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The Unstoppable Wasp (2017) (Collected Editions) #1
The Unstoppable Wasp Vol. 1: Unstoppable!
Collects The Unstoppable Wasp #1-4; All-New, All-Different Avengers #14.
Nadia spent the entire first half of her life a captive of the Red Room, but now this teenage super scientist is spreading her wings! Hank Pym's daughter has a lot of time to make up for, and she's determined to change the world. With Jarvis at her side, she's on a mission to bring together the brightest girl geniuses of the Marvel Universe - starting with Lunella Lafayette, the miraculous Moon Girl! But Nadia didn't count on evil scientists, man-eating giant rats or Devil Dinosaur - or the lethal lady wrestlers known as the Grapplers! And even as Nadia's recruiting drive continues, the Red Room is on her trail - and they'll pull out all the stops to get her back! Can the geniuses of G.I.R.L. find a way to save Nadia from being dragged back to the bunker?
Nadia spent the entire first half of her life a captive of the Red Room, but now this teenage super scientist is spreading her wings! Hank Pym's daughter has a lot of time to make up for, and she's determined to change the world. With Jarvis at her side, she's on a mission to bring together the brightest girl geniuses of the Marvel Universe - starting with Lunella Lafayette, the miraculous Moon Girl! But Nadia didn't count on evil scientists, man-eating giant rats or Devil Dinosaur - or the lethal lady wrestlers known as the Grapplers! And even as Nadia's recruiting drive continues, the Red Room is on her trail - and they'll pull out all the stops to get her back! Can the geniuses of G.I.R.L. find a way to save Nadia from being dragged back to the bunker?
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2017
24 people are currently reading
745 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Whitley
410 books334 followersJeremy Whitley is the son of two teachers and the husband of a third.
Born in La Mesa, CA, Jeremy went to high school in Lenoir, NC and college at The University of North Carolina. He graduated with a Bachelors in English, and a minor in Creative Writing.
Jeremy lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife Alicia and his two daughters Zuri and Amara.
Jeremy is the writer/creator of the comic series Princeless, Raven the Pirate Princess, School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and The Dog Knight. He is also the writer of the acclaimed Marvel series "The Unstoppable Wasp". His other works include extensive work for Marvel, the "Sea of Thieves" comics, and over sixty issues of My Little Pony comics.
Awards and Nominations:
3 time Glyph Winner
5 time Glyph Nominee
2 time Eisner Nominee
2 time Cyblis Nominee
2 time Bloomer Nominee
1 time Most Likely to Succeed Winner
Born in La Mesa, CA, Jeremy went to high school in Lenoir, NC and college at The University of North Carolina. He graduated with a Bachelors in English, and a minor in Creative Writing.
Jeremy lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife Alicia and his two daughters Zuri and Amara.
Jeremy is the writer/creator of the comic series Princeless, Raven the Pirate Princess, School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and The Dog Knight. He is also the writer of the acclaimed Marvel series "The Unstoppable Wasp". His other works include extensive work for Marvel, the "Sea of Thieves" comics, and over sixty issues of My Little Pony comics.
Awards and Nominations:
3 time Glyph Winner
5 time Glyph Nominee
2 time Eisner Nominee
2 time Cyblis Nominee
2 time Bloomer Nominee
1 time Most Likely to Succeed Winner
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
April 6, 2018
Nadia Pym, daughter of Hank Pym and his first wife, spent the first part of her life in the Red Room, learning to best hone her genius. Now she's tasting life for the first time and looking for other female geniuses and fighting crime as The Unstoppable Wasp!
Every once in a while, I get in the mood to read super hero comics published in the last few years. It's at that point I'm glad I keep forgetting to cancel my Marvel Unlimited description. Since my wife and I rewatched Ant-Man last week, I gave this a got.
The Unstoppable Wasp is one of those quirky books I can't imagine Marvel taking a chance on five years ago. Not that they gave it much of a chance since it's already been cancelled. Because we need more comics rehashing the same shit rather than breaking new ground or some shit. Sour grapes aside, I really enjoyed this.
First off, the art: Elsa Charretier reminds me of the art on Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run. It's delightfully retro but has a style all it's own, understated but full of energy. Loved it.
The story is driven by Nadia's innocence after spending her childhood cooped up in a secret Russian facility. Jeremy Whitely's plot, Nadia gathering other girl geniuses, seems simple enough but the character of Nadia pulls it along. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older but I latched on to Nadia's innocence and youthful exhuberance right away. Nadia learning about the world while recruiting her girl geniuses charmed the shit out of me.
The same things that appeal to me about Mike Allred's Madman appeal to me about this book. It has a lot of what I loved about comics as a kid and still do. Giant robots, Devil Dinosaur, jokes about Jarvis being Nadia's grandpa, it's all here.
Rather than continuously restarting and rebooting books, Marvel needs to push books like this instead of the same old bullshit. Do we really need yet another X-Men or Avengers book instead of a fun book that would draw in new readers of all ages or, god forbid, make comics more accessible for young girls?
The Unstoppable Wasp. Fucking loved it. Five out of five stars.
Every once in a while, I get in the mood to read super hero comics published in the last few years. It's at that point I'm glad I keep forgetting to cancel my Marvel Unlimited description. Since my wife and I rewatched Ant-Man last week, I gave this a got.
The Unstoppable Wasp is one of those quirky books I can't imagine Marvel taking a chance on five years ago. Not that they gave it much of a chance since it's already been cancelled. Because we need more comics rehashing the same shit rather than breaking new ground or some shit. Sour grapes aside, I really enjoyed this.
First off, the art: Elsa Charretier reminds me of the art on Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run. It's delightfully retro but has a style all it's own, understated but full of energy. Loved it.
