/env ruby\n# This is a program\n").should == "This is a program\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should unindent past separators" do
+      @helper.get_comment_content(" # Copyright Me <me@cirw.in>\n #--\n # So there.\n").should == "Copyright Me <me@cirw.in>\n--\nSo there.\n"
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "process_rdoc" do
+    before do
+      Pry.color = true
+    end
+
+    after do
+      Pry.color = false
+    end
+
+    it "should syntax highlight indented code" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("  4 + 4\n").should.not == "  4 + 4\n"
+    end
+
+    it "should highlight words surrounded by +s" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("the +parameter+").should =~ /the \e.*parameter\e.*/
+    end
+
+    it "should syntax highlight things in backticks" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("for `Example`").should =~ /for `\e.*Example\e.*`/
+    end
+
+    it "should emphasise em tags" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("for <em>science</em>").should == "for \e[1mscience\e[0m"
+    end
+
+    it "should emphasise italic tags" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("for <i>science</i>").should == "for \e[1mscience\e[0m"
+    end
+
+    it "should syntax highlight code in <code>" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("for <code>Example</code>").should =~ /for \e.*Example\e.*/
+    end
+
+    it "should not double-highlight backticks inside indented code" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("  `echo 5`").should =~ /echo 5/
+    end
+
+    it "should not remove ++" do
+      @helper.process_rdoc("--\n  comment in a bubble\n++").should =~ /\+\+/
+    end
+
+    it "should do nothing if Pry.color is false" do
+      Pry.color = false
+      @helper.process_rdoc("  4 + 4\n").should == "  4 + 4\n"
+    end
+  end
+
+end
\ No newline at end of file