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Tales to Astonish
Tales to Astonish #47
Petty thief and Jazz musician Trago inherits the hypnotic powers of a mystic. Now, the music that Trago plays controls the will of anyone who listens! How can Ant-Man and Wasp take down a foe this persuasive?
- GenresComicsMarvelComic Book
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1963
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,563 books2,348 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 15, 2020
A jazzy riff on crime - and our hero AM must listen to the music. Fun book that will take your mind off all the problems of today - read after work and relax.
December 29, 2017
Trago is a jazz trumpeter. Ant-Man has no interest in jazz, but The Wasp! does. They go see him play. At intermission, they overhear a scuffle. Trago had stolen some money from the club's safe. Ant-Man and The Wasp! help tackle Trago. Trago returns the money, but the manager of the club puts him on a plane to India. Hmmm . . .
In India, Trago meets a mystic who teaches him the power of music. With its hypnotic spells, Trago can control and audience. FWIW, 'hypnotic' is misspelled twice in this story.
Trago returns to the States and begins his crime spree. Ant-Man and The Wasp! foil it by changing the notes the trumpeter plays. According to legend, if he plays the wrong notes, he loses his power.
"The Disappearance" could be named, "The Day the Luddite Loosened Up". Grandpop announced he was packing up and moving to the mountains. He wanted to escape modern life and all the technological advances. His son and grandson tried to persuade him not to, but Grandpop was convinced this was the path for him.
The son began selling geiger counters, used to find uranium. The grandson convinced his father's boss to send one to his grandfather in the mountains. Later, when the family went to visit gradpop, he wasn't there and it didn't look like he had been there. Worried, they returned home.
Who should be there when they arrive? Well, sure, it was Grandpop with a brand new car. It looks as though he found plenty of uranium in the mountains and has new thoughts about the modern age.
"The Smiling Gods" is not a great story. In SE Asia is a group of peasants. They are farmers for the communist government. The head of the government keeps demanding a larger yield. They do, but it's never enough. They pray to your religious idols. Finally, the land produces more and more. It engulfs the leader and kills him. He got what he wanted.
"Target . . . Earth" is an interesting tale. A most powerful society of people on another planet decide it is time to invade and conquer another planet. Earth is targeted. They send out Sagar to scout the planet. He lands his spaceship and then surveys the planet. This will be an easy takeover; Earthlings are no match for them. But then he doesn't return to his planet. As agreed, if he doesn't return in time, 48 hours, the mission is called off as it is assumed they will not be able to conquer the planet.
The reason Sagar did not return? He parked his spaceship in quicksand and it sank. Ha!
In India, Trago meets a mystic who teaches him the power of music. With its hypnotic spells, Trago can control and audience. FWIW, 'hypnotic' is misspelled twice in this story.
Trago returns to the States and begins his crime spree. Ant-Man and The Wasp! foil it by changing the notes the trumpeter plays. According to legend, if he plays the wrong notes, he loses his power.
"The Disappearance" could be named, "The Day the Luddite Loosened Up". Grandpop announced he was packing up and moving to the mountains. He wanted to escape modern life and all the technological advances. His son and grandson tried to persuade him not to, but Grandpop was convinced this was the path for him.
The son began selling geiger counters, used to find uranium. The grandson convinced his father's boss to send one to his grandfather in the mountains. Later, when the family went to visit gradpop, he wasn't there and it didn't look like he had been there. Worried, they returned home.
Who should be there when they arrive? Well, sure, it was Grandpop with a brand new car. It looks as though he found plenty of uranium in the mountains and has new thoughts about the modern age.
"The Smiling Gods" is not a great story. In SE Asia is a group of peasants. They are farmers for the communist government. The head of the government keeps demanding a larger yield. They do, but it's never enough. They pray to your religious idols. Finally, the land produces more and more. It engulfs the leader and kills him. He got what he wanted.
