Astonishing Tales #13
Astonishing Tales #13 (August 1972) is a pivotal Bronze Age issue on two fronts: it delivers the third appearance of Man-Thing — and, crucially, the character's first cover appearance in any Marvel comic — marking the moment the muck-monster graduated from buried anthology filler to a prominent visual presence that helped launch his own mythology. Equally important, the issue caps the two-part story that fully establishes Dr. Barbara Morse as a named, credentialed scientist-spy with direct S.H.I.E.L.D. ties, laying the character groundwork that would eventually produce the Avenger known as Mockingbird. The revelation that her fiancé Paul Allen is an A.I.M. double agent — and his death at the Man-Thing's touch — closes her introductory arc and frees her for the solo espionage career that would define her for the next decade.
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The issue was written by Roy Thomas, who had been shepherding the Ka-Zar feature through Astonishing Tales, with interior pencils split between Rich Buckler (pages 1–6) and John Buscema (pages 7–20), inked by Dan Adkins. Buckler also provided the cover. The story concludes a two-part Everglades arc begun in issue #12, itself notable for printing — as a flashback — the long-delayed Len Wein/Neal Adams Man-Thing sequence that had been commissioned for an unpublished Savage Tales #2. Thomas was functioning as Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, giving these issues an unusual editorial continuity between the writer's room and the executive suite. Mike Friedrich took over the Ka-Zar strip beginning with issue #15.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First cover appearance of Man-Thing (Ted Sallis) in any Marvel comic — the character had previously appeared only in interior stories in Savage Tales #1 (1971) and Astonishing Tales #12 (1972).
- Third overall appearance of Man-Thing in the Marvel Universe.
- Concludes the two-part arc that fully names and establishes Dr. Barbara Morse as a S.H.I.E.L.D.-connected scientist, the character who will later become the Avenger Mockingbird (first fully named as such in Marvel Team-Up #95, 1980).
- Dr. Paul Allen is unmasked as an A.I.M. double agent and killed by the Man-Thing's fear-reactive touch — a story beat that severs Morse's civilian life and sets her on a purely espionage-driven path.
- Written by Roy Thomas; art split between Rich Buckler (pp. 1–6) and John Buscema (pp. 7–20), inked by Dan Adkins; cover by Rich Buckler.
- The issue has been reprinted in: Essential Man-Thing Vol. 1 (2006, black and white); Man-Thing Omnibus (2012); Marvel Masterworks: Ka-Zar Vol. 1 (2013); Mockingbird: Bobbi Morse, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016); and Marvel Masterworks: Man-Thing Vol. 1 (2024).
- A British variant edition exists; a National Diamond Sales advertisement insert variant and a Mark Jeweler advertisement insert variant have also been documented.
Cast · 12 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Ka-Zar (with the help of AIM) manages to capture the Man-Thing and he is transported to the lab. He escapes and follows Ka-Zar and Barbara Morris when they go searching for the kidnapped Dr. Calvin. They find and save Dr. Calvin but the traitorous Paul Allen is killed by the Man-Thing.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).