The Unstoppable Wasp #7 featured Reviews 

“The Unstoppable Wasp” #7

By | May 10th, 2019
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

“The Unstoppable Wasp” takes a moment to breathe, giving the characters some much-deserved relaxation while further cementing Nadia’s place in the Marvel universe. So it’s time to celebrate Nadia Pym’s birthday, and everyone’s invited.

Written by Jeremy Whitley
Illustrated by Alti Firmansyah
Colored by Espen Grundetjern
Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna

What do you do when your quasi-adopted stepdaughter reveals that she’s never had a birthday party, and doesn’t even know when her birthday is? Well, if you’re Janet Van Dyne – Original Avenger, Winsome Wasp, Pym Labs C.E.O. and Fashion Designer – you throw together the best last-minute birthday party the Marvel Universe has ever seen. But what happens when Nadia’s fellow Red Room graduate Bucky Barnes, A.K.A. the Winter Soldier, crashes the party?

“The Unstoppable Wasp” has covered a lot in its short run. In-between the usual heroics and super-science, we’ve had characters deal with issues like ableism, coming out, family acceptance, mental illness, seeking help, owning up to past mistakes, and the ever-present idea of legacy and inheritance that hangs over Nadia. Recent issues have seen her beginning to seek help for bipolar disorder (one of the less fortunate inheritances from her father) and fix the damage she’s caused to her own friends.

But this issue is more of a breather, and it’s a fun one.

For it’s Nadia’s birthday, and she’s out celebrating with what seems like half the Marvel universe. Fortunately, that makes this a great issue for new readers to jump in, as it introduces and establishes her relations to many of them without requiring an understanding of the story up to now.

Viv Vision also takes the time to explain how anyone is or isn’t related to Nadia, and it’s a good reminder of how crazy comics can be sometimes. Some things are more straightforward – her father made Ultron, and Ultron made Vision, so technically Vision is Nadia’s nephew. On the other hand, we have Tigra’s son William, whose father was a Skrull disguised as Hank Pym… technically the same down to a genetic level, so it still counts. Then we get to Wiccan and Speed, who are the reincarnations of the semi-real half-synthezoid children of Vision and Scarlet Witch… it’s odd, but Nadia’s summary of “Magical reincarnated robot great-nephews” at least sums it up.

Comics are weird. But they’re great anyways.

Of course, this brings us to the heart of the issue: the characters and their bonds. Nadia gets a little time with everyone where we can really see them connect. If you weren’t a fan of Nadia before now, this issue might change your mind. Seeing her meet everyone with such unabashed excitement and joy is refreshing and endearing, along with some real heartfelt moments.

Nadia meeting Cassie Lang (a fellow young size-shifting heroine) and bonding quickly? Adorable. Reminding Tony that she’s a trained assassin should he ever hurt Janet? Humorous. Jarvis telling her about how he’d wished he’d been able to do more for Hank and calling her “granddaughter” in Russian? Emotionally excellent.

We even get to see how Nadia’s circles connect and mingle, with members of her own G.I.R.L. team, Champions, and Young Avengers bonding and getting to know each other. Little beats like Priya and Ms. Marvel getting to know each other, help bring their worlds together, culminating in a fantastic team-up near the end. There are heavier characters beats, like Ying recognizing Bucky as the Winter Soldier, who captured both her and Nadia for the Red Room back in his brainwashed days, contrasted with lighter moments like Nadia, Priya, and Ying jumping for joy over Ying’s relationship with Shay.

Look, there’s a lot of characters at play here, but it all meshes together well and gives us a nonstop flow of great character moments and interactions. (Oh, and don’t let the cover or solicit fool you; Bucky doesn’t crash the party, he’s Bobbi’s +1.)

Alti Firmansyah handles the illustrations, using the same anime-inspired style as Gurihiru did. Occasionally the designs reach the point of “trying to look anime,” like they followed instructions from a “How To Draw Anime” book, but the artwork is still overall very solid. The color work from Espen Grundetjern helps add a level of vibrant energy to it, enhancing the mood with bright colors that make everyone stand out.

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The character designs all have a lot of life and energy to them; everyone looks youthful and clean – even Jarvis seems to lose a few years under Alti’s pen. The sharper features that it tries to give characters like Hercules or Scott Lang can be a little bit off at times – it’s clear that Alti Firmansyah is more experienced drawing slender woman than muscular men – but it’s a small issue overall that’s easily forgiven.

The art style keeps things bright and energetic, with soft angles and large features. That makes it easy for the expressions to come through, like the wonderful smirk Nadia gives when she reminds Tony she’s a trained assassin. Sometimes it does replace faces with dots and lines, although typically for humorous effect on background characters. Other times the anime style shines through to a particularly noticeable degree, like when we get the “shoujo sparkles” or the poses the characters strike when leaping for joy. Overall, though, it doesn’t detract from the issue at all. In fact, it just makes it all the more fun to read.

“The Unstoppable Wasp” is a joy to read, filled with endearing characters and a lot of love. This issue is a great jumping on point for new readers and helps cement Nadia Pym’s place in the Marvel universe – plus it’s just plain fun.

Final Verdict: 8.1 – An energetic, optimistic issue filled to the brim with solid character work and bright, anime-inspired artwork. If you haven’t been reading “The Unstoppable Wasp,” this is a good place to start.


Robbie Pleasant

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