CREDIT: Marvel Comics
Rating: 5/5- Marvel’s Smallest Hero, but Not Too Small to Touch Your Heart.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Gabe Bustamantez.
This summer the Ant-Man movie is being released. The movie will not be about the original Hank Pym version of Ant-Man, instead we’re getting a film about Scott Lang. But, who is Scott Lang? Scott Lang is the definition of the underdog, or is it underANT, of the Marvel Universe. Scott Lang is a family man who has lost his freedom due to being a burglar, lost his family, even lost his own life and the life of his daughter. He’s never exactly been the best hero, and most people wouldn’t consider him even the best Ant-Man. So what is it about this character that makes him a big enough hero to be an Avenger and have his own comic and movie?
Nick Spencer give us a comic book that perfectly showcased for me why I should care about this Ant-Man and why Scott Lang deserves a second chance. The story starts with a very funny scene of a hard on his luck Ant-Man at a job interview for Stark Industries, still wearing his Ant-Man suit because he doesn’t own a regular suit. The interview is not quite the shoo-in that was expected. Scott needs to find himself the stability of a regular job so that he can prove to his ex-wife that he’s stable enough to have visitation rights with his daughter Cassie, aka Stature from the Young Avengers. That is the backbone of this character and this story; a father trying to better himself for his kid. A Dad that will do anything, and give up everything for his child. This issue was much more heartfelt than I would have given it credit for.
I walked into this issue thinking it would be another advertisement for the film and what I got was one of my new favorite comic books. It’s not all mushy and sappy, there is plenty of superhero shrinking and ant action, as well as special guest stars like Superior Iron Man and the female Beetle from Nick Spencer’s Superior Foes of Spider-Man series, to satisfy the reader’s needs for that kind of thing.
The big star of his book is the artist, Ramon Rosanas. The layouts, pacing, storytelling, and designs of his issue were perfect. Last time I saw Rosanas’ work was in Night of the Living Deadpool, but I believe his work on Ant-Man will be career making. Rosanas’ style is a very clean line with lots of great body language and facial expressions. If I had to compare him to other current artists in comics it would be Chris Samnee and Stuart Immonen. If you’ve read my reviews before you may have picked up on a recurring critique I have about comic book art, and that’s inconsistent or lack of backgrounds. It always bothers me when the comic book looks like it was filmed on a backlot or when the colorist has to drop a pattern into the panels to make up for the artist not using backgrounds. Not in this issue. Just about every single panel has detailed backgrounds, other than panels that were an extreme close up of a character’s face. I really appreciate that much work going into each panel.
Issue #1 of Ant-Man is one of the best first issues I’ve read in recent memory. Nick Spencer used the interview scene as a creative way to catch the reader up on Scott Lang’s origin. If you’ve been completely in the dark about Ant-Man and Scott Lang you’ll get everything you need in the first few pages of this issue. This was a classic Marvel style story and character. Scott Lang is a normal person with normal everyday problems that I could really identify with who just happens to have a suit that gives him super abilities. But the suit can’t fix his relationship with his ex-wife or keep his family from moving away from him. This issue is highly recommend, especially if you have kids, or an ex-wife, or even if you just know someone who can’t get out of his own way like Scott Lang.
Reviewed by: Gabe Bustamantez
(gabe@comicspectrum.com)
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