"Target . . . Earth" is an interesting tale. A most powerful society of people on another planet decide it is time to invade and conquer another planet. Earth is targeted. They send out Sagar to scout the planet. He lands his spaceship and then surveys the planet. This will be an easy takeover; Earthlings are no match for them. But then he doesn't return to his planet. As agreed, if he doesn't return in time, 48 hours, the mission is called off as it is assumed they will not be able to conquer the planet.
The reason Sagar did not return? He parked his spaceship in quicksand and it sank. Ha!
April 17, 2021
21/100
September 20, 2021
KORR! :'(
August 9, 2019
TALES TO ASTONISH 27, 35-52 (Ant-Man's First Arc)
Stan Lee made the fantastic decision when taking over this magazine to make it entirely dedicated to stories featuring Ant-Man from that point onward. This was really the right move, seeing as that was the only story in this magazine that was unique let alone deeper in its thematic content.
ANT-MAN has a great dynamic, where you can achieve suspense with something as simple as his size comparable to his enemies. The tactics one might use to kill an ordinary insect, like flypaper, are equally lethal against someone of Ant-Man's size. It's also a nice visual metaphor, as he is forced to understand and appreciate the perspective of someone much smaller than himself. He no longer can view the world as inferior or insignificant to himself; its an interesting dynamic, as his villains always are a reversal of this notion by using this very thinking of superiority as justification for their crimes.
The biggest flaw with the stories up to this point is the dialogue… unsurprising of comic books in this era, but surprising for the man writing it. Ant-Man has no-one to really interact with, so it feels really unnatural for him to be talking to himself all the time. It also makes all his dialogue really expository, leaving no room for character accesorization. It is something Lee quickly realized though, prompting him to introduce the Wasp in issue 44; It provides an interesting character dynamic, a bickering husband and wife, because it makes them feel much more real and consequently make us career about the danger they’re in even more.
The other big flaw is that all the villains are one-off villains of the week; if the villains are always defeated, it leaves the reader feeling as if these stories are inconsequential to the protagonists and thus eliminating any sense they’re ever in real danger. But more importantly, it misses a valuable opportunity for character development; if there is a re-occurring antagonist, it mirrors the re-occurring protagonist. The villain and the hero grow and change together, each progressing alongside each other. By having no re-occurring villains, it makes the hero unchallenged and makes us fear the villains even less.
Despite these flaws, the issues are worth reading for the character interaction between the Ant-Man and the Wasp, which is really what carries these stories.
Stan Lee made the fantastic decision when taking over this magazine to make it entirely dedicated to stories featuring Ant-Man from that point onward. This was really the right move, seeing as that was the only story in this magazine that was unique let alone deeper in its thematic content.
ANT-MAN has a great dynamic, where you can achieve suspense with something as simple as his size comparable to his enemies. The tactics one might use to kill an ordinary insect, like flypaper, are equally lethal against someone of Ant-Man's size. It's also a nice visual metaphor, as he is forced to understand and appreciate the perspective of someone much smaller than himself. He no longer can view the world as inferior or insignificant to himself; its an interesting dynamic, as his villains always are a reversal of this notion by using this very thinking of superiority as justification for their crimes.
The biggest flaw with the stories up to this point is the dialogue… unsurprising of comic books in this era, but surprising for the man writing it. Ant-Man has no-one to really interact with, so it feels really unnatural for him to be talking to himself all the time. It also makes all his dialogue really expository, leaving no room for character accesorization. It is something Lee quickly realized though, prompting him to introduce the Wasp in issue 44; It provides an interesting character dynamic, a bickering husband and wife, because it makes them feel much more real and consequently make us career about the danger they’re in even more.
The other big flaw is that all the villains are one-off villains of the week; if the villains are always defeated, it leaves the reader feeling as if these stories are inconsequential to the protagonists and thus eliminating any sense they’re ever in real danger. But more importantly, it misses a valuable opportunity for character development; if there is a re-occurring antagonist, it mirrors the re-occurring protagonist. The villain and the hero grow and change together, each progressing alongside each other. By having no re-occurring villains, it makes the hero unchallenged and makes us fear the villains even less.
Despite these flaws, the issues are worth reading for the character interaction between the Ant-Man and the Wasp, which is really what carries these stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews