Word is that Mr. Silver age will be hosting a Trivia panel at C2E2 this weekend and because of the movie this summer, some of the questions will feature my favorite Marvel super-hero, Ant-Man. By coincidence, I just finished reading DC's Atom archives. Here are some similar covers featuring the two characters.
Some of these are a stretch, but close enough. And good luck at the trivia panel, Craig!
--your pal, Hoy
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Sadly, Hank never faced the danger of being ironed flat, but then Ray never encountered the horror of getting really old, one of my favorite SA covers.
I'll post the quiz some time after the dust settles, so you can test your luck.
-- MSA
That's an interesting set of matches, Hoy.
The Atom was consciously modelled on Doll-Man. I like to point out they fight in similar ways. I used to think Ant-Man was too, and he may have been, but he's really much smaller: he can ride on ants!
With his ability to use ants as a spy network, Ant-Man should be the most effective crimebuster of all. He could keep the police supplied with a steady stream of anonymous tips.
More likely, that appearance was inspired by the Incredible Shrinking Man movie in 1957. And then Stan used TTA #27 as an inspiration for creating a new superhero.
It's possible he figured if Spider-Man could be a hit, then Ant-Man could be one too. But that might have pushed his luck too far. Sorry, Hoy, but it's not the most fearsome of names, as apparently the movie likes to point out.
Wasp or Bee-Man would've been better. Those did show up later, and it seems even Stan had second thoughts, considering how fast Ant-Man disappeared. I imagine artists were sad to seem him go, though, as they could usually draw him with a couple of strokes when the other Avengers were around.
-- MSA
According to Mike's Amazing World of Marvel Comics, Ant-Man (in costume in Tales to Astonish), Thor (in Journey into Mystery), and Spider-Man (in Amazing Fantasy) all were released the same month, June of 1962, after Fantastic Four and Incredible Hulk, so It's unlikely Stan or Martin Goodman had time to figure Spider-Man was a hit. According to this Marvel Comics history website, all three were published June 5, so Ant-Man could be considered to be Marvel's third (or fourth of fifth) super-hero series. (And yes, I'm discounting Doctor Droom).
Hoy
I don't know if they would have done a BEE-MAN series and kept him as the back-up when Iron Man arrived but bees are scarier than ants!
The Li'l Capn liked Ant-Man more than Atom in the early Silver Age, because Atom just seemed like a guy with a gimmick, whereas Ant-Man was more immersed in his world (of insects) and more enmeshed in the nascent Marvel Universe. But the Li'l Capn liked Marvel more than DC anyway, and he was a kid!
Neither character has ever been able to sustain a title, so I guess in that sense they're equal.
I always enjoyed both of them. I guess not being overwhelmingly powerful doesn't generate enough excitement to bring in the readers.
...The Atom managed a six-ish years run in the Sixties (Say , there's a toungetwister someone in there !!!!! :-)) , o Captain .
Speaking of that other shriner/shifter , Doll Man , I have wished DC would do a miniseries teaming up DM , Karate Kid , and Mr. Teriffic.........
Hoy Murphy said:
Also the Torch's series in Strange Tales started the next month (and Two Gun Kid the month after that). The former site also has on-sale dates, on its pages for particular issues.
I think we may suppose Goodman decided to start a superhero line because of the success of Fantastic Four. Reportedly he didn't want to do a Spider-Man series, so Lee put the character into Amazing Fantasy, which was about to be cancelled. Mr SA could be right about the one character suggesting the other if Spider-Man was invented first. Archie was still publishing Adventures of the Fly at the time.
Adventures of the Fly went on hiatus for part of 1964; presumably, it was cancelled, but Archie then decided to bring it back and imitate the Marvel style. The first "return" issue had a Marvel-style cover but John Giunta on the art, so it may be those stories were prepared before the cancellation. With the next issue - in Mar. 1965, after another hiatus - Paul Reinman took over the art and the hero became Fly-Man, likely in imitation of Spider-Man. I think that shows by that point Amazing Spider-Man was perceived in the industry as a hit. Harvey tried B(ee)-Man, surely showing the same thinking, in Double-Dare Adventures in 1966.
Lana Lang first became the Insect Queen in Superboy #124 in 1965. Adventure Comics #350, 1966, has a bit where Chameleon Boy breaks the fourth wall and alludes to Spidey.
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