This is a great week for fresh starts as we see Scott Lang take on a whole new start for himself as ‘Ant-Man’ #1 is unleashed upon the world. It should be no surprise that Marvel wants to shine a spotlight on this tiny hero as they are betting big with the upcoming release of their ‘Ant-Man‘ movie. If we’ve learned anything from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ it’s that the studio and company have a knack for taking B level heroes (if you can even give him that much credit) and not only humanize them but make them interesting.
Honestly when I first heard that ‘Ant-Man’ was getting a stand alone comic I thought to myself “Oh God, what a waste of paper.” Of course once I found out that Nick Spencer was going to be in charge of writing it I completely changed my mind as I had a feeling he was going to go the route of ‘Superior Foes of Spider-Man‘ with the book and give us a pure delight to read with witty dialogue and a creative way to use the character.
So far, Spencer has not disappointed.
While I was kind of hoping he would again team up with Steve Lieber on the artwork end of the business, I am also happy to admit that Ramon Rosanas is no slouch and though I’m primarily familiar with his run on ‘Night of the Living Deadpool,’ it is pretty clear that ‘Ant-Man’ is going to really make great use of his talents.
First and foremost, ‘Ant-Man’ is a tale of Scott Lang’s strive for redemption. He’s lost his job, his wife, his daughter (who died and was recently brought back to life by a very inverted Doctor Doom at the end of ‘AXIS’), his life (also clearly a rectified issue) and now he’s trying to start fresh. He doesn’t want to make up with his wife but he does want to be a father, a friend to his daughter, and someone that she can be proud of.
Apparently being an ex-Avenger and ex-Fantastic Four member doesn’t really do it for some people. Kids these days.
First things first though, to be a respectable adult he needs to get a job. Where else should he go than to his good old budy Tony Stark? His interview attempt for the new head of security in full Ant-Man gear is pretty entertaining as is the entire interview process.
Honestly, the book reads like an issue straight out of the ‘Superior Foes of Spider-Man,’ including one of the members from that team. For those who haven’t read the series you’ll have to trust me when I say that it was a wise choice of writing styles for the book! If I had to complain about anything, I would say that the Superior Iron Man isn’t quite cocky enough. Even so, no biggy as the rest of the book flowed naturally.
‘Ant-Man’ #1 gives us a solid introduction on what direction we’re going to see Scott Lang start heading in as well as enough back story to catch anyone up with the character who isn’t overly familiar with him. A ton of puns, some adventure, and a bit of showing off his powers mixed in with some of his old tricks of the trade from the days when he was a thief gives us a solid first issue.
ANT-MAN #1
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
