By Ben Morse
Henry Pym said it best himself a couple years back during writer Kurt Busiek's landmark run on AVENGERS: "If I get one more alter ego, I'll be able to field my own basketball starting lineup."
Never the most stable of Marvel heroes…ok, maybe the
least stable of Marvel heroes, Pym, who got his start as Ant-Man, has dealt with depression, schizophrenia, a massive inferiority complex and more over the years. These issues have caused numerous nervous breakdowns and destroyed his relationships with the
Wasp—their marriage ended after Pym struck his wife at his lowest ebb—but also led to the creation of Giant-Man,
Goliath and
Yellowjacket…in turn leading to a second Yellowjacket, a couple new Ant-Men, a few more Goliaths and even a Black Goliath.
Maybe Dr. Pym ain't such a hard act to follow.
Well, in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #7, by writer Dan Slott and artist Stefano Caselli, on sale December 26, Henry Pym has it out for a new kid on the block. Back in his Yellowjacket guise these days as a chief administrator of the Initiative, Pym must once again contend with a pretender to one of his former identities as Eric O'Grady, formerly the Irredeemable (third) Ant-Man, joins the cast of Camp Hammond as the Irredeemable (second) Giant-Man!
With at least one Pym pretender now enrolled in the Initiative, it's time to look back at the various masks the (sometimes) diminutive doctor has worn over the years and the poor saps that have followed his lead.
ANT-MAN I
A renowned bio-chemist, Henry Pym got the whole tiny ball rolling by inventing "Pym particles," size-altering nuggets of goodness that can shrink or enlarge objects and today enjoy widespread use across the Marvel Universe for everything from super heroics to storage space.
Pym made himself the guinea pig for his new invention, shrinking down to the size of an insect, and nearly got killed by a horde of angry ants for his trouble. Recognizing this to be somewhat of a stumbling block on his road to glory—it's hard to fight
Loki when the local picnic pests give you trouble—Pym created a helmet that allowed him to communicate with, and enlist the help of, the insects around him.
Donning a costume and becoming the awesome Ant-Man, Pym got a partner/love interest in the winsome Wasp and earned the distinction of being the least powerful founding member of the
Avengers (by far), standing next to
Hulk,
Iron Man,
Thor and even his own partner (who could at least fly).
GIANT-MAN I
Quickly recognizing the fact that he didn't quite stack up against
Asgardian gods and playboys in golden armor when it came to power, Pym tinkered with his particles and altered them so he could increase in size in addition to shrinking, becoming Giant-Man.
More often than not, Giant-Man simply presented a larger target for the
Masters of Evil to hit, but Pym at least became the Avengers' go-to guy when it came to snatching up criminals for transportation to prison or scouting ahead over large hills.
GOLIATH I
Like a 30-something in the throes of a mid-life crisis trading in a perfectly good Honda Civic for a flashy Ferrari, Hank gave up on the Giant-Man identity and became Goliath, complete with snappy new costume and completely unchanged powers.
Perhaps as karmic punishment for forcing the two members of his fan club to keep changing the organization's name, as Goliath, Pym got temporarily stuck at about eight feet tall and also committed the blunder of creating perennial Avengers pain in the rear
Ultron.
Despite the lousy memories associated with being Goliath, Pym has returned to this identity numerous times over the years.
YELLOWJACKET I
Speaking of lousy memories, that brings us to Yellowjacket. Suffering a complete mental breakdown, Pym dresses up like a bumblebee and acts like
an arrogant jerk, claiming he "killed Goliath" and demanding to be made Avengers chairperson. The ever-patient Wasp realized her lover had gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and got the other Avengers to play along with his neuroses until he snapped out of it. As a bonus (?), Pym finally made an honest woman of the Wasp, marrying her immediately after the whole sordid affair.
As Yellowjacket, Pym has utilized both his size-decreasing and increasing abilities and also incorporated "stinger" blasts into his arsenal. His effectiveness in his Yellowjacket persona may be why, despite its odd origin, this is the ID Henry has most frequently employed, and continues to use presently.
GOLIATH II
Beginning to feel like less of an Avenger due to only firing arrows really well as opposed to being a super soldier or African king, Hawkeye turned to the team's resident expert in the field of inferiority and got an old Goliath costume and fistful of Pym particles for his trouble.
