Essential Astonishing Ant-Man

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Summary: The most under rated Marvel Hero
Review: Ant Man should have had a longer run at the news stand. His stories were not limited to the world of ants. Unlike many other stories of this genre Ant Man had technical talents at his disposal. He was minature version of 007. He could solve crimes because he could get away without being noticed. Pehaps if he crossed over with other Marvel stars more often this book might have taken off. The only slight I have is this book should have been in color. Perhaps there will be a version available on CD ROM someday. Until then this is the most affordable way to enjoy these classic tales.

If you like the sixties Marvel like I do these will appeal to you. It was a simpler time back then when heros were not required to be so dark and grim. It may have worked with the Dark Knight in Batman; however it's not true for all comics.

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Summary: Hard to find reprints
Review: Get more bang for your buck at rock bottom prices.

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Summary: The Little Superhero that Couldn't
Review: Henry Pym holds the ignominious title of being the first Silver Age Marvel Comics character who failed (actually the Hulk was the first series to end, but he has since returned in a big way). Frankly, it isn't hard to see why as Pym seemed utterly average compared to the other interesting, archetype-busting characters in the Marvel Universe. Pym was another independently wealthy super-genius in multiple scientific fields who had a state-of-the-art crime lab and a dull, square-jawed professorial personality. He lacked any of the pathos-inducing handicaps or traits that made Iron Man or Daredevil stand out. Although this is probably due to the fact that he was actually created in a pre-Silver Age, early 60's story in a Twilight Zone-esque, sci-fi anthology series (Tales to Astonish #27, also included).

As such, the early Ant-Man tales come across as an ongoing battle for writers Stan Lee and his brother Larry to make Pym more interesting. This led to the introduction of the Wasp (Janet van Dyne), joining the Avengers, constant costume changes and power additions (enter Giant-Man), and a tacked-on backstory about Pym's first wife who was murdered by communists, none of which really worked for me. The endeavour definitely was not helped by the seriously underwhelming Rogue's Gallery. There was Egghead (a totally average mad scientist), Porcupine (a disgruntled engineer in a battlesuit, kind of like the Beetle only pointy), and the Human Top (a high rpm mutant who would get a less goofy name and costume later in the Avengers as Whirlwind). Those are pretty much the only ones worth mentioning by name. There was also a cross-dressing commie spy, a guy with a magic trumpet, a South American dictator with a horned hat who liked to run into things, and a guy who could command others with his voice (just like Daredevil's Purple Man, except that he wasn't purple).

One reviewer said that he liked Hank and Janet's Nick-and-Nora style bantering, which does make for some good dialogue, but those looking for that sort of thing would be better served with the Fantastic Four. I felt that Hank was more belittling and coarse than Reed Richards and Janet acted more like a whining spoiled shrew than Sue Storm. Once again, the Ant-Man comics just seemed to be overshadowed on all sides from its other neighbors in the Marvel world.

I know I've sounded completely negative so far, but the truth is that I would still recommend The Essential Ant-Man to all fellow fans of classic Marvel comics. Ant-Man is no less a part of Marvel's storied Silver Age history and features stellar artwork by Jack "King" Kirby and Don Heck. Every issue of Tales to Astonish that Pym headlined (many of which are near impossible to find these days) is collected in one comprehensive and inexpensive Essential volume. As much as I love the Essentials, the Astonishing Ant-Man is less of a must-have than most (X-Men #1 and FF #3 are my all time favorites) but perhaps I'm being unfair. For only $15, all other true believers are free to see for themselves.

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Summary: Tremble Before the Awesome Power of--the Scarlet Beetle?
Review: I think I can see why this feature was finally cancelled. Ant-Man/Giant-Man had just about the worst roster of villains of all the early Marvel heroes. And by "worst", I don't mean evil or malicious, I mean laughable or mediocre.

Henry Pym's "top of the line" super foes, the ones that returned for more than one fight, were third-rate bad guys like Egghead, the Porcupine, and the Human Top. And then there were the "mighty" opponents that Ant-Man/Giant-Man only fought once--Comrade X, the Unknown Protector, the Scarlet Beetle, El Toro, and others. Villains so lame even Stan Lee didn't dare to bring them back for a second go-around.

By comparison, in the same time frame, the Fantastic Four was fighting the Mole Man,, Doctor Doom, the Sub-Mariner, the Puppet Master, the Mad Thinker, and the Super-Skrull, while Spider-Man was tackling the Vulture, Dr. Octopus, the Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, and the Green Goblin. Even Iron Man, who had to contend with the "Commie villain of the month" syndrome for a while, finally found a worthy opponent in the form of the Mandarin.