The story is driven by Nadia's innocence after spending her childhood cooped up in a secret Russian facility. Jeremy Whitely's plot, Nadia gathering other girl geniuses, seems simple enough but the character of Nadia pulls it along. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older but I latched on to Nadia's innocence and youthful exhuberance right away. Nadia learning about the world while recruiting her girl geniuses charmed the shit out of me.
The same things that appeal to me about Mike Allred's Madman appeal to me about this book. It has a lot of what I loved about comics as a kid and still do. Giant robots, Devil Dinosaur, jokes about Jarvis being Nadia's grandpa, it's all here.
Rather than continuously restarting and rebooting books, Marvel needs to push books like this instead of the same old bullshit. Do we really need yet another X-Men or Avengers book instead of a fun book that would draw in new readers of all ages or, god forbid, make comics more accessible for young girls?
The Unstoppable Wasp. Fucking loved it. Five out of five stars.
March 26, 2018
I wanted to like this more than I did. I'm all for any book that promotes STEM. I work in the tech industry and have worked with 3 female developers in 20+ years. So anything that gets girls interested in math and science I'm all for.
Nadia is a ray of sunshine but I found her a little too "squee" for me. The book would be improved with a better balance of supporting cast members. Nadia works well in a team dynamic because there are other characters for her to play off of. That balance is sorely needed here.
Nadia is a ray of sunshine but I found her a little too "squee" for me. The book would be improved with a better balance of supporting cast members. Nadia works well in a team dynamic because there are other characters for her to play off of. That balance is sorely needed here.
October 4, 2017
My journey with Unstoppable Wasp was:
1) OMG, Jeremy Whitley is writing a Wasp book? Yay!
2) WTF, it's not about Janet? Who's NADIA?
3) I love Nadia.
4) I would die for Nadia.
5) wtf Unstoppable Wasp is canceled already?
sigh. nothing gold can stay, but this is a delightful, charming character and a really fun, really feminist series.
1) OMG, Jeremy Whitley is writing a Wasp book? Yay!
2) WTF, it's not about Janet? Who's NADIA?
3) I love Nadia.
4) I would die for Nadia.
5) wtf Unstoppable Wasp is canceled already?
sigh. nothing gold can stay, but this is a delightful, charming character and a really fun, really feminist series.
July 13, 2018
"Anyway, the lab idea is that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stark and Banner and other men have been doing the mentoring and selecting and training, so of course they know who the next "geniuses" are. But what if they're just finding young versions of themselves? What if they're overlooking the girls?"
4 stars.
Whoa. I really, really liked this one. And I wasn't expecting it because it's bubbly and silly fun, and super light until for a short moment it isn't anymore and dammit, I love Nadia and she deserves to be protected. Too pure for this world.
I pretty much haven't read marvel for a few years now, sooooo, I didn't know anything about Nadia, but this is an amazing volume that sets you up from page 1, with help from Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird and Jarvis, you get an amazing introduction to this character and at the end of this volume, you get the bonus content of All-New, All-Different Avengers #14, which gives you a direct prequel of this story and it's not only a beautiful issue to look at, but it actually provides so much development and characterization to both Nadia and to her relationship with Janet. Plus, it was a simple way to connect the characters to the Civil War II arc, without interfering at all on that storythank god nor interrupting the flow of this one.
The main plot here is Nadia's arrival to America after escaping the Red Room. If you don't know, Nadia is the daughter of Hank Pym from his first marriage. She was raised in the Red Room, and although she wasn't trained to be an assassin, she has some skills and she has been studying his dad's work all her life, so she is a brilliant scientist, but thank god, her personality is way different to her dad's. She is pretty much a ray of sunshine.
Anyway, after meeting her childhood hero and inspiration, Barbara Morse, aka Mockingbird, she decides to found G.I.R.L, Genius In action Research Labs. And makes her mission to find brilliant young girls who need a bit of help to succeed.
The artwork here is so beautiful, the colouring is simple but so fun, the colors are vibrant and the way the panels are structured make the page so dyinamic and full of energy, I just loved it.
This is a delightful story and the idea of using this as a way to make little girls say YES SCIENCE is pretty damn badass.
4 stars.
Whoa. I really, really liked this one. And I wasn't expecting it because it's bubbly and silly fun, and super light until for a short moment it isn't anymore and dammit, I love Nadia and she deserves to be protected. Too pure for this world.
I pretty much haven't read marvel for a few years now, sooooo, I didn't know anything about Nadia, but this is an amazing volume that sets you up from page 1, with help from Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird and Jarvis, you get an amazing introduction to this character and at the end of this volume, you get the bonus content of All-New, All-Different Avengers #14, which gives you a direct prequel of this story and it's not only a beautiful issue to look at, but it actually provides so much development and characterization to both Nadia and to her relationship with Janet. Plus, it was a simple way to connect the characters to the Civil War II arc, without interfering at all on that story
The main plot here is Nadia's arrival to America after escaping the Red Room. If you don't know, Nadia is the daughter of Hank Pym from his first marriage. She was raised in the Red Room, and although she wasn't trained to be an assassin, she has some skills and she has been studying his dad's work all her life, so she is a brilliant scientist, but thank god, her personality is way different to her dad's. She is pretty much a ray of sunshine.
Anyway, after meeting her childhood hero and inspiration, Barbara Morse, aka Mockingbird, she decides to found G.I.R.L, Genius In action Research Labs. And makes her mission to find brilliant young girls who need a bit of help to succeed.
The artwork here is so beautiful, the colouring is simple but so fun, the colors are vibrant and the way the panels are structured make the page so dyinamic and full of energy, I just loved it.
This is a delightful story and the idea of using this as a way to make little girls say YES SCIENCE is pretty damn badass.
February 24, 2018
I wanted to like this so much cause of the message and what this book stands for but the writing really needs work.
World: The art is fantastic, it's beautiful, it's stylish and it's full of character. The world building is solid, it's a bit piece meal and slap dash but I do like the large amount of cameos for the book. I love the idea of creating a little piece of the MU for Nadia.
