Marvel Comics is celebrating Ant-Man’s anniversary in style with a miniseries by Al Ewing and Tom Reilly that spans different timelines and different Ant-Man figures. This week, Black Ant gets the focus along with Scott Lang, but how does this all tie together into a future where everything rides on Ant-Man? With only one issue left, the series barrels towards its finale and reveals the threat that needs to be stopped may be Ant-Man himself – but which one?
Ant-Man #3 blends Black Ant and Scott Lang Ant-Man well, opening with Black Ant, who looks over New York City with disdain and anger. He’s made to be a villain, and understands his place in the world. Al Ewing captures this character’s unique place in Ant-Man history while setting up his demeanor. He’ll play nicely into events in the third act.
Much of the middle portion of this issue involves Scott Lang’s Ant-Man, who meets up with a few Avengers at Avengers Mountain. They’ve got the Hank Pym/Ultron hybrid encased in adamantium with an Asgard sigil keeping him at bay. This leads to Scott and his daughter Cassie rolling in, suggesting they should handle it. The Pym/Ultron is more dangerous than most supervillains, and there’s a fat chance Thor and Iron Man will allow him to take charge. Luckily, or unluckily based on how things play out, Scott is given the task due to another threat sending the Avengers away.
Not only does Ewing capture Scott’s positive gung-ho nature with his dialogue and actions, but he’s gotta be the most spunky Ant-Man based on how Reilly renders him. That positivity carries through even the darkest of moments, like when Black Ant threatens his daughter.
Something doesn’t feel right, Scott…
Credit: Marvel
Ultimately, this series is all about showing us the various personalities of the Ant-Man characters throughout Marvel’s history, and this issue continues that trend. It’s also great to see two Ant-Man characters get some focus in this issue, which all dovetails into a fun cliffhanger that brings things full circle. The series has been teasing some kind of threat from the far future–a future where captions read like matter-of-fact orders in how to read a comic–so it’s nice to see the larger story come into focus on the final page.
The last issue had the slight problem of focusing on an Ant-Man that seemed unimportant to the larger story, but everything comes together nicely. Reilly and Ewing explore these specific Ant-Man characters here while giving us some plot that matters. That’s a win-win.
Ewing gets to play a bit with sci-fi ideas surrounding getting very tiny in this issue. That adds a friendly reminder of how fantastical and extraordinary Ant-Man and his abilities are. It’s a brief moment, but totally an Ant-Man solution that reminds us of his zany abilities. Conversely, the Ant-Man of the year 2549 has a confusing moment in the middle portion of this issue. I suppose this scene is meant to show he learned a lesson in the last issue, but it adds little and only seems odd more than additive to the plot.
Come to Ant-Man #3 for its great depictions of Black Ant and Scott Lang’s Ant-Man, but stay for the plot to reveal the ultimate enemy of Ant-Man of the future.
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