Poll: Is (non-skrull) Hank Pym the Barney Fife of the 616?

[steviecool]

Hank seems to always be the guy who gets built up, only to get knocked down again.
However, so many stories have that character.

Is this Hank's destiny?
I think so.

Regardless of whether you love/hate him, is there a continual pattern of lifting him up only to knock him down?

[morpheus11]

I don't know if I would classify Hank Pym as the Barney Fife, but he is close.  It is almost like they want him to be extremely intelligent, but they can't have him be smarter than Reed Richards.  So, Pym gets thrown to the wolves more times than most characters.  I guess every story needs a troubled character.

[MOSDEF]

I see what ur saying morpheus because the marvel u does have a lot of "smart guys" Reed Richards, Bruce Banner, Doc Samson, Hank Pym, Amadeus Cho.....thats alot of super geniuses. So i guess one of them has to get bruised a little to normalize(mmmmmmm) them.

[MaximusRift]

I think it's unfair that Hank Pym is forced to wear the "Kick Me!" sign all the time.  It's one of the things that put me off when I read a book. Nobody can be wrong all the time. To me, it just shows lack of imagination or prejudice on the writers behalf.

Another reason that Hank gets cornholed is because he's the only hero that's hit his wife. The other geniuses in the Marvel U may mess up too, but they've never hit their wives/girlfriends. 

[steviecool]

[morpheus11]

@ MaximusRift ~ I think Hank is more real to me b/c he wrong so much.  First he doesn't have just one super-powered alter ego.  Second, he comes up with ideas that don't work as well as a few that do.  And lastly, he has some serious problems with commitment, particulary with the ladies. 

All that adds up to a character that any geek can relate to.     Now, I am not saying that he is my favorite character but he isn't my least favorite.

[MaximusRift]

steviecool: Interesting. And yet Hank is the only one label as a wife beater 24/7... :p

morpheus11: I'm not saying he should be right all the time; I'm saying that he deserves a little slack story-wise. A light at the end perhaps. Also, sharing the title of "tool" would be nice too.

On a differnt note, my favorite version of Hank Pym is the jumpsuit-with-many-pockets Hank Pym where he carried a whole arsenal + Quinjets in them.

[Slappy]

I believe that the laziness of the writers is to blame.  Why bother working through the obstacles of character development and plot when you have a whipping boy ready in the wings.  Hank takes the beatings that Reed, Bruce, Hank, Tony, and the others rightly deserve.  He was not always like this, but how can Ant-Man be taken seriously as a super hero that hlds a family of books? 
Since there is no interest in being creative with him this relegated position of pariah in training has become as much of a quick escape for the writer as Wolverine surviving anything sans being thrown into the sun. (Though I bet his ashes could whip around the cosmos and reform)