hey wait-- wouldn't Darla be a bit cold in a towel in Times Square during New Years?! Regardless, this is one of the most pleasant surprises in my stack. this book offers so many delights to the eyes and imagination. many of the elements are pure comic bookiness, like Darla Deering's alliterative name, a "star heart," and the insanity of Doom the Annihilating Conqueror. on one level, it's a madcap romp in pop art style. There is an energy and dynamism to the characters and layout despite the inking being so bold and the coloring so flat (which is not to say un-vibrant.) it is a delight to allow your eyes to rest on each panel even though the dialogue is snappy and carries you through the story briskly. I am pleased that the focus is so much on two different characters-- an established one in Ant-Man and a new one in Darla Deering. It's equally pleasing to see them being paired together, resulting in just as much awkwardness as possibility. To be fair, this often means that the somewhat large cast just relatively short shrift. Bentley's character moment is really just a one word dialogue balloon, for example. At least when such stuff is included, its significant and true to character. The real complexity comes from under the surface details, however. Ant-Man's mission to go after Doom is really more complex than it seems when you consider how he must still be reacting from his daughter's death. The hints that John Storm isn't what he appears to be, and what Darla's reaction to him will be. These kinds of ideas emerge after thinking about the issue for a while, and really wet the appetite for more. And, yikes that "next issue" cover is disturbing.