The Irredeemable Ant-Man #1

History

Writer Robert Kirkman and penciler Phil Hester, with inks by Ande Parks and colors by Bill Crabtree, created the series under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada and editor Tom Brevoort. Kirkman had already raised his Marvel profile with Marvel Zombies and brought the same boundary-testing sensibility to this book, which Marvel's own promotional copy explicitly used as a selling point. The series ran for exactly twelve issues before Marvel quietly cancelled it — no formal announcement was made; the publisher simply stopped soliciting issues beyond #12 — and the final issue acknowledged the cancellation with self-aware, in-story humor. The book was subsequently collected in two trade paperbacks: Vol. 1: Low-Life (June 2007, collecting #1–6) and the Small-Minded volume (December 2007, collecting #7–12), and later in a complete omnibus-style paperback collecting all twelve issues.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Eric O'Grady (Earth-616), the third character in Marvel Comics to use the Ant-Man name, debuting October 4, 2006 (cover-dated December 2006).
• Created by writer Robert Kirkman and penciler Phil Hester, with inker Ande Parks, colorist Bill Crabtree, and letterer Rus Wooton; published under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.
• The premise establishes O'Grady as a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance agent aboard the Helicarrier who ultimately steals Hank Pym's newly developed Ant-Man suit — initially taken accidentally by fellow agent Chris McCarthy — after McCarthy is killed in a Hydra attack.
• Issue #1 also marks first appearances of supporting characters Beth Howard and Veronica King, and features prominent roles for Mitch Carson and Chris McCarthy, who would serve as the series' chief antagonist and a key catalyst respectively.
• Mitchell Carson — the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent originally designated to wear the Pym-designed suit — was adapted into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by actor Martin Donovan in the 2015 Ant-Man film.
• A talking ant served as the series' recurring recap host, summarizing past events at the top of each issue — a comedic structural device unique to this title within the Marvel line.
• The series ran 12 issues before cancellation (final issue released September 19, 2007); collected in two trade paperbacks — Vol. 1: Low-Life (#1–6, June 2007) and Small-Minded (#7–12, December 2007) — and later in a single complete collection.
• O'Grady survived the series' cancellation to appear in Avengers: The Initiative, the Thunderbolts, and the Secret Avengers; his legacy continued through the villain Black Ant, a Life Model Decoy version of O'Grady first appearing in Secret Avengers #24 (March 2012), created by Rick Remender.

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