Strange Tales #73
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeStrange Tales #73 sits at a genuine crossroads of Atlas-era monster storytelling and the emerging Marvel Universe continuity. Its lead story, 'Grottu, King of the Insects!' — a Kirby-penciled, Bill Everett-inked tale of an atomically mutated giant ant bent on world conquest — was later retroactively woven into the Marvel Universe when the anonymous character 'Frank' who defeats Grottu was identified, across multiple subsequent retcons, as Ulysses Bloodstone, making this issue the earliest published appearance of that monster-hunting character in Earth-616 continuity. The issue is also widely tagged by dealers and databases as an Ant-Man prototype: a giant insect with a hive-mind it can command, foiled by a human who exploits the biology of its own ant colony — a concept that directly anticipates the Ant-Man premise Marvel would formalize two years later. Taken together, these threads make this one of the more consequential anthology issues from the pre-superhero Atlas era, demonstrating how that period's disposable monster fables quietly seeded the mythology of the Marvel Universe.
In "Grottu, King of the Insects!", a journalist and an archaeologist uncover a terrifying secret in the African wilderness: a colossal, atomically mutated ant with startling intelligence. Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and brought to life by Jack Kirby’s dynamic art and Bill Everett’s sharp inks, this 1960 Marvel classic pits humanity against a hive-minded menace—only to find that even the mightiest conqueror can be undone by a simple sweet tooth. The cover by Jack Kirby and Bill Everett captures the scale and menace of the moment perfectly.
In "Grottu, King of the Insects!" from Strange Tales #73 (1960), a journalist and an archaeologist uncover a colossal, atomically mutated ant in Africa—intelligent, ambitious, and determined to command an army of insects in a bid for global dominance. With their wits and a simple but clever trick involving sugar, they must outmaneuver a creature far beyond ordinary comprehension.
In "I Saw the End of the World!", a lone scientist defies his colleagues and journeys into the future with a time machine, only to discover time itself is trapped in an endless loop. When he returns to his own era, his memories fade, and he finds himself rebuilding the machine—again.
In "I Was Captured by the Mole Men!" from Strange Tales #73, a routine subway ride turns into a terrifying ordeal when a train is seized by a hidden underground race. As police launch a rescue, the truth behind the creatures' actions begins to unravel—revealing a conflict far more complex than a simple invasion.
In "I Am a Walking Time Bomb," a lone robot dispatched by alien conquerers to Earth faces a choice: obliterate humanity or be destroyed himself. As he witnesses the compassion and resilience of the people he was sent to crush, he begins to question his purpose—until a quiet moment of empathy ignites a decision that could unravel his creators' empire.
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The issue arrived during a deliberate creative pivot Stan Lee and Jack Kirby executed starting with Strange Tales #68 (April 1959), when the title was retooled to capitalize on the booming science-fiction monster trend popularized by Japanese kaiju films and domestic B-movies. Under that format, virtually every issue opened with a Kirby monster splash followed by twist-ending short stories from Ditko, Don Heck, and Paul Reinman. Issue #73's lead strip was plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Kirby, and inked by Bill Everett — a pairing fans have since noted produced unusually lush brushwork, with some collectors' commentary suggesting it may represent one of the earliest known instances of Everett inking Kirby's pencils. The character Frank — written in 1959 as a throwaway expedition journalist — was not conceived as Ulysses Bloodstone; that connection was established decades later, first hinted in Marvel Universe #4 (1998) and confirmed in Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone (2005).
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Grottu, King of the Insects — an atomically mutated, super-intelligent giant ant who commands an army of insects in an attempt at world conquest, set in Mombasa, Kenya.
- Earliest published appearance (by later retroactive continuity) of Ulysses Bloodstone, the immortal monster hunter, who appears here only as a character named 'Frank'; his formal named debut came in Marvel Presents #1 (October 1975).
- Widely catalogued as an Ant-Man prototype issue: the giant, hive-controlling insect antagonist and the human hero's tactic of turning the ant colony against Grottu by coating him in sugar anticipate core Ant-Man concepts.
- Lead story 'Grottu, King of the Insects!' is plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Bill Everett, colored by Stan Goldberg, and lettered by Artie Simek; cover also by Kirby and Everett.
- The issue is an anthology containing four additional stories: 'I Saw the End of the World!' (Ditko art; time-machine infinite-loop thriller), 'I Was Captured by the Mole Men!' (Don Heck art), 'I Am a Walking Time Bomb' (Paul Reinman art), and a prose text story, 'The Tree.'
- The Grottu lead story was reprinted prominently in Strange Tales Annual #1 (1962) — one of Marvel's first-ever annuals — and again in Where Monsters Dwell #3 (May 1970), Monster Masterworks (1989), and the Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus (2017).
- Later Marvel continuity established that Grottu's creation was not random mutation but was engineered behind the scenes by the Deviant leader Kro, who conducted the nuclear tests that produced him.
- Grottu survived his apparent death in this issue and went on to appear in Fantastic Four Unlimited #7 (1994), Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl #1 (2005), and further stories in which his sentience possesses Ant-Man's helmet.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Strange Stories of Suspense #11 (1956)
Reprinted in Mystic #20 (1962), Spellbound #20 (1962), Strange Tales Annual #1 (1962), Creepy Worlds #15 (1963), Spellbound #59 (1965), Spellbound #65 (1965), Fantasy Masterpieces #3 (1966), Where Monsters Dwell #3 (1970), Monsters on the Prowl #14 (1971), Eclipso #54 (1975), Eclipso #55 (1975), Planet of the Apes #97 (1976), Conan #3 (1978), Eclipso #66 (1979), Doctor Who Weekly #33 (1980), Monster Masterworks #[nn] (1989), Monsters Unleashed Prelude #[nn] (2017), Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby #1 (2017), Marvel Masters of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus #1 (2019), Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus #[nn] (2020), Creepy Worlds #68
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