Ant-Man (Scott Lang)

Superherobox|


caption=Ant-Man from the "Avengers Handbook"
character_name=Ant-Man
real_name=Scott Edward Harris Lang
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut=as Lang:
"Avengers" #181 (Mar 1979)
as Ant-Man:
"Marvel Premiere" #47 (Apr 1979)
creators= David Michelinie
John Byrne
alliances=Avengers Fantastic Four Heroes for Hire
aliases=
powers=Uniform grants:
Size changing
Telepathic communication with insects
Maintains strength of normal size in shrunken state|

Scott Lang is a fictional character featured in the American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The second superhero character to use the name "Ant-Man" in Marvel's shared universe, the Marvel Universe, following the original, Dr. Henry Pym, Lang is a reformed thief and an electronics expert. He first appeared in "The Avengers" #181 (March 1979) and became the second Ant-Man in "Marvel Premiere" #47 (April 1979).

Fictional character biography

Early life

Scott Lang was born in Coral Gables, Florida. He turned to burglary when his occupation as an electronics expert failed to support his family. Apprehended, he served his prison sentence and was paroled after three years for good behavior.

In prison, Lang furthered his study of electronics and was soon hired by Stark International to work in its design department. Under Stark's direction, he helped install a new security system in Avengers Mansion. ["Avengers" #181] When his daughter Cassie became seriously ill, Lang decided to return to burglary as a final resort.

Becoming Ant-Man

He broke into the home of Dr. Henry Pym and stole his Ant-Man uniform and shrinking gas canisters. Garbed as Ant-Man, Lang broke into Cross Technological Enterprises and discovered that Dr. Erica Sondheim, the only person capable of helping his daughter, was being held prisoner. He rescued the doctor and was relieved when Sondheim was able to save the life of his beloved Cassie.

Lang had intended to return the Ant-Man costume to Pym and turn himself in for its theft but Pym, aware of the use to which Lang had put the stolen goods, offered to let him keep them, provided he only use them to uphold the law. ["Marvel Premiere" #47-48]

Hero

Shortly after, Lang donned the Ant-Man costume on various occasions, primarily to assist Iron Man and the Avengers. When Iron Man became trapped in his armor, Scott saved him. ["Iron Man" #133] He also helped Pym, as Yellowjacket, attempt to rescue the Wasp, who had been captured by Dr. Parnell Solomon. Alongside the Avengers, he first battled the Taskmaster. ["Avengers" #195-196] He then battled Odd John's mutated insects, and encountered Biotron of the Micronauts. ["Micronauts" Vol. 1 #19-20] Alongside Spider-Man, he again battled the Taskmaster. ["Marvel Team-Up" #103] As Lang, he attempted to stop the Raiders at a Dallas electronics engineers convention. ["Iron Man" #145] He then battled the malfunctioning GARD computer security system. ["Iron Man" #151] As Lang, he aided Iron Man and Jim Rhodes against the Mauler. ["Iron Man" #156] He then met the Fantastic Four, and with them first journeyed to a "micro-world", and battled there alongside the Thing. ["Marvel Two-in-One" #87]

Scott was instrumental in helping Iron Man discover who possessed copies of his technology during the Armor Wars. He also aided the Avengers in infiltrating Taskmaster's henchmen-training facility, battling the Taskmaster alongside Hawkeye, and visited Henry Pym while he was in prison. ["Avengers" #223-224] He encountered Rick Jones and Alpha Flight, and then battled Dire Wraiths alongside Rom and Starshine. ["Rom" #58-59] Scott was serving in an Avengers back-up team created when Baron Zemo's Masters of Evil took control of the Mansion and captured some of the current team; he even helped the Wasp defeat the Absorbing Man and Titania when they attacked a hospital in an attempt to kill a comatose Hercules. ["Avengers" #275-277] He accidentally shrank Spider-Man and battled Pym's old foe, the Scarlet Beetle. ["Amazing Spider-Man Annual" #24] He also battled Dragonfly. ["Iron Man Annual" #12]

Lang was even briefly hired by the Fantastic Four when Reed Richards was missing and presumed dead to serve as their technical consultant, helping them deal with such foes as the Dark Raider — an alternate psychotic Reed Richards who'd failed to save his world from Galactus — until Reed was recovered from the past where he'd been trapped thanks to Hyperstorm. Also serving with the FF at this time was Kristoff Vernard, the heir of Doctor Doom and himself a technical genius. Lang and Kristoff often clashed, the younger man being very arrogant and disparaging of Lang's abilities. He did however design a new Ant-Man outfit which Lang took full advantage of. Much to Lang's annoyance, Kristoff also became close to his daughter Cassie, who also took a liking to him.

