| Tales to Astonish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing |
| Publication date | (vol. 1) January 1959 – March 1968 (becomesThe Incredible Hulk vol. 2) (vol. 2) December 1979 – January 1981 |
| No. of issues | (vol. 1): 101 (vol. 2): 14 |
| Main character(s) | Ant-Man / Giant-Man andWasp Hulk Namor |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | (vol. 1) Ernie Hart Al Hartley Leon Lazarus Stan Lee Larry Lieber (vol. 2) Roy Thomas |
| Penciller(s) | (vol. 1) Dick Ayers Carl Burgos Gene Colan Steve Ditko Bill Everett Don Heck Jack Kirby Larry Lieber Bob Powell Paul Reinman Marie Severin (vol. 2) John Buscema |
| Inker(s) | (vol. 1) George Roussos (vol. 2) Frank Giacoia |
Tales to Astonish is the name of two Americancomic book series, and aone-shot comic, all published byMarvel Comics.
The primary title bearing that name was published from January 1959 to March 1968. It began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists asJack Kirby andSteve Ditko, then featuredsuperheroes during the period fans and historians call theSilver Age of Comic Books. It becameThe Incredible Hulk with issue No. 102 (April 1968). Its sister title wasTales of Suspense.
A second Marvel comic bearing the name, reprinting stories of the undersea ruler theSub-Mariner, ran 14 issues from December 1979 to January 1981. Asuperhero one-shot followed in 1994.
| Year | Circulation |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 163,156 |
| 1961 | 184,895 |
| 1962 | 139,167 |
| 1963 | 189,390 |
| 1964 | 207,365 |
| 1965 | 224,346 |
| 1966 | 256,145 |
| 1967 | 269,132 |
Tales to Astonish and its sister publicationTales of Suspense were both launched with a January 1959cover date.[2]The early run of the first volume ofTales to Astonish ran from issues #1–34 (January 1959 – August 1962), initially underAtlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel;[3] it fell under the Marvel banner with issue No. 21 (July 1961), the first with a cover sporting the early "MC" box.[4] It contained science-fictionmystery/suspense stories written primarily by editor-in-chiefStan Lee and his brother,Larry Lieber, with artists includingJack Kirby,Steve Ditko,Dick Ayers,Don Heck andPaul Reinman. One such story, "The Man in the Ant Hill", in No. 27 (January 1962), introduced the characterHank Pym,[5] who would be repurposed eight issues later as the superheroAnt-Man. Anthology stories continued to appear as backups untilTales to Astonish became a superhero "split book" in 1964, when it began featuring one story each ofGiant-Man and theHulk.[3][6]
Following his one-shot story in No. 27 (January 1962), Hank Pym became the insect-sized hero Ant-Man in No. 35 (September 1962).[7] The series was plotted by Lee and scripted by Lieber, withpenciling first by Kirby and later by Heck and others. TheWasp was introduced as Ant-Man's costar in issue No. 44 (June 1963).[8] Ant-Man and Pym's subsequent iteration, Giant-Man, introduced in No. 49 (November 1963),[9] starred in 10- to 13-page and later 18-page adventures, with the rest ofTales to Astonish devoted to the anthological science fiction and fantasy stories the comic normally ran. Aside from Lee and Lieber, occasional writers includedErnie Hart, under the pseudonym H. E. Huntley,Leon Lazarus (#64, February 1965) andAl Hartley (#69, the feature's finale, July 1965). Artists of the latter part of the run included Ditko, Ayers,Carl Burgos, andBob Powell.[3]
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 hospitalizedservicemen and the like. The Wasp also starred in two subsequent solo backup stories. All were scripted and penciled by Lieber.
The Hulk, whose original seriesThe Incredible Hulk had been canceled after a six-issue run in 1962–63, returned to star in his own feature whenTales to Astonish became a split book at issue No. 60 (October 1964),[10] 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 ofFantastic Four and an issue ofThe Amazing Spider-Man. His new stories here were initially scripted by Lee and illustrated by the seldom-seen team of penciler Steve Ditko andinkerGeorge Roussos.[3] This early part of the Hulk's run introduced theLeader,[11] who would become the Hulk's nemesis, and this run additionally made the Hulk's identity known, initially only to the military and then later publicly. TheAbomination first appeared inTales to Astonish No. 90, and is introduced as aKGB agent and spy.[12] Stan Lee chose the name "the Abomination," which he realized belonged to no other character, before conceiving the character's background and appearance. Lee recalled that he simply told artistGil Kane to "make him bigger and stronger than the Hulk and we'll have a lot of fun with him."[13]
Namor the Sub-Mariner received his first feature in a decade beginning with No. 70 (August 1965).[14] The Golden Age characterByrrah was reintroduced in issue No. 90 (April 1967).[15] After the final issue ofTales to Astonish (which became the solo magazineThe Incredible Hulk with issue No. 102, April 1968),[16] Namor co-starred in the split-book one-shotIron Man and Sub-Mariner No. 1 before going on to his own 72-issue series.[3]
Giant-Man and Wasp were featured prominently in Namor stories in issues #77-78, steering their return to theAvengers in #26 of that series. Stan Lee had originally removed all Avengers with their own series/serials from the team ten issues earlier to make continuity easier to maintain. Wasp had been at a cruise ship swimming pool when she went to alert the Avengers of Namor's activities in #77, explaining why she was dressed for swimming inThe Avengers #26.
A second volume ofTales to Astonish, using the cover logoTales to Astonish starring the Sub-Mariner, ran 14 issues (December 1979 – January 1981), reprinting edited versions ofSub-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 three Namor pinups, one by creatorBill Everett, reprinted fromMarvel Mystery Comics No. 9 (July 1940); one bypencilerJack Kirby and inkerSol Brodsky, reprinted fromFantastic Four No. 33 (December 1964); and a new one by artistAlan Weiss. Covers repurposed the original art, with the premiere issue's image flipped 180 degrees.[17]
Tales to Astonish vol. 3 No. 1 (December 1994) was a 72-pageone-shot special starring the Hulk, Namor, Ant-Man, and the Wasp in the story "Loki's Dream" by writerPeter David, with painted art by John Estes.[18][19]
January [1959] saw the birth of two titles that would each have a place of importance in the coming age -Tales of Suspense andTales to Astonish.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Marvel was bursting at the seams with superheroes. To accommodate all the characters clamoring for action, [Stan] Lee was obliged to put two stars into several of the comic books, each one taking half the pages for his own separate story. The Hulk returned to join Giant-Man inTales to Astonish No. 60 (October 1964).
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