20 Lesser-Known Female Superheroes

Wasp in Uncanny Avengers (Image via Marvel)

4. Wasp

Janet van Dyne first appeared in 1963 in Marvel’s Tales to Astonish #44. She’s the partner of Hank Pym, better known as Ant-Man. She becomes Wasp in order to avenge the death of her father, scientist Vernon van Dyne. To do this, Janet undergoes a procedure which gives her the power to shrink size. Also, once she’s beneath four feet tall, Janet gets some rather useful insect-like wings.

Early on in her story, there’s a lot of frankly unfortunate relationship back and forth with Hank Pym. He rejects her at first, unnerved by the similarities between Janet and his deceased first wife. They eventually start dating, but Janet sometimes seems overly focused on getting married. I mean, that’s not inherently a bad goal, but it’s annoying when said goal becomes a defining characteristic of a female superhero. After a truly unfortunate (but notable) spousal abuse storyline, Janet finally divorces Hank.

However, don’t let Janet van Dyne’s romances distract you. She’s a formidable hero and a strong leader. In fact, she was the first to suggest the name for what would ultimately become the Avengers team. Throughout her career, she’s also variously fought as an Avenger or led the team herself. During one of her most recent stints as head of the Avengers, the number of women on the team finally outnumbered the men.