I take the view that Hank Pym, much like Scott Summers (Cyclops) of the X-Men, was a failure of writers to understand the character, thus leading them to ultimately abuse the character beyond the bounds of its creation. I could also take it a step further and say that it was intentional destruction of the character by these writers based on Silver Age history.
Henry Pym was very much devoted to Janet Van Dyne both before and after their marriage. While Hank would get caught up in his work and become frustrated with Jan, by the same token Jan played off his seeming indifference by acting the spoiled rich girl brat. She landed them in some nasty scrapes on occasion over it as well.
They always made up and the writers (Lee and Thomas) played them much like Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies. This lasted through Stan Lee's tenure, and though their appearances were sporadic after the Tales to Astonish run, their return in Avengers demonstrated the same level of comedic give-and-take, with love and care for one another underneath.
Once the new crop of writers who stepped in to replace "Greatest Generation" Stan Lee were in place, many of these long-time character traits were shelved in favor of the standard Boomer tropes of "strong, independent woman" and "woman-don't-need-no-man" feminism. The only significant marriage in the Marvel Universe to survive this Boomer tear-down of the comics was that of Reed and Sue Richards, and even that was uncertain for a bit.
Married women were anathema in comics for the Boomers, so Janet/Wasp needed to be free of the burden of Hank/Yellowjacket. Since Jan couldn't be at fault, Hank needed to be the Bad Guy to make that happen. Much like Cyclops had to have his long-established leadership skills and talents as a cogent tactical planner belittled and wiped away in order for Storm to take over the X-Men as leader, Hank was run through the grist mill and spit out.
While I understand your dislike of the character, the second Marvel superhero after the Fantastic Four, Ant-Man/Henry Pym, will always hold a special place in my hall of heroes. Hank's original character and ethos don't mesh with what I consider the character aberrations of the Bronze Age and beyond. These were not due to the characters themselves, but due to the less-than-competent writers who didn't pay attention to character history and development, much less the Superhero tropes that made the books popular.
Your article was a good analysis of Bronze Age and beyond issues, but the Silver Age elements that were ignored by the Bronze Age Boomers help to flesh out a fuller picture of Henry Pym in the Marvel Universe. In the end, Henry Pym was just another character done dirty by Boomers, but one long before the current Armageddon of Heroic Culture.
Part of Pym’s problem is that the Omnidisciplinary Scientist is continually used as a plot device. They push it to the far end of it, but the basic idea is unsound.
I take the view that Hank Pym, much like Scott Summers (Cyclops) of the X-Men, was a failure of writers to understand the character, thus leading them to ultimately abuse the character beyond the bounds of its creation. I could also take it a step further and say that it was intentional destruction of the character by these writers based on Silver Age history.
Henry Pym was very much devoted to Janet Van Dyne both before and after their marriage. While Hank would get caught up in his work and become frustrated with Jan, by the same token Jan played off his seeming indifference by acting the spoiled rich girl brat. She landed them in some nasty scrapes on occasion over it as well.
They always made up and the writers (Lee and Thomas) played them much like Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies. This lasted through Stan Lee's tenure, and though their appearances were sporadic after the Tales to Astonish run, their return in Avengers demonstrated the same level of comedic give-and-take, with love and care for one another underneath.
Once the new crop of writers who stepped in to replace "Greatest Generation" Stan Lee were in place, many of these long-time character traits were shelved in favor of the standard Boomer tropes of "strong, independent woman" and "woman-don't-need-no-man" feminism. The only significant marriage in the Marvel Universe to survive this Boomer tear-down of the comics was that of Reed and Sue Richards, and even that was uncertain for a bit.
Married women were anathema in comics for the Boomers, so Janet/Wasp needed to be free of the burden of Hank/Yellowjacket. Since Jan couldn't be at fault, Hank needed to be the Bad Guy to make that happen. Much like Cyclops had to have his long-established leadership skills and talents as a cogent tactical planner belittled and wiped away in order for Storm to take over the X-Men as leader, Hank was run through the grist mill and spit out.
While I understand your dislike of the character, the second Marvel superhero after the Fantastic Four, Ant-Man/Henry Pym, will always hold a special place in my hall of heroes. Hank's original character and ethos don't mesh with what I consider the character aberrations of the Bronze Age and beyond. These were not due to the characters themselves, but due to the less-than-competent writers who didn't pay attention to character history and development, much less the Superhero tropes that made the books popular.
Your article was a good analysis of Bronze Age and beyond issues, but the Silver Age elements that were ignored by the Bronze Age Boomers help to flesh out a fuller picture of Henry Pym in the Marvel Universe. In the end, Henry Pym was just another character done dirty by Boomers, but one long before the current Armageddon of Heroic Culture.
Part of Pym’s problem is that the Omnidisciplinary Scientist is continually used as a plot device. They push it to the far end of it, but the basic idea is unsound.