Ant-Man is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962). The persona was originally the superhero alias of the brilliant scientist Hank Pym after inventing a substance that allowed him to change size, however, Scott Lang and Eric O'Grady have also taken on the Ant-Man mantle.

Biography

Over the years a number of different characters have assumed the title of Ant-Man, most of whom have been connected with the Avengers.




Hank Pym

Biophysicist and Security Operations Center expert Dr. Henry 'Hank' Pym decided to become a superhero after discovering a chemical substance (Pym Particles) that would allow the user to alter his size. Armed with a helmet that could control ants, Pym would shrink down to the size of an insect to become the mystery-solving Ant-Man. He soon shared his discovery with his girlfriend Janet van Dyne, his crime-fighting partner as the Wasp. The duo would become founding members of the Avengers, fighting recurring enemies such as the mad scientist Egghead, the mutant Whirlwind, and Pym's own robotic creation Ultron. While Pym is the original Ant-Man, he has adopted other aliases over the years including Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and Wasp after Janet's presumed death in Secret Invasion. Leaving his original persona vacant, his successors have taken up the Ant-Man role while Pym explored these other identities.


Scott Lang

Scott Lang was a thief who became Ant-Man after stealing the Ant-Man suit to save his daughter Cassandra "Cassie" Lang from a heart condition. Reforming from his life of crime, Lang soon took on a full-time career as Ant-Man with the encouragement of Hank Pym. He became an affiliate of the Fantastic Four, and most recently became a full-time member of the Avengers. For a period of time he dated Jessica Jones. He was later killed by the Scarlet Witch along with the Vision and Hawkeye in Avengers Disassembled, and his daughter took up his heroic mantle as Stature in the book Young Avengers. He returned to life in 2011 in the mini series, The Children's Crusade, but lost his daughter when she heroically sacrificed herself to stop a super charged Doctor Doom, who would later revive her during the AXIS event.


Chris McCarthy
Chris McCarthy is the third character to use the Ant-Man title. Created by Robert Kirkman and Phil Hester, the character first appears in Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 (December 2006).

He was a low level agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. working in the reconnaissance department on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Chris and his friend Eric O'Grady were tasked with guarding Dr. Hank Pym's lab by the higher ranking agent Mitch Carson. When Pym went to leave the lab, Chris panicked while Eric attacked and knocked Pym unconscious. Inside the lab, the two found the most recent Ant-Man suit, which Chris put on and promptly activated, shrinking down. Thinking him gone, Eric panicked again and ran off. Chris promptly got lost in the Helicarrier, stuck at the 1-Inch size. Around this time, a group of Hydra superhumans attacked the Helicarrier, and Chris and Eric are caught up in the ensuing chaos. Whilst trying to find a safe place to hide, Chris was killed to which Eric takes the Ant-Man suit off his own friend's corpse.


Eric O'Grady

Eric O'Grady is the fourth character to take up the Ant-Man title. O'Grady is a low-level agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who stumbled upon the Ant-Man suit in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters. A man of few morals and willing to lie, cheat, steal and manipulate in order to get ahead in life, Eric stole the armor for his own selfish plans, which included using his status as a "super-hero" to seduce women and humiliate and torment others. He had his own short-lived title before being part of other teams such as joining Avengers: The Initiative as his first team and then joining The Thunderbolts but more recently Secret Avengers, where the character perished heroically while defending a child against the villain known as Father.

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