Ant #1
Ant #1 is the debut of Hannah Washington — an African-American, eight-year-old girl protagonist navigating poverty, family trauma, and systemic injustice — at a time when such a central figure was nearly absent from mainstream superhero comics. The story's structural conceit, a child's diary through which readers experience her adult superhero alter ego, gave the book a psychological depth unusual for an indie first issue. Its success at Arcana Studio was strong enough to attract Image Comics, where the character went on to cross over with Spawn and Savage Dragon, eventually earning a fourth-volume revival written by Erik Larsen decades later — a rare arc for a self-published debut.
"Days Like This" introduces Hanna, an 8-year-old girl navigating the quiet aftermath of her father’s arrest, finding solace in her secret dream of becoming the unnoticed hero Ant. Written by Mario Gully and Matt Nixon and illustrated by Gully with inks by Peter Repovski, this poignant story captures her quiet determination through a journal that stirs unexpected connection when discovered by a boy. The cover by J. Scott Campbell and Tim Townsend frames a moment of fragile hope, perfectly echoing the issue’s tender, observant tone.
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Creator and self-taught artist Mario Gully conceived the character while incarcerated in 1996, drawing inspiration from a single ant he watched crawl through a barred cell window. After his release he studied art independently, partnered with co-writer Matt Nixon, and shopped the fully-penciled pitch to multiple publishers before Arcana Studio, an independent Canadian outfit, agreed to publish it. The first issue was produced with an unusually generous 32 pages of story and no house ads, and Arcana supported it with a suite of variant covers — including editions featuring cover art by J. Scott Campbell — that gave the launch an outsized promotional footprint for a debut from a small press.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Hannah Washington (Ant) — written, penciled, and co-plotted by Mario Gully, with co-writing credit to Matt Nixon and inks by Peter Repovski.
- Published by Arcana Studio (an independent Canadian publisher) in early 2004; the story arc spanning all four Arcana issues is titled 'Days Like These.'
- The central narrative device — an 8-year-old girl's diary, whose fantastical entries frame the superhero action — is introduced in this issue.
- Ant #1 was released with multiple variant covers, including editions featuring cover art by J. Scott Campbell (standard color, black-background, red foil logo, and sketch/virgin versions) and a limited retailer exclusive produced for the Diamond Boston Summit.
- A Free Comic Book Day 2004 Arcana Studio preview issue (cover-dated January 2004) previewed the Ant character alongside other Arcana properties and is sometimes cited as her technical first appearance, predating the numbered series.
- After four Arcana issues the series moved to Image Comics in 2005, where it ran for 11 issues and featured crossovers with Spawn and Savage Dragon.
- In 2012, Mario Gully sold the Ant character and property to Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon creator), who later published a fourth volume through Image Comics beginning in November 2021.
- Gully cited Greg Capullo's work on Spawn and John Byrne's character design as formative artistic influences on Ant's visual style.
Cast · 1 character
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Reprints
Reprinted in Ant TPB #1 (2004)
Variants (3)
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