Ant-Man: Season One

Marvel Season One

by Tom DeFalco, Horacio Domingues (Illustrator)

Legendary writer Tom DeFalco (Amazing Spider-Man) and acclaimed artist Horacio Domingues (Fantastic True Story) bring you the origins of the original Avenger, Ant-Man! Hank Pym has had a life full of adventure and success, failure and humiliation! Known by a variety of names like Ant Man, Giant-Man, Goliath and Yellow Jacket, he's been an innovative scientist, a famed super-hero, an abusive spouse and more! What demons drive a man like Hank Pym? How did he begin his career as a super-hero? ANT MAN SEASON tells the story of the man behind the myth and reveals the fears and paranoia that propelled him to greatest heights and the darkest depths!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Hardcover

First published July 10, 2012

About the author

Tom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well-known for his association with Marvel Comics and Spider-Man.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. This was ok.
Definitely not the worst of the Season One bunch, but also nothing I'd recommend to casual comic readers.
Be warned: this is Hank Pym, not Scott Lange.
So, you know, brace yourself for the inevitable angst-fest.



I've never read an Ant-Man origin story (that I remember), so for that reason alone this had automatic appeal for me. Also, I'd forgotten about Hank's first wife, Maria! I vaguely remember something about her from somewhere, but...
Anyway, this is set before his time with Janet or the Avengers.



If you've read Season One stuff before, you'll know what to expect. For any of you who don't know what Season One is? Um. It's just basically an updated/reimagined version of some character's origin story. These stories aren't wildly different (like DC's Earth One), but they aren't exactly word for word originals, either.



If you're interested in Hank Pym, then this one isn't bad. Otherwise, you can give it a pass.

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

My reaction to seeing that Marvel did one of these Season One stories for Ant-Man was pretty much the same reaction I had when I heard they were doing an Ant-Man movie. Really?

But on reflection it does make a certain amount of sense. Hank Pym goes back to the early days of the Marvel comic universe, and he was a founding member of the Avengers so giving him a reboot with the rest of the gang helps create consistency. However, his history of wife slapping and mental health issues also make him problematic.

This does a fairly good job of laying groundwork for some of the problems he’d have later with a young Hank grieving over his murdered first wife and struggling with his paranoid tendencies as well as his overbearing father. This creates a sympathetic guy you can see destined for trouble down the road. The origin stuff is OK with a plot that gives somewhat plausible reasons why a guy would shrink himself down and talk to ants.

It’s not great, but it was a decent reboot.

[Nicolo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never realized before reading this graphic novel that Ant-Man had enough back story to be retold as a Season One hardcover. I've always thought of Hank Pym as a great supporting character and after reading this book, he's better off as a team player.

Thus, I can understand the direction the MCU movies took, with Pym relegated to the background and Scott Lang, as portrayed by Paul Rudd, the main character.

[Kirkirvarpa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keistų komiksų herojų netrūksta. Bet šitas - vienas keisčiausių. Herojus, kuris valdo skruzdes ir heroizmo akimirkomis susitraukia iki jų dydžio. Komiksus mėgstu, bet šitas man pernelyg neįprastas. Susipažinau ir užteks.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story and characters with tons of potential are wasted on the book by sub-par dialogues and art.

[TK421 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the backstory of Pym but he is better off with a team.

[Jaye Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was lowkey cursed for how much I had to look at giant bugs.💀 This is Hank Pym's Ant-Man origin story, not Scott Lang so I was already a little sus. I'm not sure what it is about Hank Pym but he just gives me bad vibes?? He doesn't even DO anything wrong but I'm just like pls stay away from me. It was interesting to see when he first becomes Ant-Man and honestly all the actual ant stuff was cute but also death to all these little fuckers.

I couldn't find the exact edition on GR but my copy from the library also had Scott Lang's first issue too and that was seriously my favorite part of this lol. Like I want to rate this higher JUST because of that last issue with him but no, this is Hank's story so he'll get the rating he earned with his tragic backstory. I gotta read more Scott Lang though omg.

Always a big (heh) fan of giant man as well.

[Eva B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hank Pym is one of my favorite characters (sorry) so of course I liked this one. Could have done without the giant spider though!

[MB Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very different retelling of the origin of Ant-Man. DeFalco makes a common change to origin stories by injecting later enemies into the story. I've never seen the necessity in doing this.

DeFalco injects Egghead into the original Ant-Man story (from "Tales to Astonish" #27) changing it from the simple story of a scientist's mistake into a story of a failed murder attempt. Along the way we meet Egghead (who originally appeared a couple issues into Ant-Man's super hero career) and Bill Foster (who originally helped Henry Pym in the early days of the Avengers when Pym was Goliath).

Ant-Man Season One starts with Pym in therapy after the death of his first wife. Throughout the story Pym is presented as a somewhat mentally unstable individual, laying some foundation for his later collapses. I've always liked Giant-Man (I started reading comics too late to read the early Ant-Man stories) and really enjoyed Pym as Goliath in the early Avengers. Consequently I've never liked the mental problem various writers saddled him with later.

All that said, DeFalco is a good writer and I enjoyed the story as sort of an alternate version of Ant-Man. For some reason the art reminded me of cartoon animation, a style I'm not a fan of. But, it's still one of the better Season One books.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well....it wasn't baaaad...but it sure wasn't gooood. Was looking forward to an origin story about Hank Pym, who really is probably the least represented major Avenger. I mean he shows up randomly all the time, is always involved in storylines, yet it feels like he's always in the background...However, this story is pretty juvenile. The artwork is pretty but has a teenage feel to it, which I don't really care for, but that's just an opinion thing from me. It was nice to see Bill Foster show up, but some of the bad guy stuff was ridiculous. It's like they took a great idea and someone told them to make it more out there. Now I seriously feel like I need a comprehensive Ant-Man/Hank Pym guide of books to read.

[Klinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the art in this graphic novel, it was simple, but very clear and straight forward.

Unfortunately the content bored me a little and at some points was predictable. Sometimes, as I've said about other 'Season One' graphic novels, it was just too cheesy. And if something's bad, it's bad to the core and the other way around. This complete black-white (evil-good) picture really annoys me and makes it a bit hard to read. But I guess that's what superhero novels are about.

[Pryscila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Pym's back story and I actually loved how paranoid he was as a person, it made his solutions all the more impressive.
I did however find the art style to be a bit cartoony and i wasn't a huge fan of the style.

[Andrew Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reimagining of Hank Pym’s journey to becoming the astonishing Ant-Man. Up to date, modern and stylish, this retelling discusses the themes that will later plague Pym and sets him up for further updated adventures. I love the way that Pym’s paranoia and mental illnesses are further developed. These are core attributes to understanding the man, one of the most under rated in the whole of Marveldom.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid read, an origin story for Hank and how he became Ant-Man after his wife's death, dealing with depression and all that, it's a retelling of the first few issues from the 60s, unfortunately
we still have that Egghead dumbass on the script, but the whole thing is of course much better written and reworked. Great artwork too.

[Art the Turtle of Amazing Girth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.07

Solid enough retelling of Hank's origin

Don't go into this with hopes of Avengers of Jan though, it is before them

[Yvonne Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am just dipping my toe, so I don't know much, but so far, I prefer Scott Lang to Hank Pym.

[Bárbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't have one good thing to say about this one. Predictable and boring until the end.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Ant-Man: Season One is a glossy origins story, reintroducing certain characters in new roles and creating a different personna for the eponymous character. However, the story is shallow and the plot skews very childish.

Hank Pym is a man on the edge. He lost his beloved wife and has become paranoid that his research is going to be stolen and used for the greed of others. Even his father doesn't believe him. When a new assistant arrives, Hank tries to hide his new breakthrough discoveries: gasses that can shrink or make something larger and a helmet based upon his dead wife's research that can communicate with insects. When he is proven correct about his boss, egghead, being prepared to steal his work and have him murdered, he fights back.

Honestly, this whole book came off as being pretty silly. The artwork is lovely but is far too juvenile - Hank looks like he's 21 and Egghead looks like a Charlie Brown version of Lex Luthor. I think this artwork would have been perfect for a YA book like Alex Stormrider but somehow takes all the gravitas away from this Marvel superhero.

In addition to the lovely but very youth-oriented illustrations, the concept, characters, plot, and overall story also feel very immature. I would expect this on a show for very young kids and they might be happy with it. But I had a hard time getting into it without snickering.

