The Not So Tiny Tale of Ant-Man & The Wasp
by Phil Perich for the Capes and Lunatics Blog
Over the years, a few individuals have taken on the identity of Ant-Man and the Wasp to varying degrees of triumph and tragedy with many other costumed identities spinning out from their legacies.
Hank Pym
The original and probably most well known of the men to operate as Ant-Man is Henry “Hank” Pym. Hank first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962) as a scientist who discovered a method to shrink himself. The story proved so popular the writer Stan Lee brought him back as a superhero named Ant-Man who worked alongside his partner/eventually girlfriend Janet Van Dyne, The Wasp.
The two heroes would eventually go on to become founding members of the Avengers alongside Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk. Serving off and on with the Avengers in the early years, Hank would take on various identities including Giant Man and Goliath (the identity that would later be used for a brief time by Clint “Hawkeye” Barton). After inhaling some chemical fumes in a lab accident, Hank creates the identity of Yellowjacket during a short suchizophrenic episode. After his recovery, Hank marries Janet.
After Hank accidentally creates one of the Avengers most dangerous enemies in the form of the android Ultron, Hank and Jan take a leave of absence again. The pair return during the Kree/Skrull War and when Hank is needed as Ant-Man to repair the damaged Vision.
Months later, Hank would once again don the Yellowjacket identity to serve with the Avengers. Hank and Jan would leave once again however when the Avengers roster restructured due to government interference. It was around this time that Hank notice that someone had stolen his Ant-Man gear…
Scott Lang
Scott Lang first appeared in Avengers #181 (March 1979) and Marvel Premiere #47 (April 1979). Scott was a reformed criminal who stole the Ant-Man identity to save his young daughter Cassie. When Cassie became deathly ill, Scott stole the Ant-Man gear to rescue the doctor Cassie needed from the criminals who had kidnapped her. After saving the doctor who then saved Cassie’s life, Scott attempted to return the suit to Hank, who told him to keep it as long as he used the gear and identity to uphold the law and act as a hero.
Hank and Jan would once again return to the Avengers when most of the active membership goes it’s separate ways. In the midst of a mental breakdown, Hank strikes Jan, an action that not only ends their marriage but gets him thrown out of the Avengers for a time.
Previously, Hank and Jan would leave and rejoin the Avengers together, but this time with their marriage ended, after a brief break from the team, Jan would return herself and become leader of the Avengers. It was during this time that the Masters of Evil stormed Avengers Mansion and decimated the team, almost killing Hercules. When the two powerful villains Absorbing Man and Titania come to the hospital to finish the Master’s attack on Hercules, it’s Jan and Scott Lang as Ant-Man that defeat the villains and save Hercules.
And as for Hank? After of period of scientific study, Hank would go to the West Coast Avengers team and help them as Doctor Pym, with no costumed identity and only using his size changing Pym Particles on various and crime fighting equipment, but never himself.
After the Masters of Evil are defeated, Jan decides she needs a break from the Avengers, especially as team leader. She eventually finds herself with the West Coast Avengers and her ex-husband. Writer John Byrne was going to have the couple remarry in secret but his time on the series was short. Incoming writers would eventually have the dating exes break up again.
Hank and Jan again joined and rejoined the Avengers over and over, sometimes separately, sometimes at the same time. Hank would return to his Giant Man identity and save Jan’s life by mutating her into a giant Wasp (those wacky 1990s). After the team returned from the Heroes Reborn universe, Hank would return as Goliath and serve alongside a human Jan once again.
Hank Pym is revealed to have been a Skull an imposter for a time during the Secret Invasion story. The Skull Hank had begun a relationship with the Avenger Tigra.
Later after Jan’s apparent death, Hank would even adopt the identity of the identity of the Wasp in her memory and form his own Avengers team operating as it’s leader and Earth’s Scientist Supreme.
Hank would abandon the Wasp identity after he and the Avengers discover she is alive and return her to Earth. Hank once again returns to the Avengers, claiming he has tamed Ultron and can now use him for a force for good. It is ultimately revealed that Ultron now controls Hank. The combo is now scouring the universe attempting to conquer worlds and capture the Infinity Stones.
What about Scott Lang? After periods of working with Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, he eventually became an Avenger and was later killed (Don’t worry, he got better). Scott went on to lead the Future Foundation, taking the place of the Fantastic Four when they went traveling through time and space. Scott is currently seen in the Ant-Man and Wasp series where he is working with Nadia Pym, Hank Pym’s daughter with his first wife Maria.
And Jan? She still operates as the Wasp also and is now a mentor to her ex-husband’s daughter. She was a member of the Avenger’s Unity Squad in the pages of Uncanny Avengers.
What are YOUR favorite Ant-Man and the Wasp moments? Which pair is YOUR favorite, Hank and Jan? Scott and Nadia? Let’s not even discuss Eric O’Grady (though we can if you want)!
nightwingpdp@gmail.com or capesandlunatics@gmail.com
@NIghtwingpdp, @CapesLunatics, @CLSidekicks on Twitter
Capes and Lunatics voicemail: 614-382-2737
You can hear me and my cohosts discussing all things Marvel, DC Comics, TV, movies, and all pop culture and entertainment on the Capes and Lunatics and Capes and Lunatics: Sidekicks Podcasts and Capes and Lunatics YouTube channel several times a week.