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Avengers (1963) #28, 139
Ant-Man/Giant-Man: Growing Pains
When the job's too big for Ant-Man to handle, it's time for Hank Pym to become...Giant-Man! But being a larger-than-life-size super hero comes with equally large problems - like when Hank rejoins the Avengers to free the Wasp from the Collector's clutches, but gets stuck as a 10-foot tall Goliath! Or when his latest alter ego, Yellowjacket, must go large to stop arch-foe the Whirlwind! Then, Hank and his fellow Goliath, the size-changing Bill Foster, have big plans - that's Project B.I.G. plans - to solve world hunger using Pym Particles! And fi nally, to save his Avengers Academy students from an overgrown Absorbing Man, Giant-Man must come out of super-hero retirement! You'll love Hank "High-Pockets" Pym - he's a hero to look up to!
Collecting AVENGERS (1963) #28 and #139, MARVEL DOUBLE AVENGERS/GIANTMAN #379-382, AVENGERS ACADEMY #7, and material from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #49.
Collecting AVENGERS (1963) #28 and #139, MARVEL DOUBLE AVENGERS/GIANTMAN #379-382, AVENGERS ACADEMY #7, and material from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #49.
- GenresComics
184 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
2 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,566 books2,334 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 13, 2022
This is a collection of Henry Pym-centric stories, most from various Avengers titles ranging from the early 1960s to 2010. Hank was famously Marvel's most schizophrenic hero, and we see him here in most of his roles. The earliest story is written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby: 'nuff said. It's followed by another good Lee-written tale, this one illustrated by the very under-appreciated Don Heck, and then a nice one written by Steve Englehart and drawn by George Tuska. The longest sequence in the book is a very ambitious four-issue story that's written by George Perez. Perez was a great artist, but (in my unpopular opinion), as a writer, well... he was a great artist. The story has some interesting twists and a lot of potential but breaks down and becomes too hard to follow. He provided a great series of covers, but I didn't care for the actual illustrations by Jeff Moore. (For example, Crystal and Black Widow both appear, and both look more like Ellen DeGeneres wearing orange pumpkin wigs than my conception of the characters.) The book concludes with a nice story from Avengers Academy by Christos Gage with unremarkable over-colored art typical of the time by Tom Raney. Throughout the book we see that poor Janet (Marvel's most under-appreciated hero) always deserved much better than she ever found with Hank. Sometimes, the man is just no darn good for the woman, no matter his intention. Excelsior!
December 29, 2018
Sometimes Size Does Matter
28 December 2018 – Adelaide
This was a rather interesting graphic novel, once again one that I randomly picked up while checking out a random comic book store that I had stumbled across. Basically, it is a collection of stories involving Hank Pym. For those of us who have seen Ant Man, we know that Hank Pym is the scientist, played by Michael Douglas, who happens to have discovered this particle that makes him really, really small. However, the catch here is not that the stories are about when he becomes really small, but when he decides that it is better that he become really big – in fact he becomes Giant Man.
The thing is that these stories aren’t actually all that new, but are rather a collection of older stories, from older comics. In fact, most of them seem to come from the Avengers collection, so we have a number of the other members of the avengers in this story, including, of course, Captain America. However, the main focus of this story is actually on Hank Pym, and his experiments with the Pym particle.
Sure, most of these seem to come from random comics, however, there does happen to be a three part story here where the Pym particles seem to be going out of control – namely causing people to become really big, or really small. In fact, it even goes as far as to explain where these particles come from, and how it is that he is able to grow so big, and so small, while maintaining the conservation of matter. Basically the particles all come from, or go to, a different dimension.
The catch is that, unlike the movies, I probably wouldn’t consider these comics to be all that funny. Then again, the movies seem to be attempting to appeal to a different, and somewhat wider, audience than the comics would appeal to. Then again, my theory has always been that these movies are also an attempt to move people over to the comics, and attempt to increase the readership somewhat. Then again, while I might enjoy the films, I have never been a big fan of the comics, and no matter how many I buy, I still don’t become all that enamoured with them, which is probably a good thing namely because these comics do tend to be rather pricey, and don’t take all that long to read, though this one was a little longer than normal.
Oh, and they do happen to have Scott Lang appear as well, though he seems to be a later addition to the comics. Then again, from what I gather, the identities of the super heroes seem to change quite often – apparently there are more Captain America’s than just Steve Rogers. However, I suspect that they might not go down that road with the movies, but then again, as they have suggested, there is still quite a lot material that they could use to turn into a movie.
28 December 2018 – Adelaide
This was a rather interesting graphic novel, once again one that I randomly picked up while checking out a random comic book store that I had stumbled across. Basically, it is a collection of stories involving Hank Pym. For those of us who have seen Ant Man, we know that Hank Pym is the scientist, played by Michael Douglas, who happens to have discovered this particle that makes him really, really small. However, the catch here is not that the stories are about when he becomes really small, but when he decides that it is better that he become really big – in fact he becomes Giant Man.
The thing is that these stories aren’t actually all that new, but are rather a collection of older stories, from older comics. In fact, most of them seem to come from the Avengers collection, so we have a number of the other members of the avengers in this story, including, of course, Captain America. However, the main focus of this story is actually on Hank Pym, and his experiments with the Pym particle.
Sure, most of these seem to come from random comics, however, there does happen to be a three part story here where the Pym particles seem to be going out of control – namely causing people to become really big, or really small. In fact, it even goes as far as to explain where these particles come from, and how it is that he is able to grow so big, and so small, while maintaining the conservation of matter. Basically the particles all come from, or go to, a different dimension.
The catch is that, unlike the movies, I probably wouldn’t consider these comics to be all that funny. Then again, the movies seem to be attempting to appeal to a different, and somewhat wider, audience than the comics would appeal to. Then again, my theory has always been that these movies are also an attempt to move people over to the comics, and attempt to increase the readership somewhat. Then again, while I might enjoy the films, I have never been a big fan of the comics, and no matter how many I buy, I still don’t become all that enamoured with them, which is probably a good thing namely because these comics do tend to be rather pricey, and don’t take all that long to read, though this one was a little longer than normal.
Oh, and they do happen to have Scott Lang appear as well, though he seems to be a later addition to the comics. Then again, from what I gather, the identities of the super heroes seem to change quite often – apparently there are more Captain America’s than just Steve Rogers. However, I suspect that they might not go down that road with the movies, but then again, as they have suggested, there is still quite a lot material that they could use to turn into a movie.
August 22, 2018
This anthology of stories focuses on Hank Pym, the scientist who discovered Pym Particles and was the original Ant-Man. The first story reintroduces him as Giant-Man--he uses the particles to make himself bigger rather than smaller! In the second story, he renames himself Goliath. In the third story he's going by the moniker Yellow Jacket. In the fourth and fifth stories, he's back to being Giant-Man (with occasional moments of being ant-sized if not Ant-Man).
In case you didn't deduct it, Hank Pym is both a brilliant scientist and a man suffering from a massive insecurity complex. So he has to fight both super-villians and his own feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt--often at the same time. The balancing of the two is hard to do from a story-telling perspective. The fourth story is the longest (a four-parter, the rest are single stories) and most successful at telling a story that combines outer conflict and inner conflict. Hank is working with a partner to use a variant of Pym Particles to end world hunger. Some side-effects cause monstrous insects to appear and various other characters exposed to Pym Particles (like The Wasp and second Ant-Man Scott Lang) to have serious difficulties with their powers. The overall problem is labyrinthine and eventually Hank Pym figures it out, but not until he's gone through a lot (including a stint in a straight-jacket).
Mildly recommended-the book is interesting but full of hits and misses.
In case you didn't deduct it, Hank Pym is both a brilliant scientist and a man suffering from a massive insecurity complex. So he has to fight both super-villians and his own feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt--often at the same time. The balancing of the two is hard to do from a story-telling perspective. The fourth story is the longest (a four-parter, the rest are single stories) and most successful at telling a story that combines outer conflict and inner conflict. Hank is working with a partner to use a variant of Pym Particles to end world hunger. Some side-effects cause monstrous insects to appear and various other characters exposed to Pym Particles (like The Wasp and second Ant-Man Scott Lang) to have serious difficulties with their powers. The overall problem is labyrinthine and eventually Hank Pym figures it out, but not until he's gone through a lot (including a stint in a straight-jacket).
Mildly recommended-the book is interesting but full of hits and misses.
February 25, 2023
A collection of various stories featuring Hank Pym across the years. First, a Lee/Kirby classic with Giant-Man's first appearance. Next, an Avengers issue where he shows up as Goliath (featuring also the Collector's first appearance), followed by another one Avengers adventure as Yellowjacket. So far, so good, all of these are self-contained and make for a good reading experience.
Next, is a 4-part story from Avengers/Giant-Man double feature, which focuses on a Hank Pym untangling a larger mystery which threatens the entire world. While this is the main attraction of this book, the story itself was very convoluted and hard to follow at times, with characters showing up out of nowhere, and events happening at different times/places without always following a clear path. There's a lot of interesting things involving Hank Pym's inner struggles, but in the second half I started speeding through panels because I could no longer keep up with what's going on and why. Most things are explained towards the end, but it's through a page of exposition rather than a more clever reveal. Overall, this story was more of a miss for me.
Wrapping up, a modern issue from Avengers Academy, pitting Giant-Man against the Absorbing Man. Good palate cleanser.
Overall, this book did help me learn more about Hank Pym's personality, so it was still a good read despite the bad parts.
Next, is a 4-part story from Avengers/Giant-Man double feature, which focuses on a Hank Pym untangling a larger mystery which threatens the entire world. While this is the main attraction of this book, the story itself was very convoluted and hard to follow at times, with characters showing up out of nowhere, and events happening at different times/places without always following a clear path. There's a lot of interesting things involving Hank Pym's inner struggles, but in the second half I started speeding through panels because I could no longer keep up with what's going on and why. Most things are explained towards the end, but it's through a page of exposition rather than a more clever reveal. Overall, this story was more of a miss for me.
Wrapping up, a modern issue from Avengers Academy, pitting Giant-Man against the Absorbing Man. Good palate cleanser.
Overall, this book did help me learn more about Hank Pym's personality, so it was still a good read despite the bad parts.
June 29, 2018
Another collection of stories from all over the history of the character much like “The Many Faces Of Hank Pym” from as far back as 60’s era Avengers and “Tales to Astonish” all the way to Avengers Academy from 2010 which makes for a good introduction of the character to readers who might not be as familiar with the character, though “...Many Faces” is probably the better selection. The big bonus for me is the 4 issues of 90’s Avengers issues (379-382) which has not be previously collected before (or recently at least). If your curious to get more of the character I would suggest “Avengers Academy” in which he is a primary character that gets a lot of his history revisited in a modern style.
April 17, 2023
This comic trade paperback goes back to the '60s and covers the various hero names that Hank Pym has used in his time as a costumed (and sometimes just in "regular" clothes) crime fighter. Interesting how this storyline was continued over those decades. It's good to follow his history, and for those newer comics fans who may not be aware of how "wordy" old comic panels were.
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July 16, 2024Hank Pym my absolute BELOVED
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews