Tales to Astonish Part 1: The Man in the Ant Hill!

After Moon Knight appeared to save Mockingbird during their recent battle with the monster Yetrigar, Hawkeye has decided to make him a full time Avenger. Everyone unanimously agrees. Clint’s wife, Mockingbird, votes in favor because Moon Knight is the only one who knows the truth about the Phantom Rider and has offered his assistance in stopping the vengeful spirit.[1] Little do any of them know that Khonshu, the Egyptian moon god that is the source of Marc Spector’s powers, is the one interested in being in the Avengers.

The meeting is interrupted by Hank Pym who has some shocking news to reveal. He was hacking into foreign database and found evidence that his first wife, Maria Trovaya is still alive! He tells them all how he married Maria after she and her father left Hungary to escape political persecution. After marrying Maria, Hank agreed to return to her native Hungary for their honeymoon. There, Maria was captured by her father’s political enemies. Hank was injured in the kidnapping and was taken to the American embassy to recover. There, he was told that Maria was killed a message to others and that her father’s lab was bombed in America. Vowing to get revenge, Hank tried fruitlessly to find and bring his wife’s killers to justice. He was sent back to America and Hank instead decided to devote his scientific skill to fighting crime. Inspired by his wife’s old saying “go to the ants, thou sluggart!” he developed his shrinking formula and became the crime fighter known as Ant-Man.[2]

The Avengers agree to go to Hungary and learn the truth, but take the time to officially welcome Moon Knight as an official Avenger. Loading up into a Quinjet, the Avengers head for Hungary. Along the way, Janet thinks about how she first met Hank Pym back in his Ant-Man days. She was introduced through her father who was hoping that Hank would help with a gamma-powered telescope that would be able to access other worlds. Pym wasn’t interested in helping and her father was murdered by a creature he inadvertedly brought to Earth. Wanting to avenge her father, Hank convinced her to become his crime fighting partner. His Pym Particles and implanting insect cells under her skin, Hank transformed her into the Wasp. Although Hank was against a romance because Janet reminded him of his late wife, she eventually wore him down. The dated for some time before getting married, but that more recently ended in divorce.[3] Janet really hopes, for Hank’s sake, that Maria is still alive.

When the Avengers finally arrive in Hungary, they are greeted by the American Ambassador. However, moments later, they are confronted by the People’s Defense Force, the government sponsored superhuman team. They consist of three of Hank Pym’s old foes: The Beasts of Berlin, Madam X, and El Toro.[4] They claim that the Avengers did not get the proper visas to enter the country and are to be placed under arrest. Believing that this was all a trap, the Avengers fight back. In the ensuing battle, Hank and the Wasp see that they aren’t going to win and make a hasty retreat so they can continue searching for Maria. While the rest of the team are taken into custody, the American ambassador promises to do what he can to get them freed.

Meanwhile, Hank and the Wasp hide in an abandoned building while they try to figure out their next move. They almost get into a spat but they can’t help but laugh when how little has changed between them. Hank figures that their best bet is communing with the ants in the area to find out where they are keeping Maria. Janet points out that Hank doesn’t have his Ant-Man helmet with him. He reminds Janet that she has antennae that were implanted into her forehead when he first gave Janet her Wasp powers.[5] He then uses his own Pym Particle powers to make them grow out of Janet’s head for the first time in years. Sure enough, they still work and the Wasp is able to hear Maria’s name mentioned at a nearby detention center.

Sneaking inside the prison, Hank and Janet take down the guards and find a cell with state-of-the-art security door. Opening up, Hank expects to finally be reunited with his first wife. However, they are shocked to discover the Vision and the Scarlet Witch inside.[6]

Recurring Characters

West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Hank Pym, Wonder Man, Tigra, Moon Knight), Wasp, People’s Defense Force (Madame X, Beasts of Berlin, Toro), Janos Trovaya, Maria Trovaya, Vision, Scarlet Witch

Continuity Notes

1. During a trip through time, Mockingbird was kidnapped by the Phantom Rider who forced a love potion on her. When she was freed from its spell, she let him fall to his death. However, the Rider’s spirit survived to the present — possessing his descendant Hamilton Slade — and terrorizing Bobbi anew. Moon Knight found out and kept it a secret. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #17-23 and 31-32. Mockingbird will be forced to reveal the truth in issue #35.

2. The truth behind Maria Trovaya is muddy at best. The details (as best as they can be determined):

   • The story of Hank’s first marriage to Maria and her murder was first told in Tales to Astonish #44. Her supposed death inspired Hank to develop his shrinking potion in Tales to Astonish #27 and become Ant-Man in issue #35 of that series.

   • This story presents Maria’s past life living in communist Hungary. This ultimately became a topical reference. Modern retellings of her story (such as Avengers Origins: Ant-Man & Wasp #1) update this story, see below for more details on these changes.

   • It is later claimed in Iron Man #296 by Omega Red that the Maria Trovaya being talked about here is actually an impostor whose real name is Olinka Barankova. However, this has been refuted by the woman claiming to be Maria in that same story.

   • More over, the most recent MODAM profile in Captain America: America’s Avengers #1, still leaves the truth ambiguous. Despite what a certain crowd-sourced website may state, her true identity has not been confirmed.

   • What nobody knows at this time is that Maria was actually pregnant at the time and gave birth in captivity before her apparent death. This child, later named Nadia Van Dyne, will turn up in Free Comic Book Day: Civil War II #1 and her connection to Hank will be revealed in All-New All-Different Avengers #9.

3. Janet became the Wasp in Tales to Astonish #44. She and Hank eventually got married in Avengers #60. They ended up getting divorced after Hank struck her in Avengers #213.

4. Madam X, El Toro, and The Beasts of Berlin previously appeared in Tales to Astonish #36, 54, and 60, respectively.

5. The Wasp states that Hank recently grew back her antennae recently. When Janet was first turned into the Wasp back in Tales of Suspense #44, she grew antennae as well as wings. It was later explained in Avengers #264 that this antennae eventually faded away. This happened around Tales of Suspense #67 or so.

6. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch were lured to Hungary by Wanda’s brother, Quicksilver, as we’ll learn next issue.

Topical References

• This story presents Hungary as a communist nation in this story. However, the country later became a democratic government in 1989. This should be considered a topical reference.

The Politics of Hungary in this Story

As stated above, this story is written during the time that Hungary was a communist nation. However, the country has since became a democracy in 1989. This would make the political situation in this story a topical reference. This causes all sorts of issues, particularly with the Trovaya backstory as well as the People’s Defense Force being active in the country.

Modern retellings of Hank Pym’s origins update the circumstances surrounding the Trovaya family leaving Hungary for America. In Avengers Origins: Ant-Man & The Wasp #1, the backstory has been updated. Rather than defecting from Hungary due to its communist government, the Trovaya family fled the country because they made political enemies, and not specifically that of the Hungarian government.

Profiles of the various villains in this story (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, 9 and 12) doesn’t provide any explanation for the anachronisms in this story. These profiles describe People’s Defense Force as being government-backed, but doesn’t go into much detail. One could assume that while most of these villains were communist in nature, the Hungarian government is not.