Wasp – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

John Byrne — Spider-Man’s Giant Headache

April 9, 2022 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Spider-Man: Chapter One #11, September 1999

Concluding the 60th anniversary celebration of Ant-Man/Giant-Man.

John Byrne provides his own spin (that pun was intended) on Spider-Man’s early days with the “maxi-series” Spider-Man: Chapter One. This series created some controversy, as many fans believed the early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko stories did not need a refresh. (Unlike say Byrne’s own Superman revamp years earlier, which was the right reboot at the right time. But… we digress.)

This fun page from issue #11 guest stars Giant-Man and Wasp in a revamping of Spider-Man’s very early Spidey crossover in Tales To Astonish #57. (How early was the original story? It’s the same month as Spider-Man #14, which also featured the Hulk. Spider-Man had a very busy month in the Marvel Universe, as Annual #1, featuring the Sinister Six, was also published at about the same time.)

P. Craig Russell And Dan Adkins — Bite Size Action

October 6, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Marvel Feature #7, January 1973

Ah, Hank Pym.

Ant–Man (no costume.) Ant-Man (costume.) Giant-Man. Goliath. Yellowjacket. Hank Pym, scientist, no alter ego.

And here, Ant-Man again.

Hank Pym was definitely having an ongoing identity crisis in his 10 years in the Marvel Universe.

Needless to say, seeing Ant-Man and Wasp as a full-length feature on the newsstands was a surprise. It lasted seven issues of Marvel Feature, before disappearing once again.

Here, P. Craig Russell and Dan Adkins present us with a nice Bronze Age action page. This is some of Russell’s earliest professional work, and his distinctive style has yet to develop.

In fact, since Craig broke in as Adkins assistant, it definitely feels much closer to Dan’s work than Craig’s.

Ina few months, Craig would take over the art chores on Killraven in Amazing adventures, and as “they” say (and I say too much) the rest is history.

As for Hank Pym, the identify crisis would continue. He returns as Yellowjacket, joins the Defenders, then rejoins the Avengers, and then… well, it actually becomes even more complicated.

But of course, Scott Lang eventually takes the role of Ant-Man, and as they say…