Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost and Found is out November 7th in trade paperback, and it’s a light, fun adventure through the microverse with Marvel’s biggest little heroes.
The paperback includes issues 1-5 of Ant-Man and the Wasp. It’s written by Mark Waid, drawn by Javier Garrón, colored by Israel Silva, and lettered by Joe Caramagna. Kathleen Wisneski, Nick Lowe, and Jordan D. White edited the series.
After being off in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man (Scott Lang) needs a quick trip home to make his daughter’s birthday. He turns to the new Wasp, Nadia van Dyne, for help. But, Scott being Scott, he misses his mark and is hurled into the microverse. Nadia goes to rescue him, and the two embark on an adventure to get home.
First off, this miniseries is very accessible to new readers. So if you’re unfamiliar with Nadia, or even Scott for that matter, Waid takes his time to introduce you to them both and give you a sense of who they are. There are even a few pages in issue two that recap their respective origins. If you’re coming here after seeing the Ant-Man and the Wasp movie, no worries, you’ll be fine.
However, in terms of writing and story, Lost and Found does feel a bit unbalanced. This is a light, fun adventure story. It’s about Scott and Nadia getting to know each other and becoming allies. Waid’s witty dialogue is on-point, there are laughs to be had, and there are a bunch of great character moments. There’s actually one very sweet, emotional one in issue four that in itself makes this story worth reading. Plus this is all happening in the microverse where rules don’t apply, so anything goes.
But it feels like every other page Nadia is explaining the (fake) science behind what they’re doing. Obviously Scott doesn’t know what she’s talking about, so it’s funny the first time, but after that it becomes tired. Her science monologues take you out of the fun adventure story. Sometimes they are necessary for context, and we need to know what’s going on obviously, but it seems like they could have been more succinct. Waid could have done this lengthy bit once, had Scott say something like “I don’t understand what you’re saying, and I don’t care,” and focused on having fun. Again, it doesn’t make for a bad story, it just slows down the pacing and throws the comic off-balance.
Doing an Ant-Man and Wasp story in the microverse allows Garrón and Silva to have a lot of fun themselves with their art. They go wild, and their designs for these different worlds and characters are truly creative and original. Garrón also delivers much of the book’s comedy through facial expressions and body movements. Plus, that one sweet, emotional moment I mentioned earlier relies heavily on his ability to convey Scott’s thoughts and feelings just through a facial expression, and he nails it.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost and Found is a fun romp through the microverse, and you’ll have a good time reading it. Sometimes you just need a light adventure story to cleanse your palette, and this is perfect for that.
