REVIEW: Ant No.3

Ant No.3 is something else. I would not be surprised if Hannah Washington is related to Martha – the fact that she starts the issue straight out of the mental institute just to go to the most impoverished places to prove herself as the diamond in the ruff, should be enough to legitimize her questionable comic book lineage. If that wasn’t enough, then Larsen’s blocky art appears to have drawn inspiration from Miller here, gritty as ever with the main protagonist walking around like a Soul Train dancer in a visible thong with a Jay-Z crop top through Comic-Con like Rocawear just came back in style (ironic, because just a day prior, I actually ended up buying some Rocawear through Wal-Mart so it looks like Hannah is really setting trends here).

Hannah strolls through comic conventions, the streets of N.Y. , and roach infested apartment buildings , strikingly gorgeous. Though created by my Mike Gully, the hand off to Larsen is seamless as Larsen has been known to create wet dream inducing characters over the years. A master of fan service, Larsen shows the reason why so many people put down Savage Dragon front and center here, except the twist is Ant is the protagonist and she’s female ! Sure the objectification is there, but Ant, (like all of Larsen’s caricatures) is so comfortable with her sexuality, that she isn’t afraid to flaunt her natural beauty or weaponize it, but in this issue at the least she keeps this weapon in view, but sheathed.

When Ant suits up, she ends up getting into a battle with King Spider in the sewers. Big action packed splash panels and Spawn popping up in a trench coat to assist Spider in her battle give this book such a nostalgic feel and truly makes a reader like myself miss simpler times in Image where Savage Dragon wasn’t having passive-aggressive battles with his father from a different timeline or when Spawn’s Universe was a little smaller. But to bring up Marcy Projects’ most renowned yet again : “Don’t like my new shit, buy my old album”. And those words apply to these literary works as well from the gods of indie comics.

Ant is a legacy character, and this story alone is enough to encourage a look into the previous issues as well as the history of this character that could have sold this book by herself.
Yes, I never would have picked it up had Spawn and King Spider not been on the cover – as comic books are primarily sold by cover art, the crossover marketing is undeniable and worked mechanically for the story inside, that even two issues in read like an origin issue.

Even though Ant is a familiar face in comics, she still appeared brand new. Larsen’s reinvention of Ant is can’t miss, calling back to the early years of Image with gritty action, femme fatales, and a spirit of envelope pushing that got Image to the 30 plus years it has under it’s belt, with one of it’s main forbearer’s showing reader’s the ropes to great graphic reading yet again.

Score : 5/5