Marvel Pick Of The Week – September 7, 2016

Pick Of The Week goes to All-New All-Different Avengers #15 where rising indie star Jeremy Whitley joins Mark Waid to win us over to the new Wasp.

Pick Of The Week: All-New All-Different Avengers #15, by Mark Waid, Jeremy Whitley, and Adam Kubert

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Legacy is tough. It’s tough personally – how are we ever going to fill our father’s giant shoes? Even when we can recognize him as a normal adult, we never shake how it felt to be so little, staring up at him. And it’s especially tough in comic books. We readers constantly demand something new, but we blame it for not being enough like the old. And we’re mean about it on the Internet.

This comes up frequently with legacy heroes. A hero passes the super suit to someone younger, or a different gender, or a different race. The story continues. Some of the Internet will cheer this for recognizing diversity. The rest will accuse the publisher of cheap pandering. Each side is right from time to time.

In a flood of new legacy characters (African American Captain America, female Thor, gay Giant Man, Muslim teen Ms. Marvel, etc), the new Wasp hasn’t made much of a splash. She’s a secret daughter from Hank Pym’s first marriage and thus the current Wasp’s stepdaughter. She looks an awful lot like the Wasp from the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, but people haven’t complained too much about that. Mark Waid introduced Nadia as a smart, spunky woman, and Janet Van Dyne quickly accepted her, unthreatened and happy to mentor a protege.

This is the first issue that spotlights the two Wasps, and it’s extra-appropriate given that it is co-written by Jeremy Whitley, who will be taking on Waid’s legacy by writing Nadia’s upcoming solo series this fall. He’s already gotten attention for feminism and racial diversity in independent work like Princeless and his stories in Civil War: Choosing Sides and Secret Wars: Secret Love. He spoke to us last year about his Kickstarter book about immigration. And his style is a smooth match to Mark Waid’s classic enthusiasm.

The first half showcases how each woman is an effective fighter, and Kubert’s visuals are kinetic and stunning. The second half turns more toward the emotional. Nadia, horrified by the strife of the second superhero Civil War, tries to invent a Maguffin to pacify the people she admires. Janet lets her fail, then teaches a lesson about accepting things even when you don’t approve.

It’s a great set-up for the new series. Janet comes across as wise and maternal but still a capable fighter and veteran hero. Nadia is young and naive without being spoiled, and the good-natured tension between the women gives plenty of opportunity for plot without relying on catfights. The Internet doesn’t have to approve of the new version of the Wasp, or of new writer Jeremy Whitley, or of Marvel’s commitment to representing a broader range of readers. But we do have to accept these things, and I think we can all learn to love them as much I already do.

Honorable Mentions:

Invincible Iron Man #13

Amara wasn’t Tony’s girlfriend very long, but I adore the way she takes zero percent of his crap. Amara 2016!

Silk #12

I try to highlight queer representation in comics whenever it appears, and a lesbian wedding proposal while parachuting through the Negative Zone is something extra-special.

Uncanny X-Men #12

Psylocke has maybe the healthiest attitude toward death in the Marvel Universe.

Spidey #10

Spidey is the awkward teen very few of us have outgrown. I have been every bit this starstruck at a good Comicon, and you know you have been, too.

Catch up on previous Marvel Picks of the Week here!