Tales to Astonish #61
Tales to Astonish #61 (November 1964) is the debut of Major Glenn Talbot, one of the most enduring figures in the Hulk's supporting cast — a patriotic, conflicted military officer whose romantic rivalry with Bruce Banner over Betty Ross, and his dogged pursuit of the Hulk on behalf of the Pentagon, gave the strip a long-running Cold War-inflected soap opera backbone that outlasted the book's own title change into The Incredible Hulk. The issue also marks the very first installment of the 'Mails to Astonish' letters page, a reader-interaction milestone Stan Lee was installing across the Marvel line at this moment. Sitting just one issue into the newly minted Giant-Man/Hulk split-book format — a structural experiment that would define the title until 1968 — it captures the early Silver Age Marvel Universe in a state of deliberate, self-conscious world-building, with both halves of the book advancing distinct villain rogues and serialized military intrigue simultaneously.
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Both stories were scripted by Stan Lee and illustrated primarily by Steve Ditko, with George Roussos inking under the house pseudonym 'George Bell.' The Giant-Man half, however, has a notable production wrinkle: Joe Orlando originally drew 'Now Walks the Android' but reportedly refused Stan Lee's requested revisions, leading to Ditko being brought in at the last minute to rework Orlando's pages rather than draw the story from scratch — an episode that contributed to Orlando's departure from Marvel entirely, after which he went on to a defining career at DC Comics. The cover was supplied by Jack Kirby and inker Chic Stone, meaning the issue carries the fingerprints of three distinct artistic hands before it reaches the reader.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Major Glenn Talbot — created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko — in the Hulk backup story 'Captured at Last!' (cover-dated November 1964, released August 4, 1964).
- Talbot is introduced as a Pentagon-appointed security chief sent to Gamma Base to investigate the suspicious behavior of Dr. Bruce Banner under the command of General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross; he immediately develops a romantic interest in Betty Ross, establishing his role as Banner's rival.
- By the issue's end, Talbot openly suggests to Ross that the Hulk and Banner must somehow be connected — planting the seed for the long-running 'Banner as traitor' story arc that would run through the Hulk's Tales to Astonish tenure.
- The Giant-Man story 'Now Walks the Android' features villain Egghead (Elihas Starr) constructing a mentally-controlled android from an ordinary store mannequin to battle Giant-Man and the Wasp, luring them into a trap with the false promise of a TV series.
- This issue debuts the 'Mails to Astonish' letters page — the first reader mail column for this title — as Stan Lee standardized reader-correspondence sections across Marvel's line.
- The cover was penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Chic Stone; interior art on both stories was by Steve Ditko (with Joe Orlando providing uncredited original layouts on the Giant-Man story, later reworked by Ditko) and inked by George Roussos (credited as 'George Bell').
- Both stories have been reprinted multiple times, including in Essential Ant-Man Vol. 1, Essential Hulk Vol. 1, Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 2, Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 2, The Incredible Hulk Omnibus Vol. 1, and the Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection Vol. 2.
- Glenn Talbot was later adapted for live-action television in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., portrayed by Adrian Pasdar across multiple seasons, where a version of the character ultimately became the gravity-powered villain Graviton in Season 5.
Cast · 11 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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The Hulk takes on the indestructible Banner-created robot and, in one of the more dubious plot devices in comics, succeeds in kicking him down a bottomless hole when he realizes that he cannot beat the machine. Glenn Talbot arrives on gamma base sent by the Pentagon to keep an eye on the suspicious activity of Bruce Banner. Glenn decides that keeping an eye on Betty seems like a good idea as well. The Hulk is felled while saving Gamma Base from a missile and Ross captures him in a special restraint built by Bruce Banner based on a design by Tony Stark.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).