Summary
- Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, has the chance to become the greatest detective in the Marvel Universe as she investigates a series of murders.
- Janet's sense of duty, attention to detail, and Wasp powers make her the perfect fit for the investigative role she's taking on.
- Avengers Inc. provides Janet with a solid foundation and familiar framework to use her talents, offering her an opportunity she didn't know she needed.
The following contains major spoilers for Avengers Inc. #1, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
As one of Marvel's most classic superheroes, Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, has played numerous roles throughout the years. From mentor to Avenger, Janet has excelled at everything she has done, though not all of her endeavors have come to define her in any meaningful way. This makes it not just intriguing, but exciting that her latest adventure might be first to do just that in decades, and even more so that it is giving Wasp the chance to officially become the greatest detective in the Marvel Universe.
Deep within the offshore superhuman penitentiary known as The Raft, David Cannon, better known as the supervillain Whirlwind, is murdered by an unseen assailant. This alone is disturbing enough, but the fact that he is one of six such victims is enough to prompt a direct investigation by one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. As seen in the pages of Avengers Inc. #1 (by Al Ewing, Leonard Kirk, Alex Sinclair, and VC's Cory Petit), the Wasp answers the call when asked to step in and take over the case. Even if Janet isn't the most prominent investigator in the Marvel Universe, she is certainly up to the task, which just might define her place in the Marvel world for years to come.
How Janet Van Dyne has Evolved in Marvel Comics
When Janet was introduced all the way back in 1963's "The Creature from Kosmos!" (by Stan Lee, H.E. Huntley, and Jack Kirby, from the pages of Tales to Astonish #44), Janet was traveling alongside her father Vernon, whose experiments with Gamma radiation would unleash the eponymous being who ended his life. Almost immediately, Janet embarked upon a career as a superhero courtesy of Hank Pym's then latest inventions which she used to great effect in avenging her father's demise. In fact, it was Janet who named the Avengers, and before long she would be the one leading them into the future.
In the years following her debut, Janet took on the mantle of the Wasp, a place as both a founding member and chairperson of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and countless enemies. Janet also more recently reformed her father's lab in the hopes of using it to smooth over relations between her fellow superheroes and the public, not to mention those closest to her on both sides of the aisle. All these endeavors have left Janet with a reputation as one of Marvel's most endearing and ambitious heroes, yet none of it has ever boxed her into any particular niche. Instead, Janet has flourished throughout every mission she has taken on, which only makes her a better candidate to step into an investigative role that would likely make her world smaller under any other circumstances.
Janet Van Dyne Can Become Marvel's Best Detective
Janet's experiences or expertise alone don't make her a prime fit for investigating the deaths of Whirlwind and The Raft's other victims; her indomitable sense of duty in any given situation does. Janet is always the last person to back down from any problem, especially when she could instead dig down into the root of the issue to solve it. This attribute already lends itself to Janet naturally fitting an investigative role, yet it is hardly the only trait she has that does so. Janet's acute attention to detail, while trained in a scientific sense, is another invaluable asset in the field, as was exemplified when she went up against the Creature from Kosmos and its illusory worlds once more in 2023's Wasp miniseries (by Al Ewing and Kasia Nie).
All this coupled with her powers make Janet a perfect fit for the mission at hand which, as fantastical as it might be, isn't all that different from past chapters of her superhero career. Even if Janet isn't used to uncovering murderous conspiracies as an Avenger, she is very much used to delving through similar plots on far grander scales. Along the way, Janet has honed every aspect of herself as a hero, and as such there is no reason that Janet shouldn't be the one leading Avengers Inc. and their investigation into The Raft murders. More importantly, there is no reason why Avengers Inc. shouldn't become Janet's new permanent home, especially after considering everything it has to offer her.
Why Avengers Inc. is the Perfect Home for Marvel's Wasp
Janet's career as the Wasp has been illustrious, but it hasn't provided her with much in the way of a solid foundation for her to rely on. Between her infamously abusive marriage to Hank Pym, multiple deaths and resurrections, moving between an even greater number of teams and at least as many reality-altering events, Janet's entire life has been defined by an ever present state of uncertainty at best. At worst, Janet's life has been defined by the calamities that have befallen it and the ways in which she has reacted.
With Avengers Inc., however, Janet is able to step away from any kind of world-shaking confrontations and put her talents to use. Janet initially set out to avenge those who cannot do so for themselves, and now she can. Solving prison murders may not be the way Janet ever expected to do that, yet it is still perfectly in line with what the Wasp is capable of and practiced in. Better yet, Avengers Inc. gives Janet the opportunity to do all of that within a familiar framework that has yet to develop any of the kind of issues that saw previous iterations of the Avengers fall apart at the seams. If nothing else, that makes Avengers Inc. both everything that Janet could have ever asked for and everything she didn't know she needed in her life, and it couldn't have come at a better time.