REVIEW: Marvel Feature Presents, “The Astonishing Ant-Man”, Vol 1 #4

Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Letterer: John Costanza
Review: Madman

I’m not going to lie here; before Ant-Man hit the MCU I never really gave him much thought. I suppose I was way too interested in more exciting heroes with way cooler superpowers. At least that’s what I thought then. I know better now and my understanding and tastes have obviously matured.

I’ve really enjoyed the Ant-Man movie and his appearance in Civil War, so, yeah, you could say a decision has been consciously made to give Ant-Man his due, gather some of his O.G. books, and figure this guy out. None of the previously mentioned points made me actually by this book. I bought it based solely on the astonishingly gorgeous cover. It’s fantastic…a 10 out of 10…super rad. I was hypnotized by all of the awesome that I had no idea that the, “special first-issue guest star”, was, “the one and only Peter Parker…Mighty Marvel’s own wall-crawling wonder!”
Even though the cover says so...   

I was too mesmerized by the majestically depicted image of a giant foot about to stomp our ant-sized hero into goo to even notice my favorite character in all of comicdom was just past the cover...
It's that great, which goes without saying if Herb Trimpe’s name is on it.
The entire book was saturated with fantastic artwork, but it really is the cover that wins the prize.

The story was pretty much on par for 70’s comics, hokey for sure but we expect that from 70s Marvel.
I didn’t say it was a bad hokey, just hokey.
In this fancy tale we get to take a ride with Hank Pym and Peter as they take down the idiots whom kidnapped Curt Conners’s son. Yeah, that’s right, these thugs kidnapped the Lizard’s kid…smh.
Ant-Man and Parker team up as just that, because Pym doesn’t know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Keep it on the down low...

<<<<Spoiler>>> Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

Parker-Man and Ant-Man are trying to save the kid before Conners finds out and goes all “Mean and Green” on them. To tell the truth, Kurt has to spend a fortune on replacing white lab coats.
The duo eventually saves Billy from the kidnappers and cure him of a deadly virus. Peter and Hank end up getting infected too  but are cured when they bash the boss and find the antidote in his briefcase.

Although Peter and Hank are cured, not all that glitters is gold as something has gone wrong with Hank’s ability to enlarge and is stuck in teeny-weeny size.
That’s pretty much where the book ends: on a monster of a cliffhanger that has me absolutely committed to finding issue #4-10 of Marvel Feature.
Every single one featuring the Astonishing Ant-Man and the immortal Herb Trimpe.