The Wasp (
Janet van Dyne) is a
fictional character, a
superheroine in the
Marvel Comics universe and founding member of
The Avengers. Created by
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby,
the character first appeared in
Tales to Astonish #44 (June
1963).
After the character's 2008 death,
Henry
Pym became Marvel Comics' new Wasp.
Both versions are depicted as having the ability to shrink to a
height of perhaps several centimeters, fly by means of insectoid
wings (which appear only at small size), and fire energy
blasts.
Publication history
Janet van Dyne debuted as
Henry "Hank"
Pym's partner in
Tales to Astonish 44 (Written by
Stan Lee and drawn by
Jack Kirby), originally only serving as his
partner to avenge the death of her father, scientist Vernon van
Dyne. Later in the same issue, she decides to stay with him, only
because she is in love with him, wanting him to realize that he
loves her back. They both realize their feelings for each other in
Tales to Astonish #56, although it isn't until later in
the series that they act on them.
During her run in
Astonish, van Dyne also joins
Avengers in its first
issue, along with her partner, Hank Pym. It is on this team that
Janet becomes most well known, at first the weak link of the team,
but later on one of the smartest and craftiest members. She is the
first one to propose to leave the team, after announcing how tired
she is, and how she wants to return to a normal life. However, she
misses being a superhero, and she (along with Hank) returns to the
team in issue #28. After marrying her husband in issue #60, Janet
and Hank both later decide to leave the team in issue #75.
Hank becomes the main character of the series
Marvel Feature, starting with issue #4,
and Janet appears as a second main character starting with issue
#6. Both characters leave the book after issue #10, making sporadic
guest appearances in various different other books at the time,
presumably living a happily married life.
Janet misses being a superhero once again, and rejoins the Avengers
in issue #137, right away getting injured. After being rescued by
her husband and hospitalized, Janet recovers and joins the team
along with Hank in issue #151. It is here where she begins her
longest run as an Avengers member. After being brutally slapped in
the face by her husband, she divorces him, and in turn becomes the
new Chairman of the Avengers, starting with issue #217.
Janet later resigns as Chairman, and joins the
West Coast Avengers in issue #32, at
first only to help stabilize the team after
Tony Stark leaves, and then to become a full time
member starting with issue #42. Later in the run, she rekindles her
old romance with Hank, and fully rejoins the Avengers.
Design
In his 1970's run on
The Avengers, artist
George Pérez revamped the character's
costume a number of times having a significant impact on the
character's development —
Fictional character biography
Origin
Janet Van Dyne was born in
Cresskill, New
Jersey
. She was initially a shallow, self-centered,
flighty heiress and debutante, daughter of wealthy scientist Vernon
Van Dyne. During an experiment, however, an alien monster was
unleashed from an alternate dimension and Dr. Van Dyne was killed.
Her father's associate, Dr.
Henry "Hank"
Pym, had created a substance called "Pym particles," which
allowed the user to grow or shrink in size, and had become the
superhero
Ant-Man. When Janet's father
died, she convinced Pym to help her. He gave her a supply of "Pym
particles" and subjected her to a biochemical procedure which
granted her the ability to, upon shrinking, grow wings and fire
blasts of energy, which she called her "wasp's stings." As
Ant-Man and
The Wasp, they
defeated the monster, sent it to its own dimension, and had several
more adventures together. Janet became Pym's partner and fell in
love with Pym before their first adventure, but Pym rejected her at
first, afraid of what would happen if he were to lose her, along
with his first wife, whom was killed. Janet would openly muse about
her apparently unrequited feelings, often in front of him. Pym
rejected his feelings for her, however he later accepted them, and
tried acting on them. They both soon enough realized their feelings
for each other, and began dating.
Avenger
Soon afterwards, the superhero team, which Janet herself dubbed the
Avengers, formed, and the pair
were among its founding members. Still shallow, Janet frequently
commented on the attractiveness of her male colleagues, especially
Thor, in order to provoke
jealousy from Pym. Never lacking for confidence or bravery and by
nature an outgoing personality, Janet was always in the thick of
their battles with villains, who included Norse gods and aliens.
