NYCC: Scott Lang Battles Villains, Personal Demons in Spencer's "Ant-Man"

[Kuwagaton]

Thanks. It's weird that as many comics as I've read, I've never been in or really seen an era with a heroic Ant-Man.

I have faith in Spencer writing an atypical hero, and I've been wanting Rosanas on a title since his Sentry.

[hunter_peterson]

Thanks. It's weird that as many comics as I've read, I've never been in or really seen an era with a heroic Ant-Man.

I have faith in Spencer writing an atypical hero, and I've been wanting Rosanas on a title since his Sentry.

My favourite Scott Lang is probably FF Lang, but he's a close second in Alias. In addition to being an unusually powered hero, he's also an ex-con with a bunch of personal failings that make him really interesting. I liked Cassie, but I have to admit seeing him without his rock is a really interesting thing. I think as long as Spencer keeps the pacing tight this will be great, an atypical hero book, as you said.

[Sasquatch by Night]

Where did you think his suit came from? And his powers? And... his name? Scott Lang is an electronics expert. He knew nothing of biochemistry, ant behavior and biology.

Edit: but I suppose you were probably a kid back then, and these are not questions kids ask themselves

My introduction to Lang was in the Armor War prologue, where Stark asks him to infiltrate a building and get access to some files. I don't remember when I actually realized he was a legacy character, but when people mention the story where Pym went inside Vision to fix him, I always think of when Lang when inside the locked-up Iron Man armor to save Stark. Pym is a great character, but I never think of him as Ant-Man, even though he is the more well-known (well, until the movie hits) Ant-Man.

And yeah I was a kid when I read this. At the time, the first and only comics I had were the Layton/Michilne back issues of Iron Man (I refused to buy any other comics, don't ask why b/c I don't know). The first actual new comic I ever bought was the first issue of Iron Man featuring Teen Tony, which was confusing as hell to me. Damn Crossing.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Am I the only one here who disliked Cassie and was happy when she was killed??
I hated her attitude when the SRA happened..
Also she was dumb and took dumb decisions and got killed because of that.

and Darla from the FF.. well, I can't understand how someone thought that it was a good choice to plot a Darla & Scott relationship when she was in the FF replacing her actual boyfriend Johnny Storm.. it just didn't work for me. Couldn't stop thinking of her as a little annoying b***h

Sorry!

Still interested in the book though.

Do you hate Iron Man and Carol Danvers? Because they were on the same side Cassie was.

And what was wrong about Darla Deering?

I hate the freaking hypocrisy that people hate Cassie for switching sides, even though it was obviously something Mark Millar did on a whim!

And what did Cassie do that was so dumb? Beast is freaking playing with the fabric of reality with the original 5 X-Men because he didn't like Scott Summers!!! WICCAN BROUGHT A MONSTER INTO 616 CAUSE HE WANTED TO CHEAPLY MAKE HIS BOYFRIEND HAPPY!!!

[Sasquatch by Night]

Do you hate Iron Man and Carol Danvers? Because they were on the same side Cassie was.

I don't understand all the Cassie hate. Great point about Iron Man & Captain Marvel though. Reading Civil War as a comic fan was confusing as hell because no one acted like themselves.

And I was actually really hoping Cassie would be resurrected by now, just so the Ant-Man book could be a family book. Superhero comics always tend to ignore heroes with families, and it would've been cool to have a father-daughter team-up book.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

I don't understand all the Cassie hate. Great point about Iron Man & Captain Marvel though. Reading Civil War as a comic fan was confusing as hell because no one acted like themselves.

And I was actually really hoping Cassie would be resurrected by now, just so the Ant-Man book could be a family book. Superhero comics always tend to ignore heroes with families, and it would've been cool to have a father-daughter team-up book.

It really boils my blood to see so many people hate Cassie Lang because "She joined the Pro-Registration Side". IRON MAN AND CAROL DANVERS WERE ON THAT SIDE! In fact, Carol Danvers was doing horrible things on the Pro-Side, and yet everyone is loving her now since her haircut and costume change! In fact, it's BLASPHEMY to hate Captain Marvel. But Cassie Lang gets all the hate for some reason!

I don't get it!

[Kevinroc]

My favourite Scott Lang is probably FF Lang, but he's a close second in Alias. In addition to being an unusually powered hero, he's also an ex-con with a bunch of personal failings that make him really interesting. I liked Cassie, but I have to admit seeing him without his rock is a really interesting thing. I think as long as Spencer keeps the pacing tight this will be great, an atypical hero book, as you said.

My concern is that we'll essentially get a repeat of Scott moping over Cassie like in FF. Of course Fraction already laid a foundation for reinstating said rock, so we'll have to wait for someone to build on that (or they could go in a completely different direction. I don't really care which as long as the end result means that Cassie's back.)

(Also this isn't to the person i quoted, but welcome back, S/D.)

[Songbird/Diamondback]

My concern is that we'll essentially get a repeat of Scott moping over Cassie like in FF. Of course Fraction already laid a foundation for reinstating said rock, so we'll have to wait for someone to build on that (or they could go in a completely different direction. I don't really care which as long as the end result means that Cassie's back.)

(Also this isn't to the person i quoted, but welcome back, S/D.)

