Henry Pym
Henry Pym as Yellowjacket
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee Larry Lieber Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Henry "Hank" Pym
Species	Human (empowered)
Team affiliations	Avengers West Coast Avengers Secret Defenders
Notable aliases	Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, Doctor Pym the Scientific Adventurer
Abilities	Intellect Size-shifting Bio-energy projection

Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym is a fictional character that appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by editor and plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber and penciler Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962).

Pym's character, which debuted in a standalone science-fiction anthology story, returned several issues later as the superhero Ant-Man, with the power to shrink to the size of an insect. Pym was later given a crime-fighting partner, Janet van Dyne, the The Wasp. The two would fall in love and eventually marry.

Pym would later assume other superhero identities, from the size-changing Giant-Man and a later iteration, Goliath, to another insect-themed character, Yellowjacket.

The character of Henry Pym has featured in other Marvel-endorsed products such as animated films; arcade and video games; television series and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards. As of 2008, a live-action film featuring the character Ant-Man is currently under development.

Publication history

Henry "Hank" Jonathan Pym debuted in a standalone science fiction story in the SF/fantasy anthology Tales to Astonish #27 (Jan. 1962), in the seven-page cover story, "The Man in the Ant Hill," about a scientist who tests a shrinking technology on himself. Eight issues later, the character and the technology were recruited for a new costumed-superhero feature, "Ant-Man," 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 (Sept. 1962). Both issues' stories were by the same creative team of editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers. Lee in 2008 described his reasoning for the character's atypical genesis: "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".^[1]

Joining Pym in issue #44 (June 1963) was his socialite girlfriend and laboratory assistant, Janet van Dyne who adopted the identity of superheroine the Wasp and co-starred in Pym's subsequent Tales to Astonish stories. She also later served as a framing-sequence host for anthological science-fiction backup stories in the comic. Ant-Man and the Wasp went on to become founding members of the superhero group the Avengers in that namesake comic-book series that debuted in 1963.

Pym adopted an alternate identity as the 12-foot-tall Giant-Man in Tales to Astonish #49 (Nov. 1963). He and the Wasp continued to star in the feature "Giant-Man" through #69 (July 1965), while simultaneously appearing in The Avengers through #15 (April 1965), after which the couple temporarily left the team.

Pym rejoined the Avengers and adopted the new identity of Goliath in The Avengers #28 (May 1966). Gradually falling to mental duress, he adopted a fourth superhero identity, Yellowjacket, in #59 (Dec. 1968). Pym later briefly returned as Ant-Man, and was featured as the main character in the first volume of "Marvel Feature". ^[2] Temporarily eschewing a costumed persona, Pym joined the team the West Coast Avengers as a scientist and inventor, known simply as Doctor Pym, in West Coast Avengers vol. 2, #21 (June 1987). He returned to the Avengers as the superhero Giant-Man in The Avengers #1 (vol. 3, Feb. 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 (Sept. 2004). The issue was alternately numbered #500 (of the first volume) in an anniversary return to the original series numbering.

Fictional character biography

Henry Pym is a biochemist initially married to a Hungarian woman, Maria Trovaya, who is later killed by the Hungarian Secret Police. Shortly afterward, Pym discovers what he calls "Pym particles," a rare group of subatomic particles from which he formulates a size-altering formula. Testing the solution on himself, Pym discovers that one type of particles shrinks objects while the other restores an object to its natural size. Pym shrinks himself to the size of an insect and has a dangerous encounter with ants from a nearby anthill.^[3] After restoring himself and undertaking an exhaustive study of ants, Pym constructs a cybernetic helmet that allows him to communicate with and control ants. Pym designs a costume and reinvents himself as the superhero Ant-Man.^[4] On his first adventure, Pym defeats several KGB agents trying to steal his formula for an anti-radiation gas.

Pym is later contacted by Dr. Vernon Van Dyne, who asks for Pym’s help in contacting aliens. Pym refuses, but becomes attracted to Vernon’s daughter, Janet. Vernon Van Dyne is later killed by an alien outlaw and Janet asks for Hank’s help to avenge his death. Pym then reveals his secret identity to her, and uses Pym particles to graft wasp wings beneath her shoulders, which appear when Janet shrinks. Janet assumes the alias of the Wasp, and together they track down and defeat her father's killer.^[5] The two later develop a romantic relationship.^[6]