Lang later returned to form a temporary FF with the Human Torch, She-Hulk and Namorita when the other three were temporarily trapped in the Negative Zone, the team disbanding after the other team members returned.

After Lang's ex-wife Peggy Rae gained custody of their daughter Cassie, Lang accepted an offer to join the Avengers officially. His personality clashed immediately with fellow Avenger Jack of Hearts. However, in "The Avengers" vol.3, #76, Jack helped save Cassie from a child-murderer, shortly before committing suicide.

He also appeared in the series "Alias" by Brian Michael Bendis, where he dated the leading character Jessica Jones, a former costumed superhero named Jewel who left that avocation to become a private investigator.

Deaths

Lang dated private investigator and former superhero Jessica Jones briefly. He assists her in a matter with Mattie Franklin, one of the many female heroes to take the name of Spider-Woman. Jessica's long-time enemy Purple Man uses his powers to make him appear dead to Jessica, having seemingly been eaten by ants. Their relationship ends for real when he learns Jessica is pregnant with the child of Luke Cage, another superhero.

Shortly after this, Jack Of Hearts reappears on the grounds of Avengers Mansion as what appears to be a zombie. He blows himself up, destroying much of the mansion and killing Scott. This Jack may have been some type of "apparition" created by an insane Scarlet Witch rather than the actual Jack of Hearts, starting the crisis known as "Avengers Disassembled".

Lang's daughter Cassie has subsequently taken up his mantle as Stature, in the Young Avengers, having apparently taken enough Pym particles over the years to enable her to automatically grow and shrink in size whenever she wants.

Powers and abilities

Using a gaseous form of "Pym particles" kept in a compartment in his belt, Ant-Man had the power to shrink himself (and other people and objects along with himself) to the size of an ant and return to normal. His cybernetic helmet allowed rudimentary telepathic communication with insects, and was equipped with sound amplification equipment allowing normal-sized humans to hear him. The helmet also had a retractable plexiglass face shield and a limited air supply. When wearing the suit, he could lift more than 4 times his weight. Scott required exposure to the "reducing gas" and "enlarging gas" in order to change size. "Pym particles" were created by the original Ant-Man, Dr. Hank Pym.

Scott could also shrink to sub-microscopic size, and thereby enter the countless "subatomic universes".

He had advanced training and expertise in electronics, and earned an electronics technician certificate, plus additional advanced electronics training while in prison.

Other versions

MC2

In the MC2 universe, Scott had retired from being Ant-Man, and was developing new technology that would give the powers of Ant-Man and the Wasp to a human (his daughter Cassie took the tech and became Stinger). Later, when Mainframe was severely damaged, Scott came out of retirement with the Ant-Man armor designed by Doctor Doom II (Kistoff Vernard), and shrank to microscopic size to repair him from the inside. He realized that he still enjoyed being a hero, and stayed "un-retired" and joined A-Next.issue

The Thunder Guard, a group of Nazi Avengers from an alternate universe who fought A-Next, included a highly unstable version of Scott called "Pincer", who had killed that universe's version of Cassie.issue

Avengers Fairy Tales

Scott is seen in the "Alice in Wonderland" issue of "Avengers Fairy Tales", where he is the Caterpillar as a representation of Cassie's dead father.issue

References

External links

* [http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/a/antmanii.htm Marvel Directory: Ant Man II]
* [http://omnicentral.net/fantastic4/members/antman.html Tek Pa's Fabulous Fantastic Four Fan Page: Ant Man]
* [http://www.marvel.com/universe/Ant-Man_%28Scott_Lang%29 Ant-Man (Scott Lang) on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki]