Tales to Astonish #23

(September 1961)

The Unbelievable Menace of Moomba [Part 1] (Table of Contents: 1)

comic story / 6 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-285

First Line of Dialogue or Text

As our story begins... There I was...

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Moomba; Frank; Katu

Synopsis

An explorer discovers that native African wood carvings are actually an advance fifth column invasion force under the command of Moomba. Moomba gives his command to strike and all the carvings get up and begin to herd and intimidate their human owners as the wood they are crafted of is so dense that neither fire nor any other human weapons can defeat them. Using unknown means, a native African witch doctor defeats Moomba and extracts a promise from him to leave Earth along with all of his warriors.

Reprints

• in Mystic (L. Miller & Son, 1960 series) #19 (1962)
• in Creatures on the Loose (Marvel, 1971 series) #11 (May 1971) [part 1]
which is reprinted
• in Creatures on the Loose (Yaffa / Page, 1975 ? series) #1 ([1977] ?)
• in Chamber of Chills (Marvel, 1972 series) #25 (November 1976) [part 1]
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)
• in Monsters Unleashed Prelude (Marvel, 2017 series) (2017)
• in Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby (Marvel, 2017 series) #2 (2017)

Indexer Notes

Narrated in the first person. It is an elaboration of the plot of "I Was the Prisoner of the Living Statues!" drawn by John Forte, in Tales to Astonish #6 (November 1959).

[The Unbelievable Menace of Moomba], Part 2: The Menace That Was...Moomba (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 7 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-285

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Moomba's fantastic energy waves spread over the jungle, stretched across the...

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Moomba; Frank; Katu

Reprints

• in Creatures on the Loose (Marvel, 1971 series) #11 (May 1971) [part 2]
which is reprinted
• in Creatures on the Loose (Yaffa / Page, 1975 ? series) #1 ([1977] ?)
• in Chamber of Chills (Marvel, 1972 series) #25 (November 1976) [part 2]
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)
• in Monsters Unleashed Prelude (Marvel, 2017 series) (2017)
• in Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby (Marvel, 2017 series) #2 (2017)

The Green Man (Table of Contents: 3)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Job Number

A-189

First Line of Dialogue or Text

It was a hot sticky summer night when I stopped in to Barney's for a cool beer before I went home.

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Barney

Synopsis

A former pilot can't get anyone to believe his story about the fatal radium poisoning he picked up from an alien, and so keeps spreading it.

Reprints

• from Spellbound (Marvel, 1952 series) #2 (April 1952)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)

Indexer Notes

Text story with illustration.

Less Than Human (Table of Contents: 4)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

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

Pencils

Don Heck

Inks

Don Heck

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-284

First Line of Dialogue or Text

It seemed that they were everywhere...

Genre

science fiction

Characters

John Harris; Alice Harris; Billy Harris; Roby the Robot

Synopsis

A strident anti-robot activist is convinced of the worth of robots when his son is saved by his robotic playmate.

Reprints

• in Secrets of the Unknown (Alan Class, 1962 series) #15 (1963 ?)
• in Amazing Stories of Suspense (Alan Class, 1963 series) #58 (1967 ?)
• in Monsters on the Prowl (Marvel, 1971 series) #22 (April 1973)
• in Los Vengadores (Ediciones Vértice, 1974 series) #12 (Septiembre 1975)
• in Fantomet (Semic, 1976 series) #15/1988 (uke 29 1988)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)

Keywords

robots

Indexer Notes

Narrated in the first person. This story is an altered retelling of "The Robot Hater", drawn by Paul Reinman in Tales of Suspense (Marvel, 1959 series) #3 (May 1959). Writing tentatively credited to Stan Lee on the basis of his plot credit in a later retelling of the story.

The Voice from Nowhere (Table of Contents: 5)

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

Ray Holloway ?

Job Number

V-283

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Only you can save me!!

Genre

science fiction

Synopsis

The space pilot landing on an asteroid is perplexed by a voice from nowhere pleading for help, but he realizes that the asteroid itself is the source of the voice.

Reprints

• in Amazing Stories of Suspense (Alan Class, 1963 series) #81, #6 (1963 ?)
• in Monsters on the Prowl (Marvel, 1971 series) #14 (December 1971)
• in Fantomet (Semic, 1976 series) #7/1985 (uke 13 1985)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)
• in Marvel Masters of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus (Marvel, 2019 series) #1 (2019)

Indexer Notes

Possible Lee script per Nick Caputo's analysis of these stories at his blog:

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