Tales to Astonish
Tales to Astonish is the name of two American comic book series, and a one-shot comic, all published by Marvel 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 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 No. 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 December 1979 to January 1981. A superhero one-shot followed in 1994. Tales to Astonish and its sister publication Tales of Suspense were both launched with a January 1959 cover date. The early run of the first volume of Tales to Astonish ran from issues #1–34 (January 1959 – August 1962), initially under Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel; it fell under the Marvel banner with issue No. 21 (July 1961), the first with a cover sporting the early "MC" box. It contained science-fiction mystery/suspense stories written primarily by editor-in-chief Stan Lee and his brother, Larry Lieber, with artists including Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, Don Heck and Paul Reinman. One such story, "The Man in the Ant Hill", in No. 27 (January 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 Giant-Man and the Hulk. Following his one-shot anthological story in No. 27 (January 1962), 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 No. 35 (September 1962). The series was plotted by Lee and scripted by Lieber, with penciling first by Kirby and later by Heck and others.