Ant-Man #1 Review

Written by: Al Ewing
Art by: Tom Reilly
Colors by: Jordie Bellaire
Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover art by: Tom Reilly
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: July 27, 2022

Ant-Man #1 begins a 4-part adventure spanning the 60 years of Ant-Man’s career and beyond. Hank Pym tries to enjoy a simple date night with Janet Van Dyne when a pesky kid kicks off a sequence of events that culminates in a call for help from the future.

Is It Good?

I like this. I like this a lot. Ant-Man #1 starts a mini-series adventure celebrating Ant-Man on his 60th Anniversary by threading together a series of one-shots visiting different periods in Ant-Man canon. Issue #1 dives into a classic adventure of the Silver Age variety as Hank Pym/Ant-Man is captured by a collective of past foes who have banded together as the Ant-agonists.

Ewing leans heavily into the Silver Age style of storytelling with villains who use specialized weapons to harm, incapacitate, or annoy their victims. Ewing captures the snappy banter and turns of phrases to bring you into the time period with authenticity, and the simplified plot is about as dangerous as a Batman ’66 adventure. To be clear, Ewing plays it straight and doesn’t try to poke fun at the Silver Age. Instead, Ewing pays homage and respect to a simpler time in comics with a tried and true story that pushes all the right nostalgia buttons.

Reilly’s art style is a perfect match for Silver Age-style material. It’s no secret I wasn’t a fan of Reilly’s work on last year’s super-bizarre The Thing mini-series, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how well Reilly pulled off the look in this issue. Big credit is also due to Bellaire’s coloring which gives each page a slightly weathered, newspaper texture, complete with the faintest suggestion of Ben-Day dots.

The connective tissue for this issue involves a visit from a future Ant-Man who needs help from the past to save the future. Very little information is given about the future conflict, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next issue.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Ant-man #1 is a pleasant surprise to kick off a 60th Anniversary celebration for the incredible shrinking hero. This first issue recreates the look, style, tone, plot, and dialog of a near-perfect Silver Age-style adventure. If you’re in the mood for some nostalgic fun, look no further.