Tales of Suspense #49

Cover Date: January 1964

Plot Overview: Angel is flying back to Xavier's school when he comes across Iron Man. Iron Man tries to warn him about an upcoming nuclear blast but doesn't make it in time. The blast catches Angel and turns him evil. Iron Man tries to catch up to the Angel as he flies off but his thrusters run out of power. Iron Man saves himself from the brunt of the fall with his repeller but suffers some damage. He sets about repairing the damage to his armor.

The Angel returns to the school and quits the X-Men. He says he'll be joining the evil Mutants and then escapes when the other X-Men try to restrain him. Professor X returns and mentally tries to talk sense into the departed Angel. After failing to reach Angel, X begins to doubt his mission.

The X-Men decide to call for the Avengers and Iron Man is the only one to answer. He heads out to find the Angel. Meanwhile, the Angel steals some TNT and sets it off above town to try and draw attention to himself. The police are aiming to shoot him down but Iron Man convinces him to wait. Iron Man chases the Angel through one of his hangers and tries to trap him in there. The Angel outsmarts him and tries to lock him in. Iron Man easily escapes and decides he has one chance to try and turn the Angel good again.

Iron Man grabs Angel and flies really high into the air until his thrusters give out. He begins to fall to the earth and the Angel snaps out of it and saves him at the last minute. Iron Man and the Angel return to the Xavier School and they thank Iron Man for helping the Angel. As Iron Man leaves, Professor X mentally tells him that he'll repay this act one day.

The Watcher appears in a backup and tells a tale of an alien race that follows the progress of mankind. They begin to worry that humans may one day rival them. But the humans discover nuclear power and the Cold War begins. The aliens relax and figure the humans will destroy themselves. The tale ends with the Watcher warning humanity to not let this alien race take over the galaxy.

My Take: This issue was a rough one to get through. For starters the dialogue was really bad. I mean, brutally bad. I know they had to show Angel was evil but he probably said "evil mutants" 20 times in an 18 page story. Having him say Magneto instead would have been a lot better and not so fake sounding. Also, when the nuclear blast he had an awful inner monologue that I'm adding a picture of here.

On top of the poor dialogue, Iron Man's plan to make Angel a good guy again was asinine on multiple levels. For starters, what if the Angel wasn't strong enough to stop his fall. Iron Man is a guy in a suit of armor and Angel is a mutant with wings that can fly. There's no indication that he had the strength to pull that off. And what if it hadn't snapped Angel out of it. Iron Man didn't have a plan B to save himself. It just wasn't a well conceived idea.

On top of those problems. There was a typo as they refer to Tony Stark as Anthony Blake early in the issue. There might have been another one but I don't recall it now. Not a huge deal, just thought I would point it out.

The art was good though. The Iron Man armor looked better than in the last issue. It seemed more refined and just overall better designed. As I said last issue, this newer armor will prevent some of the wonky contortions that some artists had him doing in the old tank armor. I think that will be a giant plus in the long run.

I give this *1/2 out of *****.

Notes: There was nothing of note in this issue.

Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #8

Avengers #3

Cover Date: January 1964

Plot Overview: The Avengers decide that the Hulk can't be left to roam freely. Iron Man unveils one of Tony Stark's inventions, an image projector. He uses the image projector to visit the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the X-Men. The FF and X-Men are too busy with their own affairs and Spider-Man was just Spider-Man about it. The Avengers remember Rick Jones and decide to contact him.  Jones sets out and finds the Hulk in New Mexico. He contacts the Avengers and they all head to New Mexico in their unique ways.

Iron Man is the first there and gets ambushed by the Hulk. The Hulk uses the needles of a cactus as deadly projectiles. Iron Man blocks the attack but the needles cause some problems for Giant-Man, ant sized at the moment, and the Wasp. They head to a nearby ant hill and use the ants to cause the ground to collapse to try and catch the Hulk. The Hulk avoids the trap and takes to the air as he continues to battle Iron Man. Iron Man uses his magnetic repulsers to spin the Hulk until Thor arrives.  The Hulk tries to flee and hitches a ride on a nearby train. He fends off the Avengers before using flour in the smoke stack of the train. He uses the resulting confusion to escape from the Avengers.

The Hulk hides in a truck load of gravel and then takes to the ocean after it gets dumped. He gets picked up by a ship and is pretty worn out. Meanwhile, Namor has been watching the Hulk the entire time. When the Hulk decides to leave the boat and head to a secluded island he is greeted by Namor. They have a short battle where Namor gets the upper hand in the water. Afterwards, they decide to team up to get their revenge upon humanity. They head off to begin their conquest while planning to destroy each other afterwards.

The Avengers are challenged to battle them at Gibralter. They arrive on the scene and Namor fires an old WWII cannon at them. Iron Man repels the shell and Namor uses a pellet with emery dust to disable Iron Man. Giant-Man and the Wasp find oxygen equipment and set about cleaning Iron Man up while Thor keeps Namor and the Hulk busy with his Hammer. Namor and the Hulk make a temporary retreat.

The battle continues on and just as things are starting to look good for Namor and the Hulk, the Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner. Banner flees from the scene of the battle. The Avengers easily capture the abandoned Namor as he grows weaker without water. Namor manages to crack a wall and the water revives him. He makes his escape and  Thor says that he's earned his escape today. The issue ends promising us some big surprises for the next issue.

My Take: I wanted to start this issue off by saying the Avengers really came off like jerks in the first part of the story They were essentially telling the Hulk he was a menace to society that shouldn't be allowed to roam free and then getting mad that he didn't want to reason things out with them. Yes, because antagonizing someone is a great way to get them to see your point of view!

Iron Man also makes a mental note that no one knows that he's really Tony Stark about 3 times in this issue. It was overkill and I think I literally rolled my eyes the last time it randomly was mentioned in this issue. We get it, you're Tony Stark and no one knows! With all of that hand wringing on his part, he makes a slip of the tongue early on in the issue. He goes on at length about Tony Stark's image projector and then after using it he calls it HIS image projector. No one really reacted so I think that was more of a writing error than anything else.

These first 10 issues of Avengers are burned into my brain from being a teenager. I was lucky enough to get about 4 of the Marvel Masterworks when I was a teenager and this was one of them. I remember not liking this issue much from those days. As an adult, it wasn't so bad. There were a lot of interesting aspects to this issue. For starters, everyone in the Marvel Universe showed up in this issue. The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and X-Men all made appearances here. They all blew Iron Man off, Reed picked an experiment over fighting the Hulk, and that was really interesting. You would expect for all the heroes to jump at the chance to fight a bad guy. But they all kind of shrugged it off as an Avengers issue and weren't terribly interested. It humanizes the Marvel characters in a very negative way. All of the characters have depth and it really shows that the Marvel heroes don't march to the same drum.

It's also really interesting to see how this book slides into continuity. I think a book like the Justice League of America ran away from trying to fit in with the heroes solo books but Stan Lee seems to really embrace it. The heroes costume changes appear in the Avengers even the same month that it happens. It mentions the upcoming Iron Man issue from the same month. And Stan Lee makes a point of reminding you when you last saw a character. The universe is really small right now but it's incredible to see the care that Stan is taking to fit it all together.

