Ant #12

Ant #12

Image Comics 2021

Written & Illustrated by Erik Larsen

Flats by Mike Toris

Lettered by Ferran Delgado

“THE ANSWER!”

Fourteen years after its previous issue was published, ANT returns for volume one's awe-inspiring conclusion! This special one-shot both wraps up the story already begun by series creator MARIO GULLY and serves as a completely self-contained introduction to ANT by superstar creator ERIK LARSEN. Hannah Washington has spent years looking for answers, and finally her quest comes to its epic conclusion! Guest-starring the Dynamic Daredevil!

It is hard to believe fourteen years have passed since the last issue of this came out. When it was coming out I was such a staunch supporter of the series and I really wish Erik had aped Mario’s artistic style to complete the first volume. Considering how long ago the last issue was out I would’ve appreciated a recap because even those of us who love the series need that after this amount of time. All that being said, my personal feelings mind you, I am absolutely thrilled that she’s back and while we end one adventure we’re also gearing up for a new ongoing series so it’ll be nice to have another strong female led title on stands.

I am rather enjoying the way that t his is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react the situations and circumstances they encounter really continues to flesh them out rather nicely. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more the story we manage to feel right at home here with everything that’s going on.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story are seen we get some really depth and complexity in the issue. Plus it really does end in a way that ties up all the loose ends and maybe that’s a good thing or not depending on your point of your view. We don’t see enough of Daredevil but i’m hoping we will once the new series starts. How we do see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved very well.

I find it incredibly interesting that Ant is very much in Erik’s style and yet Daredevil is a hybrid of familiarity and his signature style. The linework is great and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work is exceptionally well rendered. I’d like to see fuller backgrounds but we still manage to get some great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a brilliant eye for storytelling. The colour work is sensational! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work makes for some beautiful moments.

Part of me wonders if this was tied up too neatly this issue or if this was always meant to be how it ended. Another part of me thinks okay she’s got her life back and it’s time to see what the next chapter has in store for her. I kind of think when the new first issue comes out it’ll be a brand new series, brand new direction and it’ll be like this is Erik’s baby from now on and I’m okay with that since I really admire and respect what Mario created here.

Hannah is an absolutely lovely character whose life is moving forward again this time on her own terms, well that is until those men we learned about try to take her again. Guest stars galore are okay and a new team book would be even better so let’s make Ant the household name it always should’ve been.