| For other uses, see Ant-Man (disambiguation) |
Ant-Man: Larger Than Life is a comic mini-series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is set before the events of Ant-Man.
Synopsis
- Join Hank Pym, a.k.a. ANT-MAN, as he learns that a little experiment can land him in BIG trouble!
- Can Ant-Man tame something as painfully formidable as the Bullet Ant before it’s too late?! Find out!
- PLUS: Reprinting Tales to Astonish #27 (the first appearance of Hank Pym) and Tales to Astonish #35 (the first of appearance of Ant-Man in costume)!
Plot
Hank Pym tests a device to communicate with Ants inside his laboratory, intending to use electromagnetic pulses to mimic their pheromones and therefore communicate. Pym successfully orders a colony of fire ants to create a makeshift bridge with their bodies in order to bridge the gap between two beams.
Following the success, Pym tries to duplicate the results with carpenter ants, ordering them to deliver sugar to his tea, trying to make them act against their instinct. With this experiment being also a success, Pym theorizes he can harness the power of a whole colony if he reduces himself to size of the ants.
Pym begins another experiment with a dangerous species of ants, bullet ants, that are classified as number one in the Schmidt sting pain index. As Pym opens the box where the ants have been ship, unbeknownst to Pym, a centipede escapes from the box and begins to wander through the laboratory.
He releases the ants in front a scale model of an apartment building, and orders them to enter the model and check each room, but the bullet ants purposefully disobey him. While Pym guesses that maybe he should concentrate harder to make the ants obey him, one of them bites him in the hand, hurting Pym.
Taking that as a signal, Pym decides to use the Ant-Man Suit and reduce himself to the size of the ants and speak to them at their level. He makes sure that the communication device is secure under the helmet, and proceeds to reduce his own. Pym tries to speak to the ants, but one of the them attacks him, making him fall to the ground and damaging one of the dispersal triggers that allow the change of size.
Pym is forced to take one of the spare reservoir of Pym Particles that he has in the laboratory, so he flees the colony of bullet ants that proceeds to attack him. Just when he is about to reach the table where the particles are lying, the centipede ambushes Pym, attacking both the scientist and the ants.
Pym communicates again with the bullet ants, convincing them they should work together in order to defeat the centipede, and the ants charge against the myriapod following Pym's orders. The ants keep the centipede long enough for Pym to ride a flying ant and get one of the particles, returning to his human size.
Back with his human size, Pym catches the centipede and places it inside a terrarium, so that it does not scare anything anymore, and thanks the bullet ants for their help. The ants purposefully ignore him again, but Pym is satisfied with the result of the experiment, knowing the ants understood him.