The art was really good in this issue. The Hulk looked great and there was some really good action going on in this issue. Most of the issue was just an all out brawl with the Avengers vs. the Hulk and the Avengers vs. Namor and the Hulk. Jack Kirby also did a good job of refining the look of the new Iron Man armor in this issue. It looked a little wonky and crappy in Tales of Suspense #48 but it looked better in this issue.

I give this issue *** out of *****.

Notes: This issue features the first meeting of Hulk and Namor. Their relationship will be important in the 70s as they become two of the main members of the non-team the Defenders. Their relationship keeps a very similar dynamic to this issue throughout those issues.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #49

Tales to Astonish #51

Cover Date: January 1964

Plot Overview: Giant-Man continues to train at capturing the top. After another failure he admits that he can't catch the Human Top but he can't give up. Meanwhile, the Human Top blows up an abandoned tug boat with the dynamite we saw at the end of Tales to Astonish #50. He plans to use this as a distraction from his real crime.

Giant-Man and Wasp arrive on the scene and they see the Human Top fleeing from his real crime. Giant-Man gives chase and is no closer to catching the Top than before. This time, Giant-Man tries some misdirection and actually catches the Top. The Top spins at almost top speed and manages to get away. The Wasp has the police hit the Top with water from a fire hydrant. This slows him down but he manages to recover before the Wasp can get to him.

Giant-Man says that he's made a mistake in trying to match speed with the Top. He needs to try a different approach. The Top stole defense plans from the Federal Building but they happen to be out of date. The authorities know who he's going to hand the plans over to. Giant-Man captures those people and heads off to meet the Top in disguise.

Giant-Man reveals himself at the exchange and the chase is on again. The Top runs away and learns that the city has been fenced in. Giant-Man waits for the Top to wear out a bit and then pounces on him. Giant-Man finishes him off with a punch. As the Top is being taken away, he reveals to the Wasp that he put glue on his gloves to get a better grip on him.

In a short backup, the Wasp tells a group of disabled veterans a science fiction story. It's a mostly forgettable tale about Rack Morgan. He breaks all the rules and ends up being killed by an alien because he ignored the rules about landing on an alien planet.

My Take: Really fun issue this time out. It was really similar to last issue but I think avoided the pitfalls. Giant-Man didn't seem like as much of a clumsy oaf this time, just overmatched. This also felt like a more straight up superhero story and not a specialized story because he was the size of an ant. They also downplayed the Wasp's attraction to Giant-Man a little. She still made her comments and he was still annoyed but they didn't dominate the story.

Giant-Man and Wasp work better as a combo. With his ability to grow larger, you can get some more standard stories out of it. They don't have to come up with ridiculous things for an ant sized person to do on a monthly basis anymore. The Human Top is silly but he's a better villain than we've seen in the entire run of Tales to Astonish so far. I'm still not eager to read the book when it comes around but I do think it's gotten better.

I can't put my finger on it but this issue just read a little better in general. It didn't feel like we were having Hank and Jan's powers explained to us again. It felt like we picked up right where the last issue left off and went right into the action. Things weren't over explained. It was just about Giant-Man trying to catch the Top. It felt like a nice fast paced story and I was shocked when I got to the last page of the story.

Jack Kirby drew this issue so the art was again top notch. I really like the Giant-Man costume in it's current form. It's just a cool costume with the red and blue. The Human Top was also really well done. He was always spinning in the book but if you really looked at him you could see he was keeping the form of a speed skater. It was a really cool art effect in this book.

I give this *** out of *****.

Notes: Giant-Man is swarmed by his fan club at one point in this issue and one of the fans refers to him as high pockets. The Wasp later adopts that nickname for him.

Next Issue: Avengers #3

Tales to Astonish #50

Cover Date: December 1963

Plot Overview: David Cannon has the ability to spin his body at an incredible rate of speed. He uses this for petty crimes as a youngster until the police finally catch him. He then learns to become an ice skater and rigs races to get payoffs from gambling syndicates. Cannon decides to go into business for himself and becomes the Human Top.

Hank Pym reads of the exploits of the Human Top but decides that it's beneath him. He summons the Wasp and the ants communicate that the Human Top is planning to rob Danly's Department Store. The Wasp scolds Pym for getting too big a head and ignoring the Top. Pym agrees.

Meanwhile, the Top is working as an ice skater and mocks how little he makes at it. He dons the costume of the Human Top and prepares to rob Danly's Department Store.

Hank and Jan take jobs at the Department Store so that they can stop the robbery. The Top steals the payroll and makes his escape. Giant-Man and the Wasp leap into action. Giant-Man chases the Top but he's too slow and clumsy to capture him. Giant-Man eventually has his ants chew the pavement and knocks the Top off balance. This isn't enough as the Top regains his footing before Giant-Man can capture him. The Top disappears into the sub-way system and the papers report about the Human Top's victory.

The Top basks in his victory but decides he has to finish Giant-Man off once and for all. Meanwhile, Giant-Man has been putting himself through all sorts of tests and drills to try and increase his speed and agility. He even takes a chemical compound to help. He has the Wasp control a robotic top and he almost catches it. Giant-Man is feeling confident in his abilities but the Wasp is worried. She doesn't have the heart to tell him that she was only running the top at half speed and that he doesn't have a chance against the real Top. The issue ends with the Top carrying dynamite and it's to be continued until Tales to Astonish #51.

My Take: I saw the cover to this one and I was dreading it to a large degree. This seemed like one of those issues that was going to have an absolutely ridiculous villain and he was to a degree. But I thought the execution wasn't really that bad. The Human Top really just outran Giant-Man and got away with the stolen money. Not a bad little story and it was nice to see them give the Top a pretty fleshed out origin story.

My only problem was Giant-Man seemed needlessly clumsy in this issue. He was running into signs and things like that. Granted, this is only his third appearance as Giant-Man, it just seemed to come out of nowhere a bit. In fairness, his other two appearances were stories where brute force were all that mattered. So I guess this would have been his first real attempt at having to be quick on his feet.

This issue shows the wisdom of switching to the Giant-Man persona. You couldn't have told this story with Ant-Man. The Top presented problems that were uniquely difficult for Giant-Man and the Wasp to overcome. It will be interesting to see how they manage to defeat the Human Top in the next issue.

The dynamic between Hank and Jan is what it is. Jan is crazy about Hank and Hank is put off by her obvious signs of affection towards him. He was a little more playful with her in this issue and that was a nice thing to see. I wish that they would push their relationship forward a little bit. They don't need to be a couple, I just want to see Hank reciprocate a little more than he currently does.

Jack Kirby was on art duties this time and I think the quality shows in this issue. The action scenes with Giant-Man trying to capture the Top were really good and felt fluid. It really felt like Giant-Man was this big awkward oaf and the Top could run circles around him with ease. The Human Top's outfit was pretty ridiculous but more often than not the costumes are going to be bad. It comes with the territory right now.

