Tales to Astonish #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTales to Astonish #12 (cover date October 1960, on sale May 31, 1960) marks the first appearance of Gorgilla, a towering half-man, half-ape creature discovered by a scientific expedition on Borneo's Midnight Mountain — one of the pre-Marvel monster era's more enduring creations, who would be woven decades later into the broader Marvel cosmology as a Deviant genetic experiment. The issue sits squarely within the Atlas-era science-fiction anthology run that Stan Lee and his bullpen produced for Tales to Astonish before the title pivoted to superhero stories, and it demonstrates the creative formula — giant creature, remote expedition, ironic twist of sympathy — that characterized this corner of early Marvel storytelling. Gorgilla's narrative arc across subsequent decades, from a standalone monster curiosity to a rehabilitated resident of the Baxter Building who helped defeat the invader Tim Boo Ba, illustrates how Marvel writers systematically rescued even the most throwaway Atlas creations and embedded them in the shared universe. The issue also carries a retroactive distinction: later continuity established that one of the unnamed expedition members was none other than Doctor Druid, quietly threading this pre-hero issue into the Silver Age tapestry.
In Tales to Astonish #12, a lone astronaut's routine mission takes a terrifying turn when he spots a monstrous creature clawing at his tiny orbital capsule—only to be dismissed as a hallucination by ground control. But when a broken claw is found on the spacecraft, the truth behind the terror from the void begins to surface. Steve Ditko’s eerie art and Stan Goldberg’s bold colors bring this early Marvel sci-fi mystery to life, while Jack Kirby’s cover captures the chilling moment of isolation and dread.
In the heart of Borneo’s uncharted jungles, a small expedition led by Scotty stumbles upon a creature that defies explanation—Gorgilla, a towering primate caught between legend and reality. When a sudden attack by a prehistoric beast threatens the jungle’s fragile balance, Gorgilla’s fierce loyalty to his kin reveals a mind far beyond instinct. With Anne and Frank at his side, the team must decide whether to flee or stand and face the unknown.
In "My Nightmare Has No End!", a man finds himself trapped in a surreal dreamscape where an extradimensional being promises a life of thrilling escape from his mundane existence. The offer seems too good to refuse—until he wakes to realize he’s not the dreamer, but the prisoner, trapped in another’s nightmare.
In "Save Me! Save Me!", scientist Albert Poole discovers a way to walk on water—only to find his newfound ability traps him, as he can no longer stand on land. Now stranded between two worlds, he must confront the consequences of his experiment before it’s too late.
In a tense, isolated mission from 1960, Major Ford orbits Earth in a fragile sphere, cut off from contact. When he swears a monstrous presence claws at his vessel from the void, his frantic plea for retrieval is met with disbelief—until ground control discovers a shattered claw embedded in the craft’s hull.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 19 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw / ungraded ▾ $8.99–$125 9 listings
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was produced squarely within the Atlas Comics pipeline that preceded Marvel's superhero renaissance, with Stan Lee scripting and his brother Larry Lieber co-writing the anthology package, as was standard practice on the title during this period. The lead story — 'I Discovered Gorgilla! The Monster of Midnight Mountain!' — was penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers, with Stan Goldberg on colors and Artie Simek lettering; the cover was also by Kirby and Ayers. The remaining four short stories in the issue drew on the full bullpen: Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and Paul Reinman each illustrated at least one piece, making the issue a representative cross-section of the anthology talent assembled around Lee at that moment. Tales to Astonish ran issues #1–34 initially under the Atlas banner before transitioning to the Marvel imprint with issue #21 in 1961, so issue #12 was produced and published during the Atlas phase of the series.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Gorgilla, a roughly 25-foot tall half-man/half-ape creature native to Borneo's Midnight Mountain, in the lead story 'I Discovered Gorgilla! The Monster of Midnight Mountain!' (pages 3–11).
- Story written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Dick Ayers — the same core team driving Atlas-era monster anthology output at the time.
- The issue is a five-story anthology package; additional stories were illustrated by Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and Paul Reinman, with a text story featuring art by Joe Maneely.
- Cover date: October 1960; on-sale date: May 31, 1960 (per Library of Congress Copyright Office records cited in the Grand Comics Database).
- Retroactive continuity established in Marvel Universe #4 revealed that one of the unnamed expedition scientists in the Gorgilla story was Doctor Druid (Anthony Druid), connecting this pre-Marvel monster tale to the Silver Age hero roster.
- The lead Gorgilla story has been reprinted multiple times: Monsters on the Prowl #9 (Feb. 1971), Weird Wonder Tales #21 (March 1977, with alterations recasting it as a Doctor Druid story), Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish Vol. 2 (2008), Monsters Unleashed Prelude (2017), and Monsters: The Marvel Monsterbus by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby (2017).
- The 'My Nightmare Has No End!' back-up story was separately reprinted as 'The Beast Man' in Fantasy Masterpieces #4, and also in Fear #4 and Tomb of Darkness #19.
- Gorgilla was later retroactively classified as a Deviant genetic mutate, connecting this 1960 Atlas monster to Jack Kirby's Eternals mythology; later appearances placed Gorgilla in the Baxter Building rehabilitation program alongside Fin Fang Foom, Googam, and Elektro.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Strange Tales of the Unusual #1 (1955)
Reprinted in Spellbound #25 (1962), Amazing Stories of Suspense #13 (1964), Fantasy Masterpieces #4 (1966), Hit Comics #109 (1969), Monsters on the Prowl #9 (1971), Fear #3 (1971), Fear #4 (1971), Vengeur #15 (1975), Das Monster von Frankenstein #26 (1976), Tomb of Darkness #19 (1976), L'incroyable Hulk #61 (1976), Chamber of Chills #24 (1976), Weird Wonder Tales #21 (1977), La Mujer Araña #8 (1982), Fantomet #25/1985 (1985), Amazing Stories of Suspense #226 (1986), Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish #2 (2008), 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), Amazing Stories of Suspense #84, Das Monster von Frankenstein #28, Die Gruft von Graf Dracula #26, Misterios del Gato Negro #125
Key issues in Tales to Astonish
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.