2 things.

1) Scott didn't mope that much over Cassie. She was brought up now and then, but he had it together in that book.
2) Do you ever complain Peter thinks about Uncle Ben or Gwen too much?

[Kevinroc]

2 things.

1) Scott didn't mope that much over Cassie. She was brought up now and then, but he had it together in that book.
2) Do you ever complain Peter thinks about Uncle Ben or Gwen too much?

1: He got better as FF went along. Sort of. But it sounds like they might be hitting that dreaded regression button here. But I have no proof of this beyond a kind of gut reaction from Spencer's CBR interview. We just have to wait and see. (But I can imagine some angsty stuff in the new Secret War if Cassie is still dead by that point. Because an Ant-Man/Stinger confrontation seems like the kind of thing they'd do for maximum drama.)

2: Uncle Ben? Nah. That's Spidey's origin.

Gwen? Sometimes. But it seems more like fans bring it up more than the characters do in-universe. (And the main reason fans do it is for silly shipping wars.)

(Welcome back. Accept me welcoming you back.)

[Songbird/Diamondback]

1: He got better as FF went along. Sort of. But it sounds like they might be hitting that dreaded regression button here. But I have no proof of this beyond a kind of gut reaction from Spencer's CBR interview. We just have to wait and see. (But I can imagine some angsty stuff in the new Secret War if Cassie is still dead by that point. Because an Ant-Man/Stinger confrontation seems like the kind of thing they'd do for maximum drama.)

2: Uncle Ben? Nah. That's Spidey's origin.

Gwen? Sometimes. But it seems more like fans bring it up more than the characters do in-universe. (And the main reason fans do it is for silly shipping wars.)

(Welcome back. Accept me welcoming you back.)

Well here's the thing, Cassie Lang was the entire reason Scott became a hero. I mean, she was dying of a heart condition, and he stole the Ant-Man suit to save her life. She is Scott's Uncle Ben. Why shouldn't he obsess over her? It's not like Dr. Doom is hated by anyone else. Heck, Valerie sees him as a hero still.

(Thanks. I just hope I can find a comic I can really love again)

[Kevinroc]

Well here's the thing, Cassie Lang was the entire reason Scott became a hero. I mean, she was dying of a heart condition, and he stole the Ant-Man suit to save her life. She is Scott's Uncle Ben. Why shouldn't he obsess over her? It's not like Dr. Doom is hated by anyone else. Heck, Valerie sees him as a hero still.

(Thanks. I just hope I can find a comic I can really love again)

Isn't that kind of the point? I mean, Scott became Ant-Man to save Cassie. You start pulling on that thread too much, and it seems more like you take away a big part of who he is. Hard to be a reformed super hero dad when you aren't anyone's dad anymore. My point is Cassie is ingrained into the Marvel Universe and she has super powers. (Magik was dead for about 14 years before they brought her back. Cassie's not even been dead for 3 years and they've already teased a resurrection. Not bad for a non A-Lister.)

(As far as recs, we could have conversations about that elsewhere.)

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Isn't that kind of the point? I mean, Scott became Ant-Man to save Cassie. You start pulling on that thread too much, and it seems more like you take away a big part of who he is. Hard to be a reformed super hero dad when you aren't anyone's dad anymore. My point is Cassie is ingrained into the Marvel Universe and she has super powers. (Magik was dead for about 14 years before they brought her back. Cassie's not even been dead for 3 years and they've already teased a resurrection. Not bad for a non A-Lister.)

(As far as recs, we could have conversations about that elsewhere.)

Indeed. I really hope Cassie Comes back.

[Mikey_Marvel]

Glad to hear Spencer will be keeping some of the humor intact; Superior Foes guaranteed a laugh every time.

[Mary Jay]

My introduction to Lang was in the Armor War prologue, where Stark asks him to infiltrate a building and get access to some files. I don't remember when I actually realized he was a legacy character, but when people mention the story where Pym went inside Vision to fix him, I always think of when Lang when inside the locked-up Iron Man armor to save Stark. Pym is a great character, but I never think of him as Ant-Man, even though he is the more well-known (well, until the movie hits) Ant-Man.

And yeah I was a kid when I read this. At the time, the first and only comics I had were the Layton/Michilne back issues of Iron Man (I refused to buy any other comics, don't ask why b/c I don't know). The first actual new comic I ever bought was the first issue of Iron Man featuring Teen Tony, which was confusing as hell to me. Damn Crossing.

The Armor Wars happened many many years after the story where Pym went inside the Vision to repair him

And yeah, The Crossing... confusing is one way to put it!

[hunter_peterson]

Isn't that kind of the point? I mean, Scott became Ant-Man to save Cassie. You start pulling on that thread too much, and it seems more like you take away a big part of who he is. Hard to be a reformed super hero dad when you aren't anyone's dad anymore. My point is Cassie is ingrained into the Marvel Universe and she has super powers. (Magik was dead for about 14 years before they brought her back. Cassie's not even been dead for 3 years and they've already teased a resurrection. Not bad for a non A-Lister.)

(As far as recs, we could have conversations about that elsewhere.)

This is a good point; Scott really needs Cassie to work as a character. I assume she'll be back. But in the meantime, there should be some interesting milage from her absence.