Tales to Astonish #27

Before the superheroes

Tales to Astonish and its sister title Tales of Suspense both launched with a January 1959 cover date. Their early issues were science-fiction, mystery and suspense anthologies, written mostly by editor Stan Lee and his brother, Larry Lieber, and drawn by artists including Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, Don Heck and Paul Reinman.

Issue #27, cover-dated January 1962, is a typical book of the type: five short pieces with no continuing hero. Besides the lead, it carries "Trouble Bubble," a two-page text story illustrated by Joe Maneely; "Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall...," drawn by Don Heck; "The Talking Horse," drawn by Bob Forgione; and "Dead Planet!". The last page of "The Talking Horse" carries an ad for Fantastic Four, the new title that was changing the company.

The cover, penciled by Kirby and inked by Ayers, was colored by Stan Goldberg and lettered by Artie Simek. Its first line of text: "Save me, somebody, save me!!"

The man in the ant hill

In the seven-page lead, scientist Henry Pym invents a shrinking serum and tests it on himself. Trapped in an ant hill, he is attacked by ants, but one of them helps him escape and return to normal size. He then destroys the serum as too dangerous. The story opens: "Living nightmares can begin in many ways!"

It was meant as a self-contained twist tale. Stan Lee later recalled: "I did one comic book called 'The Man in the Ant Hill' about a guy who shrunk down and there were ants or bees chasing him. That sold so well that I thought making him into a superhero might be fun."

Pym returned in Tales to Astonish #35, cover-dated September 1962, now in costume as Ant-Man. Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, joined him in #44 (June 1963), and both were founding members of the Avengers in The Avengers #1 (September 1963). In #49 (November 1963) Pym became Giant-Man; he later took the names Goliath and Yellowjacket, and in 1968 he created Ultron.

Two brothers and the King

Larry Lieber, born October 26, 1931, in New York City, is Stan Lee's younger brother. He scripted the debut origin stories of Thor, Iron Man and Ant-Man from Lee's plots and gave the heroes their civilian names: Donald Blake, Tony Stark and Henry Pym. "Stan made up the plot, and then he'd give it to me, and I'd write the script," he recalled. He wrote the first nine Ant-Man stories, in Tales to Astonish #35-43.

Lieber later spent years on the Western title Rawhide Kid (1964-1973) and drew The Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip from 1986 until he retired in July 2018. He received the Bill Finger Award in 2008.

Jack Kirby penciled both the cover and the Pym story, with Dick Ayers inking.

Autumn 1961

The issue went on sale September 28, 1961, in the first year of the Kennedy administration. That spring the Bay of Pigs invasion had failed and Alan Shepard had become the first American in space. Days after the issue reached stands, on October 1, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run to break Babe Ruth's single-season record.

Later that month U.S. and Soviet tanks faced off in Berlin. Fantastic Four #1, dated November 1961, had launched the Marvel Universe, and Tales to Astonish would become a superhero split book by 1964 before turning into The Incredible Hulk with issue #102 in April 1968. Its circulation peaked at 269,132 copies in 1967.

How many survive, and in what shape

No print run for this issue was found. What can be counted is the CGC census. In June 2018 CGC reported 907 copies graded, including 16 of the British variant, with a median grade of 4.0 and three copies at 9.4 (two Universal and one restored).

By June 2022 the census showed nine copies at 9.0 and three higher. As viewed on October 1, 2026, CGC's population report lists 1,113 Universal-label copies: two at 9.4, one at 9.2, nine at 9.0 and nine at 8.5. Counting Signature Series, restored and other labels, the total is 1,447, of which 202 are restored.

That makes a 9.0 a top-tier copy but not the best: three Universal copies grade higher. The CGC 9.0 that sold in June 2022 was described in its auction listing as one of the highest-graded blue-label copies certified to date, in an older, scratched holder.

Sales at the top

The finest copies have brought six figures. A price guide reports that a CGC 9.4 sold for $75,000 in 2010 and again in 2013 for $200,000. CGC reported in 2018 that the top sale of all time came in November 2016, when a CGC 9.4 sold at auction for $205,501. A dealer's 2020 market report also cites a grade-record $175,000 for the CGC 9.2, without a date.

The CGC 9.0 that represents this entry sold for $66,000 at auction in June 2022. Mid-grade copies sell for far less: CGC 8.0 copies brought $14,400 to $17,690 at auction between December 2024 and May 2026.

The numbers

Cover price

10 cents

Pages

36, including 10 pages of paid advertising; the Pym story runs 7

Print run

No verified figure found; the title's circulation peaked at 269,132 in 1967

Census, June 12, 2018

907 graded (16 British variant); median 4.0; three at 9.4 (two Universal, one restored)

Census, June 2022

9 at CGC 9.0, 3 higher

Census, October 1, 2026

1,113 Universal; 2 at 9.4, 1 at 9.2, 9 at 9.0; 1,447 across all labels, 202 restored

Timeline

1. Jan 1959

   Tales to Astonish launches as a science-fiction and suspense anthology.

2. Sep 28, 1961

   Tales to Astonish #27 goes on sale, per its copyright filing.

3. Jan 1962

   Cover date of #27: "The Man in the Ant Hill!" introduces Henry Pym.

4. Sep 1962

   Pym returns in costume as Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35.

5. Jun 1963

   The Wasp is introduced in #44.

6. Sep 1963

   Ant-Man and the Wasp are founding members of the Avengers in The Avengers #1.

7. Nov 1963

   Pym becomes Giant-Man in #49.

8. Apr 1968

   Tales to Astonish becomes The Incredible Hulk with issue #102.

9. 2015

   Michael Douglas first plays Hank Pym on film.

10. Nov 2016

    A CGC 9.4 sells for $205,501 at auction, the all-time high CGC reported in 2018.

11. Jun 12, 2018

    CGC reports 907 copies graded, median 4.0, three at 9.4.

12. Jun 2022

    CGC census shows nine copies at 9.0, three higher; a CGC 9.0 sells for $66,000 at auction.

13. Oct 1, 2026

    CGC report lists 1,113 Universal copies; nine at 9.0, three higher.

The world in 1961

• Jan 20, 1961

  John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th president.

• Apr 17, 1961

  The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba begins; it fails within three days.

• May 5, 1961

  Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space.

• May 25, 1961

  Kennedy announces the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the decade ends.

• Oct 1, 1961

  Roger Maris hits his 61st home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record.

• Oct 27, 1961

  A U.S.-Soviet tank standoff in Berlin escalates Cold War tensions.

• Dec 11, 1961

  The first American helicopters arrive in Saigon.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Tales to Astonish #27 is number 39 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (39 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Henry Pym does not wear a costume in #27; he became Ant-Man eight issues later.
• At the end of the story Pym destroys his shrinking serum as too dangerous.
• Larry Lieber, who scripted the story, is Stan Lee's younger brother and named Henry Pym, Tony Stark and Donald Blake.
• Ten of the issue's 36 pages were paid advertising, one of them for Fantastic Four.
• The magazine's indicia names Vista Publications Inc., not Marvel.
• Tales to Astonish eventually became The Incredible Hulk, with issue #102 in April 1968.