Story: I love me a strong realistic female characters. I love DeConnick's Bitch Planet insanely and I love the wonderfully strong and real female characters we are seeing now in comic books from the women of Giant Days, Spider-Gwen, Jessica Drew, Kamala Khan, Squirrel Girl, Moon Girl, to Babs, Kate, Lois and Selina post DC Rebirth the landscape for strong female lead books with a female voice is a welcome. Nadia falls into this category and I love that about it, the book clearly has a message to tell and it's the big big driving force of the book. I love the letter page showcasing women in STEM if I was a teenage girl I would be encouraged and inspired and this would be great! But the book lacks something that makes this book a truly enjoyable one and that's a story. The pacing in the first 4 issues (plus the 1 All New All Different Avengers issue) are rather slow and paced poorly. Nadia is a wonderfully written character full of lift and positive vibes and her manifesto and G.I.R.L. is great (much like Waid's Champions) but the book needs a story to put these beautiful ideas and ideals to draw readers in and that's where I think this book fails, there is a lot of puddle hopping with meeting people and barely a story to tie together to make the book emotionally resonating. Where Bitch Planet starts off very quickly for readers to latch onto characters and you see the world through them and their struggle there is no driving force for readers to enter Nadia's journey. The book feels impersonal and a series of Nadia gushing over her new teammates but that's about it. Sure there's the Ying storyline but that also needs to be developed further with more backstory and depth. I'm really sad the meandering point to point story was not what Nadia deserved.
Characters: I love Nadia, her voice is beautiful and fresh, add that her really messed up upbringing I would have loved to have more development in that area, allow for readers to feel and see why she is the way she is. I don't mind the bubble gum and rainbows tone I don't but characters also need different shades to fill out the character and we did get it to some degree but not enough. I really don't want her to be a caricature but it's bordering there. The rest of the cast of characters were long cameos with not enough time to fully realize each member. Maybe the book was asking for too much too soon, why not have 2-3 issues per new recruit, allow for them to actually be fully realized characters instead of a simple character that is trying to prop up the beautiful positive female centric story that Whitley was going for, it felt at time the characters were put on a pedestal and I hate that cause that's not what these women deserve, they should be real characters and putting them on pedestal and grounding the message of the book on these characters is dooming it to fail for it to feel false.
I really wanted to like this book I did, I miss the Wasp and Janet is such a beautifully flawed and deep character that has gone through so much, it would have been so beautiful to see her mentor Nadia who is a wonderful fresh new character for a new generation of readers...but yeah the story needs a lot of work.
Onward to the next book!
World: The art is fantastic, it's beautiful, it's stylish and it's full of character. The world building is solid, it's a bit piece meal and slap dash but I do like the large amount of cameos for the book. I love the idea of creating a little piece of the MU for Nadia.
Story: I love me a strong realistic female characters. I love DeConnick's Bitch Planet insanely and I love the wonderfully strong and real female characters we are seeing now in comic books from the women of Giant Days, Spider-Gwen, Jessica Drew, Kamala Khan, Squirrel Girl, Moon Girl, to Babs, Kate, Lois and Selina post DC Rebirth the landscape for strong female lead books with a female voice is a welcome. Nadia falls into this category and I love that about it, the book clearly has a message to tell and it's the big big driving force of the book. I love the letter page showcasing women in STEM if I was a teenage girl I would be encouraged and inspired and this would be great! But the book lacks something that makes this book a truly enjoyable one and that's a story. The pacing in the first 4 issues (plus the 1 All New All Different Avengers issue) are rather slow and paced poorly. Nadia is a wonderfully written character full of lift and positive vibes and her manifesto and G.I.R.L. is great (much like Waid's Champions) but the book needs a story to put these beautiful ideas and ideals to draw readers in and that's where I think this book fails, there is a lot of puddle hopping with meeting people and barely a story to tie together to make the book emotionally resonating. Where Bitch Planet starts off very quickly for readers to latch onto characters and you see the world through them and their struggle there is no driving force for readers to enter Nadia's journey. The book feels impersonal and a series of Nadia gushing over her new teammates but that's about it. Sure there's the Ying storyline but that also needs to be developed further with more backstory and depth. I'm really sad the meandering point to point story was not what Nadia deserved.
Characters: I love Nadia, her voice is beautiful and fresh, add that her really messed up upbringing I would have loved to have more development in that area, allow for readers to feel and see why she is the way she is. I don't mind the bubble gum and rainbows tone I don't but characters also need different shades to fill out the character and we did get it to some degree but not enough. I really don't want her to be a caricature but it's bordering there. The rest of the cast of characters were long cameos with not enough time to fully realize each member. Maybe the book was asking for too much too soon, why not have 2-3 issues per new recruit, allow for them to actually be fully realized characters instead of a simple character that is trying to prop up the beautiful positive female centric story that Whitley was going for, it felt at time the characters were put on a pedestal and I hate that cause that's not what these women deserve, they should be real characters and putting them on pedestal and grounding the message of the book on these characters is dooming it to fail for it to feel false.
I really wanted to like this book I did, I miss the Wasp and Janet is such a beautifully flawed and deep character that has gone through so much, it would have been so beautiful to see her mentor Nadia who is a wonderful fresh new character for a new generation of readers...but yeah the story needs a lot of work.
Onward to the next book!
February 9, 2018
This was absolutely lovely! I didn't know anything the Wasp before picking up this title, but I needn't have worried - this is a perfect place for readers who are new to this hero.
I primarily picked this up because: a) it's a lady superhero, and b) it's written by Jeremy Whitley who pens one of my favourite kids' comics Princeless. Whitley's humour shines in this imo (though mileage may vary, of course). The humour reminds of the TV show Parks and Recreation - Nadia is just SO nice and adorable (similarly to Leslie Knope) and she made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. In the hands of a less capable author, Nadia could have been turned into a saccharine Mary-Sue cliché but Whitley makes it work.
