Tales to Astonish Appreciation Thread 1 1

[sfilosa]

Well, they may have Kirby covers, but the early Superhero issues that featured Ant-Man never really floated my boat. I love some of the Giant-Man covers (the stories were still generally pretty weak), but the title really kicked into gear when it brought back as a continuing feature the Hulk, and then later combined him with Subby. Also, during the split cover period, most of Kirby's work looks rushed to me.

 

Just another opinion.

 

I think many of the early covers are great and actually feel that from a pure cover perspective they got worse once the title went Hulk and Subby. Many of the covers start to look the same in my opinion.

[Silver Surfer]

Damn it Hook, now I'm going to have to buy a copy of that issue.

[Larryw7]

This is still one of my favorite split covers......I believe it was the first issue I read as a kid. The rendering of the Hulk on this cover is one of my all time favorites.....looking at the ink work, could it have been done by Vince Coletta?

 

 

 

I love those Green River books.

[Red Hook]

[namisgr]

I think many of the early covers are great and actually feel that from a pure cover perspective they got worse once the title went Hulk and Subby. Many of the covers start to look the same in my opinion.

 

Taking the covers out of consideration, you've got to admit the Antman stories were not exactly the strongest of the Marvel pantheon. For me, the only memorable things about Antman were (1) that he was a biochemist (very close to my own chosen profession), and (2) he had a terrific trip inside the Vision in the tale in Avengers 93, "Journey to the Center of an Android".

 

The Giant-man stories and villians didn't exactly set fire to the newsstand either, in my opinion. Once the Hulk entered the title, we were introduced to a number of great characters, like the Leader, the Hulk shockingly lost his secret identity, and we were treated to a number of titanic tussles. That, and none of the Atlas monster reprints, either.

[Captain Tripps]

Steve,

 

I agree with you. The best covers are the early Kirby ones, imho. It does seem that the late Giant-Man new costume covers start to look alike (ex: 65 & 67) as do the Hulk ones.

 

There are many cool Ant-Man/Giant-Man covers to speak of (39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 49, hey, I love the Human Eraser) 51 (awesome cover), 53, 57, 59, 60. These are the best and there's a few more that are good (56, 58, etc.).

 

I always liked this run, and when I got the Pacific coast copies and really looked at these books again, I realized what an awesome run it is. Definitely in my top 5 Marvel SA runs (I like TTA's better than DD's, ASM's, ST's, even possibly JIM"s!!).

[Silver Surfer]

Love the early issues even if the Antman stories are super lame. That is on phase two of my TTA run as I'm trying to comlete 70-101 first. However, my favorite covers are done by Severin, #93, 98, 100 and 101. Subby, Surfer and the Hulk dukeing it out.

[Sharkey]

This is still one of my favorite split covers......I believe it was the first issue I read as a kid. The rendering of the Hulk on this cover is one of my all time favorites.....looking at the ink work, could it have been done by Vince Coletta?

 

 

Sweet book, Red!!! Green River, and WHITE pages to boot!

[Silver Surfer]

[Silver Surfer]

Really jacked about this one.

 

[Red Hook]

Congrats, SS. What's not to like?

[KingOfRulers]

Wow, that #68 is beautiful. Great cover. I'd love to own that copy.

[Red Hook]

Thanks Stephen......that one is going to be staying with me for a while.....it's very close to my heart!

[ComicBookGuy]

I completed my TTA run back in the 1980s but have dabbled in upgrading during the last five years as needed. Here is one I haven't seen so far, #42, and it has got to be the most undergraded 6.5 I've ever seen: superglossy, pages snow white, like a new comic really:

 

[Silver Surfer]

[Silver Surfer]

Picked this up for a song.

 

[sfilosa]

A great cover.

 

[Sharkey]

Picked up these early issues at the Chicagocon. Not ultra high grade but tough nonetheless.

 

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

Rhino nice books. Here's a new one, not my favorite cover but I'm surprised how rare these are in high grade. 1 in 9.2, 2 in 9.4 and only 1 in 9.6.

 

[sfilosa]

Rhino nice books. Here's a new one, not my favorite cover but I'm surprised how rare these are in high grade. 1 in 9.2, 2 in 9.4 and only 1 in 9.6.

 

 

I actually like that cover (and your copy looks sweet).

 

I'm glad I was able to get one of the 9.4's from Heritage a few months ago, without paying a fortune. #77 and #78 are very tough to find in CGC 9.4 or better (still looking for #77).