Hank Pym

Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym was a brilliant scientist who spent much of his time in his lab. At one point, he met and married the beautiful Maria Trovaya. Unfortunately, when travelling in her home country of Bratislavia, she was captured by revolutionaries, and, despite Pym's efforts, she was killed.

One day he discovered a process in which he would manipulate a newly discovered group of subatomic particles through magnetic fields. Pym tested the serums on himself, and had accidentally shrunk himself to the size of an ant and was trapped inside an anthill. Once normal sized, Pym destroyed the serums, thinking that they were too dangerous . He rethought his decision, and recreated the serums, dubbing them "Pym Particles" and developing a formula that would enable himself to shrink and return to normal size. He also worked on a cybernetic helmet to enable him to communicate and study ants. Pym was also working on behalf of the government to find to work on a formula to help provide immunity to low-level radiation. It was then that several Soviet KGB Agents broke in, attempting to kill Pym and destroy his work. Pym donned the cybernetic helmet and newly designed protective suit, shrank himself, and escaped outside, to the anthill. There, he gained control of the ants, and attacked the agents and freed his assistants.

Pym began to adventure as the hero Ant-Man, often running up against the villain Egghead. About the same time, he created the robot Ultron-1,who brainwashed Pym into forgetting this achievement and only revealed itself many months later, becoming his archenemy. In the meantime, he was contacted by the father of Janet Van Dyne to help him in his scientific experiments. Pym soon fell in love with Janet, who reminded him of a young Maria. When her father was captured by the aliens he was trying to contact, Pym as Ant-Man came to rescue him. Ant-Man revealed his identity to Janet, and Pym convinced her to join him as his partner, engineering her body to become his sidekick, the Wasp.

Ant-Man and the Wasp were mistakenly called to battle the Hulk with heroes Thor and Iron Man. When the heroes discovered that the Hulk was innocent and it was all a trick formulated by Loki, Pym and the Wasp suggested they form a team, combining their different powers to fight evil, and the Wasp named the team the Avengers. Pym continued to fight alongside the Avengers, but soon felt outclassed by the powerhouses of the team and created the identity of Giant-Man. Later still, Pym proposed to Janet, and the two briefly left the team for their marriage. Pym found himself back in the Avengers, creating another identity of Goliath. Although he usually preferred abstain from adventuring to stay in his lab, he continued to fight off-and-on alongside the Avengers because the Wasp always wanted to.

Years later, Pym, who was undergoing severe mental stress, had an accident in his laboratory, breathing in chemical fumes. His sanity warped, and created a fourth identity: Yellowjacket. He returned to the Avengers, kidnapping Janet and forcing her to marry him. When he was confronted by the Avengers and brought back to his right mind, Pym and Janet decided to let the marriage stand. They adventured with the Avengers, and later, they enjoyed a brief tenure alongside the heroes of the Defenders.