Ant-Man

Screw Terminix: next time your bugs get really bad, call this guy. When evil looms large, electronics technician Scott Lang gets small. A reformed criminal, the minute marvel has answered the call to action alongside the fabled Fantastic Four and the mighty Avengers. What matters most is not the size of the man in the fight, but the size of the fight in the man - and the bad guys take big lumps from the Astonishing Ant-Man! So there we have it, right away: this isn't Hank Pym, it's Scott Lang. It's an important distinction, because they really are quite different characters. Hank was a scientist so desperate to prove his worth as a hero that he unleashed killer robots on his friends. Scott, meanwhile, actually broke into Hank's house and stole the suit to save his daughter's life. Scott tried to balance his life as a hero with his life as a divorced father. Hank liked to slap around his wife. When things got tough, Hank quit. When Scarlet Witch went insane and destroyed the Avengers, Scott died trying to reach out to a former enemy. Now, out of those two, who's the real hero? Ant-Man's costume has always been simple - just colors, not straps and pouches - so it's nice that the detail of the figure is just paint on a plain body. The body, in fact, looks new - it's not just a re-used Spider-Man or anything. He's muscular, but not ripped, and the gas canisters on his belt are sculpted on. Ant-Man actually tops the 6" mark, and moves at the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, fingers, torso, waist, hips, thighs, knees, boots, ankles and toes. The torso joint is incredibly stiff, and sounds like it's snapping whenever you move it. So what does it matter if the package calls this Hank Pym or Scott Lang, since they both wore the same costume? It's not like you can tell who's under that helmet anyway, right? Well, no - the helmet is removable, revealing Scott's (sort of goofy) face beneath. Both guys have generic enough looks that if you wanted this to be Hank Pym, you could paint his hair blonde and call it done. Part of the Giant-Man series, Scott comes with a piece of the set's big Build-A-Figure. He's got the right elbow, the piece that's sure to be in highest demand among casual fans. Okay, just kidding, but it shows off the double-elbow joint and has the blend from blue to red paint. The figure includes a reprint of Marvel Premiere #47, the origin and first appearance of Scott Lang. It's a good choice, but it leaves you hanging - the ending is a "to be continued," so if you want to find out what happens, you'll have to hit up your local shops. This is a better comic representation than most of the Wal*Mart Legends got, since the story actually features the included character doing something. Ant-Man is an early pegwarmer for this line, but don't take that to mean he's a bad figure. In fact, he's really quite good, and you can probably expect this plain body to show up as the base for many a custom figure. Why do people still pick on Tony Stark's drinking, yet never say a word about Hank beating his wife? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.

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