The Challenge of Comrade X!
Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: July 10, 1962
Cover: October 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages
Some time has passed since the previous issue, which ended with Henry Pym pondering: “Will I ever be forced to become Ant-Man again?”
Turns out, it didn’t take much forcing. He immediately began positioning himself to find and stop crime, and has made a name for himself, trusted by the police and public.
The FF stories used a similar gap. Had their first tale tell of their first adventure, but jumped forward for their second tale, to where their heroism had already become routine and they had gained public acceptance.
Ant-Man seems to be the first traditional superhero, engaged in routine superheroing. Actively monitoring for crimes to stop. The first issue of the FF suggests they were waiting for something big like the Mole Man’s invasion. They seemed unconcerned with day to day crimes. Spider-Man was not a hero in his one story so far. Thor and Human Torch have so far stumbled upon their battles. Ant-Man has a dedicated network of ants alerting him to trouble of all types he can help stop. He’s an active superhero using his ants to patrol.
This is character growth for the mad scientist who once just wanted to “show them all”.
The ants’ patrol consists of listening for the name “Ant-Man”. You can’t give them very complex instructions: they’re ants. But that means he needs someone to actually say his name. They can’t just say, “we need help”, or think to themselves, “I hope Ant-Man saves the day”; since they seem unaware of Ant-Man’s methods, he counts on somebody thinking he could help and casually expressing that thought aloud.
All that said, I like the idea of using ants as nodes in a communication network.
They diagram the system he has assembled for launching himself and for getting back in.
Everybody is talking about Ant-Man likes he’s this great hero and unstoppable scourge of crime. But he’s just a really small guy with some ants. He is almost defeated by a glass box, and then again by some bug spray.
Our culture’s been a bit on edge about spoilers lately, so I’m trying to avoid major spoilers as best as possible while still discussing the comics in depth. To that end, I managed to not spoil Miracle Man’s secret in Fantastic Four #3. Alas, I did reveal the identity of the Destroyer from Strange Tales #101. And here, to finish the discussion, I must reveal the secret of Comrade X. Apologies to those who have not yet read this issue, but, well… you’ve had over a half century.
Let’s reflect on the villains so far. Mole Man. Miracle Man. Saturn Men. Prince Namor. Notice a pattern? Dr. Doom, Gargoyle, all the Skrulls we met, and Destroyer hold to his pattern. They’re all men. The only exception we’ve seen so far was in Incredible Hulk #3, which featured Ringmaster. He was the main villain, also male, but his gang included a variety of circus performers, one of whom, Teena, was a female.
Here, we have our first female lead villain. Yet, she feels the need to disguise herself as a man in order to be taken seriously. To read the cover or the entire story until the last page, you would assume the villain was a man. Interpret as you will.
Notably, this is the second story in a row with an unmasking at the end, where the villain turns out to be someone we’d met earlier in the issue. In Strange Tales #101, the identity of the Destroyer was the reveal. The next issue of Tales to Astonish will have a similar ending.
Other stories in this anthology are: “The Hands of Time”; and, “The Search for Pan”.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 52/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I think the idea of a female villain who felt the need to disguise herself as a male counts as thematically interesting.
Characters:
- Comrade X
- Ant-Man/Henry Pym
Story notes:
- Opening scene involves criminals trapped in bank vault, running out of air
- Shrinking and enlarging serums now in gas form.
- Editor’s note is very clear. Inhaling the gas allows him to shrink, but the costume itself is not subject to the gas. It just shrinks when he shrinks.
- Ant-Man referred to as Astonishing Ant-Man
- Ant-Man wins the day by untying the villain’s shoelaces
#22 story in reading order
Next: Journey Into Mystery #85
Previous: Strange Tales #101
