Henry Pym was the first Marvel Universe regular to appear after the Fantastic Four, appearing in the January 1962 issue of compilation magazine Tales To Astonish. He wasn't conceived of as a regular, it being a rough and unmemorable one-off story about a scientist who shrinks himself to tiny size and duels with monstrous ants before restoring himself. But something about the concept intrigued Stan Lee in his search for super-heroes who were different and quirky and in the September 1962 issue of the same title, Ant-Man returned in a regular feature. Early stories are crude and contain a few unintentional laughs, bearing many traces of '50s comics, fair enough for material produced at the time.

Tales to Astonish #27

The thing is that, unlike Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-man, it did not rapidly shake these off and become striking and innovative. Pym had no personality and fought simplistic uncharismatic thugs and had goofy forays into other dimensions. He was just a guy who could shrink- his power defined him and that wasn't enough of a hook and his stories were shockingly repetitive. Efforts were made to shake things up and mature him, such as a back-story involving a murdered wife. It feels tacked on, isn't executed well and is not integrated meaningfully into the book or Pym's character. More meaningful was the introduction of Janet Van Dyne in Tales To Astonish #44, a young socialite who would become Pym's lover and sidekick as the similarly miniaturized Wasp. She provides a much-needed soundboard and some sassy fun, but still doesn't elevate the series above the study by-numbers adventuring. Further changes come; most notably Ant-Man's transformation into a whole new identity, what I believe was an unprecedented move at the time. In Tales To Astonish #49, he gains the power to grow to 12 feet and thus becomes Giantman.

Back cover

This more dynamic power was perhaps a response to shrinking being a bit dull but Stan Lee proceeds to consistently write Pym as a klutz, running into street lamps, falling down manholes, tumbling off buildings etc. Perhaps he's trying to give Giantman the "problems" characteristic of Marvel heroes but he overdoes it and Pym ends up seeming incompetent. He works as part of a team in Avengers where his science and size changing complements other more exciting heroes so it's no surprise he and Wasp found a home there, but doesn't stand up to solo scrutiny. I've mostly discussed the writing, but one could point to early Daredevil as an example of a comic that is worthwhile despite poor scripts because of Gene Colan's strong art. Not the case here. Art is mostly functional and doesn't help the flat writing much. Kirby's way-out renditions of Scarlet Beetle in issue. #39 are a bit of a novelty and what about those crazy bugs Heck comes up with in #41, but they're isolated moments of interest, few and far between.

Included in this collection, which may be of interest to Janet Van Dyne watchers, are Wasp's solo tales from the back pages of issues #51-59. Typical sci-fi tales with odd twist endings, they're no lost treasure but the sort of thing you'll probably only ever get a chance to read in this format. I'll say it plain- this is a volume that pushes the definition of "essential". It's intriguing for a student of the evolution of the original Marvel style to see a title where it never quite came off, but those seeking excellent comics won't be so well served. Despite contributions from the super-team of Kirby and Lee, this has lots of problems and is ultimately sub-standard, leaving it as no mystery as to why the series eventually got dropped in favor of Sub-Mariner.

 

 

 

 

 

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