Janet Van Dyne: The Winsome Wasp Appreciation 2019

[Captain M]

We also forget Jan is in History of the Marvel Universe.

Right! I forgot to talk about it! She gets a decent showing in #3. Really nice.

[Captain M]

FOR NYCC! Yay!

[Captain M]

For 2 years in a row they had used Nadia for the Wasp pin being sold in comic cons (imagine having the audacity to argue against the fact that Marvel deliberately wasn't promoting Jan)

That actually changed for once. Granted this is specifically for the 80th year anniversary so things can go back to the usual next year with Nadia being promoted over Jan but for now I'll take this win.

[Digifiend]

Nadia doesn't currently have a book. She may even be gone from Champions - the only members shown in the Incoming teaser were Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Brawn, Viv and Ironheart. It may just be that they're done pushing her and will be pushing Janet going forward.

[KC]

Jan has been in multiple books, they are promoting her. Arguing that they are not promoting Jan because they gave Nadia a pin at Comic-Con is laughably flimsy. And it is still the only "argument" that Captain M has given on the subject, which shows a lot.

[Captain M]

Nadia doesn't currently have a book. She may even be gone from Champions - the only members shown in the Incoming teaser were Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Brawn, Viv and Ironheart. It may just be that they're done pushing her and will be pushing Janet going forward.

I don't know about that. She had a bigger presence in Marvel Comics #1000 than Janet and was on that cover where present featured heroes were on, unlike Janet who was only in covers referencing the past.

I would love nothing more than for Marvel to find a proper ground to feature Nadia in the comics without hurting Janet. But if I had to choose between what Janet suffered since 2015 because of the MCU synergy and Nadia taking a step back for now, I'll go with the latter. I just don't get why for so long they refused to treat both Wasps properly, promote them equally, like they did with literally all other legacy heroes. I mean I do get it, we know Janet's been purposely being kept away from covers in favor of having Nadia as the sole Wasp, I've literally talked to an artist about this but like, where does this come from? How high up in Marvel? And is it finally over?

It might be, like you said. We did have that 80th year anniversary promo art with Janet on it. That's like the FIRST promotional thing Janet was featured as the Wasp over Nadia in 2.5-3 years. I'm still kinda shocked about that.

[Captain M]

I don't think I'll ever get over this:

(It's just one of many instances but since it's specifically Avengers, it's the most insulting case. Hank's not even alive and he's on it.)

[Electricmastro]

Nadia doesn't currently have a book. She may even be gone from Champions - the only members shown in the Incoming teaser were Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Brawn, Viv and Ironheart. It may just be that they're done pushing her and will be pushing Janet going forward.

Yeah, now that I think about it, it's rather weird Janet has never starred in her own solo book after all this time, after coming quite close with Nadia and Hank's books.

[Captain M]

Yeah, now that I think about it, it's rather weird Janet has never starred in her own solo book after all this time, after coming quite close with Nadia and Hank's books.

It's much more weird when you realize Marvel has given a solo or a mini to over 100 characters in this decade, excluding the 30 or so characters that normally have books. She has no book to call her own. You can barely find covers spotlighting her and she has almost 1500 comic appearances, if not more.


They should give her a chance when they gave one or more to Foolkiller, Slapstick, Solo, Hyperion, Nighthawk, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax, Sentry, Kingpin, Bulseye, Morbius, Spider-Woman, Mosaic, Hellcat, Black Bolt, Karnak, Doop, Red She-Hulk, Elektra, Nightcrawler, Magneto, Hobgoblin, Sif, Star-Lord, Mockingbird, Deathlok, Storm, Cyclops, Shang-Chi, MODOK, Hercules, Black Knight, Amadeus Cho, Red Wolf, Starbrand, Nightmask, Mary Jane, Invisible Woman, Prowler, America Chavez, Iceman, Man-Thing, Nick Fury, Kate Bishop and so many more characters. I think the idea of handing out solos to characters that haven't had one or had one ages ago is a good one. Wish Janet could have her turn.

[Electricmastro]

It's much more weird when you realize Marvel has given a solo or a mini to over 150 characters in this decade, excluding the 30 or so characters that normally have books. She has no book to call her own. You can barely find covers spotlighting her and she has almost 1500 comic appearances, if not more.

I wonder if Wasp is just largely seen as a "team character" these days, or more specifically, an Avengers character and nothing much of else outside of such a label. Actually, I think even the Avengers issues in which she was team leader barely highlighted her on the covers.

[Captain M]

I wonder if Wasp is just largely seen as a "team character" these days, or more specifically, an Avengers character and nothing much of else outside of such a label. Actually, I think even the Avengers issues in which she was team leader barely highlighted her on the covers.

That wouldn't be a big problem if she was actually allowed to be in Avengers. Last time she was in the main team was almost 2 decades ago at this point. 12 years if you count the first Mighty Avengers as the main team

But still, everyone and their mother gets a solo book these days, it's basically a way to direct new readers to that character. They know 90% of them won't last 2 arcs, 60% of them 1 arc(give or take 10% , I haven't sat 3 hours to do the math) but they do it anyway and I think that's fine. So the reason Janet hasn't had one isn't that.

Also her not having big presence in covers in teambooks have a lot to do with her powerset. But if she had her own stories centered around her, we'd have cool covers that are just her. :/

[Electricmastro]

That wouldn't be a big problem if she was actually allowed to be in Avengers. Last time she was in the main team was almost 2 decades ago at this point. 12 years if you count the first Mighty Avengers as the main team

But still, everyone and their mother gets a solo book these days, it's basically a way to direct new readers to that character. They know 90% of them won't last 2 arcs, 60% of them 1 arc(give or take 10% , I haven't sat 3 hours to do the math) but they do it anyway and I think that's fine. So the reason Janet hasn't had one isn't that.

Also her not having big presence in covers in teambooks have a lot to do with her powerset. But if she had her own stories centered around her, we'd have cool covers that are just her. :/

Yeah, and to be fair, I have just remembered that she was front and center on covers such as Avengers #340 (October 1991).

[Captain M]

Yeah, and to be fair, I have just remembered that she was front and center on covers such as Avengers #340 (October 1991).

Yeah, that's a good one, there are a few more like that but that's only fair, afterall she's been in hundreds of issues

[K7P5V]

Yeah, and to be fair, I have just remembered that she was front and center on covers such as Avengers #340 (October 1991).

Although not as prominent as your cover, I still consider this an all-time favorite:

Not only does Jan appear on the cover, but she has a rather important role in this modern-day classic.

[Electricmastro]

Although not as prominent as your cover, I still consider this an all-time favorite

Nice one. Also, I just remembered this one as well!