Tales to Astonish #40
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTales to Astonish #40 marks the first appearance of the Hijacker (Howard Mitchell), a minor but persistent Silver Age Marvel villain who would resurface across decades of Marvel continuity — from Marvel Two-in-One to Captain America — before meeting his end at the hands of the Scourge of the Underworld. The issue also closes a creative chapter: it is the final Ant-Man story penciled by Jack Kirby, who handed the interior art duties to Don Heck beginning with the very next issue. Within the Ant-Man run it stands out for framing Henry Pym less as a miniature brawler and more as a deductive detective — a storytelling approach critics have noted may have contributed to the character's difficulty connecting with wider readership at the time.
In "The Day That Ant-Man Failed!", the diminutive hero takes on a string of mysterious armored car heists, using a clever ruse to expose the true culprit—only to uncover a shocking twist tied to the company behind the crime. With his size and wit, Ant-Man dives into a high-stakes game of deception, where the line between criminal and victim blurs.
In the year 2000, a convicted criminal known as Hogarr is exiled from Earth, sentenced to drift in space as punishment for his crimes—now that death has been abolished. Mocking his judges, he activates a hidden micro-drill in his finger, confident he’ll escape his orbital cell. But when he finally breaks free, he realizes too late that his so-called freedom is a gilded prison, adrift in the endless void.
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The series was plotted by Stan Lee and scripted by his brother Larry Lieber throughout the early Ant-Man run, with penciling first by Kirby and later by Don Heck and others. For issue #40 specifically, the unusual choice of Sol Brodsky as inker — rather than Kirby's frequent collaborator Dick Ayers — gives the art a noticeably different finish; Brodsky typically confined himself to production duties in the early Marvel Bullpen rather than finished inking. The issue went on sale November 8, 1962, with a February 1963 cover date.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Hijacker, whose secret identity is Howard Mitchell, owner of the Mitchell Armored Truck Company — he is both the villain and the ostensible victim of the story.
- The Hijacker's method relies on an amnesia-inducing knockout gas whose formula Mitchell learned during a trip to Peru, a plot clue telegraphed by Incan statues displayed in his office.
- This is the final Ant-Man story penciled by Jack Kirby; Don Heck took over as interior penciler starting with Tales to Astonish #41.
- Full creative credits on the lead story 'The Day That Ant-Man Failed!': plot by Stan Lee, script by Larry Lieber (credited as L. D. Lieber), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Sol Brodsky, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek.
- The issue is a 36-page anthology containing two additional backup stories: 'I Was Trapped in the Mad Universe!' (art by Don Heck) and 'The Worst Man on Earth!' (art by Steve Ditko), plus a text story.
- The Hijacker returned in Marvel Two-in-One #24 (Feb. 1976) and #96 (Feb. 1983), before being killed by the Scourge of the Underworld in Captain America #319 (July 1986).
- The lead Ant-Man story has been reprinted in Essential Ant-Man #1 (February 2002, black and white), Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 1 (2006 and 2013 editions), and the Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection Vol. 1 (2015), as well as in several international editions including a Marvel UK version heavily condensed to four pages for Hulk Comic #11 (1979).
- On-sale date was November 8, 1962; cover date is February 1963.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Journey into Unknown Worlds #50 (1956)
Reprinted in Weird Planets #3 (1962), Creepy Worlds #32 (1964), Mystic #45 (1964), Uncanny Tales #26 (1965), Marvel Tales #5 (1966), Hit Comics #133 (1970), Hit Comics #134 (1970), Creepy Worlds #127 (1971), Fantastic Four #14 (1972), L'étonnant Spider-Man #14 (1972), Hulk Comic #11 (1979), The Empire Strikes Back Weekly #129 (1980), The Empire Strikes Back Weekly #131 (1980), Marvel's Greatest Comics #94 (1980), Fantastiske Fire #12/1980 (1980), Marvel's Greatest Comics #95 (1980), Essential Ant-Man #1 (2002), Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man / Giant-Man #1 (2006), Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish #4 (2011), Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man / Giant-Man #1 (2013), Ant-Man / Giant-Man Epic Collection #1 (2015), Marvel Gold. El Hombre Hormiga: ¡El Hombre en el Hormiguero! #[nn] (2015), Marvel Masters of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus #2 (2019), Amazing Stories of Suspense #76 + 5 more
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