| Astonishing Tales | |
|---|---|
 Astonishing Tales #1 (Aug. 1970), cover art byMarie Severin andBill Everett. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | (Volume 1) August 1970 – July 1976 (Volume 2) April 2009 – September 2009 |
| No. of issues | (Volume 1) 36 (Volume 2) 6 |
| Editor(s) | Stan Lee Roy Thomas |
| Collected editions | |
| Essential Super-Villain Team-Up, Volume 1 | ISBN 0-7851-1545-5 |
Astonishing Tales is an Americananthology comic book series originally published byMarvel Comics from 1970 to 1976. Its sister publication wasAmazing Adventures (vol. 2).[1]
In 2008 and 2009, Marvel produced 11webcomics starring different characters under the umbrella titleAstonishing Tales. Several stories were reprinted in the six-issueminiseriesAstonishing Tales (vol. 2) (April–Sept. 2009).
Astonishing Tales began as a split title with solo features starring the jungle lordKa-Zar and thesupervillain andmonarchDoctor Doom in 10–page stories each. The latter feature was dropped after issue #8 (Oct. 1971). The creative team of "Doctor Doom" was initially composed of writerRoy Thomas andpenciler-inkerWally Wood, a veteran of 1950sEC Comics stories and one of the early, signature artists ofDaredevil. Wood remained as artist through issue #4 (Feb. 1971), succeeded by pencilerGeorge Tuska for two issues andGene Colan for the final two.Larry Lieber was writer for issues #3–6, succeeded byGerry Conway.[2][3]
"Ka-Zar" was initially by the longstanding and highly influential team of writer and Marvel editor-in-chiefStan Lee andpenciler and co-plotterJack Kirby, the duo who had introduced the jungle lord years before as a one-issue supporting character inThe X-Men. Ka-Zar had since guest-starred inDaredevil and in other series before gaining his first solo feature here. After that initial story, Roy Thomas scripted the second installment, with the team of writer Gerry Conway and pencilerBarry Windsor-Smith taking over for issues #3–6.[4] Thomas and signatureHulk artistHerb Trimpe teamed for the next two issues, with Thomas abetted byMike Friedrich on the latter.Astonishing Tales then starred Ka-Zar solely in stories ranging from 16 to 21 pages each.[2]
A variety of creative teams followed, with Lee, Thomas, Conway andLen Wein individually writing or collaborating on stories beforeMike Friedrich became regular writer with issue #14 (Dec. 1972). Pencilers includedDan Adkins,Rich Buckler,Gil Kane, andJohn Buscema, plus a Buscema-Neal Adams collaboration on one issue. The feature ended with issue #20 (Oct. 1973).[2]
Barbara "Bobbi" Morse first appeared in the Ka-Zar story inAstonishing Tales #6 (June 1971)[5] and would later become the superheroine Mockingbird.[6] Joshua Link was introduced inAstonishing Tales #8[7] and later became the supervillainGemini[8] ofZodiac. Issues #12 and #13 introduced theMan-Thing to color comics, as a Ka-Zar antagonist. Issue #14 featured a censored color reprint of the black-and-white Ka-Zar tale in the comics magazineSavage Tales #1 (May 1971). Two issues contained back-up-feature reprints of 1950s jungle stories from Marvel predecessorAtlas Comics: two stories fromLorna the Jungle Girl #14 (July 1955) inAstonishing Tales #9, and aJann of the Jungle story fromJungle Tales #2 (Nov. 1954), inAstonishing Tales #14.[2]
Astonishing Tales #21–24 (Dec. 1973–June 1974) featured "It! The Living Colossus",[9] starring a stone giant introduced in an anthologicalscience fiction-monster story inTales of Suspense #14 (Feb. 1961), with a sequel in issue #20 (Aug. 1961).Tony Isabella andDick Ayers comprised the modern feature's writer-artist team.[2][10]
The final feature inAstonishing Tales starred and introducedDeathlok, a conflictedcyborg who predated the popular film characterRoboCop by several years. At least two major iterations of the character, featuring different individuals, starred in series in the 1990s and 2000s. Created by artist Rich Buckler, who devised the initial concept, and writerDoug Moench,[11] the feature ran from #25–28 and 30–36 (Aug. 1974 – Feb. 1975 and June 1975 – July 1976), the final issue.Bill Mantlo scripted issues #32–35, with Buckler himself scripting the finale.[2] Buckler described Deathlok as "an extension of a paranoid fantasy. He was a representation of part of my outlook and world view. He was a culmination of many of the messages in some of the music of the time. He was part of some of the things going wrong in our country at the time. Maybe he was the science that was going wrong".[12] ArtistGeorge Pérez made his professional comics debut with a two-page backup feature in issue #25.[13]
