Vote up the 'Ant-Man' comic book story arcs every fan must read.
When it was announced that Ant-Man would be the newest hero to land his own film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the news was met with more than a few rolled eyes -surely, Ant-Man’s greatest adventures couldn't compare to the published history of guys like the Hulk and Iron Man. However, the Ant-Man moniker has been around just as long as those characters have, even if the best Ant-Man story arcs have been spread around a number of individuals, including Hank Pym, Scott Lang, and Eric O’Grady.
The somewhat surprising success of Marvel's Ant-Man has led unread fans to seek out some of the best Ant-Man comics, and that can sometimes be a difficult task. The character of Ant-Man, and other permutations like Giant Man and Yellowjacket, has rarely been featured in a starring role, usually having to share the spotlight with Avengers teammates and the like. Hunting down the best Ant-Man stories requires one to hunker down and take a closer look at things - in more ways than one!
The Avengers Academy series put Hank Pym into a brand new role—teacher and caretaker of a new generation of heroes. The Fear Itself tie-in saw Pym proving he was the right choice for the job, as he takes on an Asgardian-powered Absorbing Man and Titania to protect his students and save the world.
Scott Lang was killed in the midst of the Avengers: Disassembled storyline, but his daughter Cassie fought to bring him back to life. This series features Lang getting a literal second lease on life…and predictably screwing it up in almost every conceivable fashion.
This single-issue tale gave fans perhaps the most iconic Ant-Man moment ever, and it’s one that even made it into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On the whole, this story features Scott Lang and Clint Barton teaming up to take the Taskmaster at a carnival, but it all boils down to that moment when Ant-Man climbs onto an arrow and Hawkeye lets it fly.
Marvel doesn’t publish a lot of original graphic novels anymore, but they busted out the format for this story of the final battle between Ultron and his creator, Hank Pym. The tale sees Pym determined to remove the threat he created once and for all, and he ends by making the ultimate sacrifice to protect his teammates from his murderous android child.
This story features former criminal Scott Lang trying, and failing, to use his superpowers for a legitimate business purpose—starting a security company. Joined by a collection of less-than-reformed supervillains, this is Lang at his best-intentioned, even if he doesn’t quite succeed at his goals.
This early Avengers tale features a fairly routine battle between The Avengers and a group of supervillains, but everything changes when the Crimson Cowl’s true identity is revealed. It turns out that the criminal mastermind is actually Ultron, an android constructed by Hank Pym, and Pym’s reputation as a hero would never be the same.
