Something has mind-controlled an old foe to attack both Wasps. Can Janet and Hope figure it all out before things get worse? Your Major Spoilers review of Wasp #2 from Marvel Comics awaits!

WASP #2

Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Kasia Nie
Colorist: KJ Diaz
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Alanna Smith
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 15, 2023

Previously in Wasp: When Whirlwind fails to identify the person who forced the attack on the Wasps, Janet and Nadia Van Dyne must combine their skills to locate their new foe. But something about this case seems unnervingly familiar to Jan.

Can she figure out what it is in time to save their lives?

THE CREATURE FROM KOSMOS!

After the last issue’s attack on the Wasps, Whirlwind is being held in a maximum security facility, where he loudly proclaims that he doesn’t care about Krakoa and doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s actually a mutant at all, but that left him open to being manipulated by the evil spy organization called W.H.I.S.P.E.R.! Last seen falling apart before Iron Man and Captain Marvel went to war in 2014, the group has apparently gone underground after their alliance with The Maker, an evil Reed Richards from another reality. Their attack seems tailor-made to hurt Janet, referencing her life and her wasp-theme, but when Nadia finds evidence of formic acid on Whirlwind’s person, she knows the truth: The first villain she ever faced, the one that killed her father, is back. Nadia-Wasp is able to reverse-engineer a tracking device, leading them both to an abandoned facility, an ambush, and a mind-controlling monster from another world…

…and our heroes are disintegrated.

DID NOT SEE THAT COMING

Clearly, that last page is a fakeout, but it’s shocking to see nonetheless, and leaves me really wondering what comes next. The issue as a whole makes a strong follow-up to the previous one, drawing on Ewing’s strengths as a writer. Pulling the threads of continuity from his previous series, the 2014 Civil War II nonsense, and Janet’s very first appearance, this issue weaves a coherent story that makes it feel like all the Wasp appearances were written with the same intentions. Nie’s art is just as interesting as the last issue, but it feels a little bit unfinished this time. The moment wherein the Wasps see the Kosmosian, with their wide-eyed expressions of shock, goes a little too broad and feels like a pencil drawing. That said, the almost chiaroscuro effect of the pencils is a lot of fun in the flashback sequence of W.H.I.S.P.E.R.’s formation and the scenes featuring Edwin Jarvis feel natural and well-done.

BOTTOM LINE: WORTH IT

All in all, Wasp #2 combines the appeal of Janet and Hope into one story, just in time to hype the new Ant-Man movies (which, essentially, combines them into one person), featuring attractive art aimed at modern readers and another of Ewing’s transformative plots for an issue that hits the spot, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. I’m also interested in seeing how/if this comes together with last year’s Ewing-written Ant-Man series, as the combined package seems like a natural TPB juggernaut when Quantumania hits.

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WASP #2 

73%

73%

Just Give Ewing The Avengers Already

Janet celebrates her publishing anniversary by going all the way back her first appearance, while Nadia's spy background fills in the blanks. It's a very good second chapter.

• Writing

  8
• Art

  7
• Coloring

  7
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