The End is the Beginning

Through lying and deceit, Eric O’Grady (aka Ant-Man) has managed to swindle his way back into the good graces of SHIELD.[1] Once the coast is clear, he uses phony credentials to get access to the Black Fox, a thief who O’Grady betrayed to get his old job back. Eric feels bad about betraying someone he likes and hands him over details on how to override his lock, giving the Fox a chance to escape later. Touched by this, the old thief then reveals that he stole Eric’s video game console the night before he tried to rescue him. Eric tells him to keep it and leaves. For a brief moment, the Black Fox thinks this squares accounts, but realizes that it doesn’t really….

Meanwhile, Iron Man (Tony Stark) is checking in on Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), who is training a new SHIELD agent in the use of the Ant-Man suit.[2] Unfortunately, nobody can figure out how to make it work properly, making Pym think they’ll need to start back at square one if they are going to have a new Ant-Man ready for the Initiative.[3] However, Tony has a better idea.

By this time, Eric O’Grady has returned to his quarters to be by himself. He prays to his old friend Chris McCarthy, and apologizes for how things turned out.[4] He is interrupted when someone rings the bell to his quarters. When he opens the door he is horrified to see that it is Veronica King, Chris’ ex-girlfriend, whom he gaslit into a one-night-stand.[5] She has come because she heard the story about how Eric was “framed” by Mitch Carson and ties this to how he was pushing her away before he went AWOL. She was mad at him for running at the time, but now she understands the situation she has forgiven him. That’s when Eric notices that Veronica has gained a baby bump and she confirms that she is pregnant. She then reveals that he’s the father since the only people she has been with in the past four years were him and Chris, and Chris died before the baby was conceived.[6]

When Eric asks her what she wants, she hopes that he will start dating her again because she figures there must be a nice person in there if Chris was his best friend. She hopes that he would also be there to help raise their child. When he says he can’t, Veronica (rightly) slaps him in the face for being a piece of shit. She calls Eric a coward, and he doesn’t deny this and says that’s exactly why he can’t raise this child. He wants to pay child support, but he’s not a good man as he lies and cheats. He calls himself a murderer as well because his cowardice led to Chris getting killed. He doesn’t like who he is and doesn’t think he can change and believes that he cannot raise a child to become like he is. Veronica can’t believe this but leaves him anyway. Moments later, Eric gets a call to meet with Director Stark, and he figures that he’s going to get arrested because they learned the truth about how he got the Ant-Man suit.

However, Tony Stark has other ideas in mind since they have not been able to get anyone to use the Ant-Man suit as well as O’Grady has. He then has Yellowjacket run Eric through a test run and he passes with flying colours. Iron Man and Yellowjacket both agree that Eric is their new Ant-Man. Starting tomorrow, he will be assigned to the Initiative and undergo training as a fully registered hero. Eric is pleased and believes that this is the start of a new beginning for him, but asks to be allowed to return to the city for the night with his Ant-Man suit.

That evening he pays a visit to the Visioneer (Abigail Dunton),[7] she can tell he’s around at ant-size because of her telepathic powers and tells him to cut the shit. O’Grady resumes his normal size and she is relieved to see that he is safe as she lost contact with him after the Hulk’s attack on Manhattan.[8] He tells her that he truly does have feelings for her but can’t commit to her or her son until he becomes a better person. He plans on doing that by joining the Initiative and hopes that she will wait for him to clean up his act. Despite her better judgement, she agrees to give Eric a year to sort his shit out and he promises to try.[9]

As he heads back into the city, Ant-Man spots the Absorbing Man on the rampage. He debates getting involved until he sees Spider-Man swinging in to save people. He decides the wall-crawler has it covered and leaves.

Recurring Characters

Ant-Man, Visioneer, Black Fox, SHIELD (Iron Man, Veronica King), Absorbing Man, “Yellowjacket”, Spider-Man

Continuity Notes

1. O’Grady had been on the run from SHIELD since Irredeemable Ant-Man #1-6 after he stole the Ant-Man suit. He managed to con his way back into the agency at the end of last issue.

2. That’s because the real Hank Pym built the suit in Irredeemable Ant-Man #1. However, this is not the real Hank Pym. As we’ll learn in Mighty Avengers #15, he was replaced with a Skrull impostor named Criti Noll. This is all ahead of a planned invasion of Earth that will take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.

3. The Initiative is a training facility for novice superheroes that registered with the government under the Super Human Registration Act that was passed in Civil War #3. The facility was opened in Civil War: The Initiative #1/Avengers: The Initiative #1. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.

4. Chris McCarthy was Eric’s best friend. He died when the helicarrier was attacked by Hydra back in Irredeemable Ant-Man #3.

5. Eric convinced Veronica that Chris was cheating on her in issue #2. After Chris died, he took advantage of Veronica’s grief to start a relationship with her. After a one night stand in Irredeemable Ant-Man #4 he immediately lost interest in her.

6. Ol’ pump-and-dump O’Grady has the worst luck in the world as his one nighter with Veronica got her pregnant as we learned in Irredeemable Ant-Man #5. Always wear a condom. Anyway, what becomes of Veronica and her unborn baby (as of this writing in August, 2024) remains unrevealed.

7. Abigail’s last name isn’t given here, but it is revealed in the Damage Control profile of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #2. The two dated from Irredeemable Ant-Man #8-9. He broke off their romance after he discovered she has a child.

8. This was during World War Hulk #1-5 and its various tie-in issues. As seen in Irredeemable Ant-Man #10, Eric was injured during the fight and was hospitalized for over a month.

9. O’Grady does manage to do this somewhat, and he and Abigail will reconnect in Ant-Man & Wasp #1.

Topical References

• Black Fox specifically states that he stole Eric’s Nintento Wii, which was released in 2006, and still relatively new when this story was originally published. It was discontinued in 2014, and as such, its reference here should be considered topical.