Neither the artwork nor the story is unprofessional. But I feel they would have worked better as a vehicle for a very young/pre-tween crowd.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yipes. Just.... yipes. Having known next to nothing about Ant Man before reading this, I kind of thought this might be a good use of Marvel's Season One concept. It would teach me the origins of a character I knew next to nothing about. And it did. Only the story was TERRIBLE. Seriously, this is Ant Man? This guy is a superhero? First of all the characters in here were so paper thin it was almost laughable. Egghead? Seriously? Giant Killer wasps? Seriously? The plot is way too pat (his dead fiancee's experimental invention just happens to save the day!) and even the powers are kinda, well, lame. He has the power to shrink and make himself huge. Yey? Overall just an example of a bad comics story.

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never thought I'd be a fan of Ant-Man, but after reading this relaunch title, I think I just might be a fan. Very well-written with solid artwork, I don't understand why this beautiful book is getting such low reviews - the character has been updated, modernized, and revamped with a new origin story and has quite a cynical edge to reflect the battlefield that is modern corporate America. There's really nothing to dislike about it and it has me actually looking forward to the upcoming feature film - and I haven't been to a movie in over two years.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun romp with more depth than expected but also a bit too much detail and talking-head-material without it being especially revelatory or new. Still, the story acknowledges a number of flaws introduced to the character after the fact but doesn't dominate the story with them or mute Hank's heroism by touching on said flaws. In fact, it celebrates his triumphing over those mental flaws by insisting it makes him more heroic for it.

[Nesrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is an alternate, expanded version of Ant-Man’s origin and early career. Here, Henry Pym is a scientist who recently lost his wife in a terrorist attack in Budapest. Maria was to present her new theories on communication with ants to a symposium on behalf of their employers at Egghead, Inc - a tech company. But Pym falls into depression and paranoia, and after spending months recovering, he’s forced back to work by his father. Pym continues work alongside a new assistant, Bill Foster, and develops working prototypes of his shrinking and growth formulae, but in the process he comes to believe Elihas Starr, the owner of the company, is responsible for his wife’s death. After seeing the prototype formulae work, Starr (aka Egghead) orders Pym killed. Some of Starr’s men toss Pym into his own test chamber and shrink him down to ant-size. After an ordeal in an anthill, Pym decides he will use his discoveries, along with his wife’s to expose Starr and clear his name.

This definitely provides a new look at the origin of Ant-Man and updates it to the cut-throat corporate culture of more modern times. The inclusion of additional characters from Henry Pym’s life like Bill Foster (Giant-Man or Goliath in regular Marvel continuity) make this a little more well-rounded. It’s nice to see Pym have a partner in the early days of creating the helmet and working the various liquids into gases. It is a bit disappointing to see that Pym doesn’t develop all the tech he uses as Ant-Man, but that’s just a small gripe. While there is a brief mention of Janet Van Dyne (the future Wasp) she’s not seen in this book, mimicking the early stories in Tales to Astonish.

There is a lot of focus on Pym’s mental health throughout the issue. While many Marvel fans know that Pym will have several issues throughout his life, they weren’t made apparent in his early appearances. Here his paranoia is made clear very early and regularly, and his depression over his wife’s death is felt early in the book and provides some of the impetus to his desire for revenge. He has moments of likeability, but you kind of wish he’d stop obsessing over his own paranoia - we got it!

The art is really nothing special. It’s fairly basic and oftentimes very cartoony. There are times when some characters look like they’re in an Archie or Scooby-Doo comic. Even some of the poses look like they’re meant for more of a kids’ book. I will give Tedesco kudos for some detailed and scary looking insects. His hornets are really kind of terrifying - especially when enlarged!

Overall, it was a decent read, but it lacked some of the unabashed fun of the actual early appearances of Ant-Man.

[Joseph R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a modernizing reboot of the Ant-Man character, Hank Pym travels with his wife Maria to Budapest for a science conference. They are supposed to meet at a restaurant but Hank runs late and gets there just as a terrorist bomb destroys the building. The story jumps forward to Hank with a therapist trying to deal with his issues. He's had a bunch of mental health problems throughout his life, making him a bit paranoid. His overbearing father pulls him out of the appointment and bullies him into working for Egghead Innovations. They want to develop the technology that Maria was working on. Hank suspects the company of orchestrating her death and wanting to monetize her discoveries without giving credit. He's given a lab partner, Bill Foster, whom he suspects is a spy. Bill contributes to discovering how to use Pym Particles (which Hank wanted to name after his wife, but the company already announced it) to make things smaller and larger. After conducting a successful experiment, two security guards burst in. Hank is fired and the company wants all the materials, including the research. They wind up shrinking Hank, who manages to flee. But he is going to get revenge on the company and Elihas Starr, the evil corporate honcho who clearly has no good intentions (though his skull is indeed egg-shaped).

The story follows a very paint-by-numbers plot, which would be okay if other parts made up the deficit. Hank is sympathetically depicted but the other characters are much more two-dimensional, except when they need to provide more drama or a plot twist. These instances come off very unconvincingly, like when the security guards know how to use the miniaturization equipment on Hank, or when Bill betrays Hank but then instantly is back on his side. No wonder Hank has mental issues! The art is just okay and occasional jokes lighten the mood. Overall, this is not a satisfying reboot for Ant-Man.

The book also has the first issue of Avengers Academy, where Hank Pym gathers a bunch of young people with superpowers. They were all taken in by Norman Osborne who tried to develop their powers for his own nefarious purposes. Now, they are training to be heroes. They seem like an interesting enough set of new characters but I do not plan to read more about them.

Not recommended--there's nothing terrible here other than an impression of blandness.

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fresh, modern take on Hank Pym’s origins, "Ant-Man: Season One" does exactly what it sets out to do: reintroduce one of Marvel’s most underestimated heroes to a contemporary audience. Tom DeFalco gives us a fast-paced story that balances science, action, and character growth, while Horacio Domingues’ art captures both the intimacy of Pym’s personal struggles and the spectacle of superhero battles.
What I especially appreciated is how the book bridges old and new. While it updates the setting and dynamics, it doesn’t abandon Ant-Man’s roots. Egghead—always one of the most intriguing villains of the '60s run of Ant.Man—returns here as a figure who thrives on wealth and privilege, a manipulator who feels disturbingly current. His presence gives the story a sharper edge than expected, and makes for a satisfying antagonist.
This volume is accessible enough for new readers, but also enjoyable for long-time Marvel fans who want to see how the classics are reimagined. It’s an entertaining entry point into Ant-Man’s world and a reminder of why his story has endured.

[Rangga Sukmawijaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Komik pertama di seri Season One yang saya baca. Ceritanya tentang sejarah munculnya Ant-Man. Tentang bagaimana Henry Pym memutuskan untuk menjadi Ant-Man.
Ant-Man tidak pernah jadi tokoh superhero favorit saya, jadi soal sejarah bagaimana ia muncul tidak pernah saya ambil pusing. Yang membuat saya membaca komik ini adalah karena Ant-Man sering muncul dalam cerita Avengers walaupun tidak pernah dominan, dan saya tahu dia (bersama Wasp) merupakan pendiri The Avengers. Henry Pym atau Hank Pym adalah salah satu sosok jenius lain dalam semesta Marvel selain Reed Richards, Tony Stark, dan Henry McCoy. Jadi tidak ada salahnya mengintip bagaimana kiat Marvel "mengawinkan" kejeniusan dengan aksi lewat sosok Ant-Man. Dari sisi cerita menurut saya "okelah", gambarnya juga.

[Jim Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #49 of 2019: While not perfect, Tom DeFalco’s retelling of Hank Pym’s beginnings as Ant-Man was a worthy story that explored the origins of one of Marvel’s most interesting characters. I’ve always found Hank Pym to be compelling — his mental health struggles strangely both lead to and prevent him from being a traditional superhero. It’s the Hank Pym part of the Ant-Man (later Giant Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket) character that makes him so complex, and DeFalco captures that here. This is probably one of the better Season One volumes.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright intro to ant-man but also a bit flat.

Rewriting Hank Pym’s ant man’s originstory and showing Hank as the righteous victim isn’t really my cuppa. I like how Pym’s character usually is so duplicitous- absolute genius and (to some, redeemed) wife beater. Doesn’t really give Hank or anyone else much depth. Very cartoonish too.

I suspect that Season One is intended as a gateway arch for younger and nee readers.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled across the 'Season One' series on Marvel Unlimited and picked the one retelling the original backstory of the character I knew the least about. Not sure I remember ever reading much Ant-Man but I suspect this was not a good place to start. It's... fine. All the scenes with giant bugs were fun but the story itself, and the villain Egghead felt so, so dated (even with this modern re-skin). Wasn't much for the art style either.

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I'm not sure I'm behind the concept of these Season 1 stories anyway....do we need to reimagine these characters' origins? That being said, this is not good....from the typo on the first page to the idea that any business would be called Egghead Innovations, this book is just a mystery to me. I also don't like the idea that Henry Pym is always a crazy man, no matter what.