Tales to Astonish #62, December 1964 [published 1 Sept 64]  Yeah! I bought this one off the racks!

The features continue to move counterclockwise around the cover. On the cover of TtA 60 the Hulk was at 3:00, last issue he was at 12:00, and now he’s at 9:00. Based on that cover position, I’ll review the Hulk story first.

Hulk: “Enter the Chameleon!” - 10pp - Script: Stan Lee; Art: Steve Ditko; Inking: George Roussos; Lettering: Sam Rosen

Like a good movie serial, or perhaps a ’60s soap opera, the Hulk moves from one precarious incident to another.

I still feel Ditko’s pencils were much more detailed on the Hulk strip than they were for the four Dr. Strange episodes that George Roussos inked. I feel his inks serve the stories well. Before Ditko left the strip we would see how some other inkers address his work. They were all good.

The Chameleon was having a busy year.

The Hulk’s trousers must certainly have a stretchy waistband!

As to Rick’s activities: he leaves Capt. America’s side because the Hulk was captured (it was in all the papers). He helps Bruce hide and change. He goes to the President to clear Bruce’s name, and then returns to the Avengers. Note that Bruce told him it’s not safe for him to be around the Hulk. I guess Rick took Bruce’s advice.

Let’s just presume the Leader was wearing peach-colored gloves in this story, all right?

And yeah!, the Hulk Pin-Up was a nice effort.

Giant-Man & the Wasp: “Giant-Man versus the Wonderful Wasp!” - 12pp - Script: Stan Lee; Art: Carl Burgos; Inking: Dick Ayers; Lettering: Art Simek

Burgos’ art is much better in this story than what we had just seen a few months before. And this is the first time I’ve seen him referred to as “Carlos”.

Actually the idea of a conflict like this between the Wasp and Ant-Man is a pretty good idea. It’s too bad it wasn’t handled better.

That one odd-shaped … thing … in the middle of page 8 doesn’t look like any piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen.

This is the second time this month that there’s a reference to the heroes’ oath never to take a life.

Actually the ever-growing plant does make for a decent sub-plot.

It is again reinforced that Giant-Man can also communicate with termites (see TtA55). In the Marvel Universe there must be a great similarity between ants and termites.

I personally don’t have a problem with how Pym rehabilitated Second-Story Sammy.

So far the Burgos Giant-Man is much more interesting than the Ayers version.

Did fan response matter in early Marvels? You betcha Red Rider! In ST116 two fans submitted a plot that actually got written up and drawn. And here, in the lettercol, a fan complains about the Hulk looking too civilized and suddenly, in this issue, a more brutal-looking (he has two black eyes) Hulk appears.



Anarchy and Chaos are the natural state of the human race. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And Chaos must always ultimately triumph.
Last Edited By: Joseph William Marek Aug 15 12 12:16 AM. Edited 1 times.