IN DEFENSE OF HANK PYM
OR
The Wasp was a real Piece of Sh*t when you really look at it...
There are pivotal moments in comic book history that define a character for all fans and future creative teams. The Death of Gwen Stacy for Spider-Man, The Death of Bucky for Captain America, The Joker meeting Harley Quinn, Mister Fantastic marrying The Invisible Girl, Tony Stark becoming an alcoholic.
While I was at Chicago's big Comic Con C2E2 this weekend, I took a quick break from my table to root through the dollar comic boxes and picked up this issue of the Avengers that I was missing...
It is about mid way in the story line in which Hank Pym, the original Ant Man ( and original Giant Man, and Yellow Jacket) was forever turned from classic hero into a classic heel.
During that story line was this legendary moment in comic book history. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Hank Pym ( then called yellowjacket ) hit his then wife Janet Van Dyne ( the Wasp). This is the infamous comic book panel that changed the way the world saw Hank Pym.
I can imagine how that single picture looks to you. What a cad, eh? Yellowjacket was drummed out of the Avengers and the character of Hank Pym was forever looked on and shown as a mortally flawed and damaged human being.
BUT wait…just…a…minute.
Just back up.
There are some things that never get considered and they are pretty important.
If we are to view Hank Pym striking his wife in the comic book, as serious and behavior that should be understood to tarnish his character, then all behavior in the same universe of comic books of the characters related to the incident are also fair game in determining ...just what went on here.
FIRST That picture there is not a big bad super hero striking a defenseless woman. That is one Avenger hitting another Avenger and it happened ALL THE TIME.
The Avengers got in physical fights with each other at the drop of a hat. Thor hit Iron Man, Hercules hit Wonder Man, Hawkeey hit Yellow Jacket, Wonderman hit the Vision, everybody hit the Hulk…these people got into physical confrontations every couple of issues and most of the time it started with a sucker punch. Here…here’s just a small highlight reel of Avengers attacking each other..INCLUDING the WASP Zapping the Black Panther
did you even notice Pym hitting the Wasp among all those other fights? I didn't seem out of place at all did it? and what’s the difference exactly?
Keep in mind that the Wasp was an Avenger, and had been an Avenger for years by this point.
She was and is a badass
She fought Doctor Doom, Magneto, Dragon Man, the Mandarin, Baron Zemo, Ultron, the Sub Mariner, and more lackeys of super villains than you can count. And it wasn’t all just flying around zapping people…here she is in a straight up fist fight.
So this was NOT some helpless waif. She was a full on battle tested Avenger, who got backed handed by another Avenger…it happened quite often.
SECOND, and more important. This scene of Hank Pym hitting her is…NOT an abusive boor hitting his wife. It is an ABUSIE, lashing out after years of mental abuse and manipulation. And I can prove it.
(remember...behavior in this universe is all related, you can not just look at one panel and ignore the rest of the cannon.)
Ladies and gentlemen …lets look back at the history of these two. Hank Pym as Ant-Man was a solo super hero until Janet Van Dyne came to him for help rescuing her father from some alien monster. She INSISTED he give her powers so that she could take part in the rescue.
He didn’t drag her into this life, she wanted to become a super hero and found a guy who could make that happen. And for the entire early run she continually threw herself at him and pressured him into a romantic relationship.
he fought off her advances for some time but eventually conceded to a romantic relationship.
From there they joined the Avengers…and I submit to you examples of her behavior-
Lady…you just got done fighting that guy…
I could, if i had the time, show you 40 or 50 panel of her hitting on other heroes, and even commenting on the good looks of the villains IN FRONT OF HANK. and her intention is made clear by the word balloons each time - it was to make Hank jealous.
She would go out of her way to put mental stress on Hank Pym in the form of emotional abuse, emotional blackmail and emotional manipulation.
She made a concerted effort to make Hank jealous and present herself as open for business even while continually trying to pressure Hank into marrying her.
That scene there…Hank has just lost his growing powers, and could die if he tries to change sizes…does she give a fck? Nope. Not any more than she gives a fck about whatever research he’s working on…the guy invented a growth serum, y’think maybe whatever he is working on right now might possible be beneficial to all of mankind? maybe? hmm? You think she gives a f*ck?
One day Hank, who was then known as Goliath, disappeared and a new super hero named Yellow Jacket claimed to have fought and killed him.
What was her response? This dedicated partner of Goliath in romance and super hero-ing, to Yellowjacket,s claim?…
…does that sound strange to you? go ahead and try to tell her that…
But wait..it gets WAY worse…
Yellowjacket was Goliath…if you are confused, join the crowd. Everyone was confused, including Pym. Everyone except the Wasp, that is.
This broad…knew Hank was having some sort of psychotic episode so severe that he didn’t even know what his own name was…and used it to trick him into marrying her! What…the…F8ck?
There’s been plenty of stories when a super hero gets amnesia and a villain tricks him into doing his bidding…how is that ANY different than what the Wasp did here? I’d say it was worse because the super villains don’t generally trick the hero into life long legally binding contracts.
That’s f*cking disgusting.
The Wasp is the only one who had figured out that the guy is completely out of his mind…Does she tell anyone else? Doe she get him help in the form of psychiatric care? NO, this broad let’s his psychotic episode continue, encourages it, let’s all his friends think Hank Pym is dead and then manipulates him into marriage.
This woman is a piece of sh*t.
Is they any other way of looking at that? Because I don’t see one. She’s sht. She is sht with wings.
Need I remind you that their job puts them and others in life threatening situation on a regular basis, and her not telling anyone else what was going on EVEN WHILE BEING ATTACKED BY CRIMINALS, could have cause several deaths.
You want to put these characters in grown up land…and look down on Hank Pym for being abusive? Fine…Let’s live in grown up land, then! ….That picture of Hank “hitting his wife”…look at that now and realize she is only his “wife” because she’s so f*cking sick and manipulative as to prey on a man in the midst of a psychotic episode.
AND he is only dressed as Yellowjacket because she dragged him back into being an Avenger, despite him telling her in no uncertain terms that he just wanted to be a scientist…for, by my count, the FOURTH time.
Hank tried repeatedly to leave the Avengers and go back to scientific research, only to get dragged back in by the Wasp who enjoyed being a super hero.
Yeah..just ignore that stooopid ol’ research/your life’s work, and fly around with me risking our lives fighting lunatics…here’s a kiss on the cheek…that oughta shut you up.
…
So, what do we have here?
We have a woman who manipulated a guy into giving her super powers, manipulated him into a romantic relationship, continually made light of him and their relationship in public through flirting and pawing at his own friends and team mates…not only ignored her duty as a f*cking human being to find care for him when he was having a nervous breakdown and full on episode of schizophrenia, but used it to secure him as a husband. She continually put both their lives at risk by imploring him to go back to the life of a super hero, having no care of consideration what so ever for what kind of career he actually wanted or for that matter…what his brilliant mind could have given all of mankind through his research.
and eventually…after decades of manipulation he had ONE moment of loss of self control.
Call me what you want, I cheered when this happened. She had that coming since Tales to Astonish no.44. and I defy anyone to explain to me how she didn't deserve it.
The comic book character Janet Van Dyne was a disgusting human being, and Hank Pym was her victim.
He was her Harley Quinn, when you really look at it.
Anyways...next time, back to plugging my own work!
Later.