I was filled with excitement as I opened Ant-Man Season One for the first time. Ironic considering that until I stared doing this site, he was not even in the list of my favorite hero’s but his early stories and his character has seemed to grow on me; So much so that a modern In-Continuity retelling I thought would be just the kind of thing for me to love, and to bring new people into contact with the not so well-known hero.
Also so far, my feeling of the Season One stories has been of how well they have been done. But this one, is different; even as I sit down to do my comic book review of it, it leaves me divided. I did love the art and story, but I also feel it fell short of the goals of the season one titles.
Story
This story was epic, with each detail fitting into the larger story being told, of Ant-Man’s epic build up and ultimate battle with Egghead. it also works in both the original origin of Ant-Man as well as the returned version from Tales To Astonish #27 and Tales To Astonish #44 respectively. The story also feels a little like it was influenced slightly by Tales To Astonish #38 and #39.
Now back to this story, with or without its influences I feel it was an epic, even movie worthy tale, one that build up right to the end, and left us knowing just why Ant-Man does what he does.
In terms of the actual writing, there are a few errors of editing I think I seen, but I am not really one to nitpick too much about that.
Artwork
After I got over how Hank Pym was designed; I found the artwork quite good and refreshing. There was good use of Angles, and sizes in this volume. Something that is quite important in a comic about a hero whose main power is changing size.
The silent co-star’s the Ants also were done nicely, and seen even from early in the volume. something I also found quite enjoyable.
The panel i picked to share here is right after Hank Pym is first reduced in size in this volume, and with the two guards in hot pursuit of the now ant-sized Doctor. I feel this panel demonstrates just how much attention to detail was paid by the artist in doing the panel, and book.
In-Continuity
This is where I feel this story fails; other than how it joined the two origin stories, I feel it failed to do justice to the continuity of the early Ant-Man story, or to Egghead.
I feel if the same attention was given to the overall continuity of the story as was given to the part based on “the Man in the Ant Hill” then I feel the whole volume would have been better off. Most of the changes could have still worked as well, I feel. Including Hank Pym’s early signs of his later mental illness.
Character Depth
The depth to Hank Pym character was done quite well, by the end of the volume you really feel you know him, and know why he does what he does. Something that is less clear in the original silver age comic books staring Ant-Man.
The supporting characters also had a fair amount of depth to them, but nothing near as good as the star character, but as good as would be expected.
Value Added
I do not feel this story added much value for long running readers. something that could be enjoyed, but is not really needed to get a good grasp on Ant-Man. Normally character depth is a good edge for adding value, but as I feel the continuity failed; it really hindered the feeling of value.
New Readers
This may be a good story for someone who wants to know what Ant-Man is all about, but I do not think its in itself is a good in-continity launching point. I would suggest that someone who may like to get into Ant-Man to read it, but then if they like it, go back and read the original stories, or at least key ones and then leap to modern times.At this point, I am not going to make a list of what those key stores I think are; but I would make sure to include the following from what I have reviewed so far:
That could serve as a good launching point for a reader whom wishes to just get a few key stories from early Ant-Man / Giant-Man.
Leave a Reply