The 2023 Wasp mini-series has brought together the origins of Janet and Nadia Van Dyne with a connection neither one expected. It all came back to the original villain that killed Janet’s father and motivated her to become the superhero known as the Wasp, Creature from Kosmos. Now we know that Creature from Kosmos also has ties to Nadia’s own origin, specifically with the fact that he is controlling Nadia’s grandfather, who happened to be the founder of the villainous W.H.I.S.P.E.R organization. Now with this revealed how will this mini-series end? Let’s find out with Wasp #4.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Al Ewing
Artists: Kasia Nie and Carola Borelli
Colorist: KJ Diaz
Letterer: Cory Petit
SYNOPSIS
Thanks to their strong bond Janet Van Dyne, Nadia Van Dyne, and Edwin Jarvis break out of the illusionary world Creature from Kosmos created for them.
Janet then reveals she kept the gun that her dad used to originally bring the Creature from Kosmos to their universe. Working quickly Nadia is able to add a setting to the gun to use Cosmic Radiation. Janet then uses the gun to send the Creature back to Kosmos.
Janos Trovaya (Nadia’s grandfather) reveals he created W.H.I.S.P.E.R to damage the Red Room from the shadows for killing Maria Trovaya (his daughter and Nadia’s mother). He admits everything he did backfired on him. When Fantasma bonded him to the Creature from Kosmos he used the brief moment he was still in control of his mind to plant the idea that Wasp needed to be eliminated in the Creature’s mind.
Janet suddenly gets a call from Mayor Luke Cage’s office to inform her that Whirlwind has been killed while in prison. End of the series.
REVIEW
Wasp #4 delivers what is ultimately a satisfying conclusion to this mini-series. Al Ewing nails what is most important, and that is the character arcs of both Janet and Nadia. They both shine in ways that accentuate their strengths as Wasp.
The illusionary world Creature from Kosmos is utilized well to explore more of the emotional weight that Janet and Nadia both carry. It’s a weight that they both have buried as they each focus on pushing forward as superheroes. But being placed in this world where their minds were altered challenged them in ways they did not expect.
This brought to light how strong Janet and Nadia’s bonds are. Because in a situation where Nadia could’ve easily killed Janet that did not happen. We get that hint with how Nadia didn’t act as a Red Room-trained assassin by immediately killing Janet when she had the chance. Janet in turn used the feeling she and Nadia were connected in a greater way to connect on an emotional level. This, along with Jarvis being there, breaking the illusionary world is a good show of strength for Janet and Nadia’s family relationship they’ve established.
With how its mind manipulations were broken it showed that for all their powers Creature from Kosmos’ overconfidence was its ultimate undoing. Creature from Kosmos went with the complicated route of trying to revel in making Janet and Nadia kill each other but it did not account for the humanity of both Wasp. This made how they were taken down a satisfying result.
The way Janet and Nadia defeated Creature from Kosmos was a cool call back to Janet’s origin story. Janet was able to showcase her own leadership skills by getting Nadia focused on the quick plan to use Cosmic Radiation. Nadia was also able to showcase her own abilities as a top-tier scientist by being the one to convert Janet’s fathers’ radiation gun to add cosmic elements to it.
This led well into how Nadia’s reunion with her grandfather wasn’t a simple happy reunion. Janos Trovaya showed that he has come to an age where he can’t make excuses for what he did. While he had understandable intentions when creating the W.H.I.S.P.E.R organization the direction he went was all wrong. He was so consumed by revenge that he could not blame anyone but himself for how he ultimately was manipulated by those in W.H.I.S.P.E.R. Janos being presented in this way does create the opportunity to further explore what his and Nadia’s relationship is moving forward in a future Wasp series.
The one aspect of Wasp #4 that did not work was the ending. The reveal that someone murdered Whirlwind came across as an after-credit scene that you don’t believe will be followed up on anytime soon. Even when the promise is made Wasp would return there is no indication of where or when. It just seems that there is hope that this ending can be followed up on. That ultimately did not hit the way Ewing likely wanted.
Kasia Nie and Carola Borelli worked well together as co-artist for Wasp #4. It wasn’t until seeing the credits on a second read-through that this issue of having two artists is noticeable. Nie and Borelli made adjustments to keep the same style Nie established for this series. The expressions from Janet and Nadia elevate the way they broke Creature from Cosmos’ control over them. The action was also fluid even with the Creature from Cosmos not being a villain who moves.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Al Ewing, Kasia Nie, and Carola Borelli deliver a satisfying conclusion with Wasp #4. We get a lot of solid character work for both Janet and Nadia Van Dyne that makes them stronger characters coming out of this story. The ending tease doesn’t work as well as intended but it does not ruin the overall experience of this Wasp mini-series.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10