by Taylor Anderson
This article will contain SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
When asked what the best Star Wars movie is, most people will tell you Empire Strikes Back is where it’s at. Objectively, there’s no denying that it is the most cinematically sound of the all the movies, but I think a lot of people respond to it because it ends on a dour note. Seeing Han, Luke, and Leia fail resonates with so many people because it more accurately reflects our own life experiences. Aside from a select few, most of us know more failure than we do success, so the realism of a sad ending is often times preferable to a happy one. Unstoppable Wasp 8 doesn’t end sadly, in fact the entire issue is quite the opposite, and for that reason the issue falls somewhat flat.
Having saved her friends from would-be assassins and securing her place as Janet Van Dyne’s protege, things are looking up for Nadia. It’s temping to think that this is enough of a happy ending for Nadia but writer Jeremy Whitley has a different idea. The entirety of this issue is comprised of various happy surprises Janet has for Nadia, now that they have admitted they like one another. First, Nadia gets some bodyguards, then she gets a paternity test to establish her American citizenship, then she’s reuinited with her friends from G.I.R.L., and finally Janet gifts Nadia a brand new lab.
Oh, and after that they all throw a huge, fancy party.
All of these good things coming to Nadia make for one hell of a happy ending. However, as much as I want to celebrate all of these thoughtful gifts provided by Janet, I simply can’t. The reason for this is that it doesn’t totally feel like Nadia has done enough in her short life to deserve such an overwhelming smorgasbord of happy delights. Don’t get me wrong here — I fully realize that until recently Nadia’s life has been a living hell. Still, after only just eight issues of adventures it just doesn’t feel like Nadia has lived or suffered enough in her own story to warrant such a joyous issue.
Perhaps this sounds cynical, but this issue seems like too much, too soon. To really feel the joy of a happy ending in any story, heroes need to go through a lot of shit first. We enjoy happy endings only when the events that preceded them have appeared to be an actual struggle. I’m not sure Nadia’s story to this point has shown her struggling enough to warrant such a grand payoff. Now, I’m not saying that things in this issue needed to be as dark as those events in Empire Strikes Back, but if you want me to be happy about Nadia’s good fortune, I need something that makes the payoff more sweet.
The conversation doesn’t stop there. What do you wanna talk about from this issue?
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