Whats the Buzz on van Dyne...Part 3

Good day, I hope everyone is having their comics fix.I will be continuing the story of Ms. van Dyne today; we might finish (spoiler: we don't) or we might not, it does't matter because we all tend to prater on at times. When we left off, aJnet had filed for divorce and had become the Avengers chairperson.

Janet then works even harder at her fashion designing, while leading the Avengers through their usual troubled times. She actively believed in adding more women to the team and under her leadership, Captain Marvel and She-Hulk became members. Her relationship with She-Hulk in particular was close, using her as a model to design clothes around. It is during this period she briefly hands the team leadership over to fellow teammate the Vision (Avengers 243 pictured above), although she reclaims it shortly thereafter. The Secret Wars (original) happen about this time and her leadership is recognized by a large group of heroes, but she insists that Captain America take the roles as everyone knows who he is.

The Under Siege storyline (Avengers 270-276, with individual stories in other books) shows how trying leadership can be. Baron Helmut Zero, a prime foe of Captain America, bands a group of super-villains that besiege the Avengers on all sides (as well as Spider-Man). Janet personally defeats the Absorbing Man (not to be confused with Absorbency Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes fame) and Titannia and leads the rest of the team to rescue other members of the squad, including Captain America himself. This leads her to decide that it is time to leave for a while, nominating Captain Marvel for leadership as chair of the team.

Janet then heads out west, after a solo adventure against the Red Ronin (an interesting story told in Solo Avengers issue 15), and joins the West Coast Avengers (Issue 32 of the title). She initially has a hard time bonding with the team as she is used to being in charge and other members who wished the role were having a hard time accepting that. Her ex-husband Hank was a member of the group at the time, and even though she had had a few romantic trysts since her divorce (Tony Stark being one of them - is anyone not surprised?), she and Hank become friends again, and eventually end up back together (starting in West Coast Avengers #42). Soon after, Wasp decides to become a reserve member so that she can spend more time doing other things in her life. But she can't stay away. She eventually rejoins the main team first on the reserve, then as a full member again.

The Destiny War (as told in the 12 issue Avengers Forever mini-series) would be a pinnacle of the return of the Wasp. It began when Immortus sending his servant Tempus to kill Rick Jones (friend of Marvel heroes), who possesses the "Destiney Force", a residual power he acquired during the Kree-Skrull War. Rick is saved by Kang the Conqueror, who destroys Tempus giving Ric the chance to call for aid. Rick uses his powers to pull various Avengers from different time periods to him. Each Avenger was chosen for a purpose and Janet was chosen for her ability to control the team with looseness and flexibility. The Avengers end up over various eras and places in order to protect Jones, Eventually this is revealed as Kang's attempt to thwart his future to become Immortus, who is a servant of three beings called the Time Keepers The Time Keepers are trying to stop the creation of the Terran Empire, which begins when humans begin to colonize space. Wasp is returned to the present when Rick Jones merges with Captain Marvel and she, like the rest of team, only has vague memories of the incident.

When Janet is leader again, Kang tries to invade earth again (Avengers v3 48-50), which becomes the seminal moment of her Avenger's career.At this point, Janet again believes in increasing female membership on the squad. Ths leads to a period that women outnumber the men on the team for the first time in history. She is still dating Hank, but rejects his offer of remarriage, saying that she would not marry him again. (Avengers v3 #71, pictured below.)

Anyway I will leave here for now, so that I can sort through all of the various issues of the Marvel Universe and make a coherent end to the story of the Wasp.

Ottawa Notes and News - I spent part of my day today attending the following sale: https://www.kijiji.ca/v- comics-graphic-novels/ottawa/ 25-000-comic-books-starting- as-low-as-0-80-each/ 1345360463? enableSearchNavigationFlag= true . Robert Lussier, the owner of the collection, is known in the area for his efforts to help support CHEO over the years by donating the proceeds of some of his earlier sales to help out the kids there, as we all know (especially those of us with young kids who have had the unfortunate need to use it), they sure can always use the help. Anyway he's hosting a sale at his place for the next few Saturdays as advertised through the link above. Check him out if you have time. I found many books there today for myself and I think it was well worth the trip.

I bring up my trip out today because this is what I want this place to become, a place to share news and to let people into our fabulous hobby find more ways to acquire our treasures.

Next week I will begin to outline aht is going on around Ottawa for Free Comic Book Day. Cheers.