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.

Bongo Comics Free-For-All! (Free Comics Book Day 2018)

The final Bongo Free Comic Book Day offering. Late last year, Bongo shut down it's presses and closed it's doors after nearly 20 years in existence. The loss of Bongo Comics was maybe not the biggest story in comicdom. But I sorely felt the loss as these Simpsons themed comics have been something that the TV show hasn't been in a very long time- funny!

While I got quite a few chuckles out of this issue, I was bit disappointed as the creativity normally found in these books had disappeared. In the first story, Lisa becomes the new sidekick to Krusty the Clown. But when a mishap with a microwave puts the comedian in the hospital, it's Lisa who becomes the star of the show. 

I'm not even going to question it. I know that Lisa taking over for Krusty was the plot of an episode. When it occurred, I'm not sure. But I am pretty sure it was sometime in the past 8 years. While Bongo does add a very slight twist to the plot, I felt cheated out of a completely all-new tale. At least the other two stories aren't rip-offs of previously aired episodes. I think.

The middle story has Bart bored out of his mind during Summer vacation. Milhouse is away at camp and Marge won't let Bart waste the day playing video games inside. In order to keep himself occupied, you know that mischief will abound wherever Bart goes!

This issue wraps up with Kang and Kodos going on a human hunt. Needing an earthling to probe and observe, they scrap the bottom of the Springfield barrel by kidnapping Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel! But don't feel bad for the hillbilly as your favorite tentacled aliens have finally meet their match!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Even the first story wasn't terrible. It's just that every year I look forward to two comics every Free Comic Book Day: The Tick and this one. I felt that my annual loyalty was betrayed instead of rewarded with a story with a plot ripped from a fairly recent episode. Looking back at Bongo's liquidation, I'm wondering if the company had let go most of their staff at the time of this book's creation. Thus, ideas (and I'm sure morale) were at an all-time low.

Worth Consuming- but I'm not 100% happy about it!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Thor Annual 17 (Citizen Kang Part 2)

Well, now Captain America and Vision are missing. So, Thor is sent to investigate. His arrival in the mysterious town of Timely sends him back in time to Medieval Europe, where he comes face to face with sometime Fantastic Four baddie, Prester John. Thor’s arrival has cause the potential peace between England and the Norsemen to be in jeopardy. If the Avenger can’t fix things soon, this event could damage the entire space-time continuum.

This isn’t the Thor we all know and love. Odinson has somehow been replaced with a bearded construction worker named Eric. This is probably the least familiar era of Thor comics to me. But this is a very good read and hasn’t turned me off of the god of Thunder.

Along with this story, we get more of Kang the Conqueror’s back story, an awesome tale starring the Warriors Three and Ulik, the savage troll, a look at Thor’s top 10 villains, and an awesome pin-up of classic Thor versus Ulik.

Sure, my Thor isn’t in this but the story and art is proof why he’s becoming one of my all-time favorite superheroes.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Avengers (2010-2012), Vol. 1

I haven’t read a current Avengers framed story in quite some time. What little I know is piecemeal from reading trade mags and website news. Oh, and lots of Wiki-reading.

So, I found this book in my library and thought that since I had issue 1, I could save myself the trouble of getting the rest of the series and check it out for free.

The Avengers have regrouped once again after the Dark Reign storyline in which heroes were outlawed and the villains ruled and kept the peace. Here, Kang invades the team and warns them that their children will one day destroy the world. Later, it’s discovered that Kang’s battle with the youngsters did more damage than expected by destroying the space-time continuum!

Just about everyone's favorite characters is here- Wolverine, Captain America, Steve Rogers, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, EVEN Spider-man. It’s a time-travel storyline so, it gets a little confusing. But it is still very good. The art is fantastic and the cover gallery is stunning featuring artist favs such as John Romita Jr.

I enjoyed this book very much and I think Marvel’s take on “The Heroic Age” is really good and it makes me want to start reading current Marvel tales again.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.