I give this **1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This issue features the first appearance of the Human Top. He would later go on and become the more well known Whirlwind. Whirlwind is a very well known C list villain. He joins the Masters of Evil at one point and he's an antagonist to Giant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man and the Avengers more than a few times. He also appeared in several of the Marvel cartoons and the arcade game Captain America and the Avengers. So while he's not a huge mover and shaker in the Marvel Universe, he's a very well known character.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #48

Avengers #2

Cover Date: November 1963

Plot Overview: Thor and Hulk argue until Giant-Man and the Wasp arrive to start their meeting. Meanwhile, the Space Phantom lands from outer space. He plans to defeat the Avengers so the other Space Phantoms can invade and take over the Earth. He's been observing the  Avengers for awhile and knows that they're meeting in Tony Stark's mansion.

The Phantom switches places with a guy on the street, casting him into limbo, and walks into the mansion. The Avengers are watching the intruder from a tv and the Hulk decides to go confront him. The Phantom switches places with the Hulk and then starts a fight with Iron Man. The Hulk is in a certain limbo while the Phantom has his form. The Phantom escapes the mansion and meets up with Rick Jones.

Rick Jones quickly figures out that this isn't the real Hulk and the Phantom decides to brag about his plans and reveals himself to Rick. The Hulk reappears but disappears again as the Phantom takes on his form again. The Phantom goes to a Stark plant and destroys a special missile project. This draws out Iron Man and the battle is on. Iron Man grabs the Phantom and gives him a little shock. The Phantom, lacking the pain tolerance of the actual Hulk, freaks out and takes off running.

The Phantom changes places with a wasp and the real Hulk returns. Iron Man continues his attack and fights with the real Hulk. Meanwhile, Rick Jones calls Giant-Man and the Wasp for help. They arrive on the scene quickly and breaks up the fight. The Wasp senses an evil presence and then is attacked by the Phantom, as a wasp. Giant-Man senses the Wasp is in danger and gets Hulk and Iron Man to follow him to Stark's plant.

Giant-Man makes the save but the Phantom trades places with him. The Phantom attacks the Hulk but quickly realizes that the Hulk is far stronger. The Phantom tries to crush the Hulk with an experimental tank but the Hulk kicks it away. The tank hurtles towards an unsuspecting Iron Man but he uses the suit to protect himself. The Phantom switches places with Iron Man.

The Wasp decides to get Thor and heads to the offices of Dr. Don Blake. Blake says that he'll summon Thor for her. Blake sends her out of the room and becomes Thor. Thor heads to the fight to find that the Phantom as Iron Man is getting the best of the Hulk and Giant-Man. The Phantom tries to switch places with Thor and instead is cast into limbo. Thor says that this happened because he is not a human, he is the god of thunder.

The conventional wisdom seems to be that the Space Phantom is trapped there forever because no one can take his place. The Hulk takes this moment to quit the Avengers. He says he never realized how much they all hated him and will do things along like he always does. The Avengers worry about how dangerous the Hulk will become as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: This issue has a deep and lasting impact on the Marvel Universe. Even as recently as the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover has this issue played it's part. Let that sink in a little bit for how important the Hulk quitting the Avengers was that it gets a little nod in a story 49 years later.

This was a pretty fun issue. The Space Phantom was a really fun villain for this issue and he was used well throughout the issue. I liked getting to see the various Avengers fight with each other throughout the issue. The Iron Man vs. Hulk match up was intriguing but hasn't gotten a lot of time in the first 2 issues.

The Hulk leaving in issue 2 was huge, HUGE! That event right there sets a tone that the Avengers keep throughout their entire history. This roster is about change and change happens a lot as the years progress. The roster is almost always in some state of flux and you can see that it started at the very beginning. I just have to write that again, we're at issue 2 and one of the founding members have quit the team already. That was just unheard of in this time period.

The art was really good in this issue. It was one of the stronger books that I've read art wise so far. Jack Kirby has really been doing some good issues recently. The Phantom Stranger was weird looking and fairly unique. I would also add memorable. The fight scenes also looked pretty good throughout.

I give this ***1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Space Phantom. He is a C list villain that gets a lot of appearances through re-tellings of this particular story. I would say that he's probably one of the most memorable C list villains in the Marvel Universe because of how important and retold this story is. He makes some other appearances over the years but I don't think I've read any of those other ones.

The Hulk leaves the Avengers in this issue.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #47

Tales to Astonish #49

Cover Date: November 1963

Plot Overview: Pym crashes through the front of the house as a giant and in a new costume. The gardener flees in terror at the sight and the Wasp arrives shortly afterwards. She gives Hank a shrinking pill and he becomes normal size again. Hank states that if he grows taller than 12 feet tall that he becomes too weak to stand.

Pym has turned his gas into pills and tests the growth one out with the help of Jane. The gardener tells the police of what he saw but they don't have time for his claims. They have reports of people being erased.

The Living Eraser is nearby and erases a hotdog vendor that saw him. The  Living Eraser has 5 targets and has erased 3 already. He finds the next victim and easily erases him and then reveals that Hank Pym is his next target.

Hank and Jane are going over the new pills and Hank has made belts to carry their pills. Jane tries out her pills and becomes Wasp size. Suddenly the Living Eraser strikes and quickly erases Hank Pym.

Hank wakes up in Dimension Z and finds out the Living Eraser is from a race of people that have been observing the human race for several years. They saw the human race test the atomic bomb and need the technology for themselves. That's why they sent the Living Eraser to bring back nuclear scientists. Hank tries to escape but they capture him. The Wasp reveals herself and gives Hank a shrinking pill. Hank and the Wasp escape into the duct work and find the captured scientists.

Hank becomes Giant-Man and grows to 12 feet tall. He enjoys his new found strength and tosses the aliens around like they are nothing. Giant-Man reeks havoc until he finds a lone soldier and makes him take them to the Living Eraser. Giant-Man is caught in a glass cage and the Eraser reveals how his powers work with a little device on his hand. The Wasp silently moves into action and releases Giant-Man from the cage. Giant-Man grabs the  Eraser and takes the device from him. Giant-Man returns everyone back to the  Earth. Hank and Jane read the news article about their exploits as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: The addition of growth powers to Hank Pym are a good place to go for these stories. Getting small only has so many places to go. But as a giant, Pym can have more standard super hero battles and some more standard enemies. It's a welcome addition to me as I didn't think the Ant-Man stories were really working the way they were.

This issue was okay. I liked the gardener freaking out when Hank came crashing through his house at the beginning. I'm kind of tired of how they approach the Hank and Jane dynamic in this book. Jane acts like a love sick little puppy and Hank is either oblivious or put off by it. I would like to see some evolution in that regard soon.

The story was pretty standard fare. Weird alien abducts hero, hero escapes the alien world and returns home. This followed that formula pretty closely and then gave Hank a lot of chances to show off his Giant-Man powers. I kind of wondered why he gets stronger as Giant-Man but retains human level strength when he gets small. I know they did that for storyline purposes but it made me stop for a moment and think.

The art was pretty good in this issue. I really like this version of the Giant-Man costume. It's simple in concept but I think it's a really good costume. I also like the name Giant-Man a lot better than Ant-Man. It just sounds cooler and a little more like a super hero.

I give this ** out of *****.

Notes: This issue contains the first appearance of the Living Eraser. He's a very minor villain who is fondly remembered for being a ridiculous Silver Age villain. He goes on to have a handful of appearances and that's about it for him. This issue also marks a new costume for Hank Pym and the start of the Giant-Man identity. Pym has also learned how to grow to giant size in this issue.

Next Issue: Avengers #2

Tales to Astonish #48

Cover Date: October 1963

Plot Overview: Alexander Gentry has invented a new suit for the military. He decides that he's tried of not getting the fame and glory for his creations. So he becomes the Porcupine and wants to become the king of crime.

Meanwhile, Hank and Jan attend the grand opening of a bank that is using security measures that Pym created. The opening is disrupted by the Porcupine who uses gas to knock out the crowd as he robs the vault. Jan passes out and Hank gets them to an office and breaks open a window. The Porcupine escapes and Hank takes the feverish Jan back to their HQ. Hank uses his ants to track down the Porcupine and finds him at a local army base.

Ant-Man manages to sneak in but gets captured by the Porcupine. The Porcupine leaves Ant-Man in water and leaves him to die. Meanwhile, Jan recovers and realizes that something is wrong. She tracks down Ant-Man and saves him from the water. They devise a plan to clog the Porcupine's suit with cement. The Wasp attacks and then they cover the Porcupine in cement. With his suit jammed, Ant-Man uses his lasso and throws the Porcupine out of a window. The Porcupine flees promising to make his suit even stronger.

Jan complains that Hank was treating her like an invalid earlier and he says she should go back to bed, much to her great annoyance.

My Take: This was a solid issue this time out. Nothing too memorable but it was a fairly fun read. It was nice to see the Wasp play the role of rescuer this issue. It was a nice change of pace. This issue was also your typical Silver Age story. The heroes find some way to take out the villain and win the day. I took this format and accomplished it in a solid way.

The art was pretty hit and miss with this issue. I blame that mostly on the Porcupine's costume. I think most artists would have trouble making such a ridiculous costume looking good consistently. It really is one of the worst creations that Marvel has thought up to this point in their history. I hope they figure out how to streamline the suit a bit after this. It really was an eyesore.

Despite, how awful the suit was, I do like the Porcupine. I love obscure villains from the 60s and 70s and he's a prime example of one. He was just a fun stupid little villain to take up everyone's time for an issue. He did his job well in this issue.

I give this **1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This issue features the first appearance of the Porcupine. He kind of becomes a notable C-list villain among the Marvel fanbase. He's easily the most well known as far as obscure Marvel characters from the 60s and 70s. He eventually joins up with guys like the Eel in Count Nefaria's group of villains.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #46

Avengers #1

Cover Date: September 1963

Plot Overview: Loki is looking to cause some mischief to draw out Thor for another battle. He comes across the Hulk and tricks him with a mental projection of TNT on a train track. The Hulk smashes the tracks by mistake and has to quickly save an oncoming train. People mistake his actions and think the Hulk was in fact trying to destroy the train.

Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade try to contact the Fantastic Four for help but Loki intercepts their radio transmissions and sends them to a band that Thor listens to. Thor picks up the transmission as well as Ant-Man, the Wasp and Iron Man. They all head to the southwest independently. Meanwhile, the Teen Brigade finally contacts the FF and Reed says they're busy but that he thinks other people should be able to help them.

Just then, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp all arrive on the scene. Rick Jones explains the situation to them and asks that they help the Hulk if he is indeed innocent. Loki is not amused by the appearance of other heroes and uses his mental powers to trick Thor into leaving the group with an image of the Hulk. Thor realizes it's just a mental projection and that Loki must be behind it.

Thor heads to Asgard as the scene changes to a circus. The Hulk is posing as a robotic act named Mechano. An ant on the scene relays the info to Ant-Man and the remaining heroes head off to face off with the Hulk.

The ants chew up the ground and the Hulk falls into a giant hole. Ant-Man tries to reason with the Hulk but the Hulk just wants to leave. The ants drop a giant steel drum onto the Hulk which enrages him. The Hulk escapes the drum as Ant-Man has the Wasp try to lure him under a net. The Hulk takes out the Wasp with a bellows and captures her. Iron Man arrives on the scene and the Hulk forgets about the Wasp. The Hulk breaks through the net that Ant-Man had used and Iron Man pursues. The Hulk manages to damage Iron Man's power source and he's forced to break off the chase.

Meanwhile on Asgard, Thor has received permission to travel to the Isle of Silence to confront Loki. Thor arrives at the Isle to be greeted by a volcanic eruption created by Loki. The volcano spews these bubbles that can drain a god of his powers so Thor swims for it. Loki greets Thor on land and tricks him into getting attacked by a troll. The troll tries to pull Thor under ground but he blinds it with lightning from his hammer. Loki makes multiple images of himself but Thor blows them away by swinging his hammer. Thor captures Loki and returns to Earth with him.

Back on Earth, Iron Man and the Hulk continue to battle one another. Thor arrives and explains that Loki framed the Hulk. Loki becomes radioactive suddenly and commands Hulk and Iron Man to leave so that he and Thor continue their battle. Just then, a group of ants release a trap door and Loki falls into a lead lined tank. Thor explains that Loki won't be radioactive for very long and then he can return him to Asgard for punishment.

Ant-Man and Wasp stop everyone from leaving. Ant-Man thinks they should continue teaming up due to how powerful they are together. Everyone agrees and the Wasp comes up with the name the Avengers on the spot. The issue ends with them proclaiming that no one will be able to stop the Avengers.

My Take: This book is historic for a lot of reasons. There have been some crossovers before this issue but pretty much the entire Marvel Universe appeared in this issue. Spider-Man was really the only hero that was absent during this book. It feels like the Marvel Universe has suddenly come together in a huge way for this book and it makes a good deal of sense.

The story is kind of a mixed bag here. A lot happens in the 22 pages of story and that's a good thing and a bad thing. I really like how they brought the team together in this issue. There's something very realistic about the Teen Brigade wanting the Fantastic Four and circumstances bringing them a different group of heroes. I also liked the battle between Iron Man and the Hulk in this issue. Loki also made sense as being the first antagonist for the Avengers to face. I don't think say, Namor would've worked as well in this issue. I also really like the team of the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp. I think it's a good mix of personalities and powers and you want to check out the next issue to see how the Hulk is going to work within the confines of a team.

What I didn't like was the Asgard portion of the story. It felt needless and it really secluded Thor from the other heroes in this book. It was really good when they all stormed into the Teen Brigade HQ but the book splits them up almost immediately. I wanted to see them working together, not all wandering off and doing their own thing. It also made the story drag a bit at that point. It just felt like you were reading one book and kind of wandered into a different book.

The art was good in this issue. Everyone looked good. Iron Man wasn't doing any of his weird contortions in his gold armor. It's a Jack Kirby drawn book. So what can you really say bad about it?

