Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s (WCL) Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character. This post is about the Marvel Comics characters who grow and shrink with the power of Pym Particles: the Astonishing Ant-Man and the Wasp!
Who are Ant-Man and the Wasp?
Ant-Man is an identity adopted by a number of heroes (and one villain) based around the discoveries of Dr Hank Pym. Using the incredible ‘Pym Particles’ which can add or subtract mass, size, and strength to anything, Ant-Man can grow and shrink between human and insect size at will while maintaining his regular human strength. He also dons a helmet that allows him to command ants, using them as helpers or riding on flying ants as a mount.
The Wasp is an identity adopted by two heroines, fashion designer Janet van Dyne and teen prodigy Nadia van Dyne. Hank Pym also briefly donned the identity of the Wasp during a period where Janet was lost in the Microverse. Using Pym Particles, the Wasp can shrink to insect size, with the addition of having wings to fly and ‘bio-electric stingers’ to zap opponents.
Since Hank and Janet, there have been many heroes that have taken up the identities of Ant-Man and the Wasp in Marvel Comics history, and other characters that have taken on either one of Hank’s previous identities (like Giant-Man) or made their own heroic identity using Pym Particle-based powers (like Stature).
Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man
Dr Hank Pym is the first Ant-Man and a founding member of the Avengers with his partner, the Wasp. As the inventor of Pym Particles, he has applied them in various ways to grow and shrink objects, grow to giant sizes as Giant-Man, and discover new realms between atoms in the Microverse. He has gone by a number of identities in his time as a hero, including Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and The Wasp.
Hank Pym appearances
Ant-Man and the Wasp : adventures
The Avengers : Earth’s mightiest heroes. Volume 1, 1963-1965 / Lee, Stan
Ant-Man/Giant-Man : growing pains / Lee, Stan
Avengers : Disassembled (only on eLibrary)
Civil war / Millar, Mark (also on eLibrary)
Secret invasion / Bendis, Brian Michael
(also on eLibrary)
The Mighty Avengers : secret invasion. Book 1 / Bendis, Brian Michael
The Mighty Avengers : secret invasion. Book 2 / Bendis, Brian Michael
The Mighty Avengers : Earth’s mightiest / Slott, Dan
Siege : Mighty Avengers / Slott, Dan
Avengers Academy [1] : permanent record / Gage, Christos
Avengers A.I. [1] : human after all / Humphries, Sam
Ultron
Hank Pym also created the robot Ultron, who rebelled against his ‘father’ and became an enemy of the Avengers. Ultron consistently upgraded over the years to destroy the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, until eventually Hank and Ultron fused together as a single being. Now, he roams space searching for power as ‘Ultron Pym’.
Ultron appearances
Vision & the Scarlet Witch : the saga of Wanda and Vision / Englehart, Steve
Avengers : Ultron unbound / Thomas, Roy
Avengers Academy [1] : permanent record / Gage, Christos
Avengers A.I. [1] : human after all / Humphries, Sam
What if? : Age of Ultron / Keatinge, Joe
Appearances as ‘Ultron Pym’
The uncanny Avengers [2] : the man who fell to Earth / Duggan, Gerry
Infinity countdown / Duggan, Gerry
Iron Man : the Ultron agenda / Slott, Dan
Scott Lang, the Astonishing Ant-Man
Scott Lang is a ex-con who stole the Ant-Man suit in order to save his daughter. Proving himself a hero, Lang was allowed to keep the suit and became the second Ant-Man, joining the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Lang is a big believer in second chances, working alongside reformed criminals like himself in his security business in Florida.
Ant-Man [1] : second-chance man / Spencer, Nick
(also on eLibrary)
The astonishing Ant-Man. Vol. 1, Everybody loves team-ups / Spencer, Nick
The astonishing Ant-Man [2] : small-time criminal / Spencer, Nick
The astonishing Ant-Man. Vol. 3, The trial of Ant-Man / Spencer, Nick
Ant-Man and the Wasp : lost and found / Waid, Mark
War of the realms : Giant-Man / Williams, Leah
Ant-Man : World hive / Wells, Zeb
Scott Lang’s Teams
The Avengers : Red Zone / Johns, Geoff
FF. Vol. 1, Fantastic faux / Fraction, Matt
Eric O’Grady, the Irredeemable Ant-Man
Eric O’Grady was a low-level SHIELD agent who stole a prototype Ant-Man suit and used it for his own selfish purposes. After proving his potential for espionage during the Skrull’s Secret Invasion, O’Grady became a member of the Thunderbolts and the Secret Avengers before eventually turning traitor. Now going by Black Ant, he is half of a villainous duo with the Taskmaster.
