Writers: Stan Lee and H.E. Huntley
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Don Heck
"The Creature from Kosmos!"
A double-size dose of Kirby and the introduction of the winsome Wasp? Strap in, True Believer!
We learn something very interesting about the good doctor this issue: he was once married. The first portion of this issue is dedicated to a flashback tale where we learn the fate of the first Mrs. Pym. On their honeymoon, the newlyweds unwisely travel to Hungary, the very country in which Maria Pym (nee Travoya) and her father were political prisoners prior to escaping. Not long after they arrive, they are accosted and Maria is captured. Not long afterwards, Pym is notified that Maria is dead and her father's lab in America has been destroyed (presumably killing him). The enraged Pym tries to track down the murderers, but to no avail. Later, Pym sits in his laboratory and remembers words that Maria had once told him, "go to the ants, thou sluggard!". Apparently, it is these very words which encouraged Pym to develop his shrinking gas and to fight crime.
Note that this new origin doesn't line up very well with Pym's first couple appearances. Hello, first retcon.
Pym's reverie is broken by the ringing of his door bell. He answers the door to fine Dr. Vernon Van Dyne, along with Dr. Van Dyne's daughter Janet. Dr. Van Dyne explains that he is a scientist looking for help on a gamma ray beam designed to search the galaxy for sentient life. Janet thinks to herself that Pym is attractive, but she prefers the adventurous type. Hank tells Van Dyne that he would like to help but his area of expertise is microbiology. Van Dyne thanks Pym and takes his leave.
Later, Van Dyne toils in his lab, pushing his gamma ray into deep space (while his daughter searches for fun on the town), when he does the impossible: he finds life! To be more precise, life finds him. Life in the form of an escaped prisoner from Kosmos. The prisoner followed the beam to Earth. The alien kills the scientist, destroys the machine and flees the laboratory. Poor Janet discovers her father later that night. Knowing not what to do, she contacts Dr. Pym. Pym assumes she is playing a prank and hangs up on the distraught girl. Once he realizes his mistake, he decides that this is a job for Ant-Man!
Hank proceeds to don his gear and catapult through the air to land outside Janet's window. He makes his presence known and promises to help. Janet vows vengeance and Hank thinks to himself that she is so like his late wife. Ant-Man gets to work, discussing the strange mist remnants in Van Dyne's lab; the ant's claim think that the alien visitor is in someway kin to them. Ant-Man sends Janet to the lab of Hank Pym. She arrives, is greeted by Pym, and then shocked when he reveals to her that he is the astonishing Ant-Man. Hank talks Janet into becoming his partner: the Wasp. He implants specialized cells within Janet that cause her to grow wings upon shrinking. Meanwhile, the alien begins to terrorize the city.
Hank and Janet don their uniforms and head out to confront the alien menace (Janet on her wings and Hank still catapulting through the air). Our heroes find the US military engaging the alien. Wasp leaps in without thinking and is duly chastised by Ant-Man. Hank claims to have discovered a way to defeat the alien and they retreat to his laboratory. In a baffling, science-free move, Hank develops an 'antidote' for formic acid and loads it into a shotgun. His army of ants carries the gun to the scene of battle and Hank's tiny arms pull the trigger.
The enemy is defeated. Our heroes celebrate and Janet thinks to herself that she loves this man and maybe someday he will come to love her, too...
Next: the return of Egghead!
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