This book had it's ups and downs but ultimately I enjoyed it. It was an easy read, I wasn't page counting like I do with some of the weaker books I've read for this. And that's always a sign that I'm into what I'm reading. It has a lot of historical value as well.

I'd give this *** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Avengers as a team. The Avengers will be a consistent top team in the Marvel Universe from here on out. A huge number of Marvel super-heroes will have stints with the team over the years. Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp all become the founding members of the Avengers in this issue.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #45

Tales to Astonish #47

Cover Date: September 1963

Plot Overview: Ant-Man and the Wasp foil a jewel heist as the issue begins. The open of the diamond is grateful and talks about the master of hypnotism Ghazandi in India before they depart. The Wasp sees a jazz concert and asks Ant-Man if they can attend. Ant-Man refuses at first but the Wasp convinces him to change his mind.

Henry can't wait for the concert to end but Jane really likes one of the musicians Trago. After the show, Targo robs the club manager but Ant-Man and the Wasp stop him. The club manager decides not to press charges and buy Trago a plane ticket to India.

While in India, Trago meets Ghazandi and learns how to hypnotize people with his trumpet. Targo returns to New York and hypnotizes a crowd at concert. He decides to use his powers to get onto television and then he can hypnotize the entire city. He gets on the air and his music begins to effect Ant-Man and the Wasp in the lab.

They shrink down and call upon Korr, the ant, and the other ants to save them. A snake attacks and Korr is killed before Ant-Man can shrink the snake. With their headgear, they aren't effected by Trago's music. They arrive on the scene and Ant-Man realizes he doesn't have the chemicals to become normal size so he'll have to tackle Trago in his ant size.

The Wasp takes out the henchmen while Ant-Man remembers that Trago might hypnotize himself if he plays the wrong notes. He climbs into Trago's trumpet while the ants attack. I'm not sure what Ant-Man does here though. He lasso's the plunger and suddenly Trago in a panic plays different notes and hypnotizes himself. Trago only remembers having played his first gig and goes back to just being a musician. Henry and Jane mourn the loss of Korr as the issue comes to an end.

My Take: I really didn't care for this issue. It was very predictable. For starters, they meet the guy in the beginning of the issue and he talks about Ghazandi and his ability to hypnotize people, so you know he's going to be responsible for teaching the bad guy how to do it. Then, one of the ants suddenly has a name and it was obvious they did that because he was going to die. So most of the story you saw coming in the first 2 pages of story.

On top of that, the Ant-Man concept really isn't working for me. The writers just don't know what to do with it more often than not and you just end up with some really ridiculous stories out of it. Plus, they haven't developed Henry Pym really well and he's still just kind of a bland protagonist to have carrying the bulk of these stories. Jane has made it a lot better but it's still boring more often than not. I'm really looking forward to the Hulk and Namor taking over this book.

The art was okay as usual for this issue. Don Heck isn't my favorite artist in the Marvel stable at this time but he gets the job done more often than not.

I'd give this * out of *****.

Notes: This is the first and only appearance of Trago and Korr.

Next Issue: Avengers #1

Tales to Astonish #46

Cover Date: August 1963

Plot Overview: Ant-Man and Wasp come back from another fruitless patrol. Wasp complains that all the crime has dried up because everyone is afraid of them. Henry suggests they take a vacation and an excited Jan says they should go to Greece. Henry and Jan travel to Greece and start hearing rumors of a monster attacking ships at sea. They eventually hire a boat to investigate.

Henry discovers a species of ant with wings and decides it will come in handy. The Cyclops appears and grabs their ship and heads to the islands. Ant-Man and the Wasp lay low to see what's going on. They discovered several captured sailors and an alien race known as the A-Chiltarians. The aliens are on Earth to test the mental power of humans and the Cyclops is actually a robot used to scare people away from the island.

The aliens have decided that humans are inferior and orders the Cyclops to kill the sailors. Ant-Man and the Wasp split up, due to the Wasp making a rash decision to help the sailors. Ant-Man gets inside of the Cyclops and messes with the internal mechanics until he gains control of the Cyclops with his helmet. This was just in the nick of time because the Cyclops was just about to crush the Wasp and the sailors.

Ant-Man uses the Cyclops to chase the aliens off the planet. Ant-Man then sends the Cyclops to sea to never be seen again. Ant-Man and Wasp return home and Jan says that she can't stand the excitement of another vacation.

The Ridiculous: Ant-Man mentions riding a winged ant like a pegasus.

My Take: This was a fun issue. It felt like they broke the formula up and it worked. I liked the interactions between Henry and Jan, they're starting to play off of each other a lot better. They overcame the challenges in this book in a reasonable manner. I didn't feel like anything really came out of left field, it was a well thought out use of their powers.

The story moved at a really good pace. It felt like the story was constantly moving forward and there weren't many moments of the characters just sitting around planning. I liked how it was kind of set up as a mystery at first with the locals being afraid of a monster. It was more of a natural storyline progression instead of a contrived super hero story. Honestly, I think this issue would hold up well as an old 50s B horror movie or sci-fi movie. It would need to be greatly fleshed out but I think the skeleton of the story for this issue works that well.

The art was really good this issue. Don Heck was the artist and he did a great job. It really felt like the art in this issue was a few steps up from other issues at the time. The characters looked really good and the level of detail to the panels was a welcome change of pace. There was barely any standing in front of nothing going on, there seemed to always be something in the background for each panel.

I'd give this *** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of the A-Chiltarians, who never appear in another Marvel book ever. The Cyclops robot also never shows up again.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #44

Fantastic Four #17

Cover Date: August 1963

Plot Overview: The FF return from the events of last issue and almost immediately start up a search for the at large Dr. Doom. He is nowhere to be found so the FF head to an unnamed social event. They get mobbed by the crowd and a janitor helps them escape. The janitor reveals himself to be Dr. Doom after the fact and he placed a device on each member of the FF.

Doom unleashes what looks like inflatable balloons and they hone in on the devices. Each member of the FF get harassed by one of the balloons and head back to the Baxter Building. Reed discovers the devices planted on them and the balloons disappear as soon as he removes the devices. Doom has been watching the whole time and reveals that was just phase 1. Phase 2 sees him abduct Alicia Masters and uses her abduction to keep the FF at bay. Doom then demands a spot in the President's cabinet.

When that is denied, Doom unleashes havoc on the world. Reed reveals that he has a plan to battle Doom. He shows a scouting report of Doom's ship. Doom has disintegrator rays attuned to their atomic structure so Reed devises a formula to turn the Thing to Be Grimm.

Grimm flies up to Doom's ship and breaks in. The FF quickly join him and split up. They each face a deathtrap set up by Doom but each escape quickly. They confront Doom and reveal that what Doom was watching were doubles created by the Human Torch.

Doom flees to try and get to Alicia Masters but he finds that she's been replaced by Sue Storm. Sue gets the better of Doom in hand to hand combat until Doom pulls a gun. Just then the rest of the FF hit the scene and Doom jumps out of the plane and disappears into the clouds. The Thing is thrilled to see Alicia Masters and the Torch wishes he had jumped out of the ship due to all the mushy stuff too. We're promised a villain with the powers of every member of the Fantastic Four for the next issue.

