Who is he: In 1962, during the silver age of comics, Hank Pym debuted created by Stan Lee and Jack kirby. Originally He was just in a one shot issue about a man who shrunk himself into an anthill. But Soon he appeared in a costumed suit and a giant helmet and became "Ant-Man"
He could shrink down to the size of ants, he could command them and he could ride them and became a founding member of the Avengers,
but soon enough his name changed to Giant-man, and his power to shrink became the power to grow, and that started a trend of many diffrent aliases that he would have over the years including "Yellowjacket, Goliath, The Wasp and Doctor Pym"
Why is he underrated: Well... Heres the tricky part,future writers after Stan Lee wrote Hank Pym as mentally unstable, though it did make him more interesting as a character it led to him having mental breakdowns, turning against the Avengers on multiple occasions and creating the robot Ultron that would become a major villian of The Avengers and he even hit his girlfriend Janet, also known as the first Wasp(he would later take the title Wasp after her death in her honor). Because of these actions he has become irredemable in many readers eyes. Now, i do not condone these actions at all but readers and characters inside the comic alike labelled him "a wife beater" even though he only hit her once and was in a mentally unstable period, while i do not believe that this excuses his actions, but he has helped saved the world countless times yet isnt labelled as a "world saver" it just seems like a double standard to me, and because of these actions, Hank Pym has been a background character for many years, only recent writers have decided to bring him to the forefront on the Mighty Avengers title, though he is being used i still feel he is underrated because he is most likely the least known of Stan lee's major creations of the silver age with characters such as spiderman, the hulk, silver surfer, thor, iron man and the fantastic four as household names.
So I really hope the character is better used, i mean he is one of the few comic book characters that has to deal with valid mental disorders, and i believe that makes him interesting. There is also apprently an "Ant-man" movie in the works from Edgar Wright(Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz), so maybe the smallest smartest insane person in the room will finally get the reconigition i believe he deserves
Here is Hank Pym in his most recent costume as The Wasp
For further reading on Hank Pym, I suggest
His wikipedia page here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Pym
Check out the monthly title "Mighty Avengers" starting this month
or check out any of the following links on amazon.
Essential Ant Man Vol 1.(only Volume though)
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Ant-Man-TPB-Ant-Man/dp/078510822X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231904686&sr=8-3
Essential Avengers Vol 1.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Avengers-Vol-Marvel-Essentials/dp/0785118624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231904874&sr=1-1
Avengers: Ultron Unlimited
http://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Ultron-Unlimited-Kurt-Busiek/dp/0785107746/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231905165&sr=1-1
But That's All So Until Next Time, I Will Be Lost In Thought-Alex
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