Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1963-02-01 00:01:10 |
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Tales To Astonish #40 (Ant-Man)
Issue(s): Tales To Astonish #40 (Ant-Man story only)
Cover Date: Feb 63
Title: "The Day That Ant-Man Failed!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Plot
Larry Lieber - Script
Jack Kirby - Penciler
Sol Brodsky - Inker
Review/plot: Update: This issue was part of my collection before i broke down and bought the Essential Ant-Man trade, so enjoy my original reactions to insane Ant-Man components that are now common to me, including his communication network and his catapulting across the city, using his "friends" bodies to soften his fall.
Marvel Tales Annual #5 only reprinted 6 pages of this story (i guess the editors had about as high an opinion of Ant-Man as i do), so it's probably not fair for me to review it. Of interest is at this point, i guess, is that the police are familiar with Ant-Man and happy to see him when he shows up to help foil a hijacking plot. Also, ants all over the city are basically just sitting around waiting for people to mention Ant-Man so they can transmit the information to him.
This happens in an upcoming FF issue, as well. It's just... ridiculous.
The best scene is after he uses his catapult to launch himself across the city, and uses a swarm of ants to break his fall. It's disgusting, it's bizarre, and it belies the notion that the ants are just his "friends".
Pym fails to save the day due to stomach cramps.
Update: Aha, the rest of this was reprinted in Marvel's Greatest Comics #95. I'm sure that was highly anticipated. It turns out Pym was only faking his appendicitis. Or so he claims.
It turns out the villain of this story, the Hijacker, will actually have a few more appearances.
Which is sad. He's just some old guy that was going broke.
Quality Rating: D
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: Marvel Tales Annual #5, Marvel's Greatest Comics #95
Inbound References (3): showCharacters Appearing: Henry Pym, Hijacker 1963 / Box 1 / Silver Age Previous:
Strange Tales #105 (Human Torch)Up:
MainNext:
Fantastic Four #11
Comments
The story is weak, especially the Scooby Doo ending, but Kirby's artwork is very nice. These early Ant-Man tales just scream Silver Age but that by itself isn't a bad thing to me.
