Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania

Following the events of Marvel: Endgame, Scott Lang has been riding high on the success of a bestselling biography and popular lecture circuit. But things aren't so great on the home front. Girlfriend Hope Pym Van Dyne barely has time for him now that she runs her father's company. Daughter Cassie has been getting into trouble with the cops; mostly because her father refuses to let her become a superhero. Adding to problems, secretly, Hank Pym has been helping Cassie create a device that could communicate with the Quantum Realm. This really freaks out Janet Van Dyne and before she can turn off the device, she, Hank, Cassie, Hope and Scott are plunged into that microscopic universe.

It's learned that while Janet was stuck in the Quantum Realm, she meet a fellow castaway who promised to return Van Dyne to her world in exchange for repairing his damaged ship. On the day the vehicle is to be activated, Janet learns that whom she thought was an ally actually had plans to conquer the entire known multiverse. Despite a promise to leave her universe free from his plans for conquest, Janet destroys the machine, making a very powerful enemy. Thus, Kang the Conqueror promises revenge on Janet Van Dyne, with the guarantee that should he ever free himself from his exile in the Quantum Realm, her universe will be the first to be destroyed.

Stuck once more in the Quantum Realm, Scott and family must find a way back home without alerting Kang of their presence. But Janet Van Dyne made a lot of enemies during her time away from Hank and Hope; mostly because her betrayal of Kang led to the villain's conquest of the Quantum Realm and slaves of it's inhabitants. Throw in a forgotten foe from the first Antman film and it's essentially 5 against a universe that literally defies the established laws of quantum physics.

I recorded Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania sometime last November on my DVR. FXX was the channel showing it. I get a week off for Thanksgiving break and had every intention of seeing the film in it's entirety in one sitting. FXX was showing the movie in a sort of marathon viewing. As my DVR timer was set to begin recording 2 minutes early, the after credits scene was what started things off and it spoiled a huge chunk of the movie for me. Add in the terrible CGI, the excessive use of green screen and the knowledge that most of what occurs in this movie gets scrapped because of the cancelling of actor Jonathan Majors (due to an arrest for assault and battery), who plays Kang and I quickly lost interest in the movie.

I think I watched the first hour during Thanksgiving break. Another hour or so during Christmas and then today, I finally got up the nerve to finish the film and free up a couple hours on my DVR. Maybe it's because I am nearly 50 and I have seen more than my fair share of superhero movies. Maybe it's because Hollywood is operating on tired cliches and very little else. Maybe it's both, because I found very little in this 2023 film that surprised me. I was literally running through everything that happened in the last climatic battle scene out loud a good 3-4 seconds before it happened. I wasn't bored as much as I was unimpressed.

I feel like a major Marvel villain such as Kang the Conqueror shouldn't have been wasted on such a minor hero as Antman. Kang deserves better than Scott Lang. He needs the Avengers. Yeah, I know. Earth's Mightiest Heroes are defunct at the moment. Having Kang was going to be what brings the old team together in what, the MCU's 5th wave. Or is it 6th? 7th? I have no idea.

The plan going forward for Marvel is to have Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., as the main villain. But did we have to forgo Kang just because the actor who played him did something criminal? Actors and actresses have been fired and recast since the beginning of Hollywood. If you are going to explore the multiverse of the MCU and officially add the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to it, it really makes sense to keep Kang your villain. He's the time travelling, multiple Earth visiting antagonist that has given everyone fits at one time or another. It's almost like Kevin Fiege was unhappy with the plans made for the Kang Saga and was looking for any glitch to change things around. To me, this feels like the crimes committed by Majors was almost secretly welcomed by Marvel. If Disney was really sickened by those crimes, they would have kept their original plans and recast another actor to play Kang.