The Ridiculous: Reed creates a radar device that has a specialized search for steel on flesh.

My Take: This issue was really clunky. A lot happened in 22 pages and it really felt like they were trying to do too much with the story. To me, a manhunt for Dr. Doom, followed by the deathtraps, followed by the showdown would've worked better than the couple of pages with the inflatable balloons. The panic that each member went through, minus Reed, kind of bothered me. 17 issues in and the FF seem to be fairly seasoned super heroes. I don't feel like each of them would've acted so irrationally when presented with an enemy they couldn't hurt. I really disliked this part of the story.

The rest of the story was okay though. I liked that this issue picked right up where issue 16 left off. I liked that they finally let Sue cut loose a little bit and get a little physical in a fight. I liked when they got to the deathtrap and showdown parts. I liked a lot of parts of this issue. That first part with the balloons really just took the book in a weird direction.

It really feels like they haven't figured out Dr. Doom yet. He seems kind of like a generic mad scientist type right now. And his tantrum about being ugly and not understanding people felt like a shallow attempt to try and develop him more. Doom without Latveria just doesn't work. He's interesting as a ruler that is evil but wants what's best for his people.

The art was good as always for this book. You can almost never complain about the job that Jack Kirby does on this book every month.

I'd give this *1/2 out of *****

Notes: This issue features a cameo appearance by then President John F. Kennedy. This issue marks the first of many appearances by U.S. Presidents in Marvel Comics.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #46

Tales to Astonish #45

Cover Date: July 1963

Plot Overview: We catch up with Egghead who has taken refuge in a flop house since his last battle with the Ant-Man. We get a brief recap of Tales to Astonish #38. Egghead overhears two thugs who were foiled recently by Ant-Man. Egghead recruits them so that he can plot his revenge against Ant-Man.

Egghead decides that the easiest way to lure out Ant-Man is to trap the Wasp. To do this he takes on the identity of Professor Carl Striker. He designs a zoo exhibit for wasps to lure the Wasp in. They then steal a valuable gem so and place it so that the Wasp will decide to investigate.

Janet Van Dyne visits the exhibit and sees the gem. She decides to go it alone so that she can prove herself to Ant-Man. She returns as the Wasp and is caught in Egghead's trap. She sends a signal to Ant-Man who arrives on the scene shortly afterwards.

Egghead traps Ant-Man in a glass case and has him battle an iguana. Ant-Man makes short work of the reptile and asks the cage. Egghead then releases an ant-eater. Ant-Man uses his steel rope and tosses the ant-eater into Egghead and his men. Egghead and his men try to use gas on Ant-Man but the Wasp uses a long nail as a stinger and disarms all the men. The day is won but Egghead has managed to escape. Henry Pym scolds Janet about going off on her own. He says that they're a team and they need to work as a team. Janet of course thinks to herself about how in love with Henry she is. Egghead vows revenge as the story comes to a close.

My Take: This might be the best splash page of all time but sadly the promise of ant-eater mayhem was only a few panels worth of this comic. Really, this whole issue was kind of a plodding affair. This book was just stuffed full of text and it really felt more like reading a novel at times than it does reading a comic.

Granted, I love the Silver Age logic at work in this issue. Janet Van Dyne has the identity of the Wasp so she would obviously be interested in everything Wasp. I just love how that somehow makes sense to people in the Marvel Universe at the time.

Other than that bit of cheese the rest of the story was pretty boring. I was looking forward to Henry Pym being developed more with Janet around but they were barely in this issue. On top of that, Egghead is kind of a boring villain. His plot was kind of ridiculous but what can you really do with a superhero that shrinks as his power.

Really, this is the only title that's not working right now. The concept just doesn't work on a month to month basis. I do like Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne as characters a lot but I like them in the Avengers but as characters carrying their own book. This book just feels tedious most of the time.

I give this *1/2 out of *****

Notes: There was nothing to note about this issue. Though the super-hero stories have started expanding to 13 page stories instead of 10 page stories.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #43

Fantastic Four #16

Cover Date: July 1963

Plot Overview: The Human Torch returns to the Baxter Building during a blackout and finds that his teammates have been shrunk and are being sucked into a vent. The Torch acts quickly and welds the vent shut. The others return to their normal size. Each member admits that they've randomly shrunk in size previously and were ashamed to admit it to their teammates. They each relate their story and decide to call upon Ant-Man.

Ant-Man hear about their problems and travels to the Baxter Building. He gives Reed a sample of his formula in the hopes it might slow the process down next time they shrink.

Time passes and one day the various members hear a woman warning them of Dr. Doom. They gather together and suddenly shrink into the Microverse. They're immediately confronted by Dr. Doom who has become the ruler of this world. The Thing tries to attack Doom but he shrinks them to an even smaller size. The FF try to put up a fight but Doom and his minions manage to capture them.

The FF are sent to a prison in a pool of acid. They meet the king and Princess Pearla. She mentions that Dr. Doom is planning to sell all of them to an alien race called the Tok. Reed tries to think of ways to escape. Meanwhile, the Ant-Man comes searching for the FF and realizes they've been shrunk and follows them to the Microverse. Ant-Man fights the guards of Doom but gets taken out and captured.

Meanwhile, in the prison. Reed figures out that the Walls can block the acid. They manage to pull parts of the walls off and make a capsule to escape. They float to the surface and enlarge themselves upon leaving the capsule. Sue helps Ant-Man escape and then steals the gun of Dr. Doom as the heroes win the day. Doom flees and heads back to the normal sized world. The FF and Ant-Man follow him back. The FF plan to hunt down Doom as the issue comes to an end.

My Take: This was a really fun issue from start to finish. The characters have really been fleshed out now and you're getting good interaction every issue. You can really see how Marvel had become a different entity with characterization and heroes that were easier to relate to by this point.

The art was really good for this issue. Probably one of the strongest issues of Fantastic Four from an art perspective so far. Doom has been tweaked and looks more like the Doom you see in the books today.

I was getting kind of tired of Namor and Doom trading off as the bad guys but they gave him a break for several issues so he seemed fresh here. I liked how Dr. Doom was in the same situation he was left at the last time we saw him. That was a nice bit of continuity. Ant-Man also was a fun guest in this issue. He made sense and added to the story.

Dr. Doom trying to sell them to aliens was kind of ridiculous sub-plot though. It seemed to be tacked on and mostly filler to flesh out the 22 pages of comic here. It wasn't bad, it just felt like an unneeded layer of story. I don't feel like Dr. Doom needed that for motivation. Just capturing the Fantastic Four and having them as prisoners would seem to be enough for him. The story was a fun read but I think this part was kind of a big flaw to it.

I'd give this **1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Microverse. It's a fairly minor part of the Marvel Universe but versions of it will pop up over the years. The last several months have also seen the characters starting to appear in each other's books more. The Marvel Universe is feeling more like a working single universe instead of just titles loosely existing in the same space.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #45

Tales to Astonish #44

Cover Date: June 1963

Plot Overview: The issue opens with Henry remembering back to his wife. She was a political prisoner in a foreign country and murdered upon her return. This led Henry to become the Ant-Man.