Avengers founder

Pym, together with the Wasp, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk, went on to found the superhero team the Avengers.^[7] Shortly after the group’s formation, Pym developed a gas and later tablet that could increase his size, and using these became Giant-Man^[8] and later Goliath.^[9] Unfortunately, this change was driven by an inferiority complex and feelings of inadequacy when comparing his powers to those of Thor or Iron Man.^[10] This situation was exacerbated when Pym found himself trapped in giant form for a time.^[11] Pym then suffers a serious setback when he creates the robot Ultron,^[12] which becomes sentient and plots to kill Pym and the rest of the human race. Pym then has a mental breakdown and reappears at Avengers Mansion as the cocky "Yellowjacket",^[13] which he later speculates^[10] was the result of his subconscious desire to remove the inhibitions that kept him from proposing to Janet. Pym recovers after the two are married.^[14]

Downfall and redemption

Pym, now using the Yellowjacket identity, and his new wife return to the Avengers briefly before taking a leave of absence so that he can pursue full-time research. The Avengers encounter Pym at the start of the Kree-Skrull War, when Pym has been reverted to a caveman-like state by the alien Kree.^[15] After Pym is restored to normal, he and Janet retire from the Avengers, although Pym returns briefly as Ant-Man to repair the android Avenger the Vision.^[16]

Following two adventures alongside the Defenders,^[17] Pym returns to the Avengers (again as Yellowjacket) at the insistence of his wife, but is now uncomfortable in his role as a super-hero. Pym’s vulnerability is exploited by Ultron, who brainwashes him—causing Pym to regress back to his original Ant-Man costume and personality, forgetting all of his subsequent adventures with the team. As Ant-Man, Pym attacks the Avengers until stopped by Janet.^[18] After Ultron's brainwashing is reversed, Pym re-joins the team as Yellowjacket until he is forced out when the roster is restructured by government liaison Henry Peter Gyrich.^[19]

Pym and the Wasp later rejoin the Avengers, but by this stage Pym has begun to mentally deteriorate and is verbally abusive towards Janet. On their first mission after rejoining the Avengers, Pym attacks a foe who had ceased fighting. Team leader Captain America brings charges against Pym, and he is suspended from Avengers duty pending the verdict of a court-martial. At this point, Pym suffers a complete breakdown, and becomes extremely paranoid and violent. Pym then concocts a plan to salvage his credibility by building a robot and programming it to launch an attack on the Avengers at his court-martial. Planning to expose the robot’s weakness at the critical moment, Pym hopes to regain his good standing with the Avengers. Janet, however, discovers the plan and begs Pym to stop, at which point he strikes her. Although the robot does attack the Avengers as planned, the Wasp reveals Pym's plan and she uses the critical flaw in the design to defeat it. Pym is subsequently expelled from the Avengers.^[20]

Left penniless and friendless in the wake of his disgrace, Pym is then manipulated by his old foe Egghead (believed at the time to be dead), who tricks him into stealing the national reserve of the metal adamantium. Upon leaving the scene of the crime, Pym is confronted by the Avengers, whom he had anonymously summoned, but now is forced to fight. Pym is defeated and blamed for the theft, as Egghead skillfully erases all evidence of his involvement. Blaming a supposedly dead villain is taken as further proof of Pym’s madness and he is incarcerated.^[21] During Pym’s imprisonment, he suffers another setback when Janet begins a relationship with Tony Stark, the alter ego of fellow Avenger Iron Man.^[22]

Still not fully satisfied with his victory over his archenemy, Egghead then reforms the supervillain team the Masters of Evil and kidnaps Pym at his trial, creating the impression that Pym himself staged his own escape. Egghead then plans to use Pym in another of his schemes, but is tricked when Pym uses Egghead’s own apparatus to defeat the entire roster of the Masters of Evil. In a final act of desperation, Egghead attempts to kill Pym, but is stopped and accidentally killed by the Avenger Hawkeye, whose brother had been murdered by Egghead years ago. With the real perpetrator exposed, Pym is cleared of all charges. After an emotional farewell with Janet and his former team mates at Avengers Mansion, Pym leaves to devote his time to full time research.^[23]

Return to the Avengers

Pym later rejoins the West Coast Avengers, first in an advisory role^[24] and then as a full-fledged member in a non-costumed capacity,^[25] and later rejoining the East Coast team as Giant-Man. ^[26] During this period, Pym begins a short relationship with Tigra, who quickly ends it.^[27] After a verbal taunting by his old foe The Whirlwind, Pym contemplates suicide, but is stopped by the heroine Firebird at the last moment.^[28] Pym and Jan became friends again, and eventually resume a romantic relationship. The pair, together with many of the other Avengers, apparently sacrifice themselves to stop the villain Onslaught, but actually exist in a pocket universe for a year before returning to the mainstream universe.^[29]

