I must be kidding on this one…

Insect Queen (Lana Lang)- Wasp

Should anyone other than a friend of mine ever leave a comment somewhere on this blawg, I would expect this post in particular to get a WTF? or two.

You have Superman’s paramour from his Smallville days, one that as an adult was used as a rival to Lois Lane, but was shown a time or two in the ‘50-’60s/Weisinger era taking a fairly super-heroic guise which has since been ignored. Then you have a character initially conceived as a flighty, spoiled rich spouse to Henry Pym but later as “her own woman” and a capable leader of the Avengers.

It’s just that the Wondrous Wasp is an important heroine in the MU, and I couldn’t justify pairing her with Jean Loring, the estranged lawyer wife of Ray Palmer who took leave of her sanity a few years ago and killed one of their friends in order to get his attention. That she did so using his shrinking methods may be suggested as a way to line her up with Jan, but…no.

So I’m going with this most imperfect pairing.

Commonalities:
Well…um…Lang useta get small and adopt characteristics of insects! Which is sorta what Jan does! I’m not sure how Lana has been played in recent years, but she’s not unlike Jan, is she? Anyone? And Jan’s been separated from the troubled Hank off and on for long enough that I can justify pairing her with someone with no connection to the Atom.

Differences:
Well, one has always been a superheroine…and the other hasn’t!

Alternate histories:

IQ: Socialite Lana Lang meets Ray Palmer, who has adopted the identity of the Atom and who mourns the loss of his first wife. Palmer grants Lana abilities similar to his own, and she takes the name the Insect Queen. She and Palmer become founding members of the Justice League, and the two are married are shortly thereafter. Some years later, Palmer becomes unhinged and strikes Lang; he is expelled from the League and the two divorce. While Palmer is rehabilitated, Lang becomes chairperson of the League. The two are sporadically reunited, and Lang currently serves in the League.

JVD: Janet Van Dyne dates Donald Blake, who soon discovers his Asgardian heritage, while both are teenagers; in one continuum, she is granted the ability to shrink and shoot force-blasts and dubs herself the Wasp. In the current continuum, Van Dyne remains close to Thor, although she eventually marries and currently is the CEO of the corporation once controlled by Victor Von Doom.