Review by Frank Plowright
Small Worlds celebrates 60 years of the Wondrous Wasp, the back cover blurb informs us, which is a little rich considering it took over fifty years before the Wasp was given a solo series, and even then the original, Janet Van Dyne, was relegated to a supporting character. Still, better late than never, and this comes with the bonus of Al Ewing as writer, among the top tier at Marvel in 2023.
Nadia Van Dyne was a continuity implant designed to create a younger Wasp, and Ewing picks up on elements of the family history shared with her adoptive mother to piece together a mystery and some revenge long in the making. It’s a delight. Considering the Wasp’s starring roles have been so rare, other writers might have had problems accumulating the essentials of Janet’s career, but Ewing nails so many, from the multitude of costumes seen to the early appearance of her only recurring villain. Yet just because that’s the case, it doesn’t mean Nadia is ignored.
Primary artist Kasia Nie needs some help from Carola Borelli on the final chapter, but you really wouldn’t know on what’s some confident storytelling with emphasis on the people, despite having to draw a big gloopy monster. At times there’s hints of Michael Allred in the art, but this is more realistic cartooning, and Nie’s design for a particularly troublesome henchperson is a treat.
Ewing is true to the Wasp’s powers always being dependent on science, and he conceives clever ways to incorporate the uses of shrinking. Anyone who’s ever cared about the Wasp as a superhero should take a look at this clever celebration of who she is.
A slim four chapter package is bulked by including the first appearance of several characters from the main story in an early Ant-Man strip. Jack Kirby inked by Don Heck provides an interesting visual style, but the story mixing Cold War paranoia and old monster comics is Stan Lee on autopilot, with stiff scripting from Ernie Hart under the alias of H. E. Huntly. You can ignore it and just delight in the main story.
