Comic Browser:

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
Selector

Marvel Feature #9

May 1973
Mike Friedrich, P. Craig Russell

Marvel Feature #9 cover

Story Name:

“…the Killer is My Wife!


Synopsis

Marvel Feature #9 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Ant-Man (Hank Pym) is pursued through a garden by his wife the Wasp, mutated into a killer wasp creature. Suddenly she convulses and he seizes the opportunity to use a popsicle stick as a springboard, leaping into a tree…

…where he finds himself face-to-face with a vicious rat. Hank prepares for a violent battle—and then Jan stings the rat from behind. Hank fights her off then swings through the shrubs and comes upon his missing helmet…and then he is stung by Jan. He is able to snatch up his helmet and summon soldier ants to fight Wasp while he escapes. She defeats the ants and pursues him to the point of a tiny promontory where he is trapped….

Elsewhere, Hank’s assistant Bill Foster confronts Jan’s lawyer Blackburn and chauffeur Charles Matthews who is secretly Dave “Whirlwind” Cannon. Bill accuses them of being mixed up in the recent deaths of Hank and Janet, hoping to get their hands on her fortune. They blow him off, with “Matthews” acting smug….

Bill meets with Iron Man at the burned-out lab site. Shellhead informs him that the Avengers have closed the file, determining that Hank and Janet are dead. But just in case…Iron Man uses the electro-scanner created by Hank Pym and finds no traces of them in the wreckage, which he interprets as proof they were consumed in the fire. Bill prefers to see it as their having escaped somehow….

Cornered by the killer Wasp, Ant-Man turns the power on Jan to see what happens—and she returns to normal. After recapping the problem, Jan fears she will go killer wasp again but Hank comforts her. They head for a house trailer nearby only to be attacked by a cat. Jan mutates into a version of the monster wasp again and fights the cat. Hank summons ants to swarm over the cat while he tends to the injured Jan. Then the trailer’s occupant steps out and retrieves his cat—and Hank and Jan. Hank is startled to see the man dressed in supervillain garb and calling himself Doctor Nemesis and he says he has plans for them….



 

Review / Commentaries


Marvel Feature #9 Review by (December 27, 2023)

Review: Hey, these tales do have an absurdist factor to them like the TALES TO ASTONISH series and it’s not just that in issues #9 and 10 have artwork that looks subtly “off,” portraying faces not quite true to form. No, the biggest joke is that Jan mutates into a human/wasp with additional legs and a huge abdomen with a stinger. No problem, save that returning to normal leaves no holes or other damage to her tight-fitting costume. And Iron Man is less than helpful: “the scanner designed to find their bodies shows no sign of their bodies in the wreckage—that proves they’re dead!” And mind you, they’re only a few dozen feet away; it wouldn’t have been a chore to sweep the ground around the lab site. I wonder if Tony Stark has some sinister motive for doing such a careless (and reckless) job of finding his friends? His whole attitude and effort would suggest that. And there’s more silliness to come! Good times are here again!

Comments: First appearance of Michael Stockton as Doctor Nemesis; he previously appeared in issue #4. Whirlwind returns to pursue his revenge against Hank and Jan in AVENGERS #139. The letters page includes one by Tim Pouncey who may be future Den of Geek contributor T.E. Pouncey.



> Marvel Feature comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
Diamond Select Toys Marvel Gallery: Ant-Man Movie Version PVC Figure, 9"
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

P. Craig Russell
Frank Bolle
Ben Hunt
John Romita (Cover Penciler)
John Romita (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: John Costanza.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Ant-Man
Ant-Man

(Hank Pym)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)
Whirlwind
Whirlwind

(David Cannon)
Plus: Bill Foster, Doctor Nemesis (Michael Stockton).

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.8.25 (Nov 22, 2024. VS22)

Copyright © 1997-2024 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved