The four-issue tribute to Ant-Man continues this week with Ant-Man #2. Al Ewing and Tom Reilly explore multiple eras of Ant-Man and his various personas while tying them together with a mystery from the future. We’re talking about a future where captions detail storytelling structure! The first issue was a fun, meta, and visually stunning start, kicking off what should be a good celebration of everyone’s favorite tiny hero.
In Ant-Man #2, Eric O’Grady must retrieve essential data from Scott Lang’s helmet, but Scott Lang is dead! Ewing and Reilly do a good job reminding us Eric isn’t the most squeaky clean superhero. He’s a bit of a jerk, not the brightest, and at one point begins to dig up a dead body from its grave. It’s a good reminder different men of all sorts have worn the Ant-Man costume.
This issue is also a reminder of an earlier era for Marvel with Skrulls running about. As a tribute to Ant-Man, the creators do a good job capturing Eric and Hank Pym in this story and the punch-em-up action. Throw in a Lost reference and it’s a blast from the past.
Great 12-page layout!
Credit: Marvel
Reilly does a great job capturing the ’90s era visually, which is impressive since this issue is strikingly different from the first. Throw in the future scenes, which continue to excite with a retro layered look, and there’s much to feast your eyes on. Jordie Bellaire colors the issue well, with lots of yellows and oranges that keep the energy up and the positivity warm.
I’m going to guess many readers won’t be familiar with this Ant-Man, who was active between 2006 and 2012. That might make this adventure a bit foreign and hard to get into. It’s a slice of Marvel history revisited, though, and it’s well done, to say the least. Plot-wise, however, there isn’t a lot to this adventure. Eric needs to get Pym particles, runs off to one location, fights, and is promptly thrown into the cliffhanger.
If you liked the first issue, you’d continue to adore the solid tribute in this series. Ant-Man #2 leans into the scoundrel that is Eric O’Grady’s Ant-Man, making for a different hero’s journey.
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