Tales of Suspense #40 for Sale - First Appearance of Gargantus - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Tales of Suspense (Marvel, 1959 series)
Issue: #40
Publication date: April 1963
Key date: 1963-04-00
On-sale date: 1963-01-10
Indicia publisher: Vista Publications Inc.
Price: $0.12
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Gargantus - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

Origin story on record for: Gargantus.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Don Heck; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Iron Man, Tony Stark, Gargantus First
2	Iron Man versus Gargantus!	comic story	13	script: Stan Lee, R. Berns; pencils: J. Kirby; inks: D. Heck; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Duffi	Iron Man, Tony Stark, Gargantus First
3	Wrong Number	text story	1.75	letters: typeset	Joey Doakes; Phil Turner
9	Work of Art!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber; pencils: Larry Lieber; inks: Sol Brodsky; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: V. Berg	Frans Ridderkerk; Henrick Rammp
12	Statement Required by the Act of August 24, 1912, as Amended by the Acts of March 3, 1933, July 2, 1946 and June 11, 1960 (74 Stat. 208)	statement of ownership	0.25	letters: typeset
14	Prophet of Doom!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko; inks: Steve Ditko; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Charlie; Joe

Plus 10 pages of advertisements and other matter across 13 sequences, as published.

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 9d [0-0-9 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #3	1966	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks #20 ISBN 0-87135-912-X	1992	On eBay ›
Essential Iron Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-0759-2	2000	On eBay ›
The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #8	1986	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-1186-7	2003	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

‹ #3940 of 99#41 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com