Tales to Astonish #38 for Sale - First Appearance of Egghead - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 1959 series)
Issue: #38
Publication date: December 1962
Key date: 1962-12-00
On-sale date: 1962-09-11
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 Egghead - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

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

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	Betrayed by the Ants!	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Sol Brodsky; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Ant-Man, Egghead First, Hank Pym, Elihas Starr First
1	Betrayed by the Ants!!	comic story	10	script: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Dick Ayers; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Johnny Dee	Ant-Man, Egghead First, Hank Pym, Elihas Starr First
2	Strange Mission	text story	2	pencils: Joe Maneely; inks: Joe Maneely	Alfred Pook; Harold; Dr. Smith
3	I Found the Impossible World!	comic story	8	script: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber; pencils: Don Heck; inks: Don Heck; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Jon D'Agostino	John Fleming; Bartho; Ricca
4	Secret of the Statues!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Steve Ditko; inks: Steve Ditko; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Gizzard

Printings and variants

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

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Tales #3	1966	On eBay ›
Giant-Size Avengers #4	1975	On eBay ›
Essential Ant-Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-0822-X	2002	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man / Giant-Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-2049-1	2006	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

‹ #3738 of 101#39 ›

Sources

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

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