Probably the best battles in this volume are the two in which Giant-Man squares off against another Marvel hero--once against Spider-Man, and once against the Hulk.

Still, the Ant-Man/Giant-Man collection offers a fun look at the dawn of the "Marvel Age of Comics", and there's good artwork by Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and others--even a fill-in story drawn by Steve Ditko!

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Summary: There were giants in those days...
Review: In the heirarchy of Marvel superheroes, if the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man were the fair-haired children, then Ant/Giant-Man, the Wonderful Wasp and their showcase book Tales To Astonish were the red-headed stepchildren. This book reprints the complete run of a comic and a character that was, among other things, the first comic book I ever owned and one of my favorite characters.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby originally started out scripting and drawing the adventures of Henry Pym, a scientist who developed a way to communicate telepathically with ants and subsequently used this technology to fight crime (most likely inspired by the film The Incredible Shrinking Man) but they soon moved on to other things and turned it over to Stan's brother Larry Lieber and frequent Kirby inker and western & war comic vet Dick Ayers. This was not uncommon, since as Marvel grew they just couldn't do everything. They also developed and handed off Thor, Iron Man, and others. Lieber and Ayers, while certainly accomplished pros, were not possessed of the magic synergy that Lee and Kirby had, so Ant-Man's exploits weren't quite as remarkable as the FF's or Spidey's. Eventually, it was decided to have Pym give his girlfriend, socialite Janet Van Dyne, shrinking powers, wings and "biological stingers", dub her the Wasp, and become his crime fighting partner. Soon after, he figured out how to grow ten feet tall and renamed himself Giant-Man. Other artists and writers soon followed, most notably Bob Powell, who drew a great Wasp, and the pair faced a mix of second string villians like the Human Top, the Black Knight, the Eraser, and other assorted aliens and mad scientists. In one memorable issue, Giant- Man accidentally enlarged a spider and was blocked from reaching his helmet controls to restore it to its normal size. Made for a tense situation for several pages...

A variety of powers, costumes, and situations were tried out, but Giant-Man and the Wasp never really caught on with the comic buying public. Eventually, the Powers That Be decided to divide Tales To Astonish between GM and new stories featuring the Hulk, and about a year later they dropped old High Pockets completely in favor of new Sub-Mariner stories.
Giant Man and the Wasp still appeared in the Avengers, but it was clear they had lost their opportunity to shine brightly in the Marvel firmament.

While these stories in this collection don't always feature the absolute best of 60's Marvel by any stretch, they are still fun reads, like those old drive-in movies weren't always great films but were still very entertaining. Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne had a sort of Nick and Nora Charles type banter that was always a highlight, and the last two-parter in this collection emphasized their relationship in a way that was still novel to comics back then. It made them warm and real and really impressed the 6 year old boy that read them so many years ago.

Although I wish these collections were in color, I understand that it helps keep the price down, and it's probably the easiest way to read these books that are often hard to find and expensive when you do find them. These adventures of Ant/Giant Man and the Wasp aren't profound and most likely won't change your life in any way...but they are a hell of a good read for the money.

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Summary: Quirky, offbeat, nostalgic, comic fun! & Jack Kirby TOO!
Review: This book is a great collection of fun, oddball, comics. Featuring a character that was obviously a creator favorite, given the many revamps. They just couldn't give up on the guy! Many of these stories have been quite hard to come by, even for hardcore fans, unlike the old FF or Spiderman or other more popular characters who have all been reprinted more frequently.

Wild, silly villains and the black & white format not only keeps the price down but gives you a great opportunity to see the quality of the cartoonists line work, apart from the primitive coloring of the time. Any work by Jack Kirby is worth Five stars!

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Summary: The "Master of Many Sizes" finally gets his due!
Review: This most neglected character of Marvel's Silver Age--who initially was on a par with Thor, Iron Man, Spidey et al in that he had his own series, is finally showcased for all to see.

Giant Man is my favorite character in all of Marvel and the Wasp is right up there too. It is hard for me to describe why I like them so much; maybe its the fact that others could care less about them. But if you are at all curious about them I would encourage you to give this book and these characters a try. The stories are fun, fast-paced and a perfect example of what Marvel was putting out at the time. Take a growth capsule and enjoy!