In the present Henry has decided that he needs a partner. Someone to help him in battle and to carry on his legacy if he were to ever die. He develops specialized cells so that this new person can grow wings and antenna when they're small. Shortly afterwards Henry is approached by Vernon Van Dyne and his daughter Janet. Vernon is playing to use a ray beam to contact other planets and wants Henry's help. Henry declines.

Sometime later Vernon's experiments are successful but the Creature from the Kosmos rides the beam to Earth. He explains that he is a criminal and he has come to conquer the Earth. The Creature uses some weird power that kills Vernon. Janet finds the body and the Ant-Man arrives shortly afterwards. Janet vows revenge on whoever did this and Ant-Man sees in her a potential partner. Ant-Man tells her to contact the FBI and to go to Henry Pym's lab. Ant-Man's ants also act strangely and say they are afraid of this creature.

At the lab, Pym reveals his identity as Ant-Man to Janet and asks if she would like to join. Janet agrees and Henry injects her with the specialized cells. The Creature from the Kosmos begins to rampage in the city and they head off to action. The ants refuse to fight the creature but Wasp tries to attack it head on. She almost looks at the Creature and falls victim to his strange powers but Ant-Man saves the day.

Ant-Man has an idea and they head back to Pym's lab. He realized the creature is made from an acid that is present in ant stingers. He makes an antidote and places the antidote in shotgun shells. With the help of the ants they fire on the Creature until it disappears. Ant-Man and the Wasp have saved the day.

My Take: This seems like a drastic direction shift for the Ant-Man stories. First of all he gets a partner in the Wasp and second, this was the first time that they really tried to develop the character of Henry Pym. They retconned his story quite a bit from his first appearance and tried to make him a more sympathetic character. It was a little hollow if you ask me.

Janet Van Dyne almost immediately falls in love with Henry Pym and it's kind of eye rolling to be honest. They've known each other for roughly 5 minutes and she's making big declarations of love while Pym doesn't want to get involved and scolds her numerous times.

I think this issue shows that Henry Pym's power set really doesn't carry solo stories well. Even with Janet's addition, the book still feels contrived and silly more often than not. To me, this book is easily the weakest of the Marvel lineup at this point.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: This issue has the first appearance of Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasp. It goes without saying that she's been one of the top characters in the Avengers books for a long time.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #42

Tales to Astonish #43

Cover Date: May 1963

Plot Overview: Ant-Man runs into a crowd of admirers and makes a hasty retreat as the issue opens. We switch scenes to Professor Elias Weems. He's excited that his grandson is coming to visit him but tragedy strikes a week later when he's fired for being too old. Weems panics and decides he's going to build a ray that will make people old.

Weems easily conducts the ray and then tests it on a tree, an elephant and a random woman on the street. With the tests a success, he names himself the Time Master and sends a threatening letter to the police. Ant-Man's network of ants picks up the conversation and Ant-Man leaps into action. He visits the police and they update him of the situation.

Ant-Man decides to ask around and learns of Elias Weems being fired. He visits Weems' home and Weems uses the ray on him. Weems has no desire to kill the aged Ant-Man. He just wants him out of the way so he places him at the bottom of a flower pot. Weems leaves and Ant-Man grows to human size to escape his situation.

Weems climbs to the top of a building and uses his ray on a large crowd of people to have his revenge. His grandson walks into the fire zone and suddenly begins to age. Weems decides to reverse the aging effect but drops the gun. Ant-Man's ants catch the gun and he reverses the aging process on the crowd. Weems realizes what a fool he had been as he goes to his grandson. Ant-Man defends Weems in court and Weems' old boss hires him back. The issue ends with Weems showing his grandson his lab and Ant-Man gives a small speech about not judging people based on age as the issue ends.

My Take: This was a fun issue. Again, it seemed to work with the Ant-Man concept and didn't feel very ridiculous. Ant-Man also got a little character development as they showed that he tends to be a shy introvert. It was a very tiny amount of development but it's really the first hint of personality he's been given over the 10 issues he's appeared in so far.

The villain was also interesting as he repented by the end of the story. That hasn't happened a lot in the early Marvel Comics.

The art was also good for this issue. Marvel seems to have a consistent artist schedule going now as the last 2 or 3 issues for each book has looked roughly the same. For awhile there, you didn't know what you were going to get with any particular issue of a Marvel book. The Marvel U is really shaping itself up right now and building some nice momentum.

I'd give this **1/2 out of *****.

Notes: Nothing of note happened in this issue.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #41

Tales to Astonish #42

Cover Date: April 1963

Plot Overview: Jason Cragg sets up shop on a soap box and begins preaching for the citizens of Central City to hate the Ant-Man. Ant-Man wanders by and sees the events but his helmet protects him from Cragg's voice. We learn that a near radioactive accident gave Cragg a voice that could not be resisted. Through his travels, he decided to test himself against the Ant-Man.

Cragg easily convinces the people to attack Ant-Man and leads the mob. AM tries to hide in a field but Cragg equips the people with magnets to pick him up by his helmet. AM has no choice and removes the helmet to try and remain hidden. The mob finds the helmet and his gas canisters so Cragg begins to speak. He orders AM to surrender himself and Am eventually has no choice but to listen.

Cragg orders AM to walk off the end of a pier and to not try to save himself. AM obeys the order and walks into the river and doesn't attempt to swim. AM's loyal ants make the save and return AM to his home.

AM comes up with a plan and steals a virus from a lab and heads to a local television studio where Cragg will be appearing. AM borrows a prop gun. When Cragg appears, AM tells him to give a positive speech about AM because he has a gun trained on him. Cragg does as he's told and then AM reveals the gun isn't loaded. Cragg tries to give another speech but his voice gives out. AM reveals that he also covered the mic with a virus and Cragg has now caught it. Cragg tries to incite the crowd again but they turn on him and chase him out of town. The issue ends with AM lamenting the fact that Cragg didn't use his powers for good.

My Take: I enjoyed this issue. I looked at the cover and read the first two pages and thought I was in for a bad story but it really turned out to be a fun little read. The Ant-Man concept worked despite itself in this issue. The plot was a good generic plot for any superhero and it didn't feel ridiculous like some of the other Ant-Man stories have.

I liked Jason Cragg as a villain. He was different and he provided a unique set of challenges for the hero to overcome. I also liked the Cragg was out for blood in this issue. When he got hold of Ant-Man, there wasn't a silly deathtrap, he wanted Ant-Man to commit suicide. That felt a lot different than what a lot of other comics were doing at the time.

I can't really think of any complaints I had with the issue. There wasn't really action or anything but the story wasn't really meant to have any. It was about Ant-Man overcoming a superior force with his superior intellect. I think the story succeeded in that aspect.

The art was good this time as Don Heck did the art. A lot of little details in there and it didn't feel rushed or slapped together like some of these early Marvel books can.