The art is great too. It deviates from the "house style" of many superhero comics and instead adopts something closer to what one find in something like Leth's run of Hellcat! or Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power. It's stylized and colourful, a perfect match for Nadia's bubbly personality.
I'm seriously so bummed out and upset that Marvel cancelled this series after only 8 issues. All my favourite lady-led supe comics seem to be getting the boot way too soon (ie. the aforementioned Hellcat, Spider-Woman, She-Hulk).
I primarily picked this up because: a) it's a lady superhero, and b) it's written by Jeremy Whitley who pens one of my favourite kids' comics Princeless. Whitley's humour shines in this imo (though mileage may vary, of course). The humour reminds of the TV show Parks and Recreation - Nadia is just SO nice and adorable (similarly to Leslie Knope) and she made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. In the hands of a less capable author, Nadia could have been turned into a saccharine Mary-Sue cliché but Whitley makes it work.
The art is great too. It deviates from the "house style" of many superhero comics and instead adopts something closer to what one find in something like Leth's run of Hellcat! or Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power. It's stylized and colourful, a perfect match for Nadia's bubbly personality.
I'm seriously so bummed out and upset that Marvel cancelled this series after only 8 issues. All my favourite lady-led supe comics seem to be getting the boot way too soon (ie. the aforementioned Hellcat, Spider-Woman, She-Hulk).
July 13, 2018
This didn't have enough story for me. Nadia Pym, the new Wasp, decides that she wants to start an all female science lab, so she goes around to visit young Marvel heroes to recruit them for her lab. The heroes are recruited and that's it. The members of the lab don't actually gather together or do any science projects (in this volume anyway). There are a few fights, but Nadia handles them all very easily, so there isn't much conflict to drive the story either. Plus, there is some confusion between science and engineering, which undercuts the message of the book. Unfortunately, the end result is a fairly boring book.
August 26, 2017
[Read as single issues]
I love Nadia Pym. She is such a ray of sunshine in a gloomy universe, and I want to hug her as tight as I can.
Fielding not only being an Avenger/Champion, but also an immigration lawsuit, and a new life goal of creating a female-only science lab, the Unstoppable Wasp manages to attract a supporting cast of wonderful young scientists as well as the put-upon Edwin Jarvis, Matt Murdock (AKA Matt Modok, because Nadia's adorable) and even the original Wasp herself - and Nadia's going to need all the help she can get when her 'friend' from the Red Room comes a'calling with murder on her mind (plus some ties to Mark Waid's Black Widow run, which is nice. Yay continuity!).
The optimism and levity that permeates these pages is a breath of fresh air for the Marvel Universe. I love the characters, I love the interactions, and I love that, at it's heart, this is about a little girl trying to find her place in the world while having to deal with some very heavy stuff in her past. It does a hell of a lot in five issues. (And of course, it gets cancelled after 9. Enormous sigh.)
Helping writer Jeremy Whitley is artist Elsa Charretier, whose quick lines and expressive faces sell Nadia and her friends just as quickly as the storyline does.
There's no stopping Nadia Pym, and for a damn good reason. Unstoppable Wasp is a totally amazing book that everyone should have read.
I love Nadia Pym. She is such a ray of sunshine in a gloomy universe, and I want to hug her as tight as I can.
Fielding not only being an Avenger/Champion, but also an immigration lawsuit, and a new life goal of creating a female-only science lab, the Unstoppable Wasp manages to attract a supporting cast of wonderful young scientists as well as the put-upon Edwin Jarvis, Matt Murdock (AKA Matt Modok, because Nadia's adorable) and even the original Wasp herself - and Nadia's going to need all the help she can get when her 'friend' from the Red Room comes a'calling with murder on her mind (plus some ties to Mark Waid's Black Widow run, which is nice. Yay continuity!).
The optimism and levity that permeates these pages is a breath of fresh air for the Marvel Universe. I love the characters, I love the interactions, and I love that, at it's heart, this is about a little girl trying to find her place in the world while having to deal with some very heavy stuff in her past. It does a hell of a lot in five issues. (And of course, it gets cancelled after 9. Enormous sigh.)
Helping writer Jeremy Whitley is artist Elsa Charretier, whose quick lines and expressive faces sell Nadia and her friends just as quickly as the storyline does.
There's no stopping Nadia Pym, and for a damn good reason. Unstoppable Wasp is a totally amazing book that everyone should have read.
November 12, 2017
Despite being about smart people, this book is stupid fun. It's the closest Marvel has come to recreating the wonder which is Squirrel Girl in a new title. You've just got to love Nadia's positivity and passion for all things science related, even if she is lousy at acronyms.
First big peeve unrelated to the quality of the creative content: Why must we recycle and make two women share the "Wasp" name, when there are so many cool insects name available that could suit Nadia? I think Marvel's preference to double up so many characters on the same name is the dumbest trend I've seen in comics in a long time.
Second big peeve unrelated to the quality of the creative content: Four issues and a reprint from another series seems pretty stingy for a first volume.
[EDIT UPDATE:
Third big peeve WHOLLY RELATED to the quality of the creative content: What IDIOT cancelled this book after only eight issues?!?!]
First big peeve unrelated to the quality of the creative content: Why must we recycle and make two women share the "Wasp" name, when there are so many cool insects name available that could suit Nadia? I think Marvel's preference to double up so many characters on the same name is the dumbest trend I've seen in comics in a long time.
Second big peeve unrelated to the quality of the creative content: Four issues and a reprint from another series seems pretty stingy for a first volume.
[EDIT UPDATE:
Third big peeve WHOLLY RELATED to the quality of the creative content: What IDIOT cancelled this book after only eight issues?!?!]
