Astonishing Ant-Man #11 Review

Writer: Nick Spencer / Artist: Ramon Rosanas, Jordan Boyd / Marvel Comics Free Scott Lang! Free Scott Lang! Free Scot Lang! Yo, man. I said, yooooo, maaaaan! Nick Spencer knows how to write a compelling as fuck story. Nick Spencer is out here giving you that imminent character growth and heartache at the same damn time. My God! We join Scott after he’s been caught by the police (one detective being his ex-wife’s new husband), taking the entirety of the blame upon himself. Scott says he kidnapped his daughter Cassie in order to pull off the heist on Cross. What follows is a perfect look at how far Scott Lang will go to ensure his daughter is out of harm’s way. We’ve seen life kick Scott when he’s down repeatedly, even when it looked like things were looking up. As we live through Scott’s days in prison Spencer reminds us why the character is so damn charming in the first place. Spencer highlights the root decency at the heart of Scott Lang’s character development. Scott may mess up, but he’s messing up for the right reasons. When Scott could take the easy way out, he falls on the sword to protect his own. We got a de-powered Scott in prison trying to look for a silver lining within his predicament. We see the recreational aspect of his time in prison as well as him getting his ass beat. Spencer makes us gluttons for punishment the way he ties up strings this issue, between the different visitors Scott gets and the very special guest star he’s been recounting his story to the entire time. Rosanas and Boyd were a great team together art wise. I love the ways they visualize Scott using his powers within this issue. We saw Scott using the ants to spell out messages to Cassie, then the look of heartbreak when Scott wasn’t able to talk to his lil’ friends in prison (thanks to a grudge someone from a certain organization was holding). Scott’s devil-may-care attitude really came through within the detail of this art as well. Scott has this smug look given to his facial detail that reads “smartass” rather than arrogance. Astonishing Ant-Man continues to be the book more people should be talking about. Spencer and Rosanas continue to make Scott Lang the most smug underdog in the Marvel universe. There’s really a lot to love about this series, this character, as well as the supporting characters. Ant-Man is a book with a copious amount of heart, comedy, and tragedy that any reader would respect and appreciate. 8.8 Tubes of Colgate out of 10 Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?