My first exposure to Ant-Man, other than in reprint form was in the nearly forgotten and highly underrated Marvel Feature. Dr. Henry Pym was lovingly returned to his Ant-Man identity by sorely missed writer-turned-agent Mike Friedrich and veteran artist Herb Trimpe who gave the character a Flash Gordon-meets-The Incredible Shrinking Man vibe. With and without his partner the Wasp, Pym was trapped at ant-size and faced new and old foes like Egghead, the Whirlwind and the Para-Man. Good times.

This instilled a love for me in old Hank Pym. I was next exposed to him as Giant-Man in the Avengers reprint comic Marvel Triple Action, and then later as Goliath in that same title. Meanwhile I found yet another Pym identity in the pages of Defenders, Yellowjacket, which once again portrayed a dynamic character the likes of which has rarely been seen since.

Pym soon became the whipping boy at Marvel Comics and especially for the Avengers. He lost his mind, hit his wife, betrayed the team, was divorced and was suspended from the Avengers in shame. Still, it should be noted that if you’d like to check out some rocking Pym adventures, go for those Marvel Features and Defenders issues.

So, I’ve made my confession, I’m a big Hank Pym fan. Now imagine my excitement at seeing Ant-Man, and a wonderfully updated Ant-Man by Frank Cho, on the cover of Mighty Avengers #5. I was so psyched. Now so far in this arc Hank hasn’t gotten the best of treatment but I still have hope in writer Brian Michael Bendis, and Hank does get a decent showing this issue… just not as Ant-Man, save one panel.

Now it’s a wonderful cover, and a terrific depiction of Hank Pym as Ant-Man by Cho, but it’s not quite a representation of what’s inside. I was expecting some serious Ant-Man action, and got only one full panel and lots of tiny bug squiggles. At least this is nowhere near the deception of the New Avengers #35. And either way, it’s still beautiful Frank Cho art, and it’s been my wallpaper on and off for months. Yep, I like it that much.

Inside the issue itself the battle with the Ultron Interface has advanced to a dangerous level. The Mighty Avengers are in combat with Ultron-controlled Iron Man armors while Ultron herself has murdered Sentry’s wife and is simultaneously trying to hack the passcodes to America’s nuclear arsenal. It’s a dire situation indeed.

My first complaint is that the Sentry’s wife, Lindy Reynolds, technically dies off-panel. Like he’s done many times before, Bendis gives us specific details to the story on the what-has-gone-before first page that does not actually occur within the story. We were left hanging last issue as whether Lindy was dead or hanging on, but page one verifies with the statement, “Ultron… kills Lindy Reynolds.” Sure we know for certain on page four, but the text on page one spoils it.

And thus begins a knock-down-drag-out between Sentry and Ultron deftly and dynamically portrayed by Cho. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but Frank Cho makes this book. I’ll take a wordless comic as long as it’s Cho on the art. And it was a nice bonus to see the Jarvis cameo in the midst of the fight.

The one very nasty component to this fight is the eyes of the Sentry. At the bottom of page four, not only does the Ultron Interface detect an unidentified energy type, but Sentry’s eyes go black. My guess – it’s the Void, his arch-enemy who also himself. Once Ultron is taken care of, it looks like the Mighty Avengers may end up fighting one of their own – The Void/Sentry.

The other highlight of this issue is Ares taking matters into his own hands. An issue ago Ares, watching the Wasp, hatched a plan to infect the Ultron Interface with a computer virus he would deliver himself in shrunken form. The subtlety shown last time that preceded this was excellent. So the god of war goes to the SHIELD helicarrier and demands Pym to help him with the plan.

This is distinctly non-Ares behavior. This is a man (or god, take your pick) who has lived among humans for a while, and has observed them for even longer. He has recently embraced new technology and weapons, so why is he talking like a caveman? I half-expected him to grunt in between word balloons. As much as I smell Skrulliness on Ares, I also get it from Dr. Pym as well. His rolling of the eyes and attitude toward Ares are indicative to me. Pym should definitely have attitude toward him, but as an enemy.

Now, the Commodore Sixty-Four thing, shades of Independence Day, how the hell is this going to work? First off, a C64 doesn’t have enough space for a virus, and second, even if Iron Man’s armor doesn’t recognize the code it will still destroy it. BMB, you’re giving me and my computer-savvy friends big headaches with this one. I’d sure hate to see what happens when Ares hits Ultron’s firewall.

Another major complaint would be the return of Maria Hill as she crawls from the wreckage. Unfortunately I wasn’t willing to dig through five months of comics to find out what happened to her in Mighty Avengers #3 that made the Black Widow take charge. As happy as I was when Natasha did step up, I am just as said that she stepped aside here. Score Skrull points for both her and Maria I think.

All things aside, I have to applaud Ares’ thinking that Ultron would not expect him but would expect the Pyms. Also on the bravo stack would be Pym’s development of the virus so quickly (whether it would really work in reality or not), and Ms. Marvel diversion of the missile. Cho is prime when it comes to Carol, would love to see him do a mini or a graphic novel featuring our Kree warrior woman.

Also in the last few pages of the issue, I loved seeing the teamwork involved in setting the Ultron Interface up for the virus. It was intriguing to see Wonder Man using his ionic energy in a new and different way, and of course this is where I got my one-panel pay-off of the Frank Cho Ant-Man. Great diversionary tactics.

Based mainly on potential, the art of Frank Cho and some good old fashioned Avengers teamwork, despite who may or may not be involved in such, I give Mighty Avengers #5 three and three quarter stars out of a possible five. Hopefully next issue we’ll see the end of Ultron, a wrap-up against a Void-ed Sentry and more Ant-Man, with less Ares. Looking forward to it. Oh yeah, and the potential Skrulls of this issue: Ares, Black Widow, Hank Pym and Maria Hill.

	Glenn Walker
	Glenn has been a fan of Marvel Comics' Avengers since the early 1970s, when their current adventures were chronicled by Steve Englehart and their early exploits by Stan Lee in classic reprints featured in Marvel Triple Action. He has persevered through many incarnations of the team and he still loves the Avengers to this day.