The Wasp of the MCU isn’t much fun. She’s sort of the stock MCU female character- cool, competent, and intolerant of the man-child shenanigans of her partner. In contrast, Nadia Pym has been a tremendously fun character. She’s endlessly upbeat, a super-duper genius, and a total space cadet. I couldn’t wait to see what comics legend Mark Waid would do with such a vibrant character. Unfortunately, the Nadia Pym I know was nowhere to be found.
Cover by David NakayamaWritten by Mark Waid
Illustrated by Javier Garron
Colored by Israel Silva
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaA NEW SERIES FROM MARK WAID & JAVIER GARRON! Wasp was just trying to help Ant-Man get home to Earth to see his daughter…but a little problem got in the way. Very little. Subatomic, in fact, as Scott Lang was lost in the vast spaces between atoms! Now, Nadia is his only hope of rescue…if only he would listen long enough for her to save them! From master storyteller Mark Waid (CAPTAIN AMERICA, CHAMPIONS) and Marvel Young Gun artist Javier Garrón (SECRET WARRIORS, STAR-LORD) comes a story of a big journey getting smaller all the time!
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” teams up two legacy heroes. The aforementioned Nadia Pym, and Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man. Scott is much as he is his eponymous movie. He’s a lovably loser and a plucky thief, with an undercurrent of sadness. Both are great superheroes, and neither have teamed up before. This new series was full of potential.
It pains me to say it, but that potential is completely squandered. Despite co-creating Nadia, Mark Waid seems to have missed everything that made the character fun in “The Unstoppable Wasp.” This Nadia is a genius, but comes across as an impatient shrew. While Scott is trying to buy presents for his daughter and do hilarious things like eat sandwiches, Nadia has important science to be doing, and Scott is really stepping on her toes. Scott is also lacking his usual charm, and feels a lot like the version of Star-Lord that would doom the galaxy with an ill-timed hissy fit.
The two of them find themselves on a sort of interesting adventure. After Scott messes up Nadia’s science beam, he finds himself stranded on a microscopic world, and Nadia needs to rescue him. The world is home to creatures made of color and light. Half the issue is spent trying to understand these creatures, and pursuing one made entirely of the color red. There’s an imaginative flair the the sci-fi ideas, but without a strong basis in character, it’s hard to care. It ends up being an issue about two unrecognizable and unlikable strangers, exploring a strange alien world.
Exploring strange new worlds can be fun with an artist who really transports you there, but Javier Garron doesn’t deliver. There are some cool digital effects done with lights (to which some credit is inevitably due to colorist Israel Silva), but the world itself is just pale rock formations with some technicolor crystal growths. The growing/shrinking effects, which should be the highlight of a story about these characters, is mostly forgettable. The action is a blur of motion, and hard to follow. Add that to all the crazy rainbows and your pages are far too busy.
Faces are another area where Garron struggles. In an early sequence, Scott looks like a ken doll, and Nadia looks like a monster. Ant-Man’s abs are downright monstrous, and Nadia’s intense frown makes her entire face look like a horrid Edvard Much reject. Former SHIELD agent (and current Nova Corpsman) Adsit makes an appearance, and looks ironically more human. The pudgy everyman is drawn to look like a doughier version of 30 Rock star Scott Adsit, and he at least looks human.
It’s hard to imagine where this comic came from. There is an “Ant-Man and the Wasp” movie coming out, so that was probably a factor. Waid helped bring Nadia into the world, and he’s a stalwart presence at Marvel. But the book studiously avoids what makes these characters appealing. Nadia should have been an unquenchable source of optimism, and a source goofy hijinks. Scott should have been a witty problem solver, hiding his inner pain. There’s so much you could have done with this duo. Hank Pym is an unstable loser. Janet is a domineering powerhouse. Eric O’Grady is a genuine creep. Scott and Nadia are the most fun members of the extended Ant-family, and this book should have been a blast.
Instead of drawing from any of that, we get a generic sci-fi romp. This would have made for a great episode of Enterprise, or a really forgettable episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The point being, while the sci-fi concept isn’t without merit, it squanders its two central characters so thoroughly and botches its execution so easily that there is little left to recommend. He was a thief. She was a genius. Could I make it anymore obvious?
Final Verdict: 3.8 – Waid and Garron completely miss what makes these characters shine.
