Before I start this review, I should admit that when I wrote my first impressions post, I did so out of ignorance. Last I heard about Cassie Lang, she was dead. It turns out she was resurrected by Doctor Doom at some point during AXIS, which I didn’t read. Anyway, let’s get this started.
Ant Man isn’t a character I’m overly familiar with, and that goes for both Hank Pym and Scott Lang, and especially for anyone else who may have called themselves Ant Man at other times. The only real experience I have with either of them is Hank Pym in Avengers Academy and Scott Lang in Matt Fraction’s FF run. While they’re not really my favourite characters by any means, I figured I might as well pick this issue up since it’s an extra-sized issue and because Ant Man’s getting a movie this year.
This 30 page comic, written by Nick Spencer, is a very good character study on Scott Lang, exploring his trouble with sticking to one job for any real period of time along with his insecurities and regrets. This comic shows that he has an incredible mind for breaking through security in creative ways, and while he tends to ramble sometimes, he can be a good negotiator when he focuses. He’s certainly not without his shortcomings and past mistakes, but the way he cares about his daughter Cassie makes him very compelling. The comic ends with a particularly touching moment between them.
The art by Ramon Rasanas is a simple look, but it’s appealing and there are plenty of little touches in the environment to help bring life to the pages. For example, when he’s walking with Tony Stark in the office, the background shows different letters of Stark’s name in different panels. There’s not much else to say; it’s good, but the simple look makes it difficult to talk about.
I’m not sure how long I’ll stick with this series, but if you take this as a 1-shot special, it’s a great read. For $5 you’re getting 30 pages of story instead of the usual 20 for $4, making the extra dollar worth it, not to mention there’s a lot of dialogue and narration without being excessive. Scott Lang fans should be sure to pick this up, and it’s at least worth a read if you’re looking forward to this year’s Ant Man movie or otherwise wants to know more about the character in advance.
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This was very good. Solid work. The cameos were great, and the overall story was really cool. But the highlight is Scott’s relationship with Cassie. It’s a very sweet, touching dynamic, and they work great together. I’m looking forward to more exploration of it, especially since there are so few superhero parents. Reed and Sue in the Fantastic Four, Luke and Jessica in Mighty Avengers, and that’s about it. I hope Cassie joins along on some of Scott’s adventures now and then. Also, kinda cool that it’s going to be set in Miami – it’s always nice when a series decides to get out of New York.
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I really enjoyed Ant Man #1 I’m not really that familiar with the character, but I thought the story was excellent, especially how it centred around Scott and Cassie. Nice art as well. Overall an excellent start to the series.
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