#435 - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost and Found

It's been a weird weekend and not one that has gone the way I had planned.

My initial plan had been to read my trade collection of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman, given that it had been sitting on my 'to read' pile since last Christmas (and I don't mean 2021) and then write a post about it towards the end of this week.

However, no sooner had I started the series and reached the end of issue 2, I found that I was really struggling with it in much the same way I had when I previously owned the first half of the series.

As such, I decided to set down All-Star Superman (for the time being) and move onto something else, something that was maybe a little less heavy and a tad shorter. Essentially, something quick to burn through that might counter the particularly stressful week I'd been having in real life.

Well, it seems that my choice was a quicker burn than I expected as not only did I read that but I also ended up re-reading of David Pepose and Jorge Santiago Jr's Spencer and Locke and even a couple of comics for reviews.

This replacement read was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost and Found by Javier Garron, Israel Silva and the legend that is Mark Waid. This is the story of current Wasp Nadia Van Dyne who, having been asked to get him home from outer space, attempts to transport current Ant-Man Scott Lang from the Nova Corps back to Earth via a teleportation beam (or some sort of science-esque variant). However, when Scott ruins the split second timing, it ends up with Nadia forced to journey into the Microverse to find him before the pair try and find their way back home in time for Cassie Lang's birthday.

Now, much like many of the top of my to read pile at present, Ant-Man and the Wasp has been sitting there looking at me since Christmas and, I must confess, the bright, wacky cover has certainly a tempting, almost Siren-like sight as it pretty much taunted me to foresake my planned reading list/order and just move straight to it.

Well, it finally succeeded and, I must confess, this trade certainly succeeded in blowing the cobwebs away with a fun, quirky, light-hearted adventure story which is neither too deep, nor too goofy. Like Baby Bear's porridge (or maybe his chair or his bed), it felt just right. I truly enjoyed this story as it was a fun take which didn't attempt to take itself too seriously and was fitting for the characters and their rather absurd (as my wife keeps telling me) power sets.

I have always loved Mark Waid's work. From Kingdom Come to Superman: Birthright, his run with Chris Samnee on Daredevil to his tremendous work with Mike Wieringo on Fantastic Four, I certainly felt that this story was certainly a case of the latter. Everything about this plot, from the locations to the technology and the events which happened, really felt completely outlandish and over the top and, well, Fantastic Four-esque in its extravagence. The thing is, if it sounds like I'm knocking it down, then I'm not, it was wacky and pure unadulturated fun and I loved it.

Even the characters were a blast for me to follow. Now, I love the MCU Ant-Man (Paul Rudd is inspired casting). However, ever since his introduction, the 616 Ant-Man (around the Nick Spencer run, not long after Matt Fraction's FF series) has always grated on me, as he seemed to do an about turn between those two series to be more MCU-like. Here though, while he continues to maintain that persona, I really did think that he felt like he was redeemed a little (even if the story happened because of his mistake) as he seemed a lot more competent than I felt he's been for a while. A part of me wonders if this is down to the partnership with the Wasp, who somehow grounds him. Speaking of which, I've seen very little of Nadia Pym/Van-Dyne (another character I feel created just because the MCU said so) but I have to admit that she really won me round here. I thought that Waid wrote her as such a well-rounded character and, as with Scott, Nadia came across as more real thanks to their dynamic.

Meanwhile, this trade looked fantastic to me! Israel Silva seemed to pretty much throw colour everywhere in this book, making it really vibrant and resonating both the story and characters into their environment brilliantly. Meanwhile, I loved Javier Garron's bizarre 'alien' designs and the many realms of the microverse, really matching the outlandish feel of the story in every page. Now that I think about it, if they had slapped a Fantastic Four sticker over the cover, I would not have been surprised to think this is a follow up to Waid's run there.

I won't lie though, there were some qualms for me. For instance, the last issue and ending seemed like it was a little rushed. It makes me wonder if a sixth issue would have worked to let it end slightly more naturally. Also, I'm curious about what happened to the energy vampire from the midpoint as I thought it might be the big bad of the piece and yet disappeared after its initial appearance. I'm sure it just served its purpose, but I guess I expected more from it.

Nonetheless, these few niggles doesn't change the fact that Ant-Man and the Wasp was a really enjoyable comic for me as it was a light hearted read that came at just the right moment to combat and contrast the stressful week I went through. I think its enjoyability is evident in the fact that I read the entire thing in a day. Now, if Marvel were to decide to make more stories of this duo from this creative team, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't say no.

Re-Reading ....

After finishing Ant-Man and the Wasp, I found myself inspired to read more. As I said, earlier, next in the queue was Spencer and Locke by Jorge Santiago Jr. and David Pepose, which isn't a new read for me as I first read it nearly a year ago. However, thinking that I was going to hold this and post it on Friday, I thought I'd simply read this and pad out the week.

Unfortunately, I found that Spencer and Locke was read almost just as quickly as Ant-Man and the Wasp. That said, this isn't a reflection on it's quality because, much like the last time, I thought Spencer and Locke was a great read once again. This time, however, it really read better to me. I wonder if this is because I kind of knew what to expect and so I was better able to appreciate it here. For instance, whereas I struggled with the first issue last time, I thought it held up with the rest of the series much better. Also, I found as I read Spencer and Locke that the Noir feel was there much more, something I really enjoyed.

Other than those differences/changes, the book read much the same as I remembered it. That said, I was glad to go through it again and remind myself about just how much I really like this series.

Oh, and Before I Forget ...

While I've been reading trades like they were going out of fashion this weekend, Pipedream Comics posted a review round-up containing three comics, of which two of them I had gotten the opportunity to read (I never got around to Nightmare Fuel). The first of the ones I read was Turning Roads, which was an anthology created by a group of Irish creators full of stories, some of which reinterpret or are inspired by various Irish Folklore tales. Well, that's certainly what the title implied to me. However, after reading through the entire anthology, I found that this was less of a folklore inspired collection and more a bunch of stories bundled together. That said, this had little impact on my enjoyment because, with the exception of one or two tales, I really liked reading this comic, getting hooked on a good number of the stories and having a nice time checking out some of the talent from across the Irish Sea.

The other was A King's Vengeance #1, a Scout Comics entry created by Peter Ricq and Davila LeBlanc which told the story of a King seeking ... well, vengeance after a brutal attack. I'll be honest, this was a comic which I struggled with because, while I thought that the artwork throughout this issue was gorgeous, the story itself struggled to hook me. The thing about it was that the story in this issue really made me think that it was more of a prelude entry or an issue 0, meaning that the main story would begin next time. However, with the exception of the dark moody art (and the world design which gave me all kinds of Warhammer vibes), I'm not sure I'd be up for checking out the next instalment (although maybe I'll come back at the end of the story).

And that was my weekend. As I said WAY back at the start, I had planned for all of this to cover the week, but I guess I've gotten quicker at reading and so I burned through in a lot less time than I expected.

Still, thankfully, the week is still young so I have no doubt that I can fit another trade (or maybe even two) in before Friday.