This is a movie that was not very well made in terms of creativity or special effects. It's also a film with a lot of baggage. I'm glad that I didn't spend about $80 going to the theaters to see it with my godson. It would have been a waste of time and money- hard earned. Antman and the Wasp Quantumania is almost, ALMOST NOT as bad as the worst MCU film ever made, Thor: The Dark World. But not by much. I hate to say it but it's Jonathan Majors who makes this film somewhat re-watchable.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

The Star Wars #5

General Skywalker, Annikin Starkiller and the royal family of Aquilae have procured passage off the besieged planet only to walk into a trap!

This was an action packed issue. It was also unnecessary. You do learn a little bit more about the Sith Knight that the Emperor recruits to capture the Princess. We're also introduced to a deadly gas that the Sith are immune to. But other than that, everything in this issue feels like a period of time George Lucas spent on the rough draft script in a state of writer's block.

They say that it was Lucas's first wife, Marcia Griffin Lucas, who took the parts of the original Star Wars trilogy that weren't working and made them into iconic scenes and characters. 'Polishing a turd' is how I have heard it referred to. In regards to this segment, I tend to believe that assessment. 

Great Mike Mayhew artwork. But really, this is an issue that you could skip and not miss anything because by chapter end, the protagonists are still exactly where they started. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

The Star Wars #4

Yes, the reptilian Dewbacks were originally supposed to be angry looking ostriches.

After a trio of action packed issues, things slow down a bit in part 4. But don't worry. Skywalker, Starkiller and the Princess have made it to Mos Eisley Spaceport, called Wilson Spaceport, in the George Lucas rough draft.

All of the excitement of the Cantina scene is here. Han Solo, looking more like Swamp Thing with scales instead of Indiana Jones, is introduced. But don't expect Chewbacca. This smuggler works alone. 

Then plans are made with some members of the growing Rebellion against the Evil Empire. The young twin brothers of Princess Leia are placed in stasis. A forgotten character reappears only to die pretty unexpectedly as well as quite heroically. 

Oh, and Darth Vader and a very evil looking Sith Knight have arrived, joining the search for the Princess.

I had mentioned during my review of issue #1 that this miniseries has 8 parts. 9 if you count the #0 issue which is more of a showcase of artistic designs and character bios. Yet in my previous review, I said that this issue would be the exact midpoint of the storyline. That's because when I read this issue, I was under the assumption that issue #7 was the last issue. When I bought these books last year, I purchased them as a bundle with a label that the set contained issues #1-7. I had falsely assumed that I was purchasing a complete set.

With this issue ending with the main characters still stuck on Aquilae, I kept thinking that there's no way everything gets wrapped up by issue #7. I did some research and learned that I was right. I was missing the 8th and final issue. Thankfully I found a copy for a decent price and a fairly quick delivery date. So I am really looking for an epic conclusion. Still, considering how much at a snail's pace things are moving here, I have my doubts everything is going to be finished up when we get to issue #8.

I'm now halfway there. We shall see!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Star Wars #3

The scenes that you would expect to see in Episode IV on Tatooine and the Dune Sea occurs in this issue. With some subtle and blatantly different changes.

The droids emerge from their escape pod, argue over which direction to take, separate and somehow both wind up with General Luke Skywalker.

Princess Leia and her younger twin brothers have survived the assault on Aquilae. In the presence of Skywalker and his Padawan, Annikin Starkiller, it's imperative that the remaining royal family find safe passage off the planet.

Skywalker and company are attacked while attempting to reach the nearest space port. But instead of Tusken Raiders, they are attacked by stormtroopers brandishing laser swords. 

These storm troopers are way more violent than in the finished product. In A New Hope, they essentially barbecue Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Here in the rough draft, when dealing with a belligerent, the soldiers will string them up like on a rack, torture them, then kill them, while leaving them in place as a warning to others that the Evil Empire is not to be trifled with. George Lucas had added the death scene of the Lars family in order to secure a more favorable PG rating. Lucas felt a G rating might prevent older audiences from watching the film and I think he was right about that. But if he had kept the stormtrooper torture scenes in the final film, the first Star Wars film might have garnered a younger potential audience killing R rating! (Note: PG-13 ratings didn't exist until the mid-1980s.)

Lots of action. High levels of violence. This is not the Star Wars universe that I grew up with and I don't mind it one little bit. But we're almost at the half-way point and the heroes haven't even gotten to the space port. I have no idea where things are going. Is this really just a 7-issue miniseries?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Star Wars #2

The planet Aquilae is under attack. The Evil Empire has decided to bypass diplomatic talks and to take the planet by force. To do so, the Emperor orders the Space Fortress commanded by the Sith Knight, Darth Vader, to attack the planet. 

In the attack, the King is killed, leaving General Skywalker in command until Princess Leia, the new ruler of Aquilae, can be retrieved from the University, where she studies. However, there are Imperial sympathizers in the ranks of King's royal advisors and they've clandestinely arranged an illegal surrender of the planet. With the threat of arrest for treason, the general must stand down. But he's not going to go quietly.

The attack on Aquilae plays out like the climatic battle of Yavin in Episode IV. So the level of action and adventure in this issue rises in leaps and bounds, considering how boring the opening chapter was. 

We're introduced to the prototypes of R2-D2 and C-3PO. (Their names are phonetically spelled out and henceforth will only be referred to as 'the droids'.) The droids turn out to be property of the Empire, housed aboard the Space Fortress. As Aquilae fighters begin their assault on the fortress, they will take that legendary escape pod and crash into the desert landscape below. Let me just say, it's really weird having the Galaxy's most beloved astromech droid speaking basic language instead of binary beeps and boops.

Let me talk about the art before I close. It's amazing. Mike Mayhew is the artist and he's got such an amazing touch of realism. I also think that he's trying to make some of the characters look like actors who potentially could have been cast back in 1977. Not the major characters, as they're based on the McQuarrie sketches. But I swear one of the Imperial officers who advise Darth Vader of the attack on Aquilae is Rene Auberjonois from Benson!

A much better second act. Things are starting to gel a bit more. Lots more action! Very little diplomacy and no, it's not because of the death of the leader of Aquilae and a large chunk of his trusted advisors.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Star Wars #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The first chapter of a 2013-14 miniseries from Dark Horse Comics. It's based on a complete first rough draft from George Lucas that he completed in 1974. A few years before the release of this 8 issue series (9, if you count the #0 issue that acts as a primer for this completely different take on the Star Wars universe with character breakdowns and sketches), Lucasfilm had published the script on their website. With Lucas in talks with Disney to sell the franchise, Jonathan W. (J.W.) Rinzler, the executive editor of LucasBooks, obtained blessing from the creator himself to publish a visual representation of the original vision of Star Wars before it was too late. 

Rinzler, a noted writer and historian of several Star Wars novels and non-fiction works about the filming of the movies, adapted the rough draft. While Rinzler was extremely faithful to the script, artist Mike Mayhew sprinkled the pages with hidden treasures in the background like the Easter Bunny with an unlimited amount of eggs. Mayhew referred to the original character designs of artist Ralph McQuarrie. But he also made sure to make this new vision of Star Wars seem a little bit familiar to established fans.

The Star Wars opens with that familiar title crawl, explaining the story before. The old Empire has fallen. The Sith have established a new Empire by exterminating almost all of the Jedi-Bendu after a massive rebellion. One of the last surviving Jedi, General Luke Skywalker, leads the military forces of the planet Aquilae. The Emperor, seeking the planet's cloning technology, has demanded Aquilae's full surrender or face total war. Kane Starkiller and his son Annikin, have arrived to warn General Skywalker, of a sneak attack. Starkiller also makes a dying wish that Annikin becomes Skywalker's Padawan apprentice in the ways of the Jedi. 

As Kane Starkiller departs to arrange transport for the royal family to flee Aquilae, planetary defense radar sensors go wild. Something massive has entered the solar system. It's the size of a small moon. It moves with the speed of a comet. Also, it's man-made. The Emperor's Space Fortress has arrived!

There's a lot of drastic differences that look like they came from a galaxy far, far away. It's just not the galaxy you are used to. The Star Wars comic reads like an alternate dimension, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's multiverse. General Luke Skywalker is more like a mixture of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo. The Han Solo here isn't even human. He's more like the Swamp Thing if the DC legend had only 3 fingers and toes on each appendage. The legendary star destroyers look the same. Only they're now shrunk to house only a 2-man crew and boast TIE fighter level maneuverability. As for the Death Star, referred to as the less intimidating Space Fortress, it's firepower is nowhere near on par to being able to destroy a planet with a single laser blast. 

While much of the first rough draft of Star Wars wouldn't make it to the silver screen in 1977, Lucasfilm has been like a Native American tribe taking down a buffalo: nothing went to waste. The original design of the Wookiee, of which Chewbacca is a proud member of, would eventually become Zeb Orrelios, from Star Wars: Rebels. The royal family escape plot would evolve into the basis of the opening act of Episode I: The Phantom Menace, with Jedi knights rescuing Queen Amadala of Naboo from invaders. Speaking of the prequel film, this issue is rather dull as diplomacy dominates a majority of the plot. The slow churn of the wheels of democracy is one of the biggest complaints of fans about Phantom Menace. Hopefully, the action will pick up in issue #2. 

The swan song of Dark Horse's tenure as the comic book publisher for the Star Wars franchise.  This is an essential read for the most fervent of fans who thrive on the technical manuals and creature compendiums that reveal the inner workings of the Galactic Senate, its Sith-led Imperial predecessor and the order of the Jedi Knights. It's unlike anything one has ever seen aside from those early McQuarrie drawings and paintings and with the Star Wars universe in the hands of Disney, it's a corner of the galaxy that looks to never be rediscovered anytime soon. 

Completing this review completes Task #39 (A Star Wars Comic) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 22

According to historian Paul Buhle, in his forward to this volume of The Spirit Archives, the stories here occur during the early throes of Will Eisner's fallow period. Eisner was seeing the writing on the wall in regards to how comic books and their crafters were being demonized by the public and notable child psychiatrists. Having been creating Spirit comics for over a decade, Eisner was getting the wanderlust, desiring a change. Thus if the adventures of the Spirit, Commissioner Dolan and company seems a bit like a cup of weak coffee, you'll understand.

But like with other masters of the comic arts, (any arts actually), the worst that Will Eisner has to offer is loads better than some of the worst artists and their so-called masterpieces!

The French black widow P'Gell appears in several stories, seeking fortune and fame, along with another husband to take to the proverbial cleaners. The Octopus, arguably the Spirit's primary arch enemy returns from the dead. Although, since nobody knows what he really looks like, thanks to his ability to wear countless masks all at the same time, could this Octopus actually be an impostor? (That's my theory at least.)There's also a rather unique criminal named Mr. Carrion who along with his pet bird Julia, is creepy fun with his evil schemes mixed with a touch of heartfelt sympathy for others.

The Spirit's girlfriend Ellen Dolan is now Central City's Mayor at this point. I remember in a previous volume that she ran for office. I just didn't recall that she had won. Being such an important figure now, Ellen has very little time to pine over her crime fighting boyfriend who's yet to walk her down the alter. Doesn't she realize that as Mayor, she can skip ceremony and declare herself married to the Spirit?!

Also, returning from a rather long hiatus is former sidekick of the Spirit, Ebony White. He'll pop up in perhaps the best story of the whole volume, a capper to a multi-part adventure that sees Spirit stranded in Asia and having to hoof it through the Himalayas to the nearest port back Stateside. Ebony might be a controversial character in comics. But he's also one of the most sincere and genuine characters ever crafted.

Another great volume. Maybe not Eisner's best. But I got a kick out of it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.