Early on in her Avengers career, she was wounded in battle against
Count Nefaria. Although she and Hank
took occasional leaves of absence, the two have almost always
remained members, being on reserve when not on active duty. After
their first leave of absence, she and Pym, as the first Goliath,
rejoined the Avengers, and battled the
Collector. During the course of their
many adventures as Avengers, Janet grew as a person, becoming a
resourceful and seasoned hero. Several years later, she would be
elected leader of the team.
Marrying Hank Pym
The relationship between Janet and Pym had always been one of
loving squabbling, but her wealth and his research had always
stopped him from proposing. One day, a cocky new costumed
crime-fighter called Yellowjacket broke into Avengers HQ. He
claimed to have disposed of Pym and even kidnapped Janet. To the
outrage of her colleagues, Janet then married Yellowjacket. A
tension-filled wedding was made even more edgy by an attack by the
Circus of Crime. During the fight it
was discovered that Yellowjacket
was Pym. He had had an
accident with some chemicals causing a severe case of
schizophrenia. Janet had realized this from
very early on and had taken advantage to finally tie the
knot.
With Yellowjacket, she later left the Avengers. With Pym, now as
Ant-Man again, she became temporarily trapped at insect size, and
battled
Whirlwind, Para-Man, and
Dr. Nemesis. With Yellowjacket, she eventually rejoined the
Avengers. With
Spider-Man and
Yellowjacket, she battled
Equinox;
her powers were augmented by Yellowjacket.
Rocky times
However, her relationship with Pym became rocky, as he suffered a
further series of mental problems, exacerbated by the stress on his
body of his frequent size changes and exposure to chemicals. This
even led to him being easily brainwashed by
Ultron, in which he kidnapped Jan and used her brain
patterns to create a wife for Ultron,
Jocasta. Janet later rejoined the Avengers
without Pym. Many years later, Pym had a complete breakdown, and
became completely paranoid. During the course of this breakdown, he
became overbearing and verbally abusive. At the nadir of his
degeneration, he struck Janet, and then proceeded to concoct a plan
to make himself look good in front of his teammates by staging an
attack upon them which only he could stop. This plan backfired and
Pym was exposed, disgraced, and expelled from the Avengers, and the
couple separated. Janet divorced Pym soon after, and then became
Avengers chairman; with the Avengers, she arrested Yellowjacket.
She eventually surrendered her Avengers chairmanship to the
Vision. She remained with the
team despite these hardships, and even began dating other men, like
Tony Stark and
Paladin. With Paladin, she battled
Baron Brimstone, and shortly thereafter she
resumed her Avengers chairmanship. Janet eventually stepped down as
chairman again, and left the Avengers. Pym later on joined the
West Coast Avengers, with Janet
soon following. Jan battled the threat of
Red
Ronin alone. Pym's mental state returned to normal, and the two
became friends again, and later on resumed their romantic
relationship. Jan was elected as a regular member of the Avengers
West, but chose to become a reserve member. Some few years later,
the two returned to the regular Avengers. On a trip to Las Vegas,
however, she turned down his proposal, saying she wouldn't marry
him again. She had a brief fling with fellow team member
Hawkeye but returned to Hank.
Avengers Disassembled
While discussing her fling with Hawkeye to the
Scarlet Witch, a slightly tipsy Wasp confessed
to a pregnancy scare and inadvertently mentioned Wanda's own
children, whose unnatural existence
Agatha Harkness had kindly erased from the
Witch's memory. The Wasp's slip of the tongue, combined with
Scarlet Witch's increasingly unstable
and growing powers, caused Wanda to suffer a mental breakdown which
led to the events of
Avengers Disassembled. Janet
was knocked into a coma by a rampaging
She-Hulk during an attack on Avengers Mansion by
the
Scarlet Witch. Hank watched over
her as she lay in the hospital, and when she recovered, they
reconciled.
The two retired from the Avengers in order to
pursue a new life together in Oxford
.
Beyond!
The Wasp reappeared with Pym in the miniseries
Beyond!. He is at this point still her
ex-husband and over the course of the events chronicled in this
series, it is revealed that they had called off their most recent
attempt at a romantic relationship, although they remain on good
terms.
Civil War
With the onset of the superhuman Civil War, Hank has helped
spearhead the pro-registration movement. Janet is also
pro-registration, although she was very upset about the murder of
her friend
Bill Foster, and has
become the host of a pro-registration reality show called
America's Newest Superhero.
