Tales to Astonish #27 - Jack Kirby art & cover, Steve Ditko art + 1st Hank Pym

Jack Kirby

Tales to Astonish v1 #27, 1962 - A young scientist invents a serum that can shrink objects of any size. When he tries it on himself, the experiment goes awry and he befriends an ant to help him regain his size. Though often designated as the first appearance of Ant-man, this is technically only the first appearance of Hank Pym (called Henry). Not until his second appearance in Tales to Astonish #35 does he don a superhero costume. Artistically, Jack Kirby treats this story no differently than other mediocre tales in the series. Both his cover and story pages lack interest and enthusiasm. On the other hand, Steve Ditko excels with his story of a conquerer arriving on a planet with nothing to conquer. He uses the same nine panel grid throughout, but expertly paces and varies the layouts within. This is 26 of 81 Tales to Astonish issues by Kirby and 27 of 57 Tales to Astonish issues by Ditko. /// key 1st appearance, 1st origin, 1st cover Hank Pym

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Kirby cover pencils (Dick Ayers inks) = **
"The Man in the Ant Hill" Kirby story pencils (Dick Ayers inks) 5 pages = **
"Dead Planet" Ditko story pencils and inks 5 pages = ***

Jack Kirby

Steve Ditko

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