March 26, 2018
Mash together Hank Pym's brains and Black Widow's back story, mix in some try-hard attempts to sound hip and cool and you've got the Unstoppable Wasp. Marvel is at maximum capacity for underage geniuses, please find other ways to justify teens taking on the mantles of established superheroes.
October 8, 2017
Infectiously optimistic, with a laudable focus on women in STEM. A worthy addition to Marvel's efforts towards greater/better inclusion.
May 3, 2018
Not for me, I just couldn't get into the writing. So Nadia is the new wasp which I first saw in the all new all different avengers. I like Nadia, she is fresh and optimistic and fun to read. Nadia gets the idea that there should be more females represented on the smartest people list which is a cool idea. So she starts to put together an all girl team called G.I.R.L. I wish the book was this straight forward but its really not. The pages are clogged with text and for me it really slows down the story considering so much of the text is just flavor and small talk that should have been edited down. I honestly thought about calling a DNF but instead I skimmed the boring chatter and fast forwarded to the important parts. The art is also a miss for me, I wish it was better. I will not be reading more of this series
October 18, 2017
Amazing 😭😭 so delightful I love Nadia I love her girl scientist group I love Mockingbird crying over how nice Nadia is I love all the SCIENCE
November 29, 2017
I rate based on enjoyment, not quality of craft...for the most part. So, yeah, this absolutely gets 5 stars from me.
Yeah it's nothing super ground breaking, or complex, it's not a masterpiece of its craft, it's very shallow in terms of its main goal to be a teen targeted title.
But holy damn is it fun! Nadia somehow escapes the pitfall so many characters of "fish out of water stories" fall into...being cringe inducing, maturely stunted, fountains of pop culture references.
Nadia is bubbly, friendly, and undeniably charming. While the "fish out of water" tropes are there, they are handled in a way that softens the blow to make this a blast to read!
Yeah it's nothing super ground breaking, or complex, it's not a masterpiece of its craft, it's very shallow in terms of its main goal to be a teen targeted title.
But holy damn is it fun! Nadia somehow escapes the pitfall so many characters of "fish out of water stories" fall into...being cringe inducing, maturely stunted, fountains of pop culture references.
Nadia is bubbly, friendly, and undeniably charming. While the "fish out of water" tropes are there, they are handled in a way that softens the blow to make this a blast to read!
November 3, 2021
I loved the regular story, but the additional from the all-new all-different Avengers (#14) was boring and without any real connection to the main story.
June 15, 2018
Ok you guys I just read this and it is unbelievably cute??
The eponymous Unstoppable Wasp is not my queen Janet Van Dyne, although she is in this book. Instead, it is Hank Pym's daughter Nadia, whose mother was kidnapped before her birth. Nadia was subsequently raised in the Red Room before escaping as soon as she figured out Pym Particles, like an awesome girl. She searches out her father and finds out he's dead (thank God, because fuck Hank Pym amirite). Nadia is a ray of sunshine in girl form, though, so she doesn't let it get her down very long.
That's all backstory, by the way. This volume begins with Ms. Marvel taking Nadia to the immigration office to try and prove that she's an American citizen. Along the way they run into Mockingbird trying to take down... somebody in a giant metal robot, which quickly turns into Kamala and Nadia bonding over fanfiction and then Bobbie and Nadia bonding over science before Nadia decides to recruit as many girl geniuses as she can find, because the world's smartest people list containing exactly two (2) women in the top thirty is some bullshit. The remainder of the volume is taken up with Nadia, escorted by Jarvis, recruiting girls, including the joy of my life Lunella Lafayette (there is a scene with Devil Dinosaur and a giant raccoon that is a fucking delight), and also some things with one of Nadia's friends from the Red Room, and also hanging out with Janet, who seems to be Nadia's unofficial mentor/mom.
And then there's a fucking Civil War II reference. No one wanted Civil War I. Really no one wanted Civil War II. Fuck off, Civil War II, I hate you so fucking much.
Anyway. The rest of the volume is a delight. Just skip that last issue. Nobody wanted it AT ALL.
August 19, 2019
Ok. I’m almost always disappointed by most graphic novels, but this one surpasses my expectations. The story although childish still has some good ideas and concepts, it almost turned me away because It was beginning to be overly preachy about girl power, but then it quickly nipped that in the butt before it got silly. I like that Nadia: A is a pure baby who loves everyone. B is an ex redroom scientist, And C wants to support her fellow female scientists.
I also like that (spoiler) hank is dead in this because for starters hank is a useless piece of stale ham, and two because this could possibly set up Nadia finding out that her idol is not all that he’s chalked up to be. Also the art style is very good
I also like that (spoiler) hank is dead in this because for starters hank is a useless piece of stale ham, and two because this could possibly set up Nadia finding out that her idol is not all that he’s chalked up to be. Also the art style is very good
July 15, 2018
This is probably more of a 3.5 stars for me. Amazing art, but the writing is a bit juvenile. Nothing wrong with that, just not for me. This would be so great for girls interested in stem and I genuinely laughed out loud several times during the book! Can't wait to pick up the next one.
April 26, 2018
This book is fantastic! Nadia has a sufficiently ridiculous corporate superhero origin, but it doesn’t even matter. What matters is that she is a super upbeat girl who is also a scientific genius. She realizes that the list of the smartest people in the world is mostly men because it’s mostly men making the list, so she decides to look for super smart girls to join her lab G.I.R.L. (Genius In action Research Lab) because Tony Stark, T’Challa, and Amadeus Cho aren’t going to. And it’s not other superheroes she goes to look for (except for Lunella, but she is the smartest person in the world now), but regular girls who just happen to be naturally gifted. And instead of having regular letters pages at the back, this comic uses that space to showcase real women in science! That is the best thing ever!
