Tales to Astonish #50
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTales to Astonish #50 (cover-dated December 1963) delivers the first appearance and origin of Dave Cannon, the Human Top — a mutant whose ability to spin at superhuman speed would make him one of the defining recurring antagonists in the Hank Pym corner of the Marvel Universe, later re-emerging as Whirlwind. The issue marks an important structural moment for the series as well: it is the first Giant-Man story told across two issues, an early experiment with continued-next-issue serialization that was still genuinely rare in the anthology-era Marvel of 1963. It is also the first issue in which Henry Pym appears exclusively as Giant-Man, fully shedding his Ant-Man identity within the story — a clean break that defined the character's trajectory through the rest of the Silver Age.
In "The Human Top!", a kingdom's fate hangs on a single, seemingly foolish advisor—until a shocking twist reveals the true nature of power. Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, with art by Larry Lieber and inks by Matt Fox, this 1963 tale unfolds with a haunting blend of mystery and irony. The cover, by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky, captures the story’s eerie tension in bold, dynamic lines.
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Stan Lee had personally retaken the scripting reins on the Giant-Man feature just one issue earlier, in Tales to Astonish #49, after a period when other writers had handled the strip to results he found unsatisfying. For issue #50, Lee paired with penciller Jack Kirby and an unusually notable inker: Steve Ditko, making for a rare Kirby-Ditko collaboration on the same story. The splash page advertised the story as a 'double-length spectacular,' which has led readers to speculate that the tale was originally conceived as a full-length solo issue before being restructured into the first half of a two-parter, with backup strips reinstated. Letterer Sam Rosen completed the production team.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance and origin of David 'Dave' Cannon, the Human Top (Earth-616), who is established as a mutant capable of spinning his body at superhuman speeds.
- The Human Top would later redesign his costume, rename himself Whirlwind, and first appear under that identity in Avengers #46 (1967), going on to become a persistent Avengers-era villain with an obsessive fixation on the Wasp.
- This is the first issue in which Henry Pym appears solely as Giant-Man, with no Ant-Man persona present — a milestone in the Pym identity timeline.
- The story is Part 1 of 2, continuing in Tales to Astonish #51 — making it one of the earliest multi-part cliffhanger narratives in the Giant-Man/Ant-Man strip and a notable early use of serialized storytelling in the Marvel Silver Age anthology format.
- Creative team: written by Stan Lee, pencilled by Jack Kirby, inked by Steve Ditko — a rare combination; Ditko's inking of Kirby on a superhero strip was an uncommon pairing in the Marvel bullpen.
- The issue includes a backup text story reprinted from Uncanny Tales #46, plus an additional short story, giving the book three distinct features.
- The story has been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 1 (hardcover) and the Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection Vol. 1: The Man in the Ant Hill, and is available digitally via Marvel Unlimited.
Cast · 4 characters
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A wise king listens only to the advice of a hunchback, causing the jealous nobles to murder the hunchback. They discover that the hunchback was the real ruler, and the king is only a manniquin.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
Key issues in Tales to Astonish
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