Tales to Astonish Comics Price Guide

Most Valuable Tales to Astonish Comics

This series began in the early Silver Age, before Stan Lee created the Fantastic Four -- and started the so-called Marvel Age of Comics.

This was one of the titles which began before the Marvel Age of Comics, and then pivoted into a superhero series, just as Tales of Suspense did.

Each issue was a Jack Kirby monster story, the closest comics could get to comic books of the 1950s after the introduction of the Comics Code Authority.

The most famous of these is Groot in TTA#13, who starred in Guardians of the Galaxy movies in the MCU.

All this monster stuff changed when Tales to Astonish #27 was published.

The introduction of Hank Pym in TTA#27 as "The Man in the Ant Hill", more or less just another soft-boiled suspense/horror story, led to his costumed superhero debut in TTA#35 as the superhero, Ant-Man.

Ant Man comics would run for years in the title.

Later, the Wasp and Giant Man would appear for the first time in this title, before the series pivoted AGAIN into a double-header between Hulk and Sub-Mariner.

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Top 20 Most Valuable Tales to Astonish Comics

Tales to Astonish #1
Monster cover by Kirby

Lowest price $200

Average price $1,200

Record price $14,400

The first issue of this long-running series started in the new normal during Code times for "horror" or suspense titles, soft-boiled monster stories. Issue #1 of most Atlas titles are collectible.

Tales to Astonish #5
Kirby monster tryout stories begin

Lowest price $60

Average price $300

Record price $3,500

During this period, most Marvel/Atlas titles went this way, with random monsters on the covers.

Tales to Astonish #27
1st Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man
"The Man in the Ant Hill"

Lowest price $500

Average price $3,750

Record price $200,000

While it would be another eight issues before the title pivoted into a superhero title, collectors value this above TTA#35 as the first Ant-Man appearance. A huge, and somewhat scarce, key issue.

Tales to Astonish #38
1st Egg-Head

Lowest price $40

Average price $200

Record price $7,200

Stan Lee said of Ant-Man that he was never happy with how the stories were drawn; they didn't properly emphasize how small he was compared to his surroundings.

Egg-Head is a long-running Ant-Man villain who is obsessed with destroying him and the Wasp.

Tales to Astonish #44
1st Wasp

Lowest price $200

Average price $900

Record price $56,000

Janet van Dyne becomes the Wasp in this crucial key issue. She goes on to become a founder member of the Avengers, and co-stars alongside Ant-Man in several MCU movies.

Tales to Astonish #50
1st Human Top/Whirlwind

Lowest price $30

Average price $150

Record price $3,400

If you're wondering why you've never heard of the Human Top... He later becomes Whirlwind. Never heard of him either? He's a long-running Ant-Man villain. Apparently...

Tales to Astonish #60
Giant-Man and Hulk double features begin

Lowest price $20

Average price $220

Record price $6,350

Rather like Tales of Suspense became a double header title, TTA became a double header at issue #60. Hulk carried the title for another 40 issues, while Giant-Man was dropped in favor of Sub-Mariner in issue #70.

Tales to Astonish #70
Hulk and Sub-Mariner double headers begin

Lowest price $15

Average price $100

Record price $2,400

While the title had been a double header before, this switch to Sub-Mariner reflected the lack of popularity of Giant-Man.

Tales to Astonish #81
1st Boomerang

Lowest price $10

Average price $70

Record price $445

Boomerang was a disgraced major league baseball pitcher.

Recruited by the Secret Empire, he committed crimes by... drum roll... throwing boomerangs.

Tales to Astonish #91
1st Abomination cover

Lowest price $20

Average price $100

Record price $1,680

A cool action cover and the full origin story of Abomination make this issue a minor key.

Tales to Astonish #101
Final issue; stories continue in Incredible Hulk #102 and Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1

Lowest price $15

Average price $70

Record price $2,150

The last issue of a series is often worth a little more than the previous ones. This explains why Incredible Hulk #102 starts at such a strange issue #.

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