Janet wrestles with her feelings as Hank’s obsession with gadgets leaves her feeling ignored and undervalued. Determined to leave him (and her Wasp gear) behind, she plans a clean break and an escape to anywhere-but-here. Meanwhile, a maintenance chart reveals her meticulous Wasp upkeep routine, complete with “oiling” instructions
In this story, Janet Van Dyne leaves Hank Pym after he has an outburst caused by a mishap with some vacuum tubes. Following the blowup, she decides to step away from her hero duties, flying off—only to end up on a plane that gets captured by Attuma, who’s plotting his next conquest of the surface world.
Originality & Continuity
Let’s dive right into it, because I have some issues with this issue! Starting off, Janet uses leftover shrink pellets to establish a cybernetic link to ants. But wait—up until now, Ant-Man’s helmet has been the only way to control ants, not the size-changing pellets. This isn’t a small change; it’s pivotal to the story’s logic, and if you think about it too hard, it all falls apart.
Next, I’ll briefly touch on Giant-Man’s size limits, which, let’s be real, are already a moving target. It’s a tricky detail for both the character and the artist to balance. Still, combining this issue with the continuity errors feels like one problem stacked on another.
Character & Development
As Hank reads Janet’s farewell note, the gravity of his actions hits him hard.
Hank’s devotion to his work and Wasp’s frustration about it? Yeah, we’ve seen this before. Her “leaving” but ultimately sticking around isn’t exactly groundbreaking character development. Hank’s promise to focus on her more feels more like lip service than real growth. Whether he’ll follow through remains to be seen, but I suspect it’s just another line of dialogue thrown in for effect. The real proof will be in future issues.
Story
Given these issues, the plot doesn’t hold up, and honestly, the action doesn’t do it any favors. It feels underwhelming at best. To top it off, they don’t even get to rescue the plane because it was “let go” earlier on—a pretty glaring “whoops” moment if you ask me. Overall? An epic fail.
Woman in Comics
Attuma watches his captives arrive safely, already plotting his next move. Spotting Janet, he declares her the perfect subject for his…ahem… “studies.” With a casual command, he orders a “Robotron” to be dispatched, proving that even underwater tyrants can’t resist a bit of mad science.
Now, given how poorly the story held together, let’s address something I didn’t cover above—the portrayal of women in comics at this time. Remember, it was 1965, and comics then were largely aimed at young men. Some of the language, framing, and attitudes toward women come across as downright sexist by today’s standards. If this were published in 2025, I’d tear into it without hesitation.
But, I also try to balance my critiques by keeping in mind the historical context. I can acknowledge how far we’ve come in terms of portraying women while recognizing there’s always room to go further. This issue, to me, is a perfect example of the prevailing attitudes of the era and just how far we still had to go.
Artwork
In a dazzling display, Hank shifts from Giant-Man to Ant-Man mid-fight, hoping to keep Attuma’s forces off-balance. His size-changing powers throw the undersea warriors into confusion, as they try to understand how to fight someone who can shrink and disappear in a flash. Attuma’s army may be ready for a brawl, but Hank’s got a few tricks up his sleeve!
The art, sadly, flounders along with the story. It almost feels like it got dragged down by the plot’s weaknesses. While there are panels I enjoyed—like the details on maintaining the Wasp’s costume—some choices felt nonsensical. Oiling the “W,” for example? I can’t help but wonder if the story’s failings have just made me hypercritical. What do you think?
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