While Pym gallivanted as Yellowjacket,
Clint Barton put in a brief tour of duty as the second Goliath, culminating with the
Kree-Skrull War, before realizing that Hawkeye gets more chicks than all of Hank Pym's identities combined.
BLACK GOLIATH/GIANT-MAN II/GOLIATH III
Following a stint assisting fellow bio-chemist Henry Pym during his Goliath days, Bill Foster moved to Los Angeles, Pym particles intact, and became
the costumed adventurer known as Black Goliath. While he didn't exactly light up the West Coast with his heroic exploits, Foster did manage to snag a part-time spot on the
Champions roster before hanging up the tights.
Foster would use his powers infrequently over the next few years, assisting the Avengers and changing his name to Giant-Man and later just Goliath—looks like he was a Pym disciple after all! Tragically, Foster's massive size proved his undoing during "
Civil War" when he presented the largest target to the Thor clone—ironically created by his old buddy Doc Pym—and took a fatal lightning bolt to the chest.
ANT-MAN II
A down on his luck electronics expert who turned to burglary to support his family during tough times, Scott Lang did his time in prison and emerged determined to become a better man, securing a job with Stark International.
When his daughter Cassie became ill and the corrupt Cross Technological Enterprises kidnapped the only woman who could cure her, Lang stole the Ant-Man costume and some Pym particles from the home of Henry Pym to play hero. Despite
his shady acquisition of the equipment, Lang gained Pym's blessing to continue on as the second Ant-Man even after Cassie got better.
Scott arguably had a more decorated career as Ant-Man than his predecessor, serving fairly distinguished terms with both the
Fantastic Four and later the Avengers, all the while creating nary a single killer robot.
Sadly, Scott became the first victim of the
Scarlet Witch's burgeoning insanity during "Avengers Disassembled," killed by the exploding reanimated corpse of Jack of Hearts. Lang's daughter, Cassie, has become the Young Avenger known as
Stature.
GOLIATH IV
After
Luke Cage beat him like a drum to earn sole possession of the Power Man name, identity-impaired supervillain Erik Josten picked up the then out of circulation
Goliath tag, along with the ability to grow really big thanks to those ever-handy Pym particles.
The Goliath identity proved a winner for Josten, gaining him admission to the Masters of Evil. While a member of the Avengers' archfoes, Goliath participated in the savage beating of
Hercules and near dismantling of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Later, Josten disguised himself as Atlas, a member of the heroic
Thunderbolts, in reality the Masters posing as good guys under the leadership of Baron
Zemo in hopes of conquering a trusting populace. However, Josten found he liked being on the side of right and, along with several other Thudnerbolts, rebelled against Zemo to save the world from his evil schemes.
YELLOWJACKET II
While Dr. Pym was keeping busy with the West Coast Avengers in his most daring alter ego yet as…Dr. Pym…a crook named Rita DeMara swiped some of his gear and re-tooled his Yellowjacket costume to become a criminal version of his most long-lived persona.
The second Yellowjacket joined the Masters of Evil somewhat reluctantly, but turned on them during an invasion of Avengers Mansion and attempted to reform. During a later confrontation between the Masters and the
Guardians of the Galaxy, DeMara aided the Guardians and accompanied them back to their native 31st century as a member of the team.
Returning to the present after her Guardians stint, Yellowjacket had the misfortune of ending up on the wrong end of an Iron Man repulsor blast after the Armored Avenger had fallen under the influence of Immortus and became the first casualty of "The Crossing."
ANT-MAN III
After inadvertently causing the death of his best friend Chris McCarthy during a battle with HYDRA,
S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Eric
O'Grady swiped the prototype Ant-Man armor developed by Hank Pym that Chris died in and embarked on a self-indulgent life of petty theft and womanizing.
Despite his selfish attitude, O'Grady has found himself increasingly drawn into situations where he winds up playing the hero, wondering if he might not be suited for something greater. While the Ant-Man armor eventually ended up back with S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man and Pym recently recruited Eric into the Initiative, where it looks as if he may take up the role of Giant-Man.
AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #7 goes on sale December 26.
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