With ANT-MAN AND THE WASP about to infest theaters, Ryan Daly welcomes Sean Ross of Marvel’s Secret Wars and Beyond podcast to talk about their favorite pint-sized, winged Avenger, Janet Van Dyne, the winsome Wasp! Yes, JVD wore fishnets for her appearance in Solo Avengers #15. Check it out to hear what Ryan and Sean thought of the story and the character.
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Check out Sean’s other podcasts at: http://pulp2pixel.blogspot.com
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Music: “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” by Maurice Chevalier; “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons; “Little Things” by Bush; “Gigantic” by the Pixies.
Thanks for listening!
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I’m way more of a DC guy than a Marvel but I have always been impressed with the Wasp every time we have crossed paths.
One of my first stories with her was that Marvel Team-Up story Sean mentions. Back then comics informed a young Anj what love and relationships should be like. In that story, Janet wanders into Hank’s lab wearing a negligee asking him to drop his work and join her. Later, she puts on her fighting togs to avenge his ‘death’. It was then, as a young Anj, I realizedthe goal is to find a woman who could ‘do both’.
From then on, every story seemed to show that you can be a smart, intuitive leader while still having a little bit of fun. It is a style I try to emulate.
As for costumes, I love the inane pointy helmet original costume a lot. But my favorite is a more recent one, a sort of black body suit with what seems to be a yellow segmented carapace in the front.
Thanks for this!
Having recently binge-listened to Secret Wars and Beyond, I KNEW Sean would be your co-host here. His love for the Wasp is obvious, which is ironic, since Secret Wars is such a horrible showcase for her in almost every way, but he and Dr. G (and now Greg) regularly acknowledge that.
Being the Cap guy I am, I can’t say Janet’s the better Avengers leader, but I will say she’s at least top 2, and when you’re talking about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, that’s nothing to sneeze at!
This story sounds fun. And anytime you can get a giant, fist-firing robot into the story, well, that’s just gravy.
As for Janet’s costumes, I liked the yellow or red bodice, gloves and boots with the black/blue bodysuit underneath, but I was also a fan of this number seen in two issues of Spectacular Spider-Man in 1985.
Cover by…Tom Morgan! AND…fishnet undershirt?
http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/comic.php?comicid=46952
Chris
I wonder why Wasp wasn’t wearing fishnets on the cover. Oh, this is off subject, but I HATE that look for Black Widow that was on the cover.
Chris, I wasn’t that big of a fan of the costume Wasp was wearing on the cover for some reason. I remember that issue was one of two stories that appeared pretty close together where Wasp hadn’t treated her clothes to shrink. In the Spider-Man, she wound up fighting in her slip and in The Aladdin Effect, she wound up fighting nude with strategic placement blocking the view of certain areas of her anatomy.
CFranks, I remember REALLY liking this cover with the same Wasp outfit for reasons I didn’t understand.
http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/comic.php?comicid=46953
I got why years later.
Ryan,
Outside of the classic original outfit of hers (so snazzy!), I was always a bigger fan of this costume of hers:
http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/comic.php?comicid=46382
And the more recent variant:
https://observationdeck.kinja.com/why-has-the-wasp-never-gotten-her-own-comic-1715785180
As for other fishnetted characters to cover, does Spider-Man foe The Shocker qualify?
And yes, please do read the Strangers series from Malibu Comics for Ladykiller. She also had a solo story in one of the Ultraverse Premiere flipbooks. Shag or I is available to discuss this oversight with you. We’ll meet you in a parking garage.
Another fishnetted character of note is Micronauts: The New Adventures’ Solitaire. Shag will be more than happy to guest with you to discuss this one. This meeting can be over skype.
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/solitairemv.htm
Great show as always. We need to hear more of you.
It’s funny, I enjoy the Wasp but given my sporadic reading habits the Janet Van Dyne version is the one I’m least familiar with. I know the MCU version (basically an original creation) and I know Nadia thanks to covering Unstoppable Wasp on Punch Like a Girl (smoothly inserted plug.) I’m not sure I’ve actually even read the main continuity version of Janet (hangs head in shame).
That said, it was great hearing you guys gush about her. Just from what I know on paper, I do agree that Hank needs to something from her past and the default should be “off” in any kind of on-again off-again situation. An annoying number of female heroes are defined by a connection to a man, either by romantic entanglement or by being a female variant of a better known male character (I love me some She-Hulk, but I have to fact reality on that). It’s why I hated the pairing of Wonder Woman and Superman in the New 52 right down to the core of my being. Great, put her with literally the only character in the universe where she isn’t the power in the coupling… but ok I’m starting to tangent now.
I wanted to go through her outfits and tell you what one I thought looked best but the sheer insane number of them made me quit before I’d even looked at a quarter of them. I will say that the fishnet look falls apart on the torso section due to looking like a female version of a Tarzan leotard. Which is a shame, because the color worked.
I had no idea there ever WAS a Solo Avengers book, but it makes sense of course. It was mostly Jocasta and Swordsman stories, right?