When presented with a book like this (and Ms Marvel and Squirrel Girl and Moon Girl), I really do not understand why older comic book fans (almost exclusively men) think this is a bad thing. Nadia (and Kamala and Doreen and Lunella) are characters that both girls and boys can look up to. They are characters that show that even in a superhero universe, violence isn’t always the answer. Sometimes it’s friendship or science or both! Sometimes, you can talk things out, or you can show emotions, or you can use your brain instead of your fists, and that doesn’t make you weak, it doesn’t make you a bad superhero. I wish these older men remembered what it felt like to be a kid and look up to a superhero like Captain America or Spider-Man or Wolverine, and then ask themselves why they would want to take that feeling away from kids today.
When presented with a book like this (and Ms Marvel and Squirrel Girl and Moon Girl), I really do not understand why older comic book fans (almost exclusively men) think this is a bad thing. Nadia (and Kamala and Doreen and Lunella) are characters that both girls and boys can look up to. They are characters that show that even in a superhero universe, violence isn’t always the answer. Sometimes it’s friendship or science or both! Sometimes, you can talk things out, or you can show emotions, or you can use your brain instead of your fists, and that doesn’t make you weak, it doesn’t make you a bad superhero. I wish these older men remembered what it felt like to be a kid and look up to a superhero like Captain America or Spider-Man or Wolverine, and then ask themselves why they would want to take that feeling away from kids today.
December 3, 2017
Nadia Pym has been raised her whole life in the Red Room, but now she is free and determined to round up as many brilliant young women she can to help save the world. I actually cheered a few times as I read this. Nadia is freaking adorable and supremely brilliant. I love how it brings home the point that when men are in charge, they look for boys like them to mentor and don't even look at the brilliant girls. Nadia is changing that--she is putting together a group of brilliant scientist girls to get them all on the list of smartest people in the world, along with the only girl, Lunella. I especially loved Bobbi tearing up as Nadia fangirled over her scientific background and abilities, as she is mostly only know as Hawkeye's ex and someone with sticks. I would love to see them playing up Bobbi's science background more.
The banter was hilarious, Jarvis was adorable, poor Carol trying to deal with teenage Avengers was super funny, and no good people tried to undermine other good people--it was all about supporting and raising up.
Of course, the timeline is totally screwed up, because how can a sixteen year old be Hank's daughter from before he was a superhero? It's best not to think about timelines and just go with it.
The banter was hilarious, Jarvis was adorable, poor Carol trying to deal with teenage Avengers was super funny, and no good people tried to undermine other good people--it was all about supporting and raising up.
Of course, the timeline is totally screwed up, because how can a sixteen year old be Hank's daughter from before he was a superhero? It's best not to think about timelines and just go with it.
January 7, 2019
This is my first introduction to The Wasp and I loved it. It features Ms. Marvel, Jarvis and Moon Girl -which is the next person I plan on reading and knowing more about.
This story focuses a lot on women in STEM, trying to give women the chance to work in what they know and love and putting them on the forefront. Nadia's (The Wasp) personality is all sunshine and butterflies and it's a change that I didn't think I would like but I did. She believes she's capable of changing the world and having an influence especially that she's basically a genius and has read so much about women in STEM who have become either superheroes or villains. She makes you believe in her and in her capabilities and it's simply an entertaining read. I don't really know much about Ant Man who is presumably her father so I guess I need to catch up on that too.
I appreciate comic books that put in the effort when it comes to art and coloring and it's something I constantly mention especially if it's good because they deserve a lot of the credit, and the art in here is really good.
This story focuses a lot on women in STEM, trying to give women the chance to work in what they know and love and putting them on the forefront. Nadia's (The Wasp) personality is all sunshine and butterflies and it's a change that I didn't think I would like but I did. She believes she's capable of changing the world and having an influence especially that she's basically a genius and has read so much about women in STEM who have become either superheroes or villains. She makes you believe in her and in her capabilities and it's simply an entertaining read. I don't really know much about Ant Man who is presumably her father so I guess I need to catch up on that too.
I appreciate comic books that put in the effort when it comes to art and coloring and it's something I constantly mention especially if it's good because they deserve a lot of the credit, and the art in here is really good.
June 28, 2023
Yes, this!
The new Wasp is upbeat and makes friends wherever she goes. Like Squirrel Girl, she tries to talk out her problems first before throwing punches, and it's written very well. Inspired by the discovery that Lunella Lafayette is the smartest person in the world, Nadia sets off in search of other female supergeniuses to form a think tank called G.I.R.L. Conveniently, there are multiple young women right in the New York area.
This is definitely targeted for a younger audience, so it's probably no everyone's cup of tea. I wish there was more of this, but I know it ends after the next volume :(
The new Wasp is upbeat and makes friends wherever she goes. Like Squirrel Girl, she tries to talk out her problems first before throwing punches, and it's written very well. Inspired by the discovery that Lunella Lafayette is the smartest person in the world, Nadia sets off in search of other female supergeniuses to form a think tank called G.I.R.L. Conveniently, there are multiple young women right in the New York area.
This is definitely targeted for a younger audience, so it's probably no everyone's cup of tea. I wish there was more of this, but I know it ends after the next volume :(
August 27, 2017
What a beautiful comic. I loved this in every way: the strong, feisty, brilliant, and still vulnerable character of Nadia, daughter of Henry Pym, fugitive from the villainous Red Room, where young girls were taught to be assassins. But Nadia was also taught to be a scientist.
Now free and in the United States, Nadia has ambitions. Seeing her set out to meet them - with help, understanding, and adult assistant from the Avengers' butler Jarvis and her father's ex-wife Janet Van Dyne - is one delight piled on another.
Now free and in the United States, Nadia has ambitions. Seeing her set out to meet them - with help, understanding, and adult assistant from the Avengers' butler Jarvis and her father's ex-wife Janet Van Dyne - is one delight piled on another.
