Issue(s): Tales To Astonish #47 (Ant-Man/Wasp story only)
Cover Date: Sep 63
Title: "Music to scream by"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Plot
Ernie Hart - Script
Don Heck - Penciler
Don Heck - Inker

Review/plot:
We have here a prototype for the Hypno-Hustler named Trago.

The Wasp is once again shown to be an effective fighter, taking out all three of Trago's goons.

She still has her "stinger".

Last issue we saw Ant-Man use a flying ant for the first time while in Greece. In this issue, he's got a winged ant named Korr. It dies during the course of this story (eaten by Trago's hypnotized snake)...

...and Pym replaces him with his "brother" Foss.

For once, there's an explanation for why Pym doesn't grow back to normal size while he's fighting Trago; he forgot his canisters after he and the Wasp were affected by Trago's music over the radio.

With the focus on jazz music, the difference in age and interests between Jan and Henry are shown. Jan has to badger Hank into going with him to see the jazz show, and he shows no knowledge or appreciation of it and makes no effort to hide his dislike or tolerate it for Jan's sake.

At the end he even pretends to be too broken up over the death of Korr (who would have a lifespan measured in months at best) to sit and listen to Jan's music any longer.

Just because you never know who someone's going to bring back one day, i'll note that the mystic who taught Trago how to use his music for hypnosis was named Ghazandi. Trago found Ghazandi in New Delhi. When i read this issue in my black & white reprint, i assumed both of these characters were Indian, but i see that isn't the case for either.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 2

Chronological Placement Considerations: This issue was published the same month as Avengers #1; the MCP and the Indexes have it taking place afterwards.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Ant-Man vol. 1

Real nice art from Don Heck here - looks like he was channeling Alex Toth in these panels. Interesting after seeing him doing a very nice Neal Adams impression on X-Men 64

Eh, there's a major difference between this guy and the Hypno-Hustler. Trago is just some guy in a turban that can make you hear weird things. The Hypno-Hustler is THE FUNK!!!

Re: the jazz show. Wild Bill Donovan was a baseball pitcher (with control problems--of course!) for Detroit in the early 20th century. There was another Wild Bill Donovan (died 1959) who is considered the father of US intelligence. As far as I know, neither of them were any match for Count Basie as jazz musicians, despite Jan's high opinion of him.

Jan is most likely referring to this guy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Davison

She's probably having a joke at Hank's expense. Count Basie was recording with Frank Sinatra and performing at JFK's inauguration, and Hank can't even pay attention? Why not refer to the baseball player/OSS founder and laugh at his ignorance there too?

I'm pretty sure Chris W. is correct. Wild Bill Davison is well known among fans of swing-era jazz, and Stan Lee was famously bad with names, so he probably just misremembered his last name.

Also, it's pretty funny that Jan's "hipness" is proven by her namedropping Count Basie and Wild Bill Davison, since their heyday was 20 years before this comic was published. If she'd mention names like Ornette Coleman or Cecil Taylor, then she'd really sound hip, but I doubt Stan Lee was up with the latest trends in jazz either.

Or maybe Jan just like old-school jazz/blues musicians and just figured mentioning any of them would make her appear more "hip" than Hank.

Purely speculation, but my guess it was scripter Ernie Hart [whom I'd never heard of until reading Haydn's comment and looking at this issue] and maybe Don Heck who had anything to do with it. And yeah, Stan's bad at names. Trying to get some help, Stan asked Ernie what ideas he had, and Ernie suggested a musician villain at a jazz club. Stan said "great," whipped out a plot and Hart scripted the results.

Like I say, purely speculation on my part. Based on the scans here, it looks like Heck was clearly drawing a jazz band and not a generic 'concert' that a scripter could impose any type of music on. There's a black guy in the background. Probably not classical music. And yeah, Stan-as-editor might have corrected the name because he's lousy with names.

The OSS/CIA guy, he might have been known, but the baseball player died decades earlier and didn't even play for a New York team. Davison on the other hand, was still active in NYC.

And Ataru320, I'd agree with you about Jan and jazz/blues if she were from England. That's what youngsters across the pond were into at the time. ;)

When Ant-Man is riding on Spa-Fon, does he still have Korr on his mind? I think we should be told...

On a more serious note, agreed that Don Heck's Alex Toth-y style stands out here.

I placed Tales to Astonish#47-49 and a two part story from the UK Hulk comic#48 and 49 between Avengers#1 and 1.5