Tales to Astonish #29 [British]

(March 1962)

When the Space Beasts Attack!! (Table of Contents: 1)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

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

Pencils

Jack Kirby

Inks

Dick Ayers

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Ray Holloway ?; Artie Simek (splash)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Laughter can express many different things!

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Jeb

Synopsis

An alien armada lands on Earth with weapons that seem to disintegrate anything. Humanity is helpless before the aliens, until they demand a man vacate his farm in order to make way for a spaceport. The farmer gets so angry he lays the alien out with the butt of his rifle. The aliens disintegrate things like trucks and houses, but they don't fire at people. Once the farmer realizes this and spreads the word, the aliens retreat from the human's firearms.

Reprints

• in Monsters on the Prowl (Marvel, 1971 series) #12 (August 1971)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)
• in Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby (Marvel, 2017 series) #2 (2017)

The Clock (Table of Contents: 2)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (illustration)

Inks

? (illustration)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Job Number

K-9

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The snow fell quietly in the little Alpine village, and...

Genre

fantasy-supernatural

Characters

Franz Ammergau; Gerda; Dr. Schmitt

Synopsis

An old clockmaker nearly dies from the cold, but is saved by the wooden figures adorning his clocks, which he has given parts of his own soul.

Reprints

• from Marvel Tales (Marvel, 1949 series) #148 (July 1956)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)

Indexer Notes

Text story with illustration.

The Man Who Blew Up the Earth! (Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

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

Pencils

Jack Kirby

Inks

Dick Ayers

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

John Duffy

Job Number

V-498

First Line of Dialogue or Text

There it is--spinning in its orbit as it has done for 2 billion years!

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Elias Cragston

Synopsis

A jilted Quasimodo-like scientist devotes all his energy into producing a cobalt bomb which is so powerful that it can shatter the Earth. He wants to destroy all of mankind for jeering at his ugliness. He sneaks on board a rocket that is going into orbit and releases the bomb, but forgot about the lack of gravitational pull, and so the bomb just remains in place until it detonates against the side of the rocket. On Earth, the woman who laughed at him when he proposed marriage, gazes skyward at the explosion and exclaims "Isn't it the most beautiful sight you've ever seen?"

Reprints

• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)
• in Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby (Marvel, 2017 series) #2 (2017)

Indexer Notes

Apparently whoever wrote this story thought that the ending was uplifting. The last page includes an advertisement for Fantastic Four (Marvel, 1961 series), also drawn by Kirby.

Dick Ayers Inks credit from Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 Series) #3.

What Happened to Harry? (Table of Contents: 4)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

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

Pencils

Dick Ayers (signed as Dick Ayers)

Inks

Dick Ayers (signed as Dick Ayers)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Joe Letterese

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Ever see a timid soul?

Genre

science fiction

Characters

Harry Brown; Albert Poole

Synopsis

A brilliant inventor's boss tries to steal his new time machine in order to take credit for it. He uses the time machine to travel to a different time, but ends up in the prehistoric period, where the electricity to power the time machine cannot be found.

Reprints

• in Where Monsters Dwell (Marvel, 1970 series) #20 (March 1973)
which is reprinted
• in Climax Adventure Comic (K. G. Murray, 1962 ? series) #16 (1975)
• in Los Vengadores (Ediciones Vértice, 1974 series) #10 (Julio 1975)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 ([March] 2010)

Indexer Notes

Though many details are changed, this story is a retelling of "Behold! I Am the Master of Time!" drawn by Steve Ditko in issue #14 (December 1960).

Pencil credit from Tony Thomas on 13 August 2004. Original indexer credited Jack Kirby.

The Last Laugh! (Table of Contents: 5)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Stan Lee (signed as Stan Lee [early- to mid-career])

Pencils

Steve Ditko (signed as S. DITKO)

Inks

Steve Ditko (signed as S. DITKO)

Colors

Stan Goldberg

Letters

Artie Simek

Job Number

V-500

First Line of Dialogue or Text

There are few things more cruel, more vicious, than a heartless practical joke!

Genre

horror-suspense

Characters

Happy Harper

Synopsis

A vicious practical joker gets his comeuppance in the afterlife.

Reprints

• in Das Monster von Frankenstein (BSV - Williams, 1974 series) #29
• in Le Monstre de Frankenstein (Editions Héritage, 1973 series) #12
• in Fear (Marvel, 1970 series) #6 (February 1972)
which is reprinted
• in Adventure into Fear Omnibus (Marvel, 2020 series) (2020)
• 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) #2 (2019)

Indexer Notes

The last page includes an advertisement for Amazing Adult Fantasy (Marvel, 1961 series) also by Lee and Ditko.