The Wasp has always been a bit of an underrated/overlooked character, nice she got a chance to shine here. My fav Wasp moment was in Secret Wars where she SINGLE HANDEDLY evades the X-Men, causing Wolverine to shake his fists in fury for being “dumped on” by the lowly Wasp. How’s it feel, tough guy?
Always enjoy hearing Sean on this or any show!
Solo Avengers was one of my favorite Avengers books at the time, no doubt because Hawkeye had a feature in every issue and he’s my favorite Avenger.
I read this issue back in the day, and this was certainly a bizarre costume for Janet. The fishnets were fine, absolutely, but the rest was meh. The story was definitely a fun mismatch battle second only to “Power Pack vs Galactus.” Glad to revisit it.
Kudos to my buddy Sean being the guest. We’ve had more than one Tweetstorm gushing about Wasp, so you definitely had the right person to discuss the best Avengers leader. And both of you hit all of my favorite JVD moments. While I’d read individual Avengers issues off and on for years, my subscription started with Avengers #205. The next 100 issues are my jam, and I haven’t been able to quit the series since. (Except for Heroes Reborn, and I ain’t sorry neither.) Seriously, I thought of every one of those stories JUST BEFORE you guys mentioned them! What the heck!! But great to hear it’s not just me that appreciated those great moments in Wasp history.
Follow up to who Janet should date. The Hercules idea fascinates me. During Incredible Hercules, there was an issue where Herc was visiting the underworld, and on the way, he and his friends go through a Las Vegas style casino (cuz what else would Purgatory look like), and there’s Jan playing a slot machine, since she was “dead” at that time. And Herc badly wanted to pull her away, but it just wasn’t possible. It was a hint of Herc’s remorse, albeit one-sided. A true conversation between the two of them hasn’t happened that I’ve seen, and him owning up to his bad behavior is long overdue. It’s one of the twelve steps, Herc!
A couple of recent finds for me: last year I finally read the early issue of Avengers. I’d never heard of this before, but in the first year, the members took weekly turns as chairperson, and this was revealed during Jan’s turn! Even though she didn’t get enough credit on those early covers, she still got a turn leading Earth’s Mightiest. So cool!
Then just this week, I finished reading The Unstoppable Wasp. While Nadia is the main character, you should read issue 7-8 which co-star JVD. Writer Jeremy Whitley nails why Janet is the best Avengers leader. I can’t recommend it enough.
As for costumes, yes you both already nailed my faves: the Siege one, and blue/white one arm/leg beauty. But any costume that had yellow and black are great. That color scheme is iconic for a Wasp.
Let me know when one of you starts The Power of Wasp Cast. I’ll be there!
Thanks for covering this story, Ryan. Personally, I don’t care for the art, as seen in the samples, or the idea that there is something called Van Dyne Industries, never mind that Janet wouldn’t hire someone to rep it, I don’t have to buy it.
I think that my favorite Wasp outfit is her purple on with the matching eye-shadow. (Avengers 161-ish?).
As for small characters inside big characters; Ant-Man Hank inside The Vision (Avengers 96?), the Vision inside Giant-sized Hank as Yellowjacket (Avengers 140), Ant-Man Scott inside Iron Man’s armor (Iron Man #133). And, of course, across town The Atom in Batman’s brain! (Brave and the Bold #115). Not a fishnet in a carload.
I love Jan, she’s the best Marvel heroine bar none, having grown from flighty teenager to seasoned heroine and superb leader without losing her joie de vivre. And the ever-changing costumes add huge fun. My favourite is the red and yellow number she sported in the late Sixties. And the worst? That blue and white one-legged number you lads somehow like… the only one that comes near it for sheer awfulness is the gold number she wore during the Korvac Saga.
Thank you for doing Jan justice.
Fantastic episode, and love another diversion into the Marvel side of fishnets! Janet Van Dyne has always been one of my favorite Avengers, but I’m not sure I can trace back the origin of my fandom. Maybe Secret Wars, but in hindsight that wasn’t a great showing for her.
For me personally, my favorite costume for the Wasp is the all black suit with the yellow reflective segments on the front. I believe it first appeared in “Avengers Forever” and hung around for years.
https://latimesherocomplex.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/6a00d8341c630a53ef0133f299d6f0970b-300wi.jpg
Sean was a fantastic guest and his enthusiasm is always appreciated! His comments reminded me that I need to read the Roger Stern era of Avengers. Have been meaning to for a while now, just haven’t gotten started.
Thanks for the fun listen!!
Cool show and great guests…but its been 8 months since the last show? 🙁 Is PoF dead, or just on hiatus?
DM Mike
Thanks for listening.
No, Power of Fishnets is not dead-dead. In fact, I’m prepping another episode right now, but it’ll be another special focusing on a Marvel character. Not sure when, if ever, I’ll get back to talking about Black Canary and/or Zatanna.
Fishnets sighting in the next oHOTmu or NOT! For completists.