Unstoppable-Wasp-Vol-2-promo Reviews 

“The Unstoppable Wasp” #1

By | October 19th, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

The Agents of G.I.R.L. are back and they are taking on A.I.M., in a battle that will surely make my carpal tunnel worse.

Written by Jeremy Whitley
Illustrated by Gurihiru
Colored by Gurihiru
Lettered by Joe Caramagna

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Nadia Van Dyne, A.K.A. the UNSTOPPABLE WASP, and her team of girl scientists are back! With the backing of the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne, there’s no problem the Agents of G.I.R.L. can’t solve! But they’re not the only acronym-toting science organization out there, and when A.I.M. strikes, Nadia and the ladies of Genius In action Research Labs answer the call. But who is A.I.M.’s new super-powered lieutenant, and how do they know Nadia? And what does A.I.M.’s plan have to do with Nadia’s father, Hank Pym?

Marvel’s yearly line wide relaunches and refreshes have lost their luster. Part of the churn however helps uncover new books and every now and then you find a diamond in the rough like the first eight issues of “The Unstoppable Wasp.” Only for it to be crushed by that churn soon after due to the inherently conservative nature of the direct market, because it was the kind of book that wouldn’t thrive in that environment. Thankfully, the direct market isn’t the only place that matters and Nadia Van Dyne and the Agents of G.I.R.L. are back with old writer Jeremy Whitley and Japanese art team Gurihiru. Ironically, if it had stayed in continuous publication it likely would’ve gotten a new #1 by this point anyway. Which makes this designation as #1 issue a bit superfluous Whitley does an excellent job structuring an issue that could easily be someone’s first and at the same time could just as easily be considered the ninth issue and no one would bat an eye. As perhaps tired the #1 designation is within the scheme of Marvel publishing “The Unstoppable Wasp” #1 (2018) is an excellent first issue for the continuing adventures of Nadia and the Agents of G.I.R.L.

“Wasp” doesn’t read like a book Marvel would normally publish, it feels like the kind they would farm out to IDW. It’s a legacy book that isn’t moodily trying to work through the legacy of biological and symbolic parentage, instead looking forward to something new. “Wasp” as a book is dedicated to female empowerment. Nadia continues to be supported by her equally brilliant and dimensionalized scientist friends in G.I.R.L. — a majority of whom are women of color — as they use science to inspire kids of their generation to essentially join STEM classes and Make. The Gurihiru art team do expressive figure work that gives a manga vibe and saturate it all in bright colors. The closest aesthetic cousin that springs to mind is the work in “Ms. Marvel,” which is itself recognized for the novelty it brings to the Marvel U. The reference to “Wasp” having a young adult quality to it, isn’t meant to be a demerit. The way Whitley structures this, what it deals with, and how action is represented, reminds me of one of my favored YA properties the Avatar franchise. “Wasp” is able to articulate and gesture towards mature subjects without losing it’s spirit or be needlessly edgy.

The continuation, and evolution of G.I.R.L., is to the series benefit as it allows Whitley to naturally shift the focus away from Nadia at opportune moments. The rest of G.I.R.L. are busy doing science, or, in the case of Shay, being a tiny gay disaster. Meanwhile Janet Van Dyne and Alexis are busy pitching a G.I.R.L. expo. These elements let Whitley build natural ‘B’ and ‘C’ plots into the issue and segue away from Nadia during boring travel bits. The Janet and Alexis ‘C’ plot is effectively a set of two one page scenes that build out the world of “Wasp” and let the issue breathe and feel like a fulfilling piece of episodic storytelling as everything comes full circle by the end. In these 20 pages Whitley and the art team preview the emotional stakes of this arc and build in two competing arc plots, which is better than most first issues.

There is one speedbump in Whitley’s writing this issue and that is Nadia’s internal dialogue at times. It isn’t major, but is a good example of biting off a bit more than you can chew and the nature of lettering. As Nadia is out practicing for her driving test she explains the science behind drifting, which is a whole buncha physics. This leads to some rather densely lettered boxes that interfere with the flow of the art. Later in the issue there is another set of science facts that works out much better due to the brevity of description and their placement being complementary with the paneling. As lettering itself, though, yellow text on a red background read as fuzzy and hurt my eyes without pinching to zoom in.

Continued below

The main set piece of the issues involved Nadia and G.I.R.L. stopping a robbery by a new version of A.I.M. in a battle of the acronyms. Except, it isn’t really much of a battle. It may be something inherent to the powerset of Ant-Wasp family characters that allows their stories to feature action without violence. This is a train of thought that can be found in the Ant-Man and the Wasp duology where they have action in the form of heists or chase sequences, and the fisticuffs that would be understood as violent are both the weakest aspects and undercut by comedy. Whitley and Gurihiru continue this trend by using this robbery as a team building exercise for G.I.R.L. who pilot, fittingly named, drones as a sort of Voltron force assisting Nadia. The sequence is played for physical comedy as A.I.M. agents are either undone by their own ineptitude or science, while Shay feeds Ying one liners. One bit could be read with a slightly darker edge to it due to the explanation of what hydrochloric acid is, and then dumping it on people, but it still has that Looney Tunes sensibility.

The most violent part of this issue is the shove Nadia gives the mysterious A.I.M. lieutenant, Seeker. The art team realize this sequence in a single page by fanning the panels out, which allows for easy reading and momentum panel by panel due to subject placement. Yet for all the on the face physical violence, it’s still mediated through the use of parental humor.

Whatever the numerical designation, “Unstoppable Wasp” #1 is a quality comic. While recognizing the speedbump of one sequence, Jeremy Whitley put together a tight script that sets up and hits all the beats one should expect from the start of a story. All of which is beautifully realized by Gurihiru with wonderful figure work and a few excellent page layouts.

Final Verdict: 8.0 – The “Unstoppable Wasp” is back with a strong return first issue, hopefully it lives up to its namesake more this time.


Michael Mazzacane

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