First Look Review of Tales to Astonish #44

First Look for Tales to Astonish #44

Meet the Wasp! could have easily been the title of this issue but instead the focus is on the bad guy. I tend to think the most important part of this issue is the fact that Ant-Man now has a partner and we know some of his background.

Tales to Astonish #44

The Creature From Kosmos! by Stan Lee, H.E. Huntley, and Jack Kirby. Published by 1963.

This issue features the origin story of the Wasp and also gives a good background for why Ant-Man wanted to become a hero and fight injustice. We see that Henry Pym’s wife, Maria was murdered by commies from behind the Iron Curtain and that was his motivation to become a hero. Once she dies he is determined to follow her advice to “Go to the Ants” and he figures out the science to create his reducing gas and become Ant-Man.

As we look to the present time, Henry feels it’s time to find a partner since he’s had some close calls and could use some backup. He works the science and has the means to create a partner but needs someone to fill the role. Enter Janet Van Dyne. Her father is a scientist who actually gets killed by the menace who is the big bad of this issue. This creature from Kosmos takes out her father and starts wreaking havoc around the city and Ant-Man decides she would make the perfect Wasp – it doesn’t hurt that she looks like his dead wife either. He tells her his secret about the reducing gas and she falls in love with him. She makes a pretty good hero too and together they are able to fight back against the creature and save the city. Good thing she was around too since the ants weren’t much help in this issue.

This was a pretty good Ant-Man issue and it looks like having a partner is gonna be good for him. He might even have a love interest going forward but in any case it was good to see his motivations for becoming a hero.

You can find first looks at other issues in this title linked in my January Reading List.
I rate this issue a B.

This comic can be found on Marvel Unlimited, Comixology or at your local comic book shop.