Ant-Man #3: Spiders and Silkworms and Ants, Oh My!

As Ant-Man reaches the middle of its arc, every fast-paced moment seems packed with superhero cameos, one-liners, action, and character development. As is too often the case, character development sadly gets the short end of the stick. With this issue, Zeb Wells attempts to place more focus on the relationship between Scott Lang and his daughter Cassie as she once again joins him in the field. Disappointingly, their exchanges, for all of their urgency, feel somehow lacking in depth. Instead, it feels almost jarring when the characters in this otherwise funny and absurdly over-the-top story ask to be taken seriously.

While Scott Lang and Spider-Man are both very quip-heavy characters, and both use humor to mask other emotions, the sheer number of comedic notes perhaps takes away from moments that should feel more emotionally pressing, like those of the relationship between Scott and Cassie. 

It may also be a matter of the characters having little room to breathe. Because this isn’t just a team-up with Spider-Man and Black Cat. Iron Man and Black Panther are here too (along with an assortment of other Avengers, though some for much less time than others). Nonetheless, for all of its third issue’s shortcomings, Ant-Man still feels first and foremost feels like a fast-paced romp, with new villains constantly appearing and upping the stakes as soon as the previous comparably-less-threatening villains grow too familiar.

On the art front, Dylan Burnett continues to offer readers a satisfying blend of comedic facial expressions and macabre, visceral imagery, quickly adjusting to the story’s frequent shifts in tone. His incorporation of onomatopoeia remains second to none. Likewise, Mike Spicer’s colors move smoothly between sickly and brilliant to great effect.

While Burnett and Spicer continue to be at the top of their game, not much can be said of the cover by Eduard Petrovich. With both Black Cat and Spider-Man have very static, stock poses, it isn’t terribly dynamic and says very little about the issue other than who it guest-stars.