Tales to Astonish #4

When a tyrannical film director is abducted by Martians during a sci-fi shoot, his crew faces a chilling ultimatum: he’ll be freed only if someone he’s wronged risks everything to save him. With tensions rising and past cruelties coming back to haunt them, Darius Wolf, Miss Smyth, and Malcolm Avery must confront the cost of redemption—before the Martians decide they’ve chosen the wrong prisoner.

Ashley Crane, a struggling artist, stumbles upon a magic brush that brings his paintings to life—three wishes, three transformations. From a forgotten talent to a celebrated genius, then to a tyrant ruling a European nation, his creations spiral beyond control. But when one of his own masterpieces sparks a rebellion, his power begins to unravel.

Sydney Burr, a brilliant but desperate inventor, discovers a way to stop time—but only for himself. With the world frozen, he takes advantage of his solitude to steal from the still lives around him, convinced he’s untouchable. But when time restarts, he realizes too late that everyone saw everything.

In "I Love a Mermaid!" from Tales to Astonish #4 (1959), a man haunted by the sea’s pull finds himself drawn to a mermaid named Alethea. As he plunges beneath the waves, he discovers a truth deeper than romance—his longing was never just desire, but a memory of a life beneath the tides.

In "The Man Who Floats in Space!", Capt. Racer and the mysterious Bogane team up in a high-stakes game of deception among the stars, using a drifting space suit as bait to expose a band of space pirates—where one man’s isolation in the void becomes the key to their downfall.