Marvel Comics will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) with a four-part miniseries, written by Al Ewing, with art by Kasia Nie. Simply titled “Wasp,” the comic will see Janet team up with her adopted daughter, Nadia (the Unstoppable Wasp), to fight an old foe conspiring to ruin everything she’s ever worked to achieve, and “a dangerous new organization with shocking connections to both their histories. As the threat grows more urgent, Janet and Nadia will face a test so great that they may become the very thing they fear most.”
Ewing, who previously penned this year’s 60th anniversary “Ant-Man” series, says that comic “was a whole lot of fun and gave me a new appreciation for Janet Van Dyne and her world — and when I went digging into her past, there was a whole story there just waiting to be unearthed. If you weren’t a fan of the Wondrous Wasp before — not to mention her adopted daughter Nadia Van Dyne — you will be when we’re done!”
Nie adds, “I’m super excited to work with Al and rest of the team on this anniversary tribute to Wasp. I love Janet, she’s one of my favorite Marvel characters — a mature person with an uneasy past, a successful woman and the best mom to Nadia. She’s unstoppable.” Nie (formerly known as Kate Niemczyk) previously penciled Marvel’s “Mockingbird” and “Age of Conan: Belit.”
Janet Van Dyne first appeared in Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, Jack Kirby, and Don Heck’s “Tales to Astonish” #44 (cover dated June 1963, but released March 5, 1963.) Although a co-founder and longtime member of the Avengers, she has only headlined a handful of one-shots until now, making this the first Marvel comic to be simply titled “Wasp.” In contrast, Nadia starred in her own series, “The Unstoppable Wasp,” only a year after her introduction in Mark Waid and co.’s “All-New, All-Different Avengers” run in 2016.
“Wasp” #1 will be released on January 18, 2023, with a cover by Ewing’s “Ant-Man” artist Tom Reilly. It will arrive a month before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — once again featuring Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet — hits theaters on February 17. Marvel tells fans to expect more from Ewing and their Pym Particle-based heroes too, stating the comic will “directly lead into another Ewing-penned series launching in the new year!”
