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Ant-Man Reading Order, From Hank Pym to Scott Lang

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Like Captain Marvel, there are several characters known as Ant-Man. As you may know, Scott Lang is Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (where he is played by Paul Rudd and has actually published a memoir). No doubt about it, he is Ant-Man for a lot of people out there. But Scott Lang wasn’t the first Ant-Man to grace the pages of a Marvel Comic book.

Created by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Larry Lieber in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962), the first Ant-Man was Hank Pym, one of Marvel’s first Silver Age superheroes and a founding member of the Avengers. Despite his initial success, Hank Pym never became a top seller or had his own book. Soon, Pym began to assume other superhero identities, including Giant-Man, leaving his Ant-Man persona behind him.

Scott Lang is introduced as the second Ant-Man at the end of the seventies. Created by David Michelinie, Bob Layton and John Byrne in the pages of The Avangers #181 (1979), he was not your classic Marvel superhero. He was neither a rich guy nor a scientific guy, but an ex-convict, electronics expert, and a divorced single parent. He stole the Ant-Man suit to help his sick daughter and became the second Ant-Man after Pym discovered it and allowed him to wear the suit.

Following Scott Lang’s death, The name and costume were used by Eric O’Grady (until his own death). Created by Robert Kirkman and Phil Hester, O’Grady made his first appearance in The Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 (Dec. 2006). As the title suggested, the character had an immoral attitude and behavior.

Finally, Scott Lang, after being returned to life, took back the persona (in  2011) and is our official Ant-Man.

Ant-Man Reading Order:

Hank Pym is The Original Ant-Man (1962-1973)

Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym is a scientific adventurer who discovered the Pym Particles, which can increase or decrease the size and mass of objects or living creatures. He built a suit and became the Ant-Man to fight crime with his partner, Janet Van Dyne aka The Wasp. Explore Hank’s origin (and his history with Janet) in these two modern retellings:

  • Ant-Man: Season One (2012)
    A retelling of Pym’s superheroic origins by Tom DeFalco and Horacio Domingues.
  • Avengers Origins: Ant-Man & the Wasp (2011)
    Collected in Marvel-Verse Ant-Man & The Wasp. A retelling of the origin (and courtship) of the Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Go back to the beginning with the first adventures of Hank Pym as Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish!

From Tales to Astonish #49, Hank Pym began to change aliases. He will be known as Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and even Wasp, at some point.

Pym is also one of the founding members of the Avengers but became Giant-Man starting with the second issue. Although, he did another short stint as Ant-Man, and was even trapped at ant size for a while:

A reading order dedicated to Hank Pym is coming soon!

Scott Lang is the second Ant-Man (1979-2005)

Meet Scott Lang, an ex-convict forced to return to a life of crime, stealing Hank Pym’s original costumed identity, in order to save his daughter’s life. Following is a trade paperback collecting the early appearances of the character.

  • Ant-Man: Scott Lang
    Collects Marvel Premiere #47-48, Iron Man (1968) #131-133 And #151, Avengers (1963) #195-196 And #223, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #103, Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #87, And Material From Avengers (1963) #181 And Iron Man (1968) #125.

Scott Lang became a member of The Fantastic Four at a time when Reed Richards was presumed dead, starting with issue #384.

Following the Onslaught Saga, Scott was part of Heroes for Hire as a supporting player, appearing in issues #6-7, #10-16, #19 collected in:

Finally, Scott Lang was offered a place among the Avengers (in #62), staying with the team until his presumed death:

A few years later (2010), the Young Avengers, including Cassie Lang aka Stature, traveled back in time and came back to the present with Lang who makes here his return among the living:

Eric O’Grady is The Ireedemable Ant-Man (2006-2012)

Eric O’Grady is the Worst Ant-Man ever. This low-level S.H.I.E.L.D agent finds Hank Pym’s new Ant-Man suit, and has no intention of using his new-found powers to help anyone but himself.

After the conclusion of his own series, Eric O’Grady joins the Avengers Initiative for a time. Then, Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign begins and O’Grady becomes part of the Thunderbolts.

After some dark years, the Marvel heroes entered the Heroic Age. Steve Rogers recruited Eric O’Grady to be part of his Secret Avengers, and the last Ant-Man also joined forces with the new Wasp (Ant-Man) for a small mission!

Scott Lang is back as the Official Ant-Man (2013-)

Starting from Marvel Now! Scott Lang became, once again, the primary Ant-Man. While Reed Richards and his family went on a time travel trip, he became the Future Foundation’s leader. He was in charge of the replacement Fantastic Four, having to guard the Earth and the nascent Future Foundation.

Once the Fantastic Four returned, Scott Lang left the team and was one of the characters investigating the death of The Watcher in Original Sin. Though not present in AXIS, two tie-ins issues will have an impact on Scott.

As Ant-Man became part of the MCU, he also became a more busy man in the pages of Marvel Comics, dealing with new business, questionable employees, a teenage daughter, and some villains.

Also collected in:

Hydra took over the United States in Secret Empire, and Ant-Man found himself having to make complicated and difficult choices. His actions during this event will push him to leave for space with the Guardians of the Galaxy afterward.

An Ant-Niversary: All the Ant-Men! (2022)

Marvel celebrated Ant-Man big 60th anniversary with a limited series with with every hero who ever donned the helmet while also introducing the Ant-Man of the Future!

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