Tales to Astonish #27

 "I won't tell you yet! You would only laugh at me as you've done before! But when I've finished it, I'll show you! You shall know I'm a greater scientist than any of you!"

This is such a fascinating time capsule- entirely a product of Marvel pre-Fantastic Four with the slight detail that it happens to introduce Henry Pym. But it seems likely, from reading this, that it would never have been intended as anything more than a one-off tale, very much in the monster genre that Tales to Astonish and the other anthology comics had been doing.

It's interesting to see that this is just one of multiple tales in a comic that also includes text stories, and is a very short story of just a few pages. The cover and splash page, it must be said, are both excellent- I believe the former is Jack Kirby and the latter Steve Ditko? Ditko, I have to say, does a much more impressive job as penciller than Kirby has thus far, although I know Kirby's best work lies ahead.

Initial observations are that Hank Pym doesn't exactly come across as a hero here. Indeed, he seems to be a bit of a prat, much as he shows sense at the end, following his lucky escape. His deciding to destroy his shrinking serum seems to indicate no intention of a return.... but the loose thread of that one mysteriously friendly ant may suggest otherwise!

The less said about the science the better, although I may point the reader to look up J.B.S. Haldane's "On Being the Right Size". Still, this is a pleasingly amusing little tale. Still very early days though.