Tales to Astonish

Tales to Astonish is the name of two American comic book series and a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics.

The primary title bearing that name was published from 1959-1968. It began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, then featured superheroes during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books. It became The Incredible Hulk with issue #102 (April 1968). Its sister title was Tales of Suspense.

A second Marvel comic bearing the name, reprinting stories of the undersea ruler the Sub-Mariner, ran 14 issues from 1979-1981. A superhero one-shot followed in 1994.

Science-fiction anthology

The early run of Tales to Astonish, from issues #1-34 (Jan. 1959 - Aug 1962), began under Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel, before eventually falling under the Marvel banner. It contained science-fiction mystery/suspense stories written primarily by editor-in-chief Stan Lee, with artists including Kirby, Ditko, Dick Ayers, Don Heck and Paul Reinman. One such story, "The Man In The Ant Hill", in #27 (Jan. 1962), introduced the character Henry Pym, who would be repurposed eight issues later as the superhero Ant-Man. Anthological stories continued to appear as backups until Tales to Astonish became a superhero "split book" in 1964, when it began featuring one story each of Ant-Man and the Hulk.

Ant-Man and Giant-Man

Following his one-shot anthological story in #27, scientist Henry Pym returned donning a cybernetic helmet and red costume, and using size-changing technology to debut as the insect-sized hero Ant-Man in #35 (Sept. 1962). The series was plotted by Lee and scripted by his brother, Larry Lieber, with penciling first by Jack Kirby and later by Don Heck and others. The first half of the book would be dedicated to Ant-Man (And later on, Giant-Man) stories, while the second half would be more science fiction stories. Ant-Man fought a series of such undistinguished antagonists as the Protector, the Porcupine, Comrade X, Egghead, and the Scarlet Beetle (an actual, mutated scarlet beetle). Ant-Man teamed up with socialite-turned-heroine, Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, in #44 (June 1963), under former Atlas staffer Ernie Hart, writing under a pseudonym.

Ant-Man began size-shifting in the opposite direction in #49 (Nov. 1963), when he added two letters to his name to become Giant-Man.

Among his antagonists was the inadvertently ludicrous alien dubbed the Living Eraser — who, until the deliberately ludicrous hero Squirrel Girl was created in the 1990s, was evoked through the years as a shorthand phrase for any embarrassingly ill-conceived character. Comics historian Les Daniels notes that the celebrated Lee & Kirby's teaming for this story and character is sometimes invoked as an example of misfires by even legendary creators. Ironically, a team of Living Erasers was an integral transportation resource in the 2005-2006 series Nick Fury's Howling Commandos.

Lee remained as writer through the end of the feature's run, except for two stories scripted by Leon Lazarus (#64, Feb. 1965) and Al Hartley (#69, the finale, July 1965). Artists of the latter part of the run included Ditko, Ayers, and two greats of the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, Carl Burgos and Bob Powell.

The backup feature "Tales of the Wasp" (#51-56) used the superheroine as a framing device for anthological science-fiction stories, having her relate tales to hospitalized servicemen and the like. The Wasp also starred in two subsequent solo backup stories. All were scripted and penciled by Lieber.

The Hulk

The Hulk, whose original series The Incredible Hulk had suffered a quickly canceled, six-issue run in 1962-63, returned to star in his own feature when Tales to Astonish became a split book at issue #60 (Oct. 1964), after having guest-starred as Giant-Man's antagonist in a full-length story the previous issue. The Hulk had proven a popular guest-star in three issues of Fantastic Four and an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. His new stories here were initially scripted by Lee and illustrated by the seldom-seen team of penciler Steve Ditko and inker George Roussos. This early part of the Hulk's run introduced the Leader, who would become the Hulk's archnemesis, and additionally made the Hulk's identity known, initially only to the military and then later publicly.

The Sub-Mariner

Namor the Sub-Mariner received his first feature in a decade beginning with #70 (Aug. 1965). After the final issue of Tales to Astonish (which became the solo magazine The Incredible Hulk with issue #102, April 1968), the Sub-Mariner co-starred in the split-book one-shot Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1 before going on to his own 72-issue series.

Revival

A second volume of Tales to Astonish, using the cover logo Tales to Astonish starring the Sub-Mariner, ran 14 issues (Dec. 1979 - Jan. 1981), reprinting edited versions of Sub-Mariner #1-14 (May 1968 - June 1969). All but the last issue ran 18-page versions of the originally 20-page stories, with panels and text reworked to condense the plot. That last issue also included a 1940s Sub-Mariner pinup by character creator Bill Everett, a 1960s pinup by penciler Jack Kirby and inker Sol Brodsky, and a new pinup by artist Alan Weiss. Covers repurposed the original art, with the premiere issue's image flipped 180 degrees.

Tales to Astonish vol. 3, #1 (Dec. 1994) was a 72-page, squarebound, one-shot special starring the Hulk, the Sub-Mariner, Ant-Man and the Wasp in the story "Loki's Dream" by writer Peter David, with painted art by John Estes.

Reprints

• Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006) ISBN-10: 0785118896,

ISBN-13 978-0785118893

Reprints Tales to Astonish #1-10

• Essential Astonishing Ant-Man, Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2002) ISBN-10 078510822X, ISBN-13 978-0785108221

Reprints Tales to Astonish #27, 35-60

See also

• Amazing Fantasy
• Strange Tales

Bibliography

• Tales to Astonish vol. 1, #1-101 (Jan. 1959 - March 1968)
• Tales to Astonish vol. 2, #1-14 (Dec. 1979 - Jan. 1981)
• Tales to Astonish vol. 3, #1 (Dec. 1994)

References

• Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics, by Les Daniels (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1991) ISBN 0-8109-3821-9
• Tales to Astonish at the Big Comic Book DataBase
• Tales to Astonish (1959) at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• Tales to Astonish (1979) at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators