Wasp

Janet Van Dyne was born in Cresskill, New Jersey. She was initially a shallow, self-centered, flighty heiress, daughter of wealthy scientist Vernon Van Dyne. During an experiment, however, an alien monster was unleashed from an alternate dimension and Dr. Van Dyne was killed. Her father's associate, Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym, had created a substance called "Pym particles," which allowed the user to grow or shrink in size, and had become the superhero Ant-Man. When Janet's father died, she convinced Pym to help her.^[1] He gave her a supply of "Pym particles" and subjected her to a biochemical procedure which granted her the ability to, upon shrinking, grow wings and fire blasts of energy, which she called her "wasp's stings." As Ant-Man and The Wasp, they defeated the monster, sent it to its own dimension, and had several more adventures together.^[2] Janet later fell in love with Pym, but afraid that he would never return her feelings, never said anything to him, and only in moments of peril would she reveal her true feelings to him.^[3][4] Pym also had feelings for Janet, but was too afraid to tell her the truth,^[5] causing her to openly try to court him, with dates. However, during a moment of peril due to the underwater villain Attuma, both finally revealed their feelings to each other.^[6]

Avenger

Soon afterwards, the superhero team, which Janet herself dubbed the Avengers, formed, and the pair were among its founding members.^[7] Still shallow, Janet frequently commented on the attractiveness of her male colleagues, especially Thor, in order to provoke jealousy from Pym. Never lacking for confidence or bravery and by nature an outgoing personality, Janet was always in the thick of their battles with villains, who included Norse gods and aliens. Although she and Hank took occasional leaves of absence, the two have almost always remained members, being on reserve when not on active duty. During the course of their many adventures as Avengers, Janet grew as a person, becoming a resourceful and seasoned hero. Several years later, she would be elected leader of the team.

The Winsome Wasp captured by John Buscema as a sixties glamor girl.

The relationship between Janet and Pym had always been one of loving squabbling, but her wealth and his research had always stopped him from proposing.^[8] One day, a cocky new costumed crimefighter called Yellowjacket broke into Avengers HQ. He claimed to have disposed of Pym and even kidnapped Janet.^[9] To the outrage of her colleagues, Janet then married Yellowjacket.^[10] A tension-filled wedding was made even more edgy by an attack by the Circus of Crime. During the fight it was discovered that Yellowjacket was Pym. He had had an accident with some chemicals causing a severe case of schizophrenia. Janet had realised this from very early on and had taken advantage to finally tie the knot.^[11]

However, her relationship with Pym became rocky, as he suffered a further series of mental problems, exacerbated by the stress on his body of his frequent size changes and exposure to chemicals. Many years later, Pym had a complete breakdown, and became completely paranoid.^[12] During the course of this breakdown, he became overbearing and verbally abusive.^[13] At the nadir of his degeneration, he struck Janet, and then proceeded to concoct a plan to make himself look good in front of his teammates by staging an attack upon them which only he could stop.^[14] This plan backfired and Pym was exposed, disgraced, and expelled from the Avengers, and the couple divorced. She remained with the team despite these hardships, later taking on the role of chairman, and even began dating other men, like Tony Stark and Paladin. Pym later on joined The West Coast Avengers, with Janet soon following. Pym's mental state returned to normal, and the two became friends again. Some few years later, the two returned to the regular Avengers, and resumed a romantic relationship. On a trip to Las Vegas, however, she turned down his proposal, saying she wouldn't marry him again.^[15] She had a brief fling with fellow teammember Hawkeye but returned to Hank.

Civil War and Mighty Avengers

During the events of Avengers Disassembled, Janet was knocked into a coma by an attack on Avengers Mansion by the Scarlet Witch. Hank watched over her as she lay in the hospital, and when she recovered, they reconciled. The two retired from the Avengers in order to pursue a new life together in Oxford.

The Wasp reappeared with Pym in the miniseries Beyond!. He is at this point still her ex-husband and over the course of the events chronicled in this series, it is revealed that they had called off their most recent attempt at a romantic relationship, although they remain on good terms.

With the onset of the superhuman Civil War, Hank has helped spearhead the pro-registration movement. Janet is also pro-registration, although she was very upset about the murder of her friend Bill Foster, and has become the host of a pro-registration reality show called America's Newest Superhero.

When selecting the roster for the latest incarnation of the Avengers team, this time as part of the Fifty States Initiative, Tony Stark selected Janet as a founding member of the Mighty Avengers. When alien symbiotes attacked New York, Janet used a refined growth formula given to her by Hank Pym which allowed her to shift to giant-size without side effects. It has since been revealed, however, that Hank was replaced by a Skrull by then, so it is possible there is some some of flaw deliberately put in the formula. During the beginning of the fight, she was briefly turned into a symbiote monster before a cure was created by Stark.

Secret Invasion

She was among the Mighty Avengers who were fighting heroes from the Skrull ship.

Powers and abilities

Making use of sub-atomic Pym particles, the Wasp possesses the power to alter her physical size, causing her body's mass to be shunted to or gained from an alternate dimension known as Kosmos. She is able to shrink to a minimum of half an inch or grow to a maximum of several hundred feet. Smaller or larger sizes are possible but the exertion begins to put a strain on her body. Intitially, these abilities stemmed from use of a Pym particle gas released from special capsules. Over time, however, her body has absorbed enough particles to allow her to alter her size at will.

At miniature size, her strength level increases as her body's mass is compacted. At giant size, her strength and endurance increase geometrically with her height, reaching superhuman levels. Despite the advantages of giant size, Janet usually prefers to remain the diminutive Wasp, calling on her growth power only in times of extreme emergency.

At miniature size, the Wasp grows a pair of translucent insect wings from her back, a result of genetic modifications provided by Hank Pym. These grant her the power of flight, at speeds up to 40 MPH.

The Wasp is able to harness and augment her body's natural bio-electric energy, releasing it from her hands in powerful electrical bursts, which she calls her "stinger blasts" or "wasp's stings." Originally, she required special wrist devices to produce these but again, Pym particle absorption has allowed her to create the ability unaided.

The Wasp's genetic modifications also grant her the ability to sprout small prehensile antennae from her forehead which allow her to telepathically communicate with and control insects. However, this is an ability which she rarely uses.

Van Dyne has also displayed several non-superhuman abilities that have garnered her special fame and attention, foremost of which is her fashion sense, as in nearly all of her early appearances, she sported a new costume, presumably designed and manufactured on her own. In addition, The Wasp is one of the most intuitive, if not deductive, members of the Avengers. She effectively deduced that a chemical accident created a schizophrenic break in Henry Pym, the relationship between the Scarlet Witch and the Vision was the result of the infused personality of Wonder Man, and guessed the identity of Iron Man at a time when Tony Stark faked his own death.