Broken Frontier

This series is slowly winding down upon cancellation next issue, so will our much maligned hero truly be redeemed? Find out here.

It’s pretty hard these days to get a new series through at the Marvel offices, and in this case a solid creative team presented a fresh approach to an old idea. With both Kirkman and the team of Hester/Parks at the helm you would think this concept a veritable gold mine for Marvel, but sadly that hasn’t been the case.

Now whether you perceive this series as a hit or miss, it’s been delightfully entertaining since issue one debuted last summer. Of course the theme of being an unlikable character permeated through several story arcs and with this issue Eric O’Grady seems on the brink of finally getting his comeuppance. He’s been hospitalized with injuries received from a tussle with the Hulk last issue, and to make matters worse he’s now within the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mitch Carson.

Of course Kirkman is the type of writer possessing this uncanny ability to astound readers with exploding plots chock full of big surprises. A good example here is how he revealed the true nature behind Agent Carson and I have to say I never saw that coming. It surely makes for great storytelling and with the revelations unfolding here in the way they did, it may appear that Eric O’Grady will ultimately be redeemed. Now I should caution you all in the sense that this could possibly be a big ruse and in the end Kirkman could just be toying with his readers. I guess we’ll just have to pick up the next issue to see what his true fate will be.

The biggest plus to this series outside of Kirkman’s stellar skills as a scribe, is the solid artistic chops of Phil Hester and Andre Parks. These two gents work well in tandem as a solid one-two punch and I have enjoyed every single issue they have handled. In this issue alone, the action excelled on pages showcasing the knocked out and dragged down fight between Mitch and Eric. I’m really going to miss this series once it’s been put to rest next month.

It’s just too bad this series couldn’t prevail receiving the proverbial chop at the block, but sometimes good ideas just don’t wash well with the fans. In this case, a guy like Eric O’Grady isn’t likeable enough to keep the interest up and I think that’s a downright shame. This book bristles with heated dialogue culminating with dubious situations to match that wicked output. I’ve really come to like reading about Eric’s misadventures and what other book could boast having top level talent such as Kirkman/Hester/Parks. Maybe Marvel should reconsider and give this series a second chance to blossom, but as the title to this series implies: Ant-Man is surely irredeemable.