Pym makes a valuable contribution once the team reforms,^[30] and as Giant-Man he scores victories over both Imus Champion^[31] and his flawed creation Ultron.^[32] While in his Giant-Man guise, both he and the Wasp are plucked out of the timestream by the being Immortus, and team up with several Avengers from various periods in the team’s history, including the mentally unbalanced Yellowjacket that the Avengers first encountered.^[10] Pym’s psychological problems worsen during an encounter with the sorcerer Kulan Gath, as he is temporarily transformed complete with a Yellowjacket-style persona. The subsequent attempt to break the spell results in another Henry Pym being created from the extradimensional bio-mass Pym used to grow, with each Pym reflecting an aspect of his personality—Giant-Man the thoughtful, scientific aspect and Yellowjacket the impulsive aspect. During the events of the Kang Dynasty,^[33] the two Pyms began to deteriorate from being apart, but were restored when the Wasp helps them realise that the two need each other. The integration of their personalities enables Pym to resolve his past problems, and he decides to adopt his Yellowjacket costume once more.^[34] After the events of Avengers Disassembled and the disbanding of the team, Pym and Janet left the team to re-kindle their relationship in England.^[35]

Secret Invasion

While in England, Hank and Janet's relationship fails and Hank is replaced by a Super-Skrull.^[36] This Skrull Hank Pym, along with the Wasp and a number of other metahumans, are transported to "Battle World" by a god-like being to combat each other^[37] before being involved in what became known as the superhero Civil War between those agreeing to the government's new superhuman-registration program and those against, Pym, adopting the Yellowjacket persona, with Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) and Tony Stark (Iron Man), creates a cybernetic clone of Thor to help in the war against the anti-registration heroes that later kills Bill Foster (who had taken up Pym's former identity as Goliath) in battle.^[38] Pym is kidnapped by Young Avengers member Hulkling, using his shapeshifter powers to impersonate Pym and free several captive anti-registration heroes. ^[39] At the conclusion of the Civil War, Pym is named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine for his role.

This Pym, a Skrull named Criti Noll, ^[40] becomes one of the chief administrators at Camp Hammond, a U.S. military base in Stamford, Connecticut for the training of registered superheroes in the government program the Initiative, with the secret Skrull plan to place a Skrull in every state initiative team. During this time, the still Skrullian Pym and the Wasp officially end their attempt at reconciliation, and Pym becomes involved in a romantic relationship with the superheroine Tigra. The Skrull Yellowjacket evades being vaporised in an explosion ^[41] and an attack from superbeing KIA ^[42] by using Skrull powers^[40] and convinces the other heroes that he survives by rapidly shrinking to sub-atomic size. ^[43]

The unstable personality of Pym begins to affect Criti Noll, and he is eventually killed by his brethren and replaced by another Skrull. ^[44] When Reed Richards discovers the reason why the Skrulls are undetectable, the newest Skrull impersonator of Pym incapacitates Richards. ^[45] When the Skrulls invade, Pym orders the Initiative cadets to go to New York to battle the Skrulls ^[46] so he can prepare for the arrival of the Skrull Queen, Veranke.^[47]

Powers and abilities

Dr. Hank Pym is a scientific genius of the highest order with expertise in the fields of quantum physics, robotics/cybernetics, artificial intelligence, biochemistry, and even entomology. Notable achievements in robotics include the invention of Ultron and occasional repair of the android Vision. Pym also discovered the self-titled "Pym particles" that enable mass to be shunted or gained from an alternate dimension.

Pym has experimented with size-shifting for much of his adult life, initially via ingested capsules and later via particle-filled gas. Enough exposure eventually allows Pym to change size at will, as well as change the sizes of other living beings or inanimate objects. Pym retains his normal strength when "ant" size, and possesses greatly increased strength and stamina when in "giant" form, courtesy of the increased mass. He is able to attain a stated maximum height of roughly 100 feet. Pym’s costume is composed of unstable molecules and automatically adapts to his shifting sizes.

He also uses a variety of aids, including a cybernetic helmet for communicating with ants (Ant-Man) and artificial wings and bio-blasters built into his gloves (Yellowjacket). Pym also carries a variety of weaponry, provisions, and scientific instruments, which are stored in shrunken form in the pockets of his uniform.

