Basics of Superheroes: Earth's Mightiest Heroes part 2

Ant-man and Wasp’s sections will be slightly longer since the characters are a little more obscure. This section will also cover the general plot of the series.

Ant-man is probably a name many have not heard about except in reference to his upcoming movie. Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym, a brilliant scientist, uses Pym Particles to shrink and grown to various sizes. While in his miniature mode he keeps the same overall strength and speed he would at full size. In other words, while he may be only an inch high he can jump at least six feet into the air and when he punches someone in the face he sends ‘em flying. He also uses his specialized helmet that lets him command and communicate with insects.

In his Giant-man form he is incredibly strong and durable, able to fling freighters and take gun fire with ease. The most interesting part about Ant-man is that he is a pacifist, he tries on several occasions to reason and negotiate with villains and fights only as a last resort. Talking really never works but I give him props for trying. He and Ironman fight over this point more than once, most often relating to Ultron. At some point before the series began Ironman and Ant-man worked together to create an advance artificial intelligence. Ant-man built Ultron for the sake of scientific development, while Iron-man secretly equipped it with weapons and planned to sell the machine as a super weapon. Ant-man stopped Iron-man but never fully forgave Ironman for what he attempted to do, even after Ironman tries to repent for the weapons he built. Ant-man and Wasp have a thing that the series toys with, mostly now the two are very obviously attracted to each other but seem to never say it when the other is paying attention…or conscious. That second one happens a lot.

Janet van Dyne aka Wasp is the only core female member for the first part of the series and like Ant-man her powers are rather deceptive. Like Ant-man she is capable of changing her size but has the added advantage of micro sized wings that allow her to fly and her “zappers,” bioenergy that she fires from her hands. She serves as additional financial backer for the Avengers, a sympathetic ear for her teammates, and often distracts foes in combat. Her zappers may only sting, but the Hulk fist, Giant-man fist, or Thor’s hammer that follows leaves a hell of a mark. She is much more relaxed than her male counterparts and is the main source of comedy for much of the series. Being a billionaire heiress with superpowers does have a lot of advantages. That being said the writes don’t make her the sort of comic relief that kills the mood when things are serious. She’s no Jar Jar Binks. On the contrary she switches between a serious and comedic character very quickly and is usually the first one to notice when things get rough or dramatic. As mentioned above she and Ant-man have a romantic attraction. They have a fire and ice relationship but it’s clear that they have a mutual respect that grows as the series progresses. It’s also interesting to note, that she is the only original member in the series that never leaves the team. Ironman, Hulk, Thor, and Ant-man all take extended leaves of absence for various reasons but Wasp always remains to do her part.

The TV series begins with the two parter, the Breakout. In it we see Ironman, Thor, Ant-man and Wasp doing their own individual hero thing while Bruce Banner is incarcerated in a supervillain prison. Part way through there is a mass breakout at the four supervillain prisons; The Vault where they keep the technological based villains, The Cube which houses supervillains whose powers are tied to radiation, The Big House a micro-sized prison where Ant-man and his Ultron units attempt to rehabilitate some shrunken criminals, and The Raft the home of the worst and most dangerous supervillains. The most dangerous of which at the time of the breakout being Doctor Franklin Hall.

Dr. Hall worked for SHIELD in an attempt to revive the Super Soldier program that created Captain America but is given the ability to control gravity in a lab accident. Fearing the damage Hall could create with his powers after a violent outburst, Director Nick Fury gases Hall and keeps him locked in the Raft in a medically induced coma. Like most mad scientist, upon awakening he goes on a rampage and tries to take over the world. Graviton, as Hall calls himself now, blames Fury for his years of imprisonment and wants to make an example out of him and anything associated with him. SO naturally he attacks New York. Ironman, Thor, Wasp, and Ant-man do their best but get sent into orbit, nearly crushed beneath the waves, swatted and smacked around respectively for their troubles. The Hulk arrives shortly after each hero recovers. While hesitant at first the other four superheroes quickly decide that the Hulk is on the level and use their combined might to overpower Graviton. A combination Uni-beam pulse from Ironman, Lightning Bolt from Thor, a chucked Freighter via Ant-man, and a Hulk smack down puts Graviton on the ropes, and a final blast from Wasp knocks him out.

Fury offers to deputize the heroes as SHIELD Agents, but Ironman convinces the other four that a separate team is what was needed. Thus the Avengers are born.

Over the course of the series many villains and heroes are introduced. By the end of the series the team had expanded to include Captain America, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and the Vision. As to villains we got to enjoy most of the big names like The Red Skull, MODOK, The Leader, Crimson Dynamo, Abomination, and the Wrecking Crew, as well as some smaller ones like Arnim Zola, Living Laser, Wonder-man, Baron Strucker and the always delightfully evil Baron Zemo. Several other heroes like Ironman’s partner and best friend War Machine, Captain America’s only friend from the 40s that is still looking good Wolverine, and the beloved and despised Spiderman make guest appearances in the shows second season.

EMH was a strong show that used many story arcs from its comic origin that worked amazingly well. There were no real “standalone” episodes, most plot lines bled into two or more episodes. Even a season one episode entitled “459” which for a long time seemed like a standalone episode later was revealed to be a precursor to season two’s Secret Wars story arc and also the origin episode for the fabulous Ms. Marvel. It started strong, ended strong, and left me wishing it had gotten a third season. Damn you Disney, why must you simultaneously create things I love while destroying other things I love? I recommend it for any superhero fan, or anyone that was curious about the wonderful world of Marvel.

Left to right Top: Ms. Marvel, Yellowjacket (alternate heroic persona of Hank Pym)