Tuesday, March 31, 2015

What I Bought 3/24/2015 - Part 4

For some reason, actors Karl Urban and Gerard Butler are mixed up in my head. I see one of them, and always assign him the wrong name. Don't know why, but it happens without fail.

Ant-Man #1-3, by Nick Spencer (writer), Ramon Rosanas (artist), Jordan Boyd (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer), Idette Winecoor (designer) - OK, what the heck does "designer" mean? Also, between the first and second issues, Boyd went from "colorist" to "color artist". Just pick a job description!

Scott's trying to put his life back together, trying to get gainfully employed and be a good dad for his recently back from the dead daughter, Cassie (really glad they brought her back). He tries applying to be Stark's security consultant, and even gets the job. By breaking into Stark's apartment and hacking into his Iron Man helmet, but that's what Stark wanted anyway (and it's bigger jerk than normal "Superior" Iron Man, so whatever). Then Scott learns his ex-wife is moving with Cassie to Miami to get away from hero stuff, so Scott ditches the job and moves to Miami. Family first!

Once there, he tries to get a loan from a bank to set up his own security consulting company, but bank turns him down. Because banks are run by jerks. Jerks who hide a Nazi robot that turns things into gold in their vault, which Scott recaptures, because it was kind of his fault it got free in the first place. Upside, the head of the bank finds him interesting enough she invested in his company. Downside, Taskmaster's got him in his crosshairs, but not before he shatters Scott's illusions that they're arch-foes. Really though, he's just keeping Scott busy while the head of Cross Enterprises abducts Cassie. Cross' father was the guy who abducted Dr. Sondheim to perform a heart transplant and save his life, only Cassie need the good doctor for an operation of her own, prompting Scott to steal the Ant-Man outfit in the first place. Anyway, the son wants his dad back, and I'm guessing it'll be Cassie's heart he's going to use.

Oh, and the lamewad villain Crossfire is the son's uncle? Jeez, I hate that guy. Such a loser. You'd think he'd have learned his lesson after that time he tried killing Hawkeye with his own bow, only Crossfire was too weak to pull back the string and only succeeded in knocking himself unconscious with a concussion arrow. Some dudes aren't meant to be villains, because they suck.

Speaking of embarrassing defeats, Taskmaster might want to watch the ridicule. I haven't forgotten the time Rick Jones got the drop on him (it was in Busiek's Avengers run, and hey, Scott was there for that too!) That said, Scott, do not diss Taskmaster's outfit. I love the pirate boots and the cape. I do not have any idea how Taskmaster made paperclips form into a giant sword just by pushing a button. I assume magnets were involved, but how are they manipulating the whole thing? Unless Tasky has learned to imitate Magneto. No, I didn't think so either. Oh, and what the hell is he doing calling someone else "rip off"? Taskmaster's whole shtick is he copies other people's moves. There isn't an original bone in his body! Oh Tasky, there's a reason I enjoy watching you get punched so much.

I'm pretty pleased with the book so far. Scott's likeable enough, but he still shows just enough unscrupulous behavior I can see things blowing up in his face. He tries to be a smooth talker, but he's not really good at it (his attempts at sales pitches are consistently awful), and he does lack of commitment. Unfortunately, I don't think Stark was wrong about Scott looking for the quickest route. But I'm looking forward to seeing Scott and Cassie hang out together, and the Grizzly could make an interesting sidekick.

Rosanas's artwork and Boyd's colors work fairly well together. It's not a dark book, but it's not a wild and crazy one either, so the colors are muted without being murky, and the art is fairly realistic. I like the way size-changing is portrayed, with the progressively smaller, creamsicle colored outlines. It's a nice shorthand for the process that's going on with the Pym Particles. The facial expressions aren't always great. There are a couple of consecutive panels of Cassie where I'm not clear what emotion we're supposed to see. Based on the dialogue, I'd figure concern, maybe trepidation, but there's really no expression. For the most part, though Rosanas does well. The mass of ants looked good, and he draws paperclips that appear giant really well. I also like how, when Tasky pushes that button to control the paperclips, the concentric circles of the signal/pulse extend into the panels below, where the paperclips are starting to move. Nice touch.

2 comments:

SallyP said...

Ant-Man has been a lot of fun so far. It is unusual to have a hero be so ambiguous about heroism...or should I say, having the ends justify the means.

Oh, and Gerard Butler is...dreamy.

CalvinPitt said...

In retrospect, Pym essentially rewarding Scott for stealing his gear by encouraging him to keep it may not have been the sort of positive reinforcement Scott needed.

Also, I like that Scott names his ants. I think that actually plays off past characterization about Scott really caring about them (as opposed to O'Grady, who unsurprisingly didn't give a damn).