Ant-Man #3 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: September 28, 2022

Ant-Man #3 brings the time-hopping adventure into the present as Scott and Cassie Lang take on a mission to “dispose of” Ultron/Hank Pym. Yeah, they mess it up.

Is It Good?

Ant-Man #3 is not bad. The narrative flow has a lot going on and tries to do possibly too much in a standard 22-page comic. On the flip side, we learn what this adventure is all about. The scope of the threat fits with the idea of pulling multiple Ant-Men from across time together. With one issue left, we’ll see if Ewing can stick the landing.

So far, we’ve visited an Ant-Man in different eras of the history of the titular character, with Ewing showcasing his best interpretation of the bearer of the mantle. Now, we catch up with Scott Lang as he’s given a unique task by the Avengers to put the imprisoned Ultron/Hank Pym entity away where nobody will have a prayer of finding him/it. Ewing, again, demonstrates a deft ability to capture the voice and personality of each Ant-Man persona as he creates a spot-on version of Scott Lang.

If you’re familiar with Ant-Man and his abilities, you can already guess what the Avengers plan for Ultron/Hank Pym. What you’ll be surprised to find out is that this issue includes a pivotal appearance by Black Ant (an LMD version of Eric O’ Grady) to gum up the works. It’s not yet obvious why future Ant-Man is involved in the quickly blossoming mess, but it makes sense that an Ultron-level threat is enough to go to extraordinary lengths.

That said, the journey from the first page to the last page has a lot going on, and a few scenes feel rushed. Not so rushed that you can’t tell what’s going on, but rushed enough that you feel like the story is playing out at 1.5x speed. Still, Ewing delivers plenty of intrigue to keep you invested in the story, and the last-page cliffhanger is a doozy.

Reilly’s art is generally fine in this issue. The action is energetic, explosive moments look adequately explosive, and Bellaire’s coloring makes use of the most subtle shading techniques I’ve ever seen. Kudos.

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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Final Thoughts:

Ant-Man #3 unveils the world-ending threat serious enough to force future Ant-Man to pull resources from across time to stop it. The character interactions are fun, and the overall art is excellent, but the plot tries to do a little too much, making the issue feel rushed. Complete but rushed.