It's Bound To Get A Size-Changing Scientist Down

Sorry about the absence. The lack of a post on Saturday wasn't in my plans. The lack of posts Sunday and Monday were, but the Saturday post would have told you I was heading away to celebrate the Fourth with friends. Then the Internet was unavailable on Saturday and the plan went up in smoke.

Anyway, Hank Pym set up to fight the Absorbing Man this month in Avengers Academy, a rematch of their fight from last December. Of course, the Absorbing Man has one of those Fear-Hammers now. And Pym only beat him last time by enlarging him to the scale where Abstract Entities exist, overwhelming Creel's mind. This is not likely to go as well for Hank.

I am curious how it'll play out between them. Not the fight so much as the fact that Hank actually tried to do something nice for Crusher Creel by designing a cell that wouldn't require the villain to be in a constantly drugged state. Which Hank certainly didn't have to do, but I imagine he thought it was a nice gesture. No reason to deprive someone of their higher-brain functions. Yet here the Absorbing Man is, rampaging and smashing Pym's face with a magic hammer. There's gratitude for ya.

It may not be Creel's fault, since Maria Hill suggested the hammer is a means for something else to control him. Which makes sense. Why else would Ben Grimm be using his fear-hammer to further the villain's agenda, rather than using its powers to help stop this mess? It'd be interesting if the Absorbing Man actually tries to rein himself in, regain control, because he does remember how Pym actually listened and tried to help before?

OK, that's unlikely. So assuming Hank survives the fight (I imagine he will), does it provoke a reaction in him? He tried to help this crook out, and when next they met, said crook cheerfully used his enhanced powers to make Hank's face resemble roadkill. Will this lead to more self-doubts for Pym, or might he start trying even harder to guide the cadets away from villainy, figuring that once they go that route, there'll be no bringing them back? It's a silly notion, considering all the criminals that have reformed and joined the Avengers, but Hank can tend to get obsessed, and his judgment isn't always the best, so there's a possibility he would overreact to the fight with Creel.