Other universes make everything better.

[neuhallidae]

Got my issue of Thor the Mighty Avenger #3 in the mail, in which Gi(Ant) Man and Wasp come to investigate the death of Doctor Stephens, Hank's old mentor who was killed last issue. What do you get when you combine retro costumes and art style with Marvel-Adventures-Style-Adorkable and gently snarky references to 616-angst? This.



So while Jane's attempting to get Thor acclimated to the current world (and having work trouble), Hank and Jan arrive in Broxton (in an ant-shaped transport. I love it.) and set off after the not-human sensory trail picked up at the scene of Stephens' murder.



Good plan! There's just one problem. After being visited in a dream by Loki, Thor's suffering hallucinations of Asgard. Which, of course, means he mistakes Giant Man for a Frost Giant and the required superhero fight is on. Wasp catches up with Jane, and finds out that Hyde was actually responsible for the killing.

Only now no one can get Thor to stop attacking the "frost giant", though there is one potential option...



The noise is enough to rattle Thor into breaking out of the magically-induced hallucination...knocking Giant-Man out in the process. In front of an oncoming train. Luckily, Jane manages to snap him out of post-hallucination hangover in time to stop it.





Dear Creative Team: I love y'all.

Comments

[icon_uk]

Chris Samnee has some of his designs up at his DA account

The Wasp

Ant Man

[neuhallidae]

I'd commented before that his Jan was adorable, but I think the helmet switching idea on Hank is actually pretty damn brilliant too.

[icon_uk]

I may be wrong here, but doesn't that happen with the current Irredeemable Ant Man too, the one who also has a Gi(Ant) mode?

[neuhallidae]

He might have started doing it with the revamped Lang helmet he's got now, but I swear I can't remember him ever making a helmet change in the last round of Thunderbolts or Initiative.

[nezchan]

Is this Hank and Janet without all the skeevy baggage they seem to carry elsewhere? I like!

Also, Janet's 50's space girl look is AWESOME!

[neuhallidae]

You have no idea how I squeed at this issue. Retro dorky sci-fi adventures (and magical stuff!), yay!

[nezchan]

So when are Chris Samnee, Darwyn Cooke and Coleen Coover going to team up and take over the world?

[falseaesop]

Sadly wont happen till things like this start selling about 70,000 more copies.

[nezchan]

The sad truth that quality is not a selling point.

[falseaesop]

Too true. Far too true.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Yes, but on the other hand, there have been rumors that an 'Ant-Man' movie is in the works as part of the lead-up to the 'Avengers' flick, so some people may be reading stuff involving him now in order to do a little pre-movie research.

[neuhallidae]

Maybe, maybe not. I'm still hearing that the director wants Lang as the central character with Pym as the Obi-wan-Likely-to-Die-Mentor Figure. These miniseries in which Pym's not got all the extra continuity baggage are awesome, but don't necessarily fit that model unless you're just wanting to see what he was like before someone else took up the role. Samnee at least has admitted he just likes the guy.

[yaseen101]

I'm hearing Nathan Fillon's name brought up in ties with the Avengers movie.
If Fillon is indeed cast as Antman, I'm going to have a Fangasm, that will make Dinah's Canary Cry seem like a mere whisper. Of course it's all rumors still but I can't help but squee at the thought.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I've heard that, too, but there are certain elements to the Ant-Man - Pym Particles, the helmet and the ants, the shrinking and growing, etc. - that both incarnations of the character have had - the Ant-Man mythos, I suppose you'd call it. Lang is as much steeped in all that as Pym was. Anyway, I don't see how you can possibly have an Ant-Man film without making at least SOME references to Pym and his past - if you're drawing the story from past issues of the comics, as most comic book movies tend to do, it'd be nigh-on impossible not to at least touch on all the stormy elements of Pym's past. The dude has led an intense life, making both friends and enemies, and any successor to the Ant-Man name is going to have to interact with those.

[shatners_bassoon]

I think latest word on the Ant-Man film is that Edgar Wright is thinking of moving towards a more serious secret-agent/special ops sort of feel to the character, although things are still very early days. One thing's certain - it's not going to be ready until after Avengers, so the character will most likely play no part in the ensemble film.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Really? I thought it was still a few years yet until 'Avengers' came out. Oh well, maybe Ant-Man will be introduced in 'Avengers', and his movie will be a spin-off of that.

[shatners_bassoon]

I get most of my info for this sort of thing from io9. Here they report on Ant-Man and the Avengers: http://io9.com/5598182/joss-whedon-and-edgar-wright-explain-their-marvel-movies-plus-brandon-routh-wants-to-be-superman-again
and here's Edgar Wright talking about his latest ideas for the film's direction: http://io9.com/5612997/edgar-wrights-ant+man-is-a-high+tech-spy-heist-film
Of course, now that he's finished Scott Pilgrim he'll have more time on his hands...

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, that does sound pretty final, all right. Still, it's not like 'Avengers' is going to be the culmination of the cinematic MU, after all - one presumes they'll continue to make movies after that, and hopefully, 'Ant-Man' will be an interesting one. Still would've been cool to have him in the Avengers, though.

[long_silence]

His antennae just pop out.

A giant robotic ant vehicle. Why doesn't anyone in 616 have one of these?

[neuhallidae]

Too awesome, clearly.

[falseaesop]

Ted Kord filed multiversal pantents... which this Hank Pym is clearly violating.

[icon_uk]

Hank has used an ant-head shaped flying vehicle in the past, during his "tech-shrinking" phases, he had a pet name/acronym for it, but I can't recall what it was...

[valtyr]

omg, do want.

And Jan. <3

[auggie18]

So much love for this book.


So much.

[acton]

I must buy this. This thing of glory.

[psychopathicus_rex]

So I take it this is not part of the 'Marvel Adventures' line, then? Is it a stand-alone effort, or does it fit into some other sub-universe?
The few quibbles I have are pre-existing ones - Thor's armored sleeves, and Jan's outfit. I continue to maintain that the sleeves look weird and are pointless - he's a virtually invulnerable GOD; what on earth is he worried about? Does he think he'll graze an elbow on the pavement? - and while most of the original Wasp outfit is actually fine, I just can't take her seriously in that hat - she looks like one of Santa's elves.
Otherwise, this is pretty cool stuff. It's always nice to see couples in comics who are genuinely loving and affectionate, and treat each other with civil respect. I'm not saying they should all be like that - a little marital drama can be entertaining - but I appreciate the ones that are.

[icon_uk]

If you worry about Thor's outfit to that extent, he's invulnerable ALL OVER. Why wear anything, or anything beyond a thong? Or a loincloth perhaps...

Ummm... If you want me for the next little while, I'll be in my happy place... :)

[psychopathicus_rex]

'Cause it gets cold up north, presumably, and Thor is very much a god of northern climes. He promised his mama he'd dress up warm. Anyway, the one you appear to be picturing is probably Ka-Zar.

[icon_uk]

It's all good! :D

[neuhallidae]

I wish she coulda lost the pointy bit altogether, but I like the placement shift. The original design she had back in the Sixties (and the current Ultimate design) had it on the very top of her head, which somewhat works for Wasp II, since she loves the trick of using herself as a projectile to kill people, but didn't exactly work for the original Jan. This still looks awkward, but much less so than it used to be.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I just think it looks silly, wherever it is. It's like she's wearing... hmm... what's the name for those old German helmets with the spike? Picklehauben, something like that? Like she's wearing one of those, only without the badass aspect.

[neuhallidae]

Oh, and this is a standalone outfit. Pretty much all the Avengers are getting revamps here, and it may or may not be an ongoing (kinda dependant on sales right now), so think of it like an extended(ly awesome) What If.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I see. That's kinda weird - they've already got two or three alternate universes going, so why not just slot it into one of them?

[proteus_lives]

Love, love, love this book!