January 23, 2018
I'd seen a few quotes I liked from this series on social media which pushed me to read it and now Nadia is probably one of my favorite heroes.
Her optimism and focus on trying to find girl geniuses and give them the resources to create inventions for a better world is incredibly refreshing and I hope she becomes a popular character who can inspire other young girls.
Even with her awful past she isn't vengeful or vindictive, and instead wants to move forward and own her future, and I'm excited to see what she is able to accomplish.
Her optimism and focus on trying to find girl geniuses and give them the resources to create inventions for a better world is incredibly refreshing and I hope she becomes a popular character who can inspire other young girls.
Even with her awful past she isn't vengeful or vindictive, and instead wants to move forward and own her future, and I'm excited to see what she is able to accomplish.
September 7, 2017
I love this series so far! Nadia is such a delightful cinnamon roll I can't wait for more!
Nadia is Hank Pym's (AKA Antman's) daughter, she was raised in the Red Room but now that she's out she's trying to become a US citizen. She's also an engineering whiz on the quest to assemble a girl gang of geniuses. I loved the interviews with the female scientists in the Agents of GIRL section. And now I'm off to Etsy to see if anyone makes GIRL patches.
Nadia is Hank Pym's (AKA Antman's) daughter, she was raised in the Red Room but now that she's out she's trying to become a US citizen. She's also an engineering whiz on the quest to assemble a girl gang of geniuses. I loved the interviews with the female scientists in the Agents of GIRL section. And now I'm off to Etsy to see if anyone makes GIRL patches.
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November 11, 2017Oh, this means so well. I can only assume it’s going for an Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt vibe, not that I’ve seen that – a young woman imprisoned for years, yet surprisingly sunny in disposition and determined to make up for lost time. Plus, she’s determined to track down all the girl geniuses overlooked by a Marvel intelligentsia of Richards, Stark, Banner et al who, when mentoring the next generation, were looking for the people who reminded them of younger versions of themselves. Except, does that angle really make sense anymore? Is there space for it when Stark’s last protégé was Riri Williams (never mentioned here, as if they can see the problem – though Moon Girl guest stars, and her new place as the official world’s smartest is referenced as the inspiration for the Wasp’s project). Come to that, does Nadia’s backstory make any sense? It’s long-standing Marvel canon that Hank Pym had an East European wife, Maria, before he got together with the original Wasp, and that he lost her to Soviet agents. That she was pregnant at the time…OK, plausible twist. But then you run into Marvel’s sliding timeline, and now there’s a teenage girl running around whose mum must have been abducted behind the Iron Curtain some time between, what, 1998 and 2002? And yes, things have been darkening again of late in both Hungary and Russia, but that’s pretty much the window when this plot would be least plausible. But then, when I say Nadia is a teenager…one comment she makes about other girls her age backs that, and it’s certainly how Charretier draws her. Yet at other times she’s saying that she lost half her life in the Red Room. Has she got an unusually short lifespan for some reason? Or is she in her forties, and looking ridiculously well-preserved thanks to her own brilliant inventions? Either answer could work, or indeed a mystery which seemed deliberate, but as is it just feels like nobody quite thought it through. See also the organisation Nadia’s trying to found, G.I.R.L. - Genius In action Research Labs. Well, given you don’t want the A anyway, what was wrong with Genius In Research Labs? See also, and arguably worst of all, the backmatter, featuring interviews with real world women working in STEM. This is a bloody brilliant idea for inspiring readers…except that an editorial mishap reproduces a chunk from one of their answers and attributes it to another! That might be forgivable in the original monthly - accidents happen, after all - but reproducing it in the collection is very poor.
Make no mistake: for all the grief Marvel has been getting in certain quarters about their diversity agenda, it has resulted in a load of books I love. Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Moon Girl, Ultimates, Hellcat and Ms Marvel piss all over most of their supposedly 'classic' output. But Marvel always seem incapable of looking at a range of books which work without having a Mr Creosote moment, and this series feels like the wafer-thin mint. Stars from those other books are brought in for guest spots – and then pretty much reproduced in the supporting cast. The dialogue is consistently sunny without ever quite being funny; the story seems afraid of ever letting anything approaching real jeopardy disturb the relentlessly upbeat tone. When you compare it to DC’s current strategy ("How many Batmans can we publish a month? What about if we also have an event where Batman fights an alternate Justice League who are all naughty Batmans and one of them has a Batman for a sword?”), I’m glad that Marvel’s bad books were at least bad books coming from a good place. But ultimately, I can’t be too surprised that that fate-tempting double Unstoppable in the title was given the lie with cancellation after eight issues.
Make no mistake: for all the grief Marvel has been getting in certain quarters about their diversity agenda, it has resulted in a load of books I love. Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Moon Girl, Ultimates, Hellcat and Ms Marvel piss all over most of their supposedly 'classic' output. But Marvel always seem incapable of looking at a range of books which work without having a Mr Creosote moment, and this series feels like the wafer-thin mint. Stars from those other books are brought in for guest spots – and then pretty much reproduced in the supporting cast. The dialogue is consistently sunny without ever quite being funny; the story seems afraid of ever letting anything approaching real jeopardy disturb the relentlessly upbeat tone. When you compare it to DC’s current strategy ("How many Batmans can we publish a month? What about if we also have an event where Batman fights an alternate Justice League who are all naughty Batmans and one of them has a Batman for a sword?”), I’m glad that Marvel’s bad books were at least bad books coming from a good place. But ultimately, I can’t be too surprised that that fate-tempting double Unstoppable in the title was given the lie with cancellation after eight issues.
January 19, 2022
This was cute as hell. It took me a hot second to get into because my girl Nadia was squeeing a lot but I got there. So the story of this is that Hank Pym's daughter was raised in the red room but after she recreated his Pym particles, she escaped. Now she wants to get US citizenship.
It starts with a giant robot that Nadia makes do ballet and there were also giant animals and an actual dinosaur so you could say this was pretty wacky. With the butler (chaperone as he likes to call himself) Jarvis, Nadia goes around recruiting other young girl geniuses that were overlooked in a genius scientist list to work with her at her lab.
Nadia is so adorable. Despite being raised in the Red Room and never getting to meet her father, she's a positive ray of sunshine. A gift shop gets robbed and she's so pure she wants to help the robber. But the robber punched her instead which led to Nadia absolutely clapping their asscheeks. I really loved how that fight scene was broken down and I loveee the shrinking tech. Her wings are neat and her entire costume is so good.
I cackled when she held out her hand to shake with a blind guy lol. The shot with his shadow was iconic.
Jarvis was really a standout for me in this, he was so casually funny and I loved him. A giant killer animal shows up and his first instinct is to tell the two superhero girls to stay behind him. 😭
I loved the art, it was as cute as the Wasp herself. I feel like this comic was made just to get young girls interested in STEM but I support!!
It starts with a giant robot that Nadia makes do ballet and there were also giant animals and an actual dinosaur so you could say this was pretty wacky. With the butler (chaperone as he likes to call himself) Jarvis, Nadia goes around recruiting other young girl geniuses that were overlooked in a genius scientist list to work with her at her lab.
Nadia is so adorable. Despite being raised in the Red Room and never getting to meet her father, she's a positive ray of sunshine. A gift shop gets robbed and she's so pure she wants to help the robber. But the robber punched her instead which led to Nadia absolutely clapping their asscheeks. I really loved how that fight scene was broken down and I loveee the shrinking tech. Her wings are neat and her entire costume is so good.
I cackled when she held out her hand to shake with a blind guy lol. The shot with his shadow was iconic.
Jarvis was really a standout for me in this, he was so casually funny and I loved him. A giant killer animal shows up and his first instinct is to tell the two superhero girls to stay behind him. 😭
I loved the art, it was as cute as the Wasp herself. I feel like this comic was made just to get young girls interested in STEM but I support!!
July 8, 2018
3.5 stars
I picked up The Unstoppable Wasp because a) I first saw it at the bookstore so it was fate b) I had just rewatched Ant-Man in preparation for Ant-Man and the Wasp. This one follows Hank Pym and Maria Trovaya's daughter, Nadia, and it was so much fun!
It was such an empowering read, about the cleverest female teenagers in the world, how they could team up to change and save the world. This first volume mainly focused on the creation of the team and I really liked that. It was a bit cheesy at times and Nadia was a bit over the top at first, plus she read a bit younger than she was supposed to be at times, but that's truly okay. It's addressed to a younger audience for sure, so it felt a little childish sometimes, but that's because I'm older I guess, and every little girl should read about those girls and that's what matters.
I also loved the pop culture references! Harry Potter! Star Wars! Even Downton Abbey! I AM LIVING FOR IT! I haven't mentioned how diverse the cast of characters was as well?? I'm so happy about that. We also got super cool superheroes cameos such as Miss Marvel and Bobby Morse! Anyway, it was quite good and I'm happy I picked it up. 😊
I picked up The Unstoppable Wasp because a) I first saw it at the bookstore so it was fate b) I had just rewatched Ant-Man in preparation for Ant-Man and the Wasp. This one follows Hank Pym and Maria Trovaya's daughter, Nadia, and it was so much fun!
It was such an empowering read, about the cleverest female teenagers in the world, how they could team up to change and save the world. This first volume mainly focused on the creation of the team and I really liked that. It was a bit cheesy at times and Nadia was a bit over the top at first, plus she read a bit younger than she was supposed to be at times, but that's truly okay. It's addressed to a younger audience for sure, so it felt a little childish sometimes, but that's because I'm older I guess, and every little girl should read about those girls and that's what matters.
I also loved the pop culture references! Harry Potter! Star Wars! Even Downton Abbey! I AM LIVING FOR IT! I haven't mentioned how diverse the cast of characters was as well?? I'm so happy about that. We also got super cool superheroes cameos such as Miss Marvel and Bobby Morse! Anyway, it was quite good and I'm happy I picked it up. 😊
April 27, 2019
The Unstoppable Wasp is brimming with good intentions and has all the charm of early Ms. Marvel volumes, but it struggles a bit (like Ms. Marvel) in that some of the humor feels forced and the stakes aren't even low - they're non-existent.
Nadia Pym, Hank Pym's daughter, has returned to America after escaping the Red Room. She's brilliant and bubbly and hasn't experienced the last 15 years of pop culture. She's also outraged that smart women aren't getting the recognition they deserve, so she sets about creating a girl genius supergroup. It's a fine idea, but pretty limited narratively. We bop around NYC, meeting smart girls, having cute conversations, and then moving on. Punches are thrown here and there, though the villains are at the professional wrestler level. Fortunately, a late development promises more action in the next volume.
Easily the best part of The Unstoppable Wasp is Elsa Charretier's artwork. It's bright, clear, and reminiscent of Darwyn Cooke. Superb, in other words! Although...it does seem strange that none of the characters can open their eyes all the way.
Nadia Pym, Hank Pym's daughter, has returned to America after escaping the Red Room. She's brilliant and bubbly and hasn't experienced the last 15 years of pop culture. She's also outraged that smart women aren't getting the recognition they deserve, so she sets about creating a girl genius supergroup. It's a fine idea, but pretty limited narratively. We bop around NYC, meeting smart girls, having cute conversations, and then moving on. Punches are thrown here and there, though the villains are at the professional wrestler level. Fortunately, a late development promises more action in the next volume.
Easily the best part of The Unstoppable Wasp is Elsa Charretier's artwork. It's bright, clear, and reminiscent of Darwyn Cooke. Superb, in other words! Although...it does seem strange that none of the characters can open their eyes all the way.
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