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From SCIFIPEDIA
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Ant-Man is a fictional superhero character owned by Marvel Comics.
Ant-Man has the ability to shrink down to the size of an insect while retaining his normal strength. He also wears a cybernetic helmet that allows him to communicate and control ants. He gets around by riding on the backs of flying ants.
There have been three Ant-Man characters.
Henry Pym
Henry “Hank” Pym is a biochemist with extensive knowledge in a wide array of other fields. He discovers a rare group of subatomic particles that he is able to trap using magnetic fields. These “Pym Particles”, as they come to be called, can alter the size of something without affecting its mass. He uses these particles to develop gasses and serums that allow him to shrink and grow in size, and become the superhero Ant-Man. He also is able to bioengineer insect-like wings that would grow on the back of Janet Van Dyne when she would shrink and become his partner, the Wasp. Ant-Man and the Wasp are founding members of the superhero team, The Avengers.
Pym is later able to get himself to grow in size, and took on the name Giant Man, later Goliath. After his first serious mental breakdown, he develops the identity of Yellowjacket. He eventually marries Janet Van Dyne, but they are divorced later when, during one of his breakdowns, he slaps her. Hank Pym goes through a slew of psychological and physical problems over the years; many are brought on as a result of the stress on his body all that all the size-changing would bring on, and an inferiority complex that got out of control.
He slowly works his way back into the trust of his superhero colleagues. For a while, he remains an Avenger, merely calling himself Dr. Pym, without changing his own size, but keeping hundreds of miniaturized gadgets and weapons in his pockets.
Currently, Hank has long since retired his many superhero identities, and works with Tony Stark on his project to make superheroes a licensed and accountable, called the Initiative. This project is a direct result of the Superhuman Registration Act, and the crossover limited series Civil War.
Scott Lang
Scott Edward Lang is an electronics technician and an ex-burglar, who is helped to reform by Hank Pym and Tony Stark. When his daughter Cassie needs the help of a heart specialist to survive, he finds out that the very specialist he needed was being held prisoner in a factory. He breaks into Henry Pym’s lab and steals his costume, cybernetic helmet, and a supply of his shrinking gas. He rescues the physician, saves his daughter, and impresses Henry Pym enough to let him keep the costume and provide him with a steady supply of the gas, as well as the identity of Ant-Man.
He is killed in an explosion in Avengers #500. His daughter, Cassie, grows to be the teenaged superhero, Stature.
Eric O'Grady
| Ant-Man
|
The Irredeemable Ant-Man
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| Gender
| Male
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| Publisher
| Marvel Comics
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| Origin
| Earth
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| First Appearance
| The Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 (2006)
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| Creator(s)
| Robert Kirkman
Phil Hester
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| Alter ego
| Eric O'Grady
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| Aliases
| Derek Sullivan, Slaying Mantis
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| Abilities
| Shrink to insect size, maintain full strength when tiny, control ants with cybernetic helmet, flight.
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| Affiliations
| SHIELD, Damage Control
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|
|
The new “Irredeemable” Ant-Man is Eric O'Grady, a low-level SHIELD agent who finds himself with the opportunity to steal Hank Pym's newest version of the Ant-Man gear, and does so. The suit allows him to have all the usual Ant-Man powers, plus a Jet Pack that enables him to fly, and electronic arms with magnetic grapplers.
Eric is truly a shallow, awful person, who uses his "hero" status to scare women, pretend to save them so that he can later seduce them. He uses his Ant-Man powers to shrink down and spy on unsuspecting women in the shower. He is in hiding from SHIELD, who is desperately trying to find him and get the stolen suit back. He lives under assumed names, steals what he can, and seems to be truly irredeemable.
All this made his "hero" comic book one of the most off-beat in the Marvel Universe. Despite good critical reviews, Ant-Man was canceled with the twelf issue. The Irredeemable Ant-Man will continue to work on redemption in The Avengers: The Initiative.
2008, SCI FI. All rights reserved.