Mighty Avengers
When selecting the roster for the latest incarnation of the
Avengers team, this time as part of the
Fifty State Initiative,
Tony Stark selected Janet as a founding member of
the
Mighty Avengers. When alien
symbiotes attacked New York, Janet used a refined growth formula
given to her by Hank Pym which allowed her to shift to giant-size
without side effects. During the beginning of the fight, she was
briefly turned into a symbiote monster before a cure was created by
Stark.
At this point, Hank had been replaced by a
Skrull, and the growth formula was part of a grander
plan.
Secret Invasion
Janet was among the Mighty Avengers who were fighting heroes from
the Skrull ship. She is later seen with the rest of the Avengers
heading to New York to confront the Skrulls. While fighting the
Skrulls, the true purpose of the serum that the Skrull Hank Pym
gave her is revealed. After Queen Veranke is thought dead, Skrull
Pym hits a button that makes Jan increase in size rapidly. She
realizes the "new" particles Pym gave her are turning her into a
bio-bomb. Jan is seen growing to huge size, emitting black-purple
energy, and about to explode. Janet tries to flee the battlefield
and take as many Skrulls with her. To save the humans, Thor kills
her to put her out of her misery, vowing to avenge her. After her
death, Hank Pym resolves to take up his fallen wife's mantle and
becomes the Wasp.
When
Hercules ventures into
the underworld, he encounters Janet's spirit in
Erebus, the place in between life and death where
those who feel they still have business in the mortal world linger
and gamble for their resurrection. Janet was seen stubbornly
working a slot machine in search of a win.
Powers and abilities
Making use of the cellular implantation of sub-atomic Pym
particles, the Wasp possesses the power to alter her physical size,
causing her body's mass to be shunted to or gained from an
alternate dimension known as Kosmos. She is able to shrink to a
minimum of half an inch or grow to a maximum of several hundred
feet. Smaller or larger sizes are possible but the exertion begins
to put a strain on her body. Initially, these abilities stemmed
from use of a Pym particle gas released from special capsules, and
later biochemical augmentation by Henry Pym. Over time, however,
her body has absorbed enough particles to cause cellular mutation
due to repeated exposure to Pym particles to allow her to alter her
size at will.
At miniature size, her strength level increases as her body's mass
is compacted. At giant size, her strength and endurance increase
geometrically with her height, reaching superhuman levels. Despite
the advantages of giant size, Janet usually prefers to remain the
diminutive Wasp, calling on her growth power only in times of
extreme emergency.
At miniature size, the Wasp grows a pair of translucent insect
wings from her back, a result of genetic modifications provided by
Hank Pym. These grant her the power of flight, at speeds up to
.
The Wasp is able to harness and augment her body's natural
bio-electric energy, releasing it from her hands in powerful
electrical force bursts, which she calls her "stinger blasts" or
"wasp's stings." Originally, she required special wrist devices to
produce these but again, Pym particle absorption has allowed her to
create the ability unaided.
The Wasp's genetic modifications also grant her the ability to
sprout small prehensile antennae from her temples which allow her
to telepathically communicate with and control insects. However,
this is an ability which she rarely uses.
Van Dyne has also displayed several non-superhuman abilities that
have garnered her special fame and attention, foremost of which is
her fashion sense; in nearly all of her early appearances, she
sported a new costume, presumably designed and manufactured on her
own as she is a gifted fashion designer. She is also a skilled
amateur screenwriter. The Wasp was trained in unarmed combat by
Captain America and in combat utilizing her special powers by Henry
Pym. In addition, The Wasp is one of the most intuitive, if not
deductive, members of the Avengers, and is an experienced leader
and strategist. She effectively deduced that a chemical accident
created a schizophrenic break in
Henry
Pym, the relationship between the
Scarlet Witch and the
Vision was the result of the infused
personality of
Wonder Man, and guessed
the identity of
Iron Man at a time when
Tony Stark faked his own death.
Other versions
MC2
In the alternate future of the "
MC2" universe,
Hank and Janet would end up giving birth to two children: Hope
Pym/Red Queen and Henry Pym Jr./Big Man. Giant-Man would later
perish on the last mission of the original Avengers, with The Wasp
dying of a broken heart. Their parents' deaths motivate Red Queen
to form the
Revengers. Big Man, a one time
member, however, joins a government reform team.
