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Tales to Astonish #94

Aug 1967
Stan Lee, Marie Severin

Tales to Astonish #94 cover

Story Name:

To The Beckoning Stars!


Synopsis

Tales to Astonish #94 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars
In the wilderness, the Hulk startles a pair of hunters who are trapping animals for the High Evolutionary. The terrified twain flee and radio their employer who orders them to capture the Hulk. 

Exiled by Thor (in Thor #135), the High Evolutionary is trapped on Wundagore II where his New Men have reverted to their bestial natures and he is pinning his hopes for survival on the arrival of the Hulk. 

Meanwhile, the hunters drug the Hulk with gas pellets supplied by their master and load him onto a spacecraft which takes off for Wundagore.

Hulk awakens and clobbers Sir Ram, the ship's pilot. When he realizes he's in space, the Hulk looks forward to a second chance at last.

“Helpless, at the Hands of Dragorr!” 3/5
Writer: Roy Thomas. Pencils: Bill Everett. Inks: Bill Everett. Colors: ? Letters: Art Simek.

Synopsis: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, assembles his warlords to announce war against the surface dwellers for their crimes against Atlantis. Lady Dorma warns them all that such a course would lead to disaster but Namor rebukes her and orders her out. Dorma consults Lord Vashti who tells her that, in view of the people’s rebellion (issue #89-90), Namor is trying to win back their loyalty by demonstrating his sole devotion to Atlantis….

Namor receives a message from Dragorr, dictator of a small surface nation, proposing an alliance with Atlantis. Namor is offended and seeks to punish Dragorr for his arrogance; Dorma warns it may be a trap but he again rebukes her and flies off. Arriving at his destination, Namor finds it is a trap, organized by a tiny mad scientist called the Gnome. Namor is entangled in an electrified net and taken ashore in an insulated tank. When he breaks out, he is subdued by guards with electrical weapons and brought before Dragorr, a huge man with large and piercing blue eyes. The dictator wants Namor to defeat the rebels in his country; the rebels launch a missile attack and Namor, his will sapped by the electric shocks, fights the rebels with increased strength, who lose heart when they discover Namor is doing Dragorr’s bidding. Namor returns to Dragorr and refuses to be his slave so the villain has him locked up….

Meanwhile, Dorma has followed Namor to this country, tracing his genetic pattern with a traciometer, and, contacting the rebels, she is directed toward a secret tunnel into the palace. Following its course, she discovers the imprisoned Namor, kept weak by an electrical device. She fires a water gun to short out the device and to renew Namor’s strength. Namor and Dorma head through the palace to confront Dragorr, who is awaiting them. With his shirt off, he is a muscular brute; Namor and Dragorr fight, Namor is losing until he orders Dorma to fire her water gun at the baddie. This causes Dragorr to short-circuit, revealing he is a robot. The Gnome jumps out of a hatch in his back and flees though a window, only to be caught in a net by the rebels….

The rebels offer their thanks to Namor but he rebuffs them, denouncing the surface world. He and Dorma return to Atlantis, the Lady worried for their future….




 

Review / Commentaries


Tales to Astonish #94 Review by (September 26, 2024)

Review: I’ve always liked the High Evolutionary because his appearances lend a heavy sci-fi milieu to whatever series he is guesting in. He’s usually associated with Thor, an interesting choice, pairing ancient myth and futuristic speculation. So here we are, Hulk encountering two hunters in the woods—but they are employees of the High E, catching wildlife for his experiments. But High E needs a bodyguard against his rebellious New Men and Hulk is hired—without submitting a resume! The issue is set in the woods, alternating with High E’s flashbacks and balancing nicely, reaching that rather haunting finale with the Hulk vanishing into space.  Very enjoyable—and the sci fi stuff has yet to arrive in force.

Meanwhile, Namor pitches an issue-long fit, denouncing everything that concerns the surface world. That attitude works against him because it’s his desire to give Dragorr a whupping that leads him into a trap by the bad guy. But it’s Dorma who saves him by being nice to the good guys. The story seems quite cluttered with world balloons, an occasional Roy Thomas pitfall, with a fairly decent story.

Comments: Hulk story: Part one of three parts. First Hulk issue with Herb Trimpe as inker. Second appearance of High Evolutionary after THOR #134-135. First appearance of Sir Ram, whose only subsequent appearance is next issue.

Subby story: First and only appearance of Dragorr and Gnome. Though the location of his nation is kept vague, the natives speak Spanish, which narrows it down quite a bit.




> 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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Marie Severin
Herb Trimpe
Marie Severin
Dan Adkins (Cover Penciler)
Dan Adkins (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Sam Rosen.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)
Plus: New Men.

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