Strange Tales #85

Strange Tales #85 brings the monstrous Gargantus crashing back onto the scene in this June 1961 Marvel chiller. Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers's cover is a masterwork of deep-sea dread: the massive, scaly creature crouches in a rocky underwater abyss, clutching a diving bell in one clawed fist while tiny trapped figures are visible through its glass porthole — and the desperate speech bubbles make it clear the air inside is running out fast. It's a perfectly constructed moment of suspense that captures early Marvel's gift for monsters that feel genuinely threatening rather than merely big.