Wasp



Janet van Dyne was a daughter of a wealthy scientist named Vernon van Dyne. During an experiment, however, an alien monster was unleashed and Dr. van Dyne was killed. Her father's associate, Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym, had created a substance called "Pym particles", which allowed the user to grow or shrink in size, and had become the superhero Ant-Man; when Janet's father died, she convinced Pym to help her, and he gave her a supply of "Pym particles" and subjected her to a procedure which granted her the ability to, upon shrinking, grow wings and fire blasts of energy, which she called her "wasp's stings". As Ant-Man and The Wasp, they defeated the monster and sent it to its own dimension, and had several more adventures together. To the Wasp's credit her first solo victory, despite the protests of her absent partner, was against the maniacal Magician.

Soon afterward, the superhero team, which Janet herself dubbed the Avengers, formed, and the pair were among its founding members. Although they took occasional leaves of absence, the two have almost always remained members; during the course, Janet grew as a person and several years later would be elected leader of the team.

The relationship between Janet and Pym had always been one of loving squabbling, but her wealth and his research had always stopped him from proposing. One day a cocky new costumed crimefighter called Yellowjacket broke into Avengers HQ. He claimed to have disposed of Pym and even kidnapped Janet. To the outrage of her colleagues, Janet then married Yellowjacket. A tension-filled wedding was made even more edgy by an attack by the Circus of Crime. During the fight it was discovered that Yellowjacket was Pym. He had had an accident with some chemicals causing him a severe case of schizophrenia. Janet had realized this from very early on and had taken advantage to finally tie the knot.

However, her relationship with Pym became rocky, as he suffered a further series of mental problems. A few years later, Pym had a complete breakdown, and became completely paranoid. During the course of this breakdown, he became overbearing and verbally abusive. At the nadir of his degeneration, he struck Janet, and then proceeded to concoct a plan to make himself look good in front of his teammates by staging an attack upon them which only he could stop. This plan backfired and Pym was exposed, disgraced, and expelled from the Avengers, and the couple divorced. She remained with the team despite these hardships, and after Pym's mental state returned to normal, the two became friends again and, some years later, resumed a romantic relationship.

During the mental breakdown of one of their long-time teammates, Scarlet Witch, Janet was knocked into a coma by an attack on Avengers Mansion. Hank watched over her as she lay in the hospital, and when she recovered, they reconciled. The two have retired from the Avengers in order to pursue a new life together in Oxford. Life wasn't meant to be peaceful for one of the premiere heroines of the world for there were enemies lurking everywhere. The shape-shifting race known as the Skrulls had infiltrated Earth and replaced much of the population, including many heroes, with their own people. Even Hank Pym was switched out and remained hidden for years among those who knew him best, especially Janet. At the cusp of their invasion, it would seem the Earth would fall into enemy hands, but the Wasp along with every hero and villain left standing would face off against the alien invaders. Unfortunately for the Wasp, the Skrull Hank was experimenting on her and changed her into a biological bomb meant to destroy the heroes of Earth. When she used her size-changing abilities to grow to gigantic proportions, the Skrulls detonated the bomb, apparently killing Janet in the process.

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