The Creators – Al Ewing – Writer, Tom Reilly – Artist, Jordie Bellaire – Colours, Cory Petit – Letters

The Players – Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Scott Lang, Trago, The Time Master, The Window Washer, The Protector, Ant-Man (unknown)

The Story – The future comes calling for Hank Pym but first he must survive a team-up by some of his most dastardly villains.

The Take – Al Ewing and Tom Reilly present a very retro-stylized tale featuring the first man to bear the name Ant-Man – Hank Pym. The story begins with a vision of the future where a man is looking at images of the past involving Ant-Man though for what reason, it has yet to be revealed. The book then cuts back to ‘the present’ where Hank is on a date with Janet Van Dyne until he is attacked by the Window Washer and then taken prisoner by a cadre of his rogues’ gallery consisting of Trago, The Time Master and The Protector. They are out for a little revenge and suffice it to say, if Hank’s desperate plea for help from his ants fails, he may not be long for the world. As it is, Janet comes to the rescue and a win is picked up after which that mysterious man from the future whom he ran into at the movie theatre earlier, shows up and transports him back to his own time, leaving the book on a cliff-hanger. Ewing does a great job with the tale, perfectly capturing the style and tone of those old Tales to Astonish books from the days of yore and it was a lot of fun to read and slightly refreshing given the glut of sameness that comes out from the various publishers. The old-school vibe plays perfectly throughout and Ewing uses it to capture not only that fun found in older comics but the innocence that went along with it. Such as it is though, the book does jump to the future during the last act and one has to wonder if Ewing will continue his tour through Hank Pym’s history or if it will move through the lives of the various other Ant-Men that have worn the mantle. Reilly’s pencils are on point and look absolutely fantastic, the man definitely proving he should be on an ongoing title when this book is all said and done by making it all seem both old and new as he switches up his style. Altogether a really great package to mark the 60th anniversary of the character.

Worth It? – Yes.