Successors

The "Pym particles" that enable his size changing abilities have also been utilized by other individuals, many of whom have adopted variants of Pym's previous costumed identities.

These have included: Scott Lang (as Ant-Man); Eric O'Grady (as Ant-Man); Clint Barton (as Goliath); Bill Foster (as both Goliath and Giant Man); Erik Josten (as Atlas); Tom Foster (as Goliath); Rita DeMara (as Yellowjacket); Cassie Lang (as Stature) and Katrina Luisa Van Horn (as Man-Killer).

Other versions

Earth X

In the alternate future of Earth X, Pym is one of the Avengers killed in battle against the Absorbing Man.^[48]

Fantastic Four: The End

In this alternate future, Pym in his Goliath costume, and has two children who aspire to become superheroes, calling themselves Beetle Boy and the Wasp.^[49]

MC2

In the MC2 alternate universe, Hank and Janet are survived by their children Hope Pym and Henry Pym Jr., who become the supervillains Red Queen and Big Man respectively.^[50]

Marvel Zombies

On Earth-2149, the reality of the Marvel Zombies, Pym uses his Giant-Man identity and is one of the many heroes infected and transformed into a flesh-eating zombie. After being turned into a zombie, he captures and hides his friend T'Challa, the Black Panther, to keep as an emergency food supply.^[51] Pym later assumes leadership of the "cosmic" zombie group, the Galacti.^[52]

Ultimate Henry Pym

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Henry "Hank" Pym is a brilliant but mentally fragile scientist who takes Prozac and is married to Janet Pym, a molecular biologist. Pym is chosen to work on the "Super Soldier Project" for S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury. He gains his powers after experimenting on the blood of his wife, who is a mutant, and as the superhero "Giant-Man" is able to shrink to the size of an ant and grow to a maximum height of 59 feet and 11 inches (60 feet being the point where the human body cannot support its own mass).^[53] After Hank’s abuse of his wife and subsequent discharge from the Ultimates, Giant-Man joins the Liberators. After their defeat, however, Pym claims that he infiltrated the group in order to expose a traitor among the Ultimates. ^[54] He returns to the Ultimates in the identity of Ant-Man after the defeat of an imposter. ^[55]

In other media

Television

• Henry Pym appears with the Avengers in the Marvel Superheroes show (1966).
• Henry Pym was featured regularly in the animated television series The Avengers: United They Stand, voiced by Rod Wilson.
• Henry Pym in his Ant-Man alias was featured in the Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes episode "World’s Tiniest Heroes," voiced by John Payne II.

Film

• Pym appears in the animated features Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2, based on the Ultimates rendition of the character. He is voiced by Nolan North.
• Marvel Studios has announced plans to produce an Ant Man live-action film, to be directed by Edgar Wright. and released in 2010.^[56] In March 2008, Wright said he and screenwriter Joe Cornish had finished a first-draft script that included both the Henry Pym and Scott Lang characters.^[57]

Video game

• Hank Pym appears as an NPC in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and is voiced by Jerry Houser.

Cards and miniature Games

Pym appears in his various guises in the HeroClix miniatures game and in the Vs. System card game.

Toys

• In 1999, a toy line was produced for the Avengers: United They Stand cartoon series, with an action figure of Hank as Ant-Man released.
• Toy Biz released a figure of Hank Pym in his Giant-Man costume in an Original Avengers box set that also included a miniature Ant-Man figure.
• Toy Biz released the same figure in Series 4 of their Marvel Legends toyline as a repaint of Hank in his Goliath outfit. The figure also came included with miniature Ant-Man and Wasp figures.
• In 2006, an exclusive series of Marvel Legends figures was released to Wal*Mart stores in the United States. This series required the purchasing 10 of the figures in the assortment to complete the "Build-A-Figure" toy of Giant-Man.
• In 2007, after Hasbro took over Marvel Legends, a Hank Pym in his Yellowjacket persona was released with the second series. A mini Yellowjacket had previously been included with Wonder Man in the ToyBiz Legendary Riders series.

Bibliography

• Tales to Astonish (as Henry Pym) #27 (Marvel Comics, Jan. 1962)
• Tales to Astonish (as Ant-Man) #35-49 (Marvel Comics, Sept. 1962 - Nov. 1963)
• Tales to Astonish (as Giant-Man) #49-69 (Marvel Comics, Nov. 1963 - Jul. 1965)
• Essential Ant-Man (black-and-white trade paperback) (2002)
• Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Volume 1 (from Tales To Astonish #27 and # 35-52) (2006)

Footnotes

References