I recently had a 7-day trial for Marvel Unlimited, i used it to read suggestions from people on Discord and so i could read comics that i will never get to own. Also, so i could finish that one post that is coming out on June 2025 (Still not telling you what comic it's about)
I'm gonna write a retrospective for The Unstoppable Wasp. A series from 2018 which got not 9, not 11, not 12, but 10 whole issues. Wow. It was written by Jeremy Whitley and drawn by Gurihiru, who also drew that one comic everyone likes.
Before i get into the series itself, i have to give some backstory.
I don't like the Avengers. I know, what a shocking revelation, the guy that only reads Marvel Comics isn't a huge fan of The Avengers. I saw the movies in theaters and thought they were alright, but I've never read a single issue of any Avengers comic... Or at least once that stars the most popular members. The original Avengers team had Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Ant-Man, and The Wasp. I wasn't really interested in Thor, or Iron Man, or Ant-Man, OR the Wasp, so i didn't see the point in reading a book with characters i don't care about. This post is about The Wasp.
The Wasp was a character created by Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, Don Heck and Jack Kirby. Janet van Dyne was a superheroine that could turn small and fly. She was married to Hank Pym, and she was also a founding member of The Avengers.
This is not about her, the character I'm gonna talk about today is Nadia Pym van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym and Maria Trovaya. She was raised in the Red Room in Russia. She was pretty much just made to be the comic book equivalent of the MCU's Hope van Dyne.
Nadia has so many character traits listed in the first page of this first issue, here are some of them:
She was part of obscure superhero team "The Campions"
She was part of the not obscure and objectively better team "The Avengers"
She is obsessed with science (Everyone in the Marvel U is obsessed with that)
She is the leader of the Genius In action Research Labs (G.I.R.L.)
What an interesting character. The story actually begins with a shot of NYC, which has not been seen in a Marvel Comic before this point. A.I.M. is destroying... a place, and we're gonna need a superhero to stop this madness.
Nadia is driving a FLYING CAR, HOLY FUCK! Jarvis is there too, and he's not an AI, don't let Jon Favreau fool you. Time for Nadia's Neat Science Facts: She's a Red Room-trained getaway driver. Do not try this at home. Basically, because you literally cannot try this at home, you need to be outside for this. Should've said "Do not try this ever".
Don't remember the last time i saw driving so reckless... Oh, that's right, it was me.
Nadia is gonna stop that robbery once and for all, turns out that the place that A.I.M is robbing is still unknown, oh no! Do they have to hurt innocent civilians in the process? Well, they don't, but they do it to show that they're really evil.
We cut to G.I.R.L. Labs. where we meet characters that will not fall into obscurity, characters like Taina Miranda, who is a Puerto Rican Engineer, Priya Aggarwal, who is a Biologist, Ying (Surname Unknown) who is a chemist and trained assassin, and Priscilla Lashayla "Shay" Smith, a world-class physicist and a "tiny gay disaster".
They all help Wasp stop those A.I.M. bastards.
Meanwhile, over at the Javits Center, which is in Hell's Kitchen, which is in Manhattan, Janet and some girl named Alexis Miranda (Taina's big sis) are about to give a conference about something.
After that exciting scene, we're back to more fighting. Well, Nadia wins but then she has to fight Seeker... Who? Well, you see, back when Nadia was recruiting people for G.I.R.L., she met this person called Amber, but i guess she didn't wanna be part of the team because tbh i wouldn't wanna be part either.
Hank Pym died while fighting Ultron, and i didn't know that, so i guess comics do teach me stuff after all. BUT WAIT... Apparently, he's not dead? I don't know what's real anymore.
No time for that, they have an expo in 2 weeks, and they have to invent SOMETHING.
Issue 1 is over. 9 more issues to go.
Nadia is a lazy girl that oversleeps, we've all met someone like that in our lifetime. She also tells us a bit about caffeine. NO TIME FOR THAT, WE HAVE A GYM SCENE, Ying and Mockingbird (WHO?) are practicing combat stuff no one cares about. NO TIME FOR THAT EITHER, we have a Champions scene. HOLY SHIT, A BULL STATUE HAS COME ALIVE AND IT'S TRYING TO STOP A PROTEST, HOW ARE WE GONNA STOP THIS? Y'know what this reminds me of? The 1967 Spider-Man episode titled "Here Comes Trubble", what a good episode that was.
Anyways, Nadia stops the bull but she's injured, do not worry, she recovers afterwards. Don't know what we would've done if she hadn't. They go eat dinner but SUDDENLY THERE'S A GREEN GOOP MONSTER EATING A LOT OF SHIT. They stop the monster but the dresses they were wearing are all covered in green goop. I really like the word "goop", it's just a funny word. Anyways, they get new punk-ish outfits. After that, we're watching a wrestling match and it's cool and awesome and fun and Mockingbird is there.
Everything is going well and it's all good and shit and I've already read this issue and blah blah blah. They all go back to Pym Labs and HOLY SHIT, A.I.M. IS ATTACKING PYM LABS. What's gonna happen? I don't know.
Issue 2 is over, 8 more issues to go. That's how Math works.
There's this whole scene where everyone's fighting A.I.M. and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Also, Finesse is here... WHO? Ok, why is this comic expecting me to know everyone that appears? I shouldn't have to read 143502835925 comics before reading this one. Is she really trying to attack Nadia with a fucking hockey stick?
There's a cute scene between Ying and Shay, and also, the green goop is back. Next, you're gonna tell me the bull's coming back... Well, everything is going well, the good guys are winning, and it's all cool... Or is it?
To be continued.
Issue 3's over. 7 more issues to go. I'm gonna get water.
There were a lot of injuries in that fight scene, the people involved didn't have any powers or high-tech weapons, some were just regular people. Everyone's understandably pretty bummed.
1 hospital scene later, everyone's just hanging around in a hospital room... But where's Nadia? She's trying to invent something for the exhibition, because time's running out. She's also trying to find clues so she can get to the bottom of this whole AIM situation. So, she puts on her Wasp gear and gets inside this gem thing.
She literally does not sleep trying to solve this situation. The other people are out of the hospital and looking for Nadia. Janet comes to the conclusion that she might be having a manic episode, lucky for them, Nadia is out of the gem, and she doesn't look well. The girls try to help her, but she just doesn't want help from anyone.
Issue 4 is over, 6 more issues to go.
There's a whole fight where everyone is trying to stop Nadia from doing something crazy, but they just cannot do anything about it. This is Nadia's first experience with a manic episode, she can't understand what's happening. No one knows how to help her.
Priya stays in the lab and decides to go into the red gem to try and communicate with Nadia. We're in the crystal lab. The next scene shows Priya explaining to Nadia that she isn't her disorder. She reminds Nadia that she is still loved by the people around her, that she is important.
The depiction of bipolar disorder in this comic is done very well, this comic even has a column by a psychology professor in this issue. It is beautifully written and beautifully illustrated.
One question asked in the comic is "What should be Nadia's first steps after the end of this issue?" This isn't just for Nadia, this is for anyone that might have bipolar disease, they should try to find help via therapy and medication.
The end of the issue also kindly asks that if you're struggling with thoughts of suicide or are worried about a loved one, you should ask a counselor or call your local help line.
Issue 5 is over, 5 more issues to go.
This next issue was drawn by Alti Firmansyah.
Taina is still pretty mad about what happened and just does not want to accept Nadia's apology.
Flashback to a few days earlier, Nadia is at the psychiatrist for help, which is a good thing. She's making progress! She's apologizing for things she did wrong, she's getting help.
Meanwhile, Ying, Jan, Bobbi and Shay are getting ready for Nadia's birthday party tonight.
But MEANWHILE, Nadia goes to Priya's house and sees that there are plants everywhere... Yes, i did see that right. Apparently, Priya's some sort of... Plant Psychic?
Anyways, Shay's mom is a famous actress. Okay
Cut back to Priya and Nadia and- There are too many things going on, how am i gonna get through this?
Apparently, nobody knew it was Nadia's birthday. It's probably not Nadia's birthday, she doesn't know her own birthday, so they settled on "Today", whenever that is.
Everyone here is a nerd.
Cut back to dinner with Shay's mom and Shay comes out as gay to her mother. Shay's mom does not take the news well, so screw her. Shay and Ying just go back home.
Issue 6 is over. 4 more to go- GOD DAMNIT MY PHONE KEEPS VIBRATING.
Welp, we still have to see that birthday party, but OH SHIT, Scott Lang is here! My favorite Ant-Man... Probably because i've only seen the first movie. There's also Cassandra Lang, A.K.A. Stinger... Who?
Everyone's pretty excited, everyone is happy, you're happy, i'm happy, the Kirby in my desk is happy, and the comic is interrupted by Stan's Soapbox.
After that, we see that EVERYONE showed up here, even HERCULES HIMSELF. And ol' Spider-Man is here. But unlike that other comic i have yet to finish, this isn't for boosting sales, this is for the sake of hanging around and being nice.
Apparently, Nadia thinks that Peter Parker's Spider-Man sucks, and suddenly this comic went from being the best thing ever to being absolute shit. Anyways, Nadia is meeting everyone in the world, it's all cool and nice and for some reason, Marvel Unlimited decides to focus specifically on Spider-Man eating cupcakes. This is true, go check.
Bucky Barnes is here but WATCH OUT, HE MIGHT WANT TO SEND HER BACK TO THE RED ROOM... He does not.
Apparently, the greatest birthday party attractions you can have in this universe is a superhero battle... What?
After that happens, Nadia is about to go to bed, but she gets a call from... Her mother whose name i forgot! Woah... This is crazier than the fact that the site had a technical issue and wiped everything from this post and i had to write it all again.
Issue 7 is over, 3 more issues to gooooo......
If you told me that the cover for issue 8 was the cover for issue 1, i would believe you... This is also the case with Sonic The Hedgehog IDW #2, if you told me that was the cover for the first issue, i would believe you, because I'm gullible like that.
The comic actually begins and... Where's Nadia? Well, she's training with Ying and- Marvel Unlimited just crashed. So, it's EXPO Day, never thought we'd make it... Wait a minute... This is a comic book... That means people don't get to be happy for very long.....
Mockingbird and Bucky are investigating the Red Room. Anyways, the science expo sounds pretty exciting, and it wouldn't be a Marvel comic if they didn't say "Face front, true believers". Using Pym Particles, they've found a way to shrink cancer cells... Wish this was real...
Meanwhile in Russia, Bucky and Bobbi find that there's a lot of teen robot girls in the Red Room... WHAT?
Anyways, Nadia's mom is apparently at the expo... But THEY are after her, who? They. You know They, right? Actually nevermind, Nadia's mom is a robot from the Red Room... This is a trap. The walls are electrified and.... That guy is here! I forgot his name but- Nevermind, i just remembered, it's Whirlwind. A.K.A. David Cannon, Janet's former stalker... I think i once saw him in the Super Hero Squad cartoon.
I'm gonna be honest, i didn't believe anything about Nadia's mom for a single second.
Those AIM motherfuckers are back, damn.
Issue 8 is over, 2 more issues to go. But since it's getting late, i'll just continue writing some other day....
Bucky and Mockingbird are fighting Teenage Robots, Whirlwind is at the Expo, THE GUYS AT AIM ARE BACK, Everyone's dealing with something.
Do not fret! Ying is here to save the day with her kicks and punches... Those AIM guys have guns, and those other villains i don't care about have superpowers... How the fuck are they gonna get through this? I better continue reading, cause i'm getting impatient.
Wha- Hank Pym is Ultron? News to me.
Well, y'know, Nadia's fake mom was actually some thing called "El Cucuy", but it dies, so it doesn't matter. Oh wow! The electricity was shorted out as soon as she breaks the robot boogeyman! What a coincidence.
Jan beats the shit out of Whirlwind, and she finds Priya, but it's not her, it's the robot thing. WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED? Not me. WHA- THIS WAS ALL AN ILLUSION?????
Issue 9 is over. 1 more issue to go.
Up next is another fucking giant-size comic, Marvel does not have enough of those, when are they gonna make a small comic? Oh shit, i forgot about Combo-Man.
Bucky and Bobbi leave the Red Room... Which wasn't really red. El Fantasma or whatever is still taunting Nadia, but it gets a big beatdown, okay.
This is the last issue of the series, so this means that it's time for one big superhero fighting supervillain scene, with a reference to that "THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM" quote and everything.
Looks like if one side of the portal from NYC to LA is turned off, the other one will start just sucking things into a black hole... Sounds like a shitty portal to me. AIM decides to break the portal... OH NO!
Well, in order to not get sucked in, Nadia just turns giant because this is a comic about changing size. Nadia finds out that Hank Pym is Ultron, and also that The Avengers tried to throw him into the sun... Okay?
Well, the truth is out, and we cut to the psychiatrist's office again, where Nadia realizes that Jan is like a mother to her. That's very wholesome. We see that things are looking bright for everyone that was involved in this story, and that's good. Everyone lives happily ever after, or at least until a new Wasp comic comes out.
Issue 10 is over and i don't have to read it anymore. I really enjoyed this comic, it was really nice, it wasn't boring, it wasn't long, it wasn't garbage, it was just 1 storyline about The Wasp, and it was ACTUALLY GOOD. 10/10. READ IT.
Maybe i should start reading about other characters that are not Spider-Man. Nah, that's stupid.
Well, that's it. BYE!
Next posts: The pain must go on. But before that, we have a toilet paper to review.
Send fan mail to eddiespiderplushfanmail@gmail.com
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