IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #5: Unlike ULTIMATE X-MEN, where Kirkman at times seems utterly lost on what he wants to do on that book, ANT-MAN here has a full purpose, if you can bare with the conveluted story (it takes place both "months ago" and "in the present, sorta", which can take some drama out of the suspence for past scenes, as you know Eric or Mitch can't die). But it's another fun romp from Kirkman & Hester with their unabashed U-Turn of a legacy hero concept. Most "legecy heroes" in a way quickly spit-shine themselves to "replace" their previous mantle bearer, or at least are made to be likeable so earnestly that they risk becoming generic, as the new Blue Beetle and Atom face (even Bart was warped a bit to become Emo Wally Lite as The Flash). Kirkman decides to brake the mold and try something new, and is rewarded with low sales and almost no advertising; y'know, the usual. Eric O'Grady is an jerk and almost unashamedly so; while not a ruthless criminal or monster, he's like that jerkwad in every class or office who lies a lot and weasels through life, only now he's stumbled upon a super ant-suit. Turns out that Mitch, in an older Ant-Man suit, encounters Eric in the SHIELD airshaft and beats the snot out of him, before Eric's pet ants attack him and he makes an escape. In the present, Eric escapes his date's apartment and steals a ride on Mitch's "holy snap I ripped off 2099" hovercar. Back in the past, Eric is slowly brushing off Veronica with the "just not into you" routine, and she emotionally breaks down, especially after taking a pregnancy test and presumably being positive. Mitch also makes a "lucky guess" that Eric is the Ant-Man, but can't prove it to anyone and has no proof. While Eric is naturally an oppurtunistic sleaze, neither he or Chris would have been in the position to interfere with that suit if not for Mitch's involvement, so as Kirkman has sais, "no one's hands are clean" here, except maybe Verionica, who'd been lied to all along. The shift from past to present is annoying but Kirkman manages it with a light style that stays current in continuity (the agents play poker and discuss DECIMATION) and on assumptions about SHIELD agents (not all of them fly in jetpacks). In this title, Kirkman's done the impossible; taken a franchise that to my memory has never had an ongoing before that wasn't an anthology like TALES TO ASTONISH or whatever, at least not for the past 20 years, and make it a rivetting cult hit. It's THE SHIELD only with, erm, SHIELD and ANT-MAN. The deadbeat father routine (Eric is SO not going to stick around for Veronica's pregnancy and childbirth, least not at this point in his life) is pushing the barrier a little far with whether one can keep reading without loathing the character enough not to pay $3 for it, but hey, if Cyclops can bounce back from it, ("Honey, I'm going to leave you and our son now to go play with my resurrected true love and best friends for about a year, thanks!"), Eric's not the only one. Besides, soap operas and even Dennis Leary's firefighter drama have implied outright rapes and people still watch. Anyway, Kirkman's on a roll here by going completely against type and casting Ant-Man III as a total opposite of what most heroes usually are, and into a figment of what most cynics believe many men really are. Loved how he assumed he'd eventually become an Avenger. Hey, if Venom and Bullseye can become government soldiers, Eric's a bloody saint in comparison. He's an oppurtunist liar, not a killer. Ant-Man may be "iredeemable", but the book is unstoppable. Pity it won't last a year if sales don't hold steady as it dips way past the Top 100. I hope to enjoy the rest of the arc and Kirkman's run while it lasts. It's been a fun ride.