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Tales to Astonish #63

Jan 1965
Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Tales to Astonish #63 cover

Story Name:

A Titan Rides The Train!


Synopsis

Tales to Astonish #63 synopsis by Librarian
Rating: 4 stars

This content is being supervised.


 

Review / Commentaries


Tales to Astonish #63 Review by (February 28, 2023)

Review: And so we meet Hulk’s most implacable enemy—the Leader! Another poor schnook exposed to gamma radiation but instead of a muscled monster he became a super-genius. And for his first scheme (not counting the general spy plots of the previous three issues), he wants to study or steal Bruce Banner’s nuclear device (the comic isn’t clear). And to that end he has created a huge android. Now this same idea did not work out well for Egghead in the Giant-Man story in issue #62 but through the magic of comic book science the Leader succeeds, giving the creature a spongelike body, electrical capabilities, and lungs that need to keep breathing so as to be a match for Hulk. And it’s hard to see how a big burly pink monster without a brain of its own can replace the spy ring as the Leader implies. So we have a story that is mostly a fight between the two hulking foes—and it’s a bit disappointing because of the small panels and fights weren’t one of Steve Ditko’s strong points anyway. But it’s the first appearance of a major Hulk enemy in a story that doesn’t make him look like a goof, a problem the Ant-Man/Giant-Man stories tended to have.

The Giant-Man tale begins with Giant-Man exercising and/or showing off for an unappreciative Wasp. This section looks like it was designed to fill out the page count for a story that came up short—but it’s not true, it also serves to demonstrate that surprising move near the end of the story when the hero evades the bear trap and there isn’t enough space to explain it clearly. Other than that, this is just an ordinary crime story—the kind that we thought were a thing of the past after Ant-Man fought the Protector in issue #37. And this coming between stories involving giant plants and an undersea warlord. The story is decent but it’s a bit too simplistic for this stage of their career.

Comments: Hulk story: First full appearance and origin of the  Leader, with a surprise reveal of his face, no less. First issue of this series not to include Betty Brant Ross. Inker George Roussos credited as George Bell. Giant-Man story: Only appearance of this Wrecker, no relation to the Wrecker from FANTASTIC FOUR #12 or the later Thor villain. Issue includes a pin-up of Giant-Man and the Wasp by Carl Burgos and Jack Kirby



> 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 Roussos
Unknown
Jack Kirby (Cover Penciler)
Chic Stone (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Sam Rosen.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Ant-Man
Ant-Man

(Hank Pym)
Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Giant-Man
Giant-Man

(Hank Pym)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Thunderbolt Ross
Thunderbolt Ross

(Thaddeus Ross)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)


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