Writer: Al Ewing / Penciller: Kasia Nie with Carola Borelli on #4 / Colour Artist: KJ Diaz / Letterer: VC's Cory Petit / Graphic Designer: Carlos Lao / Editors: Kaitlyn Lindtvedt and Alanna Smith / Collects The Wasp (2023) #1-#4 / Marvel / TP
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August 2023 (Released 5th July 2023)
The Pitch: Celebrate 60 years of the wondrous Wasp! Fashion designer, businesswoman, and founding Avenger - Janet Van Dyne has worn many hats over the course of her super-heroic career. And many costumes! But when an old enemy threatens Janet and her fellow Wasp, Nadia - seemingly against his will - the Van Dynes must confront the ghosts in their shared history to get to the bottom of the mystery! But something about this case seems unnervingly familiar to Jan. Can she figure out what it is in time to save both their lives? Trapped in a past where Henry Pym, the Ant-Man, was never born, will they be wiped from existence altogether?
Following on from Al Ewing and Tom Reilly's Ant-Man Ant-iversery mini-series, Janet Van Dyne gets the spotlight. The Wasp has always been an interesting character, especially in the modern context with Hank Pym's destructive predilections forming the base of where Janet goes as a person and as a hero. This is especially present in The Ultimates, which tackled the subject in a direct, perhaps even slightly bombastic manner, but is worth revisiting nonetheless. When we meet Jan here, she's once again a woman living under a form of oppression, with Mayor Wilson Fisk's anti-hero laws still in effect in New York. But Janet opts to live within those rules, even though internally, she's calling them out for the bullshit they are. Her answer is to open a bar where the Avengers, The X-Men, and any hero looking for some downtime can hang out. It feels like a concept right out of '80s Marvel – or the little I know about '80s Marvel. What does this say about Janet, though? Perhaps she's always looking for a home, a place to hang her hat… She is a woman adrift, trying to find a port. And also, trying to shake off the grief that her past dictates. But the past is an important thing in Marvel and you can never, really escape it. So Ewing and Nie bring back Janet's OG enemy, the creature that gave birth to her super-science alter-ego. We go back to the beginning so we can move on to the future.
The past made present.
Ewing's mini-series at Marvel are fascinating for what they're not as much as what they are. What they aren't is revolutionary takes that advance the character forward the way his Immortal Hulk run did. What they are... Well, for people like me who didn't read an incredible amount of Marvel growing up, is a Godsend. Ewing's writing has the ability to make the silver age present in the ultra-modern, self-aware comics era his books are a goldmine of character history for those that know those histories and fun capsules of info for those that don't. He enjoys, or at least seems to enjoy, letting the reader play connect-the-dots (and plots) of the Marvel Universe. Here, he connects the histories of Janet Van Dyne and Nadia Pym not through their science or history with Hank Pym, but through their families and enemies, too. The connection runs deep in their bones, but also in their trauma. The enemy at the heart of the book goes all the way back to Jan's origins as the Wasp, drawing a line through the character's history to now. At one point, the henchman Fantasma shows Jan and Nadia how their past can be used against them and this allows Ewing and Nie to stealth in a rundown of all the Wasp looks throughout her comic book history. Janet and Nadia prove that they are not creatures of their past. Overall, what's interesting is the slightly more somber tone the book strikes than Ewing and Reilly's Ant-Man mini-series. Here, death hangs over the story like a cloud, giving us perhaps a little more to sink our teeth into.
Bonds made in trauma.
But also present is the sense of silver-age fun. As I mentioned before, Ewing has a natural ability to blend present and past and make them feel like they belong on the same page. You really get the sense that he enjoys comics and that this is the first, best art form for his talent. Kaisa Nie creates a really nice feel to the art. Her lines are very clean, bold, and firm. She draws Janet's resilience, essentially. Her art conveys the competence, confidence, and ability of the characters. As with Tom Reilly on the earlier Ant-Man book, she embraces the weird science inherent in these creatures that sprung from the '60s. There's also a touch of Allred's pop-mannerisms in her posing of the characters that feel true to who they are. KJ Diaz's colour palette is lovely, lighting the scenes, especially those in the final chapter, beautifully. His look also embraces that strange feel that Ewing's writing and Nie's art suggest. Petit's letters are, as always, spot on in terms of creating the right sound and pitch of the voices. This is a fun start to further adventures for Janet and Nadia and a great entry point to the upcoming Avengers Inc.
The Wasp: Small World TP is available at your local comic shop now. Buy this series here for just £10, and get more great Marvel Comics and sets here. The Comic Crush is run by a small team of volunteers. Please consider subscribing to our Patreon and supporting more original writing on comics. Alternatively, you can make a small one-off donation. Thank you.