The last two issues were released in both a 25-cent and a 30-cent edition.[14] Issue #29 (April 1975) was a fill-in that reprinted an edited version of the firstGuardians of the Galaxy story, fromMarvel Super-Heroes #18 (Jan. 1969).[2]
In addition toAstonishing Tales' sister publication,Amazing Adventures (vol. 2), Marvel announced plans in 1970 for a never-realized third split book featuringDoctor Strange and theIceman.[15]
| Issue | A Story | B Story | C Story |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ka-Zar Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Ka-Zar Volume 1 | Dr. Doom Collected inDoctor Doom: The Book of Doom Omnibus; Marvel Masterworks Marvel Rarities Vol. 1 | |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | Dr. Doom Collected inDoctor Doom: The Book of Doom Omnibus; Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era: Heroes Vol. 1; Marvel Masterworks Marvel Rarities Vol. 1 | ||
| 4 | Dr. Doom andRed Skull and hisExiles (Marvel Comics)/Other versions Collected inMarvel Masterworks Atlas Era: Heroes Vol. 1; Marvel Masterworks Marvel Rarities Vol. 1 | ||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | Dr. Doom and Black Panther Collected inDoctor Doom: The Book of Doom Omnibus; Black Panther: The Early Years Omnibus; Marvel Masterworks Marvel Rarities Vol. 1; Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther Vol. 2 - Look Homeward, Avenger | ||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | Dr. Doom Collected inDoctor Doom: The Book of Doom Omnibus | ||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | Lorna, the Jungle Girl Reprinted fromLorna, The Jungle Girl #14 | Lorna, the Jungle Girl Reprinted fromLorna, The Jungle Girl #14 | |
| 12 | Ka-Zar and Man-Thing Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Ka-Zar Volume 1; Marvel Masterworks: The Man-Thing Vol. 1; Man-Thing Omnibus | ||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | Ka-Zar Reprint of the fifth story inSavage Tales #1Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Ka-Zar Volume 1 | Jann of the Jungle Reprinted fromJungle Tales #2 | |
| 15 | Ka-Zar Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Ka-Zar Volume 1 | ||
| 16 | |||
| 17 | Ka-Zar Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Ka-Zar Volume 2 | ||
| 18 | |||
| 19 | |||
| 20 | |||
| 21 | It! The Living Colossus | Death Reprint ofAmazing Adult Fantasy #9 | |
| 22 | |||
| 23 | |||
| 24 | |||
| 25 | Deathlok The Demolisher Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Deathlok Volume 1; Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection | ||
| 26 | |||
| 27 | |||
| 28 | |||
| 29 | Guardians of the Galaxy Reprint of the 1st story fromMarvel Super-Heroes #18 | ||
| 30 | Deathlok The Demolisher Collected inMarvel Masterworks: Deathlok Volume 1; Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection | ||
| 31 | Silver Surfer Reprint of the 1st story fromSilver Surfer #3 | ||
| 32 | |||
| 33 | |||
| 34 | |||
| 35 | |||
| 36 |
In 2008 and 2009, Marvel produced 11webcomics starring different characters under the umbrella titleAstonishing Tales:[16]
Several stories from those series were reprinted in the six-issuelimited seriesAstonishing Tales (vol. 2) (April–Sept. 2009).[17]
| Issue | A story | B story | C story | D story |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverine & Punisher Collected inWolverine vs. Punisher | Iron Man 2020 Collected inIron Man 2020 | Iron Man | Cannonball & Sunspot vs Mojo Collected inAvengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol 1 |
| 2 | M.O.D.O.K. | |||
| 3 | Spider-Woman | |||
| 4 | Daredevil | |||
| 5 | Shiver Man | |||
| 6 | Sabra |
Marvel's second split book of 1970 gave two longtime Marvel stars their own series. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby collaborated on the first installment of the new series starring Ka-Zar...Marvel's greatest villain, Dr. Doom, also received his own series, scripted by Roy Thomas and drawn...[by] Wally Wood.
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