Plot by Stan Lee – Script by Larry Lieber – Art by Don Heck – Letters by Art Simek

Tales to Astonish #42 isn’t a particularly important Ant-Man story. But it does highlight an important change happening across Marvel’s growing superhero line.

For the first time, Marvel’s books are beginning to develop distinct artistic identities.

A few months ago, nearly every superhero comic felt like it came from the same small creative pool. Kirby seemed to be drawing everything. Ditko was popping up wherever needed. The line felt unified, but also somewhat interchangeable.

That is beginning to change.

Marvel’s roster is expanding.

So are its creators.

Jack Kirby remains the architect of Marvel’s cosmic adventures in Fantastic Four and Thor. Steve Ditko is shaping the anxious, shadowy world of Spider-Man. And Don Heck is rapidly becoming the defining visual voice behind both Ant-Man and the newly introduced Iron Man.

Heck returns here after debuting on Tales to Astonish just one issue earlier, and his strengths are becoming impossible to miss.

Kirby fills panels with explosive energy and impossible machinery. Ditko excels at strange body language and psychological tension.

Heck feels cinematic.

His figures are handsome. His action is easy to follow. His facial expressions are clear and expressive. The pages move with an effortless sense of momentum.

At times it feels less like reading a comic book and more like watching a 1960s adventure film unfold one panel at a time.

The story introduces Jason Cragg, a radio spokesman whose voice gains a remarkable power after exposure to radiation. Marvel’s one stop shop for superpowers in the 1960s.

Cragg discovers he can compel people to believe virtually anything he says. His newfound gift makes him wildly successful in advertising before he inevitably decides to become a criminal. And specifically a criminal who wants to defeat Ant-Man.

For all its silliness, the premise is surprisingly interesting.

Coming right on the heels of Fantastic Four #13, which leaned into Cold War anxieties and anti-war themes, Cragg’s powers feel like another example of Marvel becoming interested in larger ideas. The ability to manipulate public opinion.

To convince ordinary people to abandon their own judgment and accept whatever narrative he presents.

The story isn’t especially subtle, but it does feel like Marvel beginning to explore subjects beyond simple superhero action.

Cragg quickly turns the city against Ant-Man and convinces police, citizens, and eventually entire crowds that the hero is a menace.

That setup gives Heck an opportunity to showcase some of his best work yet.

Several sequences are genuinely gorgeous.

As mobs search for Ant-Man, Heck uses his shrinking powers to create inventive perspectives and visual tension. Hank hides among blades of grass. Slips through impossible spaces. Navigates environments that suddenly feel enormous.

The action remains one of the title’s greatest strengths.

Eventually Cragg captures Ant-Man and uses his influence to command him to walk into the water and drown himself.

Fortunately, Ant-Man’s loyal ants intervene and save him before he can carry out the order.

Pym retreats to his laboratory, formulates a plan, and eventually tricks Cragg into publicly undoing much of the damage he caused.

The final victory comes courtesy of a chemical solution that leaves Cragg with a severe case of laryngitis.

Silver Age justice can be strangely specific.

But the plot isn’t really the point. What’s more interesting is what the issue reveals about Marvel itself.

The heroes are becoming more defined. The artists are becoming more distinct. And increasingly, the stories are trying to engage with ideas beyond simply defeating villains.

Marvel is still evolving.

But issues like Tales to Astonish #42 suggest that evolution is beginning to accelerate.

It’s becoming more than a line of superhero comics.

It’s becoming a house of ideas.

Marvel in the 60s – Entry #45