Eric O'Grady (Ant-Man)

First Appearance: The Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 (Dec. 2006).The Black Ant was a Life-Model Decoy of Eric O'Grady, the third Ant Man, who was killed in battle against the Descendants.[1] He was sent to join the Avengers on behalf of the Descendants as a double agent. [2] Despite his programming, the Black Ant still fought as Ant-Man, with no obvious differences.[3]

During fight against the Masters of Evil, and thanks to him being a robot, he was not affected by the control by the Serpent Crown.[4] As one of the two Avengers free from Taskmaster's influence, he and Venom battled the criminals and freed the other teammates.

Eric O'Grady was a low-level agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is the third man to use the superhero codename Ant-Man. O’Grady’s best friend and fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Chris McCarthy had been chosen to wear Dr. Henry Pym's latest prototype of the Ant-Man suit. When McCarthy was killed during a HYDRA attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Eric immediately stole the armor from his best friend’s dead body. O’Grady has proven to be a man of very few morals with willingness to lie, steal and manipulate to suit his own selfish plans, which include using his superhero status to stalk women. O'Grady is often depicted engaging in humorous and questionable acts, and his bravado and arrogance have regularly put him in dangerous and compromising situations. Yet as Ant-Man, O'Grady still manages to be a “hero”.

Creation:

Eric O’Grady was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Phil Hester in 2006. He first appeared in a preview for his upcoming series in Civil War: Choosing Sides #1.
Character Evolution

After repeatedly abusing the powers of Ant-Man for his own gain, Eric O’Grady ended up saving the life of a child and being offered a job by Damage Control. Later he would defend Manhattan during World War Hulk but is eventually arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. O’Grady is rescued from torture at the hands of his former colleague Mitch Carson by Iron Man who, along with Hank Pym, reluctantly agrees that O’Grady is the most capable of handling the Ant-Man suit. They return the suit to him in exchange for him joining The Initiative. Despite admitting to his ex-girlfriend Abigail that he loves her and that he is trying to change, O’Grady continues his lewd and irredeemable ways. He is eventually offered a position with the Secret Avengers by Steve Rogers who believes that O'Grady can be a better person.

Major Stories:
Irredeemable
The Initiative
Secret Invasion
Dark Reign
Siege
Heroic Age
The Descendants
Beware the Bite of the Black Ant

Power & Abilities:
Pym Particles:
With the aid of Pym Particles, Eric has the ability to shrink to the size of an ant, while retaining full size strength. He can also increase in size and communicate telepathically with insects via a cybernetic helmet.

Power Suit:
While wearing the Ant-Man power suit, Eric is able to shrink to a height of about 1.5 inches. The suit has a jet pack to stabilize any jumps he performs when shrunk. Legs can spring from the sides of the suit to enhance his balance or allow for wall-crawling. The suit also possesses two robotic arms that release from the back when shrunk. When Eric was sent to Camp Stamford, Hank Pym added the growing powers of Giant-Man to the new Ant-Man suit. Pym then renamed the suit to G.I. Ant-Man.



Strength:

Ant-Man has the strength of a normal man who engages in intensive regular exercise. At insect size his is compact but retains normal size strength. At giant size his strength is enhanced proportionately.

Weapons:
Eric O’Grady has standard S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons training.