Secret Invasion: Requiem #1

Nov 9

Nov 9 Secret Invasion: Requiem #1

How I’ll Remember You

Secret Invasion continues from Secret Invasion Aftermath: Beta Ray Bill #1…

The Skrull invasion of Earth is over, but it has come at a price, namely the death of long time Avenger, the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne).[1] Jocasta, a robot whose mind was based on Janet’s personality now goes through all of Jan’s belongings.[2] The robot likes to think that Jan lives on inside her even though they are two entirely different people. Eventually, Jocasta gets to the Wasp’s massive costume collection and wonders how someone could have so many clothes. However, she finds Janet’s original Wasp costume to be very cute and wonders if Hank will let her have it as a keepsake.[3]

As she heads downstairs she hears Janet scream. At first Jocasta thinks they are in danger when she realizes that it is just Hank Pym, watching the footage of Janet’s death during the final battle with the Skrulls. He is trying to figure out how Criti Noll — the Skrull who took his place — managed to weaponize Jan’s size changing powers.[4] So far he has deduced that his impostor had used anti-Pym Particles to kill Jan and starts working on a means to prevent that from happening again.

Jocasta doesn’t think this is healthy for Hank to watch over and over and tries to help him through his grief by getting him to talk about the woman he always loved. Hank corrects her, saying that she didn’t always love Janet, not at first. When he first met her, Hank was still dealing with the loss of his first wife.[5] He viewed her as a groupie at the time and his greatest experiment after he gave her the powers she would use as the Wasp. He fell in love with her over time and that lead to their marriage.[6] By that point he loved her more than anything. This confuses Jocasta who wonders why Hank had hit her a few years earlier. Hank says that was the worst thing he had ever done in his entire life and he will never forget or forgive himself for that dark day.[7]

However, this is not how he wants to remember her and steps into a machine which blasts him with some form of energy. When Jocasta asks what he just did, Hank reminds her how he has had many identities over the years — Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket — and now that he is changing it to something else.[8] This new identity will pay homage to Janet’s memory and legacy as a hero. Suiting up in his brand new costume, Hank reveals that he will now be calling himself the Wasp!

… Secret Invasion continues in Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1.

Recurring Characters

Wasp, Jocasta

Continuity Notes

The Skrull invasion took place in Secret Invasion #1-8. Janet seemingly died in the final issue of that series. However, as we’ll learn in Avengers (vol. 4) #31-34, she was actually shunted to the Microverse.
Jocasta was created by Ultron as his bride. He used the mind of Janet Van Dyne as a template for Jocasta’s memories and personality. See Avengers #162.
If there is one thing everyone knows about the Wasp is that she has had an extensive costume collection. All of the costumes on display here are ones she has previously worn. They include: Her original Wasp costume from Tales to Astonish #44, her red and black v-necked costume from Avengers #19, her gold and red v-neck costume from Avengers #45, a frilly version of the red and gold from Captain America #119, baby blue on gold from Avengers #49, her business-casual looking suit from Avengers #69, the all gold costume she wore in Avengers #170, her white and blue costume from Avengers #194, maroon costume with black and gold from Avengers #200, the open front pink and blue costume from Avengers #250, yellow on black from Avengers #266, her yellow on black costume from Avengers (vol. 3) #71.There is also one that is blue and gold with like a scarf motif going on that I don’t think has appeared anywhere previously, but I could be wrong. HMU if you’ve seen it elsewhere.
Per Mighty Avengers #15, Hank was replaced by Criti Noll circa House of M #1. While posing as Hank, Noll gave Janet what she thought was a simple power upgrade in Mighty Avengers #6, but it was also a hidden doomsday weapon in case the Skrulls were losing their final battle.
Hank’s first was was Maria Trovaya and she was murdered by her own government when the newlywed couple visited her homeland for their honeymoon as revealed in Tales of Suspense #44.
Hank and Janet were married in Avengers #60.
Growing frustrated over his role in the Avengers, Hank hit Janet in Avengers #213. This led to their divorce. However, the two would maintain an on-again-off-again relationship thereafter.
Here we get a montage of Hank’s past identities: Ant-Man (Tales to Astonish #35), Giant-Man (Tales to Astonish #49), Goliath (Avengers #28) and Yellowjacket (Avengers #59). We also see Hawkeye in his Goliath identity (first seen in Avengers #63). I’m guessing this is an error on the part of the artist. However, we could assume that Hank is thinking of that iteration of Goliath since it was his size-changing discoveries that led to Clint become the second Goliath.

Supplementary Material

This issue also include reprints of Ant-Man and the Wasp vs. The Creature from Cosmos from Tales to Astonish #44 and Court-Martial! from Avengers #213. Both reprints have been recoloured using modern digital colouring techniques.