Book Review: Ant-Man: Larger Than Life

Book: Ant-Man: Larger Than Life one-shot by Will Corona Pilgrim with illustration by Andrea Di Vito, color by Veronica Gandini and letters by VC's Clayton Cowles

Tales to Astonish #27: "The Man in the Ant Hill" (published 1962) by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, illustrations by Jack Kirby, ink by Dick Ayers and letters by Artie Simek

Tales to Astonish #35: "The Return of Ant-Man!" (published 1962) by Stan Lee with illustrations by Jack Kirby, ink by Dick Ayers and letters by John Duffy

Cover Art by Jung-Sik Ahn


Edition: Single Print Issue

Description:

Join Hank Pym, a.k.a. ANT-MAN, as he learns that a little experiment can land him in BIG trouble! Can Ant-Man tame something as painfully formidable as the Bullet Ant before it's too late?! Find out!

PLUS: Reprinting Tales to Astonish #27 (the first appearance of Hank Pym) and Tales to Astonish#35 (the first of appearance of Ant-Man in costume)!




Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Even though this book was published a few days before the release of the Ant-Man movie (2015), I'm glad this book is about Hank Pym. I like Scott Lange but I still wish Marvel had introduced Pym as Ant-Man instead. Anyway I was content with this one-shot issue, there are three interesting action adventure stories here. There's a new story featuring Hank in the movie verse costume and two reprints stories all for the price of one. Not a bad deal especially since it includes a reprint of Hank's first appearance in the comics. I'm not sure if you can still find this in print but it is available in digital form.

In the first story Larger Than Life it follows Dr. Hank Pym trying out a new experiment with Paraponera Clavata, a species of ants that are known as bullet ants due to their powerful sting and potent venom.

He wanted to see if they would follow his commands but the ants had other ideas. Shrinking down as Ant-Man to better access the situation didn't seem to work out any better for him. Not with the ants going on the attack damaging his suit making it impossible for him to return to normal size. He can reverse it, problem is his spare reservoir of particles are across the room. And not to mention he's being chased by a horde of ants when an unexpected problem pops up. Will he be able to get out of this bout of trouble before it's too late?

The second story The Man in the Ant Hill is Hank's first appearance as it shows him in his lab developing a series of potions. Where one potion can shrink and the other can return things back to normal size. After one successful attempt he decided to try it out on himself. It worked perfectly with him shrinking but now at an extremely small size and accidentally winding up outside he was in danger. Nearby were a group of ants set on attack, however running into the ant hill may not have been the smartest decision. But it was the only option he had. Inside he found even more problems but he was surprised when he found help but will that be enough for him to escape and get back to his lab.

The third story The Return of Ant-Man is Hank's first appearance in his Ant-Man costume. In this three part story, Pym was tasked by the government to develop a top secret formula. Also included in the deal was four assistants to help him. However, no assistant would be able to help when his lab was invaded by armed men. They were looking for the formula and planned to destroy the building and everyone in it once they found it. With Hank trapped in his office with armed guards at the door and outside, the only way out was for him to become Ant-Man. Shrinking down, the diminutive hero escaped out the window but will his encounter with a colony of ants help or hurt his chances of stopping the thieves.