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Tales to Astonish #62

Dec 1964
Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Tales to Astonish #62 cover

Story Name:

Enter... The Chameleon!

Synopsis

Tales to Astonish #62 synopsis by Julio Molina-Muscara
Rating: 3 stars

The Hulk feels the unbreakable chains loosening up, as the tension triggers his transformation into Banner.

Right before the change, the Chameleon, who is a master of disguise and currently under the command of another villain called the Leader, disguises himself as Thunderbolt Ross. The Chameleon gives orders to the soldiers to leave the area.

As Banner, he easily frees from the large chains, and hides with the help of Rick Jones.

The Chameleon cannot find the monster, so he disguises as Bruce Banner, kidnaps Betty Ross, and threatens everyone with a gamma hand grenade.

Banner turns into the Hulk, rescues Betty and absorbs the bomb blast with his body. The Chameleon escapes in the confusion.

--


 

Review / Commentaries

Tales to Astonish #62 Review by (February 21, 2023)

Review and Comments by Peter Silvestro

Review: And the thrills keep coming: Hulk is captured and at this point in his career, he cannot break out of those bonds. Meanwhile, the mysterious Leader (wait for him) is revealed to have been behind the spy who stole the robot; now he dispatches Chameleon as his agent. Now Chameleon (introduced in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1) is a bit hard to believe, that a brief look at General Ross enables him to not only create a mask that looks like Ross (with what equipment?) but also mimic his voice and mannerisms. At least they don’t try to have him fool Betty or someone else who knows him well; note how quickly Betty twigs to fake Bruce. Anyway, bringing Rick Jones back to the series gives Bruce an ally for a change and Chameleon running around with a bomb offers some suspense. Ross takes the presence of an impostor rather casually while also arguing that Hulk threw himself on the bomb to save himself, which isn’t the way that works, proving his characterization still needs some work. Again, the startling bit is that Talbot agrees with him! Anyway, the tale is fast paced and exciting, helped by the headlong rush from one issue to the next.

Hank Pym defeats a giant plant with karate! That’s just one odd moment in a typically goofy yet entertaining chapter in the saga of Ant-Man and Wasp! In a move which could make Plantman (and Norman Borlaug) envious, Hank Pym creates giant endlessly growing plants—and that’s the problem. Beating the plants with martial arts, Hank falls prey to a burglar who just happens by (via plant). Ant-Sammy mixes it up with Wasp and is no match for either hero. Good thing as the plants are still growing; not to worry, violence solves the problem once again! And Hank calls a press conference to relate how he defeated the mad plants. So, uh…what is the likelihood that Hank didn’t tell them why the plants were growing out of control? There’s no hint of anyone realizing Hank was solving a problem he caused himself. And, in a move that is certainly illegal, Hank wipes the mind of Second-Story Sammy, removing his memories of being a criminal—then sending him out into the cold cruel world to live his life over, having lost several years’ worth of his life. Not to worry, I’m sure Sammy has friends and police who will remind him that he is a criminal. Otherwise he’d be helpless to start a new life. 

Comments: Hulk story: First brief appearance of the Leader (though his face is not shown). Captain America has a cameo at the beginning of the story saying goodbye to Rick Jones. Rick calls Betty Ross, “Miss Brant,” no doubt after reading too many Spider-Man comics; Glen(n) Talbot has no excuse for doing the same on the final page. Inker George Roussos credited as George Bell. Giant-Man story: Wasp has another costume change. Only appearance of Second-Story Sammy; burglars were once referred to as “second-story men.” According to GCD, the story is inked by George Roussos though Dick Ayers is credited. Issue includes a pin-up of Hulk by Jack Kirby and George Roussos.



> Tales to Astonish comic book info and issue index

Elektra

This comic is in the following collection:
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Collecting INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #1-6, TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #100, INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #102, and material from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #59-99 and #101.

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Steve Ditko
George Bell
?
Jack Kirby (Cover Penciler)
Chic Stone (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)


Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Ant-Man
Ant-Man
(Hank Pym)
Betty Ross
Betty Ross
(Elizabeth Ross)
Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner
(Robert Bruce Banner)
Captain America
Captain America
(Steven Rogers)
Chameleon
Chameleon
Giant-Man
Giant-Man
(Hank Pym)
Glenn Talbot
Glenn Talbot
Hulk
Hulk
(Robert Bruce Banner)
Humanoid
Humanoid
Leader
Leader
Rick Jones
Rick Jones
Thunderbolt Ross
Thunderbolt Ross
(Thaddeus Ross)
Wasp
Wasp
(Janet Van Dyne)


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