Appearances as Ant-Man
World War Hulk : X-Men (contains an issue of Eric’s first series, The Irredeemable Ant-Man)
Avengers : the Initiative. Vol. 3, Secret invasion / Slott, Dan
Thunderbolts : burning down the house / Diggle, Andy
Fear itself : Secret Avengers / Spencer, Nick
Secret Avengers. [Vol. 1] / Remender, Rick
Appearances as Black Ant
Secret Avengers [3] / Remender, Rick
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 1, Back to basics / Spencer, Nick
The Amazing Spider-Man [2] : friends and foes / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 3, Lifetime achievement / Spencer, Nick
The amazing Spider-Man [4] : hunted / Spencer, Nick
Raz Malhotra, Giant-Man
When Hank Pym felt that shrinking wasn’t an adequate power, he changed tack and used his Pym Particles to grow to titanic heights as Giant-Man and later Goliath. Other heroes since taken up the Giant-Man mantle, the current one being Raz Malhotra, a computer programmer who befriended Scott Lang.
Raz Malhotra appearances
The astonishing Ant-Man. Vol. 1, Everybody loves team-ups / Spencer, Nick
The astonishing Ant-Man [2] : small-time criminal / Spencer, Nick
The Ultimates [2] : Civil war II / Ewing, Al
Secret Empire : brave new world
Agents of Atlas : pandemonium / Pak, Greg
War of the realms : Giant-Man / Williams, Leah
Cassie Lang, Stinger
Cassie Lang is the daughter of Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man. After being exposed to Pym Particles, Cassie gained the ability to grow and shrink at will. Calling herself Stature, she joined a team of teenagers emulating the original Avengers, the Young Avengers. Later, she gained her own insect-controlling helmet and helps her father as the heroine Stinger.
Cassie Lang appearances
Young Avengers: Ultimate Collection (ONLY on eLibrary)
Secret invasion : Runaways & Young Avengers / Yost, Christopher
The Mighty Avengers : Earth’s mightiest / Slott, Dan
Siege : Mighty Avengers / Slott, Dan
Ant-Man : World hive / Wells, Zeb
War of the realms : Giant-Man / Williams, Leah
Janet Van Dyne, The Winsome Wasp
Janet van Dyne is a fashion designer who fell in love with Hank Pym and became his crime-fighting partner, the Wasp. Janet has been a team-player her entire career, leading the Avengers on multiple occasions. Currently, she mentors the new Wasp, her stepdaughter Nadia van Dyne.
The Wasp appearances
Ant-Man and the Wasp : adventures
The Avengers : Earth’s mightiest heroes. Volume 1, 1963-1965 / Lee, Stan
The Avengers : the Korvac saga / Shooter, Jim
Avengers : Disassembled (only on eLibrary)
Civil war / Millar, Mark (also on eLibrary)
The Mighty Avengers : Venom bomb / Bendis, Brian Michael
Secret invasion / Bendis, Brian Michael
(also on eLibrary)
Uncanny Avengers [1] : the red shadow / Remender, Rick
Uncanny Avengers [2] : the apocalypse twins / Remender, Rick
Uncanny Avengers [4] : avenge the Earth / Remender, Rick
Uncanny Avengers [5] : Axis prelude / Remender, Rick
Avengers/X-Men : Axis / Remender, Rick
Uncanny Avengers [1] : counter-evolutionary / Remender, Rick
Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda. Vol. 1, Eye of the storm / Zubkavich, Jim
Tony Stark, Iron Man [1] : self-made man / Slott, Dan
Nadia van Dyne, the Unstoppable Wasp
Hank Pym’s first wife Maria was kidnapped on the couple’s honeymoon, and unknown to Hank, she bore a daughter named Nadia. Raised in the Red Room that trained Black Widow, Nadia studied in multiple scientific fields, eventually replicating the Pym Particles and using them to escape. After arriving in America and meeting the Avengers, Nadia became the newest Wasp and founded her own scientific organisation, Genius In action Research Labs (G.I.R.L).
Unstoppable Wasp appearances
The unstoppable Wasp [1] : unstoppable / Whitley, Jeremy
The unstoppable Wasp [2] : agents of G.I.R.L / Whitley, Jeremy
The unstoppable Wasp. Vol. 1, Fix everything / Whitley, Jeremy
The unstoppable Wasp. Vol. 2, Unlimited / Whitley, Jeremy
The Unstoppable Wasp series is also collected in these volumes.
The unstoppable Wasp : G.I.R.L. power / Whitley, Jeremy
The unstoppable Wasp : A.I.M. escape / Whitley, Jeremy
Unstoppable Wasp Teams
All-new all-different Avengers [2] : family business / Waid, Mark
The Avengers : unleashed [1] : Kang war one / Waid, Mark
The Avengers unleashed. Vol. 2, Secret empire / Waid, Mark
The Avengers & Champions : worlds collide / Waid, Mark
Champions. Vol. 3, Champion for a day / Waid, Mark
Champions. Vol. 4, Northern lights / Zubkavich, Jim
Champions [1] : beat the devil / Zubkavich, Jim
Hope van Dyne/Hope Pym, the MCU Wasp
In the MCU, Hank Pym’s daughter is Hope van Dyne, who doesn’t exist in the ‘mainstream’ Marvel Universe of Earth-616. She is derived from Hope Pym, the daughter of Hank and Janet from Earth-982, a world set in a near-future where the Avengers have been replaced by new, younger heroes, including Peter Parker’s daughter Spider-Girl.