Marvel Adventures
The
Marvel Adventures:
The Avengers series (set in its own continuity) features
Janet Van Dyne as
Giant-Girl, showcasing her
ability to grow rather than shrink, which she uses in combat. She
is younger than her main universe counterpart and she cracks jokes
along with her teammate
Spider-Man. Issue
13 of the series reveals her origin as a wealthy socialite given
access to size-changing Pym particles by scientist Henry Pym (here
an employee of Janet's father, rather than a superhero). Janet does
not appear to have ever used her Wasp identity in this version. It
has been revealed that Janet can shrink to wasp size but she sees
no point in being tiny. Her maximum size is unknown but she has
grown tall enough to catch a school. Instead of having her powers
naturally, Janet requires a suit powered by Pym particles to change
her size. Like her
Earth-616 counterpart,
Janet seems to change her costume regularly. Originally she wore a
skin-tight full body suit that accurately accentuates all her
curves along with her muscles and primarily purple with some blue
costume with a mask that was similar to that of Giant-Man. It
included the antennae (although she never used them). They left her
vulnerable to insect mind control as seen in issue 13. Her second
costume was primarily blue with some purple set in a v-pattern from
her waist running all the way to her posterior regions and lacks a
mask or antennae. A recent preview of Marvel Adventures the
Avengers 19 has shown her wearing a costume which is primarily blue
but has gold/yellow. Whether this costume increases her maximum
size is yet to be seen. She has also mentioned that she has at
least two brothers although they have never been seen or given any
names (see Marvel Adventures the Avengers #3).
Marvel Zombies
The
Marvel Zombies series features an
alternate Wasp as one of the main characters. She is now a zombie,
another victim of the virus that has infected nearly all of her
world's superhumans. After Earth's human population is almost
entirely devoured, Wasp is one of the zombies who finally kills
(and consumes)
Magneto.
The Wasp then discovers that Hank Pym has kept a secret food
supply—a sedated and maimed
Black Panther, held
prisoner in Hank's lab. She confronts Hank but he decapitates her
by increasing in size and biting her head off in the struggle that
followed. When the Black Panther later escapes the lab, he also
takes the Wasp's head—still 'alive', but helpless. He eventually
reaches safety, encountering Magneto's surviving
Acolytes. The Acolytes
announce that they will study the Wasp, seeking a cure for the
virus.
An epilogue, five years later, shows the Wasp exploring the
deserted Earth alongside the Acolytes. Her severed head is now
sealed within a liquid-filled helmet, controlling a robotic
body.
Forty years later in "
Marvel Zombies
2", her head is now fixed on a more advanced machine with her
head exposed to the air. She also develops romantic feelings
towards one of the Acolyte survivors, a scientist named Reynolds.
As she indicates, forty years with the Acolytes is far longer then
the time she has spent with Hank. At one point, the two share a
kiss.
A long period without feeding seems to have completely cured her of
the hunger. Now Black Panther's adviser and friend, she is forced
to infect him when an Acolyte assassin attempts to kill him. This
incident is orchestrated by Malcolm Cortez, the son of
Fabian Cortez, who wants to take leadership
from Black Panther. When the hunger resurfaces, she nearly eats
Panther's wife before being stopped by him. Instead, they eat the
assassin and they state they will go into isolation in order to
control their hunger. This is a success. Multiple powered zombies
soon threaten the colony. Wasp fights alongside Panther, Hawkeye
(who, too, had been decapitated and was inhabiting Janet's own
former cybernetic body), Forge and a reformed Luke Cage and
Spider-Man to save the people of New Wakanda from Firelord, Giant
Man, Wolverine, Gladiator, Hulk, Jean Grey and Iron Man, who are
seeking to finish off humanity, and retain the inter-dimensional
portal so they can enter a new universe. Eventually, the zombies
discover, as Janet did, that the Hunger fades with time, and they
stop their rampage, only to have their numbers halved by the Hulk.
Janet, along with the other remaining zombies; the new Colonel
America, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Giant Man, Wolverine and Black
Panther, end up teleported to another universe by Malcolm
Cortez.
Ultimate Wasp
In the
Ultimate Marvel continuity,
Janet Pym is a 26-year-old
mutant. and a member of the
Ultimates. She holds two PhDs (one known to be in
molecular biology ) and is portrayed as being of some
Asian descent.
