Ant-Man: Larger Than Life (MCU Tie-In) - Review

Written by Will Corona Pilgrim. Art by Andrea Di Vito.
Backup Stories: Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. Penciled by Jack Kirby. Inked by Dick Ayers.
Published by Marvel Comics; June 24, 2015
Worth your $3.99?: If you're an MCU and/or Ant-Man fanatic, YES. If not, pass on this one.
Rating: 4/5.

Let me start with something you may or may not know about me: I am a big Ant-Man fan. More specifically, I'm a big Hank Pym fan. Scott Lang (soon to be portrayed by Paul Rudd) is great and fun character, but my fandom lies with Pym. There's a few reasons behind this. One, the Ant-Man power is just cool. Shrinking or growing to any size has a million and one uses. Two, Hank is a man with no superpowers. Yes, he is highly intelligent, but his intellect is not crazy over-exaggerated like you find with Reed Richards or Tony Stark. Beyond that, Hank is a very flawed human. He has problems, serious problems (only superhero with bi-polar disorder I know of), and because of that, he's relatable. I could wax poetic on this character for much longer, but let's discuss this cool little comic that focuses on Hank, or Ant-Man OG.

WHAT IS IT?
Ant-Man: Larger Than Life is an Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in acting as a prequel to the upcoming movie (and also sort of a prequel to the prequel that was Marvel's Ant-Man Prelude). The cover actually doesn't really do a good job of letting you know this, but the main story is set in the MCU. The book also has a bonus reprint of Tales to Astonish #27 (the first ever appearance of Hank Pym/Ant-Man) and #35 (the first appearance of Ant-Man in the suit).

PLAYING WITH SCIENCE FEATURING HANK PYM

The best superhero stories are the ones that keep it small (pun intended). This story focuses just on Hank in his lab, testing the limits of his ant-whispering abilities. Of course, as a scientist he gets in over his head by pushing the boundaries of what he can do and discovers that one breed of ants is unwilling to listen to his commands.

In a way, it's actually a remake of the first ever Hank Pym story, just with him a little further along in the science of his suit than he was in the original story. He experiments, shrinks down, can't grow back to normal size, and has to fight off a big bug with ants at his side. He learns some of the limits of his abilities.

I'm glad we get to see Pym in this light and honestly, the biggest thing this comic did is put my mind at ease a little bit about the upcoming movie. With Ultron already stripped from Pym's storyline, I've been worried he would be relegated to some overbearing, annoying mentor role for Lang. But if the voice that's in this book (as well as the Prelude) remains consistent into Michael Douglas' Pym, than I'll be satisfied.

Pym vs. Ant: Then and Now

If I have any negatives about this book it's that the story might be too simple, since Hank is the only one in the story. There's no real growth or anything for him in this story, even as he learns things in terms of science. That being said, for $4 you get this original story and two iconic reprints so I still feel like I got my money's worth.


OVERALL THOUGHTS
A fun little story to get you excited for Ant-Man (the movie). With Lang taking front and center on screen, I'm happy with any Pym stories I can get.

Ant-Man #4 - Review

Before I get into the story of this issue (and it's fun, so I will), I have to take a moment to remark on the amazingly ridiculous cover. Ant Man in glorious Miami Vice style, our anti-hero Lang in a nice white suit, and best of all Grizzly: he's a man in a bear suit within a double breasted sports jacket and slacks. I don't know what it is exactly, but Grizzly standing there just fills me with geeky joy.

As for the story here, we pick up with Cassie kidnapped and Lang hell bent on getting her back. But it's the details that make this story great. Bringing back Darren Cross (who appeared in Lang's first appearance ever in Marvel Premiere #47) is a brilliant stroke. Lang has been in plenty of titles over the years but as this is his first real headlining role, it's smart to bring his origins into the picture. It gives new readers a window into his past and is a nice treat for fans who have delved deeper into Ant-Man's past.

Darren Cross: 1979 & 2015 

The other part of this series that's been so fun (and continues in this book) is the way they play with the C and D list characters. Ant-Man (as Taskmaster put it in issue #3) is a B-list hero, tops. The fun of that is that we get a much smaller story. Rather than the world and universe threatening stories of books like Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy, the simple kidnapping here actually feels more dire. Add into that the fun of details like Super-Villain Anonymous and the Machinesmith allowing a birthday party of children to attack him dressed as Avengers, and you've got a perfect recipe for a book that is simply... fun. And that'll be worth my $3.99 any day.

What'd you think of Ant-Man #4? Great callback to an origin story or lazy repeating of the past? Sound off in the comments!