Revenge of the Ants, Man!

 

Got an unpleasant surprise this morning after the outside temperature hit 80 for the first time this year, as we discovered an invasion of ants in the kitchen!
It's been contained and almost eliminated, but we're not going to do the usual post today.

Covid-19 Doesn't Stop the Ants, Man!

Not even a pandemic stops the pests!

They've gone from the back yard to our basement bathroom and straight up the pipes into our main floor bathroom!
It's been contained and almost eliminated, but we're not going to do the usual post today.

Attack of the Ants, Man!

Got an unpleaseant surprise late last night, as we discovered an invasion of ants in the basement of our "final resting place" (as my significant other calls our new home)!It's been contained and almost eliminated, but we're not going to do the usual post today.

Return of the Ants, Man!

When we moved last year, we were pleasantly-suprised at how little insect activity there was at the new pied-a-terre.
Got an unpleaseant surprise this morning, as we discovered an invasion of ants in the bathroom!
It's been contained and almost eliminated, but we're not going to do the usual post today.

Reading Room STRANGE TALES OF THE UNUSUAL "Man Who Said 'No' "

Here's one more Atlas/Marvel ant-themed story predating "Man in the Ant Hill"...

...about another scientist who developed a formula to shrink living beings!

Unlike Henry Pym, Max (whose last name remains unknown), never realizes his idea works...but the arrogant financier who refused to bankroll him certainly does...

This story from Atlas' Strange Tales of the Unusual #10 (1957) is illustrated by Angelo Torres, who started as one of EC Comics' sci-fi and horror-illustrating "Fleagle Gang", but found greater success when he switched to humorous cartooning for MAD Magazine and Esquire!

The writer is unknown, but might be Atlas editor Stan Lee.

Reading Room ADVENTURES INTO TERROR "Ant World"

"The Man in the Ant Hill", which spawned Ant-Man, was not Timely/Atlas/Marvel's first ant-themed tale...

...but I'm betting this never-reprinted tale from Adventures into Terror #43 (1950) is the first!

So there's elements of what would later be "Man in the Ant Hill" as well as the 1957 novella "The Fly" by George Langelaan, which became the basis for movie series in 1958 and 1986!

GCD attributes the art to Mike Sekowsky, but it doesn't match his work on Speed Carter: Spaceman only a couple of years later as shown HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Either he radically modified his style within a very short timeframe (which is possible), or the guys at GCD got it wrong, which happens occasionally.

In any case, I'm going to stay with both the writer and artists of the story as "unknown", until somebody can provide proof otherwise.

Though this issue of Adventures into Terror was listed in the indicia as #43, it's actually the first issue since the book was previously-known as Joker Comics!

Apparently, the Post Office caught on, since by the third issue, the numbering was corrected to #3, indicting a new second class mailing permit had been issued.
The classic example of this sort of bait-and-switch by comics publishers to avoid paying for a new second class mailing license (which each periodical needed) was EC's Moon Girl series.
The first issue was Moon Girl and the Prince.
As of #2, it became just Moon Girl.
When #7 came out, it became Moon Girl Fights Crime, adding true-crime tales narrated by Moon Girl. (The lead stories were still Moon Girl adventures.)
Two issues later (#9), the book became a romance title, A Moon, A Girl, Romance! (The final Moon Girl story appeared in the back of #9.)
Finally, as of #13, the book shifted gears into science fiction and became Weird Fantasy which ran from 13-17.
Then, since it had five issues under the Weird Fantasy title, the Post Office forced EC to buy a new mailing permit for the series, and continue the numbering with #6.
It ran until #22, when it merged with Weird Science into Weird Science-Fantasy.
(This explains why Weird Fantasy has two #13, #14, #15, #16, and #17 issues a couple of years apart!)
Since both Science and Fantasy ended with #22, it's uncertain which series' mailing permit was used from that point until Weird Science-Fantasy became Incredible Science Fiction as of #30!
Got it?

Before Ant-Man...There Was FLY-MAN!

Actualy, there were two of them!

A Golden Age superhero...

who only appeared twice!

And this longer-running Silver Age hero...

...who was co-created by Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's co-creator!

Read about them at our "brother" RetroBlog; Hero Histories!

Ant-Man, nah, nah, nah, nah...Ant-Man, nah, nah, nah, nah...

Looks like my favorite Marvel character...

...is finally making an appearance in a big-budget Marvel movie...sorta!

except now he'll look like this...

Makes me nostalgic for his first appearance on the syndicated Marvel Super-Heroes in 1966...

...adapting The Avengers #2 "The Space Phantom", where he appears as both Giant-Man and Ant-Man!
(The tv series never adapted the first issue, but did feature Hank Pym as Ant-Man, Giant-Man and Goliath in adaptations of Avengers #4, #5, and #6 as well as the Captain America story in Tales of Suspense #84.)

Return of the Ants, Man!

The ants are back in the living room...in force!

Makes you wonder if Henry Pym's a little perturbed he wasn't included in either the Avengers movie or the new Age of Ultron, and is getting his six-legged friends to "lobby" for his big screen debut...

Return of the Ants, Man!

Due to the mild winter, the ants are back in the kitchen...in force!

Makes you wonder if Henry Pym's a little perturbed he wasn't included in the Avengers movie, and is getting his six-legged friends to "lobby" for his big screen debut...