She is moderately fluent in German. Her mutant status remains
hidden from the public but is known by Hank Pym and S.H.I.E.L.D.
She can generate a glittering wasp-like sting which she discharges
through her hands. Her bio-electric blast famously took out the
Hulk during his New York massacre. Side-effects of her insectoid
genetics include the occasional consumption of bugs, forming her
own larval nests, and laying egg-like constructs.
During her college years, she shared a room with
Betty Ross and started seeing Henry Pym.
He was abusive to her early in their relationship and during
college is known to have hit her at least twice, putting her head
through a door on one occasion and splitting the roof of her mouth
on another. Betty Ross can also recall instances where Janet was
missing chunks of hair. Jan also suffered from severe
bulimia prior to joining the
Ultimates.
Hank's attempts at change through medication and enlistment in the
Ultimates did not improve his behavior. As a result of his
humiliating loss against
the Hulk and
simmering jealousy against Jan's friendship with
Captain America, Henry and Jan fought
viciously until Janet resorted to stinging him and Hank commanding
an army of ants against her. Janet was found in a state of
anaphylactic shock, caused by receiving multiple
ant stings she received while at wasp-size. Captain America, upon
learning of Hank's violence, tracked him down and beat him
unconscious. Captain America's visits to Jan after the fight left
her exasperated and angry, stemming more from embarrassment of her
personal life becoming public.
After stopping the Chitauri invasion, Captain America and the Wasp
reconciled as friends and slowly started dating, despite Hank Pym's
attempts at making amends. On one of their secret meetings, Jan
later confessed to Hank, now classified as a security risk by
SHIELD, that the generation gap between Captain America and
herself, along with the elderly status of his friends, put a large
strain on their relationship. She recently walked out on Steve and
met up with Hank in a bar.
The invasion of America by the
Liberators failed to take Janet into
account. They discounted the possibility that someone whose only
ability is to make herself "smaller and weaker" could be a threat.
By the time they found her, Janet had made her way to the cells in
the
Triskelion where Captain
America was being held under suspicion of murdering
Hawkeye's entire family. Soldiers working
for the Liberators entered his cell and found two
metahuman signatures. At first, Janet was easily
subdued, but they failed to realize that she had already liberated
her boyfriend. Captain America easily beat the
Schizoid Man, but stopped fighting when several
super soldiers threatened to tear Jan apart. However, Jan surprised
them all by using her stinging powers at her normal size for the
first time, killing or incapacitating all of the super soldiers at
once.
At some point, Hank gave the Wasp a dose of the
Giant-Man
Serum giving her the power to grow to gigantic proportions.
Larger in size, Janet helped turn the tide in favor of American
forces and crushed
Swarm with one
stomp of her foot. It is yet to be seen whether Janet can grow at
will or whether this was a one off.
She is the new leader of the team in the "
Ultimates 3"
miniseries and now sports a crimson and gold outfit and a mask.
After the flood in
Ultimatum, she
is missing. Both Hank Pym and Hawkeye search for her. Hawkeye finds
her being eaten by the
Blob. The comic
came out 1 month after Ultimate Wasp's Earth-616 counterpart's
death.
Before his death, Pym tells the other heroes to take Janet's body
to his lab and activate "the
Jocasta project".
In other media
Television
Film
Video games
References
- The Avengers #16
- Tales to Astonish #44
- Tales to Astonish #49
- Tales to Astonish #55
- Tales to Astonish #56
- Tales to Astonish #65
- The Avengers #1
- Avengers #13-14
- The Avengers #75
- Avengers #28
- The Avengers #57, 59-60
- The Avengers #59
- The Avengers #60
- Avengers #75
- Marvel Feature Vol. 1 #6-10
- Avengers #137
- Marvel Team-Up #59-60
- The Avengers #161
- The Avengers #162
- Avengers #181
- The Avengers #212
- The Avengers #213
- The Avengers #214
- Avengers #217
- Avengers #243
- Avengers #251
- Avengers #256
- Avengers #278
- West Coast Avengers #32
- Solo Avengers #15
- West Coast Avengers #42
- Avengers West Coast #69
- The Avengers vol. 3 #71
- Secret Invasion #8
- Mighty Avengers #21 (February 2009)
- Incredible Hercules #129
- The Avengers #59-60
- [1]
- Ultimatum #2
- Ultimatum #3
- Comics Continuum
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