Arguably one of the most dynamic characters in Marvel Comics, Janet Van Dyne has grown so much from her foundation. She started out as a young woman so taken with an older guy she literally began fighting crime alongside him until he turned out to be a jerk, and wound up becoming both a founding member and the first woman to lead the Avengers.
Yet despite her importance, she’s never really been given the respect she deserves in wider media. She went from being featured in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to being forgotten about in Avengers Assemble, and while she was a major part of the second Ant-Man film, she has only been slightly featured in the Avengers. To give her a bit more of the attention she deserves, we’ll be looking at things only the most diehard fans would know about Janet Van Dyne.
10 DAD KILLED BY AN ALIEN
The origins of the winsome Wasp date back to Tales to Astonish #44. At the time, Hank was still working solo, but this issue would introduce his partner in justice. Janet began as the daughter of a fellow scientist cohort of Hank’s, but when her father summoned the most evil criminal of the alien race of Kosmos to their planet, he soon lost his life. After learning this, Janet became consumed with the idea of avenging her father—her desire to fight crime led to Hank giving her Pym Particles and an outfit so she could work alongside him. They defeated the alien in that same issue (compressed storytelling of the Silver Age giving us a full storyline in just one comic), but Janet continued to fight alongside him to help others...and because she’d fallen for Hank.
9 THE ORIGINAL STING
Everyone these days knows the Wasp sting to be one of her powers—they’re literally bio-electric energy that she shoots from her hand. We’ve seen this take down beings of incredible power, or even punch through heavy structures. Well, it wasn’t nearly as strong when things began. It was an invention of Hank Pym’s, a compressed air gun. It could alternate between firing either continuous or short bursts of air, and much like both Ant-Man and the Wasp, the gun didn’t lose efficiency as she shrank.
8 TEAM DESIGNER
Janet’s long been one of the more creative members of the team. Though she began as a wealthy socialite, she would eventually get into costume designing.
Though this was initially merely something done to indicate her “flighty” personality, eventually it became something of a past-time. This helped her out in the fashion world, but she also played a part in designing the costumes of some of her fellow members. She aided Justice and Firestar in making their costumes, though Firestar didn’t take too well to the “liberal” set up of her new outfit.
7 SHE BECAME DOCTOR SPECTRUM
During the 1978 Avengers Annual #8, Janet got herself into a bit of trouble by snooping into her boyfriend’s things. Getting a glance of Dr. Spectrum’s special gem, she wound up being possessed by the personality within. This was during a time where Marvel’s Justice League wannabes the Squadron Supreme were a bit more evil...and known as the Squadron Sinister. In this form, Wasp managed to take out half the Avengers including Black Panther, Iron Man, Cap, and Beast. It took the Vision to cover Spectrum in ultraviolet light, neutralizing it’s powers and shutting the personality off.
6 DEFEATED THE MASTERS OF EVIL
“Under Siege” is a seminal arc from the Roger Stern era of the Avengers. It featured a collection of villains lead by Baron Zemo including Titania, the Wrecking Crew, and more, assaulting the Avengers mansion, knocking them all out one at a time to overwhelm them with numbers. Eventually, they even came after a hospitalized Hercules, and Janet was forced to take out two people that had gone toe-to-toe with Thor and She-Hulk with nothing other than her wits and the help of Scott Lang, the Ant-Man at the time.
5 BECAME A WASP
With certain names, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets the bright idea to have the character actually match the name they’ve been given. In the much-maligned storyline "The Crossing," Janet found herself mortally wounded during a battle with a mind-controlled Iron Man.
Hank’s attempts to help her recover wound up putting her in a cocoon, from which she would emerge a couple of issues later in a completely different Wasp form. Unsurprisingly, this is an event most storylines these days rarely even mention.
4 CAN BECOME GIANT
Whenever we think of Ant-Man and the Wasp, we always think of how Ant-Man was also Giant-Man, and he could grow and shrink however he wanted. With Janet, we only ever think of how she can make herself small. But this actually isn’t always the case. During Avengers Vol. 3 #77, we get to see Janet use the Pym Particles in a different way, growing to a giant form during a battle with the Wrecking Crew. Unfortunately, her control over it wasn’t nearly as good as Hank’s, and she winds up being taken out after being overwhelmed.
3 FUNDED THE AVENGERS
Janet was always described as a wealthy woman, and her forays into fashion and even things like being a reality star were never exactly described as unpopular. So it was only a matter of time before she wound up being responsible for bankrolling an Avengers team of her own. After the trouble the group had with the X-Men, they decided to form the Avengers Unity Squad, an organization which combined the Avengers and the X-Men. While Janet wasn’t officially a part of the group at first, she was responsible for paying for their stuff, primarily to keep government interference out of the group’s hair.
2 REALITY TV STAR
This is a bit of a minor thing, but Janet had no problems being Pro-Registration. Her identity was never a secret, and almost everyone she knew was a superhero anyway. She joined up with the Pro-Registration forces and even starred on a reality television series for a while. In a series from legendary scribe Neil Gaiman about The Eternals, Janet participated in a series known as America’s Next Super Hero, where selected heroes would be allowed to become part of The Initiative.
1 LEADING THE AVENGERS
Janet has always been a trailblazer when it comes to the Avengers. When the series began she was the team’s sole lady member, and as one of the founders, she’s had the longest tenure with the team. She became the first woman to become the chairperson of the team, even though it led to her being in conflict with some of the more egotistical men like Hercules or Dr. Druid. While on the team, she also made steps to have other women brought into the fold like Monica Rambeau and She-Hulk, and would eventually pass leadership of the team onto another woman. Talk about leaving a legacy.