I'd give this **1/2 out of *****

Notes: This issue is the first appearance of Jason Cragg. Cragg will be a very minor villain in the Marvel Universe. This is really his only appearance until he pops back up in the 1980s in the West Coast Avengers and Captain America. It looks like he's had a total of 6 appearances over the 50 years of the Marvel Universe. We'll call him a D lister and move on.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #40

Tales to Astonish #41

Cover Date: March 1963

Plot Overview: The issue opens with Hank arriving at his friend Paul's house. No one answers the door so Hank becomes Ant-Man to check things out. No one is home and over the next few weeks more scientists disappear. A few days later, a window washer arrives at Hank's lab. He captures Hank with a special paralyzing agent.

The scene shifts to the other scientists who have been transported to another planet. A tyrant named Kulla is holding them hostage until they can build him a death ray. Hank arrives and gets himself thrown into the dungeon so he can become Ant-Man. As Ant-Man he encounters the alien insect life of the planet. He realizes that he needs to alter his helmet's frequency to communicate with them.

Ant-Man arrives and confronts Kulla. One of the guards tries to step on Ant-Man but he manages to avoid the attack. Kulla manages to catch Ant-Man with the paralyzing agent but just as he's about to win he is killed by his own death ray. The alien insects from earlier have operated the weapon. The inhabitants storm the stronghold and capture Kulla's men. Ant-Man escapes to become Hank Pym just in time to be released from the dungeon. The issue ends with Hank and the other scientists returning to Earth.

My Take: This issue wasn't too bad. It was pretty forgettable but it wasn't so ridiculous that I hated it or anything. My main problem with this book is that Ant-Man is really just kind of boring. He's not really getting developed as a character. He's pretty bland and your run of the mill superhero.

The battle again shows why the Ant-Man concept doesn't work as a solo book. The bad guys were trying to step on him this time. And for Ant-Man to win, some pretty contrived things have to happen. I think the strongest issue of this series was the one where he fought the Scarlet Beetle. That was an enemy that was the same size as him and nothing crazy had to happen for Ant-Man to come out the winner at the end of the day.

I'm really hoping this book improves when the Wasp shows up and when he learns how to become Giant-Man.

I'd give this issue *1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This is the first and only appearance of Kulla as far as I know.

Next Issue: Tales of Suspense #39

Tales to Astonish #40

Cover Date: February 1963

Plot Overview: The Ant-Man is called in by a man named Howard Mitchell. Someone has been hijacking his armored truck shipments of money and he wants it to stop. Ant-Man tells him to announce another shipment. Ant-Man will go along with the shipment and catch the hijacker.

The day arrives but Ant-Man suddenly becomes ill. He leaves the scene to find a doctor so the truck goes on without him. They come across a broken down truck along their path when suddenly a giant magnet pulls them into the truck. Gas knocks them out and a man called the Hijacker appears.

Just then Ant-Man pops out and reveals he was faking the sickness. The Hijacker chases Ant-Man into the engine of the truck. Ant-Man manages to pull the mask off of the Hijacker and he falls victim to his own gas. The police arrive to find that Howard Mitchell is the Hijacker. He reveals that his company was losing money and that he came up with this scam to make it back. The issue ends with the police saying that even when the Ant-Man fails he still wins.

My Take: This was a pretty ridiculous issue and further showed why Ant-Man doesn't work by himself. The battle with the bad guy just felt contrived and I didn't realize the gas was still in play when Ant-Man pulled his mask off. I just did not care for this issue at all. The Hijacker as the name was silly. It wasn't original and reeked of one shot.

The art was really good for this issue though. That was the one redeeming quality to the whole thing. It was top notch for what I've seen in these issues so far. The amount of detail to the characters was really good. Kirby did a really great job on this issue.

I'd give this issue *1/2 out of *****

Notes: There was nothing of note with this issue.

Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #89

Tales to Astonish #39

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Henry Pym decides to investigate strange signals he's been receiving from the ants. He heads into the sewers and finds a large gathering of bugs. The Scarlet Beetle is making a speech about how bugs should conquer mankind. He's been effected by radiation and given human intelligence. Pym intervenes but is defeated by the sheer number of bugs. The Scarlet Beetle takes his enlarging gas and becomes the size of a human.

The Scarlet Beetle uses his army of bugs to reek havoc on the population of the city. Meanwhile the ants rescue Pym. Pym heads to the surface and uses his ants to defeat the bug army of the Scarlet Beetle. Pym and the Beetle face off and end up in a toy store. Pym used a toy lance to break the gas canisters on the Beetle and he returns to normal size. Pym then uses his scientific knowledge to rob the Beetle of his human intelligence. The issue ends with regular people wondering where Ant-Man was when they needed him.

My Take: I would say this issue was delightfully ridiculous. The Scarlet Beetle was a great villain for a one shot. His plot was great and the scenes really worked for some reason. The police being unable to use their guns due to a bee attack was great. This is the first issue where I felt that Ant-Man kind of worked as a solo concept. It felt like the Scarlet Beetle was a suitable villain for him. The situations presented were also unique to Ant-Man.

The art to this issue was pretty solid. The story was also a really quick read. This was a very nice issue to cleanse the palette after how awful Fantastic Four #10 was. Nothing in this issue was ground breaking but then who needed it? Sometimes a short little romp with no consequences can be fun especially in this anthology titles.

I'd give this *** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Scarlet Beetle. I'm pretty sure he never appears again.

Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #88

Tales to Astonish #38

Cover Date: December 1962

Plot Overview: Several underworld types get together and complain that the Ant-Man has made the city unsafe for crime. They decide they need brains, not brawn to defeat the Ant-Man. As they chat the scene changes to a man named Egghead being fired by the government. They suspect that he's been selling secret atomic plans to foreign powers. The mobsters hear of this and hire Egghead to defeat the Ant-Man.

Egghead studies film of the Ant-Man and devises a plan. He will learn how to communicate with the ants and get them to betray Ant-Man. Egghead develops a device and goes to an anthill. He tells the ants to bring Ant-Man to the museum where he'll capture Ant-Man with flypaper. He promises to make Ant-Man their slave.

Later that night, Ant-Man arrives on the scene and falls into the trap. Suddenly, Ant-Man escapes the trap and makes short work of the criminals. The police arrive and capture the mobsters while Egghead has managed to escape. Ant-Man explains that the ants aren't motivated by greed and don't feel oppressed by him. So he came to the museum ready for the trap. The issue ends with Egghead hiding out and muttering to himself about ants.

My Take: Out of the 5 issues of Tales to Astonish I've read, this was probably the best. The story was a really quick read and it wasn't too riddled with Silver Age ridiculousness. Having a real super-villain in the story was a nice change. It felt more like a superhero story than a sci-fi story trying to be a superhero story.

There were some huge gaping logic holes on the part of Egghead. He just kind of assumed that the ants agreed with him. It made the outcome obvious but it didn't really bother me that much.

It wasn't a classic story or really a memorable story. It was just a nice story to sit down and read for 5-10 minutes and then move on to something else.

I'd give this **1/2 out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Egghead. Egghead will be considered the main rival of Henry Pym for a long time but is never an A level villain in the Marvel Universe.

Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #87