Henry Pym - Publication History

Publication History

Hank Pym debuted in a seven-page solo cover story titled "The Man in the Ant Hill" (about a character who tests shrinking technology on himself) in the science fiction/fantasy anthology Tales to Astonish #27 (cover date January 1962). The creative team was editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers, with Lee stating in 2008: "I did one comic book called 'The Man in the Ant Hill' about a guy who shrunk down and there were ants or bees chasing him. That sold so well that I thought making him into a superhero might be fun".

As a result, Pym was revived eight issues later as "Ant-Man", a costumed superhero who starred in the 13-page, three-chapter story "Return of the Ant-Man/An Army of Ants/The Ant-Man’s Revenge" in Tales to Astonish #35 (September 1962). The character's adventures became an ongoing feature in the title, with issue #44 (June 1963) featured the debut of Pym's socialite girlfriend and laboratory assistant, Janet van Dyne. Van Dyne adopted the identity of superheroine the Wasp and co-starred in Pym's subsequent appearances in the Tales to Astonish title. The Wasp also on occasion acted as a framing-sequence host for backup stories in the title. In September 1963, Lee and Kirby created the superhero title Avengers, and Ant-Man and the Wasp were established in issue #1 as founding members of the team.

Decades later, Lee theorized as to why "Ant-Man never became one of our top sellers or had his own book," saying,

I loved Ant-Man, but the stories were never really successful. In order for Ant-Man to be successful, he had to be drawn this small next to big things and you would be getting pictures that were visually interesting. The artists who drew him, no matter how much I kept reminding them, they kept forgetting that fact. They would draw him standing on a tabletop and they would draw a heroic-looking guy. I would say, 'Draw a matchbook cover next to him, so we see the difference in size.' But they kept forgetting. So when you would look at the panels, you thought you were looking at a normal guy wearing an underwear costume like all of them. It didn't have the interest.

Pym began what would be a constant shifting of superhero identities in Tales to Astonish, becoming the 12-foot-tall Giant-Man in issue #49 (November 1963). Pym and van Dyne continued to costar in the title until issue #69 (July 1965), while simultaneously appearing in The Avengers until issue #15 (April 1965), after which the couple temporarily left the team.

Pym rejoined the Avengers and adopted the new identity Goliath in Avengers #28 (May 1966). Gradually falling to mental duress, he adopted a fourth superhero identity, Yellowjacket, in issue #59 (December 1968). Pym reappeared as Ant-Man in Avengers #93 (November 1971) and for issues #4 - 10 starred in the lead story of the first volume of Marvel Feature (July 1972 - July 1973). Temporarily abandoning a costumed persona, Pym joined the West Coast Avengers as a scientist and inventor in West Coast Avengers vol. 2, #21 (June 1987). The character returned to the Avengers as the superhero Giant-Man in The Avengers vol. 3, #1 (February 1998). When the team disbanded after a series of tragedies, Pym, using the Yellowjacket persona again, took a leave of absence beginning with vol. 3, #85 (September 2004).

Following the death of the Wasp, whom he had married and divorced by this time, a grieving Pym took on yet another superhero identity as the new Wasp, in tribute to her, in the one-shot publication Secret Invasion: Requiem (January 2009). Giant-Man appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy from issue #1 (Aug 2010) through its final issue #39 (Jan 2013).