Tales to Astonish #23
In *Tales to Astonish* #23, an explorer stumbles upon a chilling secret: seemingly innocent African wood carvings are, in fact, an advanced alien invasion force led by the enigmatic Moomba. With Jack Kirby’s dynamic art and Stan Lee and Larry Lieber’s sharp scripting, the story unfolds as the carvings come to life, proving nearly invincible to human weapons. The issue ends with a native witch doctor stepping forward to confront Moomba, setting the stage for a resolution that remains shrouded in mystery. Cover by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers captures the eerie tension perfectly.
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An explorer discovers that native African wood carvings are actually an advance fifth column invasion force under the command of Moomba. Moomba gives his command to strike and all the carvings get up and begin to herd and intimidate their human owners as the wood they are crafted of is so dense that neither fire nor any other human weapons can defeat them. Using unknown means, a native African witch doctor defeats Moomba and extracts a promise from him to leave Earth along with all of his warriors.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).