*Marvel: Borrowing our heading from an Ant-Man special of a few years back, we’re delighted to present at this festive season both the first appearance of Ant-Man (Hank Pym) from Tales To Astonish #27 and of his partner the Wasp from Tales To Astonish #44. Two dynamic debuts for a favourite Marvel couple. Hank Pym, later to become Ant-Man (and Giant-Man, and Goliath, and Yellowjacket, and briefly the Wasp, but we don’t talk about that…), made his first appearance in Tales to Astonish #27 as “The Man In The Ant Hill!”, another of those ‘science gone awry’ stories so beloved of the early Marvel Bullpen. There was nothing in this story to distinguish Hank from myriad other white-coated geeks who had odd encounters at the hands of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but for some reason he sparked the public imagination and returned in TTA #35 as a fully-fledged super-hero, Ant-Man. We have a copy of Hank’s first appearance, Tales to Astonish #27, new in in FN+, a highly attractive copy with excellent cover colour and gloss. The front cover has minuscule chips from the bottom right corner and mid-lower cover edge. There is also a small (approx. 1cm square) piece out of the back cover’s lower edge, which alone prevents a substantially higher grade. (The front and back back covers are pictured below). Ant-Man soon discovered that loyal as his ants were, they lacked something in the companionship stakes – so in Tales to Astonish #44, he was joined by Janet Van Dyne, alias the Wasp, and one of comics’ greatest and most turbulent relationships was born. Our copy of TTA #44 is a gorgeous VF-, with stunning cover and gloss, and only one tiny imperfection – a staple puncture just above the logo. Hank & Jan always had the most believable romance of the Marvel Universe, and the pair have long been favourites here at 30th C., so we’re delighted to see the characters getting their due recognition. Both of these highly collectible items are cents copies, with no UK price or overstamp, and, with the second Ant-Man movie now having been retitled “Ant-Man and the Wasp”, both characters are coming into greater public prominence, so now is the time to buy. Tales To Astonish #27 FN+ is offered at £3,275; Tales To Astonish #44 VF- is £650.