Tales to astonish

Science Fiction Anthology

In the first years after the launch (January 1959 - August 1962), Tales of Suspense was published under the brand name of Atlas Comics. Following the closure of Atlas, the right to publish the series passed to Marvel Comics. The editions contained science fiction stories that were mostly worked on by editor-in-chief Stan Lee and a staff of artists including Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Hack, Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnott and Paul Reiman. In the story “The Man In The Ant Hill” (January 1962, issue # 27), the character Hank Pym ^[4] made his debut, which will later appear under the name Ant-Man ^[5] . Since 1964, each issue of Tales to Astonish has consisted of stories of different superheroes. The first comic strip of this format included stories about the Giant Man and the Hulk.

Ant-Man / Giant Man

The return of the scientist Henry Pym took place on the pages of issue # 35 in September 1962. In this comic, he was already presented as the superhero Ant-Man , dressed in a cybernetic helmet and a red suit. The series was created on the idea of ​​Stan Lee and the script of his brother Larry Lieber. Initially, illustrations were done by Jack Kirby, later Don Hack and other artists joined him. The first half of the issue was occupied by stories about Ant-Man, while the second half was devoted to sci-fi stories. During the series, Ant-Man encountered such antagonists as the Defender, Porcupine, Comrade X, Egghead and Scarlet Beetle. In issue # 44 (June 1963), Pim teamed up with former socialite Janet Van Dyne, known as the superhero Wasp .

In issue # 49 (November 1963), Ant-Man gains the ability to resize his body in both directions and becomes a Giant Man .

Among the opponents of the Giant Man, an alien called the Living Eraser stands out especially. Comic book historian Les Daniels noted that the union of the famous Lee and Kirby, who created this character, can serve as an example of a mistake possible even for legendary personalities. Decades later, the Living Erasers team will appear in the 2005-2006 series Nick Fury's Howling Commandos .

Stan Lee was the screenwriter of almost all issues except for two stories written by Leon Lazarus (# 64, February 1965) and Al Hartley (# 69, July 1965). In the second half of the series, two representatives of the period of the period joined by a team of artists, designated by fans and comic book historians as the Golden Age , Karl Burgos and Bob Powell.

In issues # 51-56, published under the heading Tales of the Wasp ( Russian Wasp Tales ), the Wasp was introduced as a link to science fiction stories without superheroes. Also with her participation two side-story solo stories were created. All of these comics were written and painted by Liber.

Hulk and Submariner

The Hulk character, whose original series The Incredible Hulk ( Russian: The Incredible Hulk ) was canceled after six releases in 1962-63, returns as one of the main characters of Tales to Astonish on the pages of issue # 60 (October 1964) immediately after appearing in Giant Man adversary in the previous comic. In the wake of popularity, he appeared in three issues of Fantastic Four ( Russian. Fantastic Four ) and one The Amazing Spider-Man ( Russian. Amazing Spider-Man ). In new stories, the Leader character was introduced, which later became the most important enemy of the Hulk and, in addition, revealed his personality to the public.

Superhero Namor the Submariner made his debut in issue # 70 (August 1965). Starting with issue # 102, Tales to Astonish was renamed The Incredible Hulk (April 1968). After that, Submariner appeared in the solo comic book Iron Man and Sub-Mariner # 1 ( Russian Iron Man and Submariner ) before starting his own series of 72 releases.

The second Tales to Astonish volume, published under the Tales to Astonish starring the Sub-Mariner logo, includes reissued versions of Sub-Mariner # 1-14 (May 1968 - January 1981). All comics, except for the latest release, were 18-page versions of the original stories of 20 pages with revised text. The covers have repeatedly used images from the original series.

Tales to Astonish vol. 3 , # 1 (December 1994) is a solo 72-page comic strip with characters like the Hulk, Submariner, Ant-Man and Wasp in the story of Loki's Dream ( Rus. Loki's Dream). The comic was written by screenwriter David Peter and artist John Estes.

The releases of Tales To Astonish # 27 , in which Hank Pym first appears (the first Ant-Man ), and Tales to Astonish # 35 , in which Hank Pym first appears in his superhero costume, are “key” and have great collector significance. The original copy of issue # 27, rated by CGC as 9.4 out of 10, was sold in 2010 for $ 75,000 ^[6] . The original copy of issue # 35, rated by CGC at 9.2 out of 10, was sold in 2011 for $ 30,000 ^[7]

• Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006) ISBN 0785118896 , ISBN 978-0785118893 (Reprinted Tales to Astonish # 1-10)
• Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2008) ISBN 978-0785129134 (Reprinted Tales to Astonish # 11-20)
• Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2010) ISBN 978-0785141969 (Reprinted Tales to Astonish # 21-30)
• Essential Astonishing Ant-Man , Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2002) ISBN 078510822X , ISBN 978-0785108221 (Reprinted Tales to Astonish # 27, 35-69)
• Essential Incredible Hulk , Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2006) ISBN 0785123741 , ISBN 978-0785123743 (Reprinted Tales to Astonish # 60-91)
• Essential Incredible Hulk , Vol. 2 (Reissue of Tales to Astonish # 92-101)
• Essential Sub-Mariner Vol. 1 (Marvel 2009) (Reprints Reprints Tales to Astonish # 70-101)

• 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 (1959) at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• Tales to Astonish (1959 ) on the Comic Book DB
• Tales to Astonish (1979) at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators