Monday, April 7, 2014

Groove's Faves: "Ant-Man No More!" by Friedrich and Russell

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're wrapping up Mike Friedrich's nearly-forgotten Ant-Man series from Marvel Feature. As a kid, this was one of my fave series, and I have to say, despite the silly villain, I dig this finale from Marvel Feature #10 (April 1973). My reasons? 1) P. Craig Russell is coming into his own as an artist. Frank Chiarmonte's usually heavy inks don't hide Russell's rapidly-growing style. 2) A super-villain who lives in a trailer. (As I've said before, Friedrich was great at giving us weird/ironic twists a la Steve Gerber before Gerber started in that direction, himself!) 3) An Avengers cameo! 4) And that final page, in which Friedrich and Russell totally and charmingly capture Hank and Jan's relationship--plus the reveal of how/why Hank was narrating this whole series in such a, as Jan puts it, "poetic" way. Check it out, baby...
Cover art by P. Craig Russell and Dan Adkins w/Frank Giacoia












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5 comments:

  1. Edo BosnarApril 7, 2014 at 6:26 AM

    Thanks for posting this (and all those other Ant Man stories from Marvel Feature). I really like Russell's art, and it's nice to see some of his earlier efforts showcased.
    And yes, I like the ending. That's the way I always like to think of Jan and Hank: an only apparently incompatible couple who actually carry on like a pair of frisky teenagers behind closed doors...

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  2. Mike MikulovskyApril 7, 2014 at 9:14 AM

    Always loved Hank Pym Ant-Man & all his other identities. I absolutely hated what Marvel did with him. Uncalled for & destroyed one of their iconic characters. I mean he was/ is one of the founding Avengers! Come on! Give the guy a break, they didn't even have the class. To feature him & the Wasp in the Avengers movie! GGGrrrr!! Thanks for posting all these great stories!

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  3. AnonymousApril 7, 2014 at 2:20 PM

    Na na na na na na na na Ant Man!
    Na na na na na na na na Ant Man!
    Ant Man!
    Ant Man!
    A...ah forget it.

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  4. SeanApril 9, 2014 at 4:37 PM

    I didn't realize it until I started reading the story, but I read the as a little kid. The scary Wasp on the next-to-last page gave me nightmares! And the nice Wasp on the last page made me feel all funny...

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  5. Mike D.September 30, 2014 at 7:09 PM

    What was the back up story? Do you remember?

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