Tales to Astonish #20

(June 1961)

What Was "X" the Thing That Lived! [, Part 1] (Table of Contents: 1)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee ? (plot); Larry Lieber ? (script)

Pencils

Jack Kirby (signed as KIRBY)

Inks

Dick Ayers (signed as Ayers)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-185

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Charles Bentley was a writer!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Charles Bentley; X (introduction, origin)

Synopsis

A comic writer's monsters keep coming to life, until he creates one that can't be defeated. The monster is unstoppable physically, but he wills it out of existence.

Reprints

• in Das Monster von Frankenstein (BSV - Williams, 1974 series) #20
• in Zombie (L. Miller & Son, 1961 series) #9 ([circa 1961])
• in Mystic (L. Miller & Son, 1960 series) #43 (1964)
• in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #2 (January 1971) [part 1]
which is reprinted
• in L'Étonnant Spider-Man (Editions Héritage, 1969 series) #29 (novembre 1973), #30 (décembre 1973)
• in Adventure into Fear Omnibus (Marvel, 2020 series) (2020)
• in Monster Masterworks (Marvel, 1989 series) (1989)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #2 ([March] 2008)
• in Monsters (Marvel, 2017 series) #1

Indexer Notes

Narrated in the first person. X next appears in Alpha Flight (Marvel, 1997 series) #17 (December 1998). The unnamed editor of Tales to Astonish appears in the story.

[What Was "X" the Thing That Lived!], Part 2 (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee ? (plot); Larry Lieber ? (script)

Pencils

Jack Kirby (signed as K)

Inks

Dick Ayers (signed as A)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-185

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Bentley hurried into the projection room, sat down, and then...

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Charles Bentley; X

Reprints

• in Das Monster von Frankenstein (BSV - Williams, 1974 series) #20
• in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #2 (January 1971) [part 2]
which is reprinted
• in L'Étonnant Spider-Man (Editions Héritage, 1969 series) #29 (novembre 1973), #30 (décembre 1973)
• in Adventure into Fear Omnibus (Marvel, 2020 series) (2020)
• in Monster Masterworks (Marvel, 1989 series) (1989)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #2 ([March] 2008)
• in Monsters (Marvel, 2017 series) #1

[What Was "X" the Thing That Lived!], Part 3 (Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee ? (plot); Larry Lieber ? (script)

Pencils

Jack Kirby (signed as K)

Inks

Dick Ayers (signed as A)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-185

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Charles Bentley; X

Reprints

• in Das Monster von Frankenstein (BSV - Williams, 1974 series) #20
• in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #2 (January 1971) [part 3]
which is reprinted
• in L'Étonnant Spider-Man (Editions Héritage, 1969 series) #29 (novembre 1973), #30 (décembre 1973)
• in Adventure into Fear Omnibus (Marvel, 2020 series) (2020)
• in Monster Masterworks (Marvel, 1989 series) (1989)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #2 ([March] 2008)
• in Monsters (Marvel, 2017 series) #1

[What Was "X" the Thing That Lived!], Part 4 (Table of Contents: 4)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee ? (plot); Larry Lieber ? (script)

Pencils

Jack Kirby (signed as K)

Inks

Dick Ayers (signed as A)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-185

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Charles Bentley, aware that only he could stop the menacing X, drove swiftly back to the city!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Charles Bentley; X

Reprints

• in Das Monster von Frankenstein (BSV - Williams, 1974 series) #20
• in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #2 (January 1971) [part 4]
which is reprinted
• in L'Étonnant Spider-Man (Editions Héritage, 1969 series) #29 (novembre 1973), #30 (décembre 1973)
• in Adventure into Fear Omnibus (Marvel, 2020 series) (2020)
• in Monster Masterworks (Marvel, 1989 series) (1989)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #2 ([March] 2008)
• in Monsters (Marvel, 2017 series) #1

Odd Skills (Table of Contents: 5)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Joe Maneely

Inks

Joe Maneely

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Job Number

J-216

First Line of Dialogue or Text

When a man who has been very competent suddenly becomes slipshod, there's usually a reason.

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Jim Branner; Bill Toney

Synopsis

The manager of an auto parts shop develops a sudden tolerance for "human variation" in parts, possibly linked to otherworldly strangers in the shop at night.

Reprints

• from Journey into Mystery (Marvel, 1952 series) #34 (May 1956)
• in Sinister Tales (Alan Class, 1964 series) #56
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #2 ([March] 2008)

Indexer Notes

Text story with illustration.

One-Way Journey! (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee ?

Pencils

Steve Ditko (signed as S. DITKO)

Inks

Steve Ditko (signed as S. DITKO)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-184

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Adam Gree's success would have satisfied anyone else!

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Adam Gree

Synopsis

A heartless tycoon spends great resources and eliminates jobs in order to build a machine that will transport him from the current moment to one forty years hence because his scientists have predicted an end to disease, war, and poverty in the year 2001, but he neglects to consider his body will age forty years in what seems to his mind merely an instant and, since the machine has only enough power to move forward the one time, he's lost most of the years of his life.

Reprints

• in Doktor Strange der Magier (BSV - Williams, 1975 series) #3
• in Amazing Stories of Suspense (Alan Class, 1963 series) #19 (1964 ?)
• in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #2 (January 1971)
which is reprinted
• in Adventure into Fear Omnibus (Marvel, 2020 series) (2020)
• in Doomsday (K. G. Murray, 1972 series) #12 (November 1973)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #2 ([March] 2008)

Indexer Notes

Nick Caputo suspects Stan Lee may have written this story based on an examination at his blog:

http://nick-caputo.blogspot.com/2011/11/who-authored-ditko.html