Scott Lang, portrayed by Paul Rudd in the Ant-Man films, is not the first Ant Man; It's actually Michael Douglas'' character, Hank Pym. The comic book version of Hank Pym as The Ant Man was one of Marvel's first superheroes. So, with Ant-Man and the Wasp now in theaters, let's talk a look at what the original Ant Man was like.
Ant-Man first appeared in an anthology comic series called Tales To Astonish which was an effort on the part of Atlas Comics to garner some popularity. Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber collaborated on it together, and Hank Pym was one of the one-off characters that they introduced.
In the comic that Dr. Hank Pym was introduced in, he was a kind of mad scientist character who felt spurned by his peers and shrunk himself down to ant-size in order to prove a point. He didn't return until 8 months after debuting in #27 of the anthology. When he did resurface, he was the fully fledged Ant-Man complete with a fancy suit and a helmet that let him communicate with ants. Ant-Man eventually gets a sidekick and love interest by the name of Janet Van Dyne or The Wasp. He also ends up figuring out how to change into a bunch of different sizes, not just ant size.
In order to get to Scott Lang, we have to jump forward in time. Lang first made a cameo in the 181st issue of The Avengers, and later made his full debut in the 47th issue of Marvel Premiere in 1979, where he was a burglar who went to jail but went straight so he could take care of his daughter. In the comics, he became Ant-Man because he stole the suit from Hank Pym in order to save his daughter's life. After Pym witnessed Lang's acts, it prompted his sense of compassion, so he let Lang keep the suit as he had transitioned to Yellowjacket anyway.
If you want to learn more details about the comic history of Ant-Man, including another iteration of Ant-Man, check out Dave's video above.