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Quote1 You're not dreaming, Simmons! That's a lobster - a twelve foot lobster! Quote2
Captain Kane

Appearing in "We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Captain Kane's Crew
    • Simmons (First appearance)
    • Numerous unnamed crewmen

Races and Species:

Locations:

  • Earth
    • Unidentified Island

Items:

  • Doctor Parker's Hormone Regulator Serum

Vehicles:

  • Captain Kane's Ship (Destroyed)

Synopsis for "We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World!"

Captain Kane navigates his fishing vessel through the sea. His crew's fishing nets manage to ensnare a lobster nearly twelve-feet in length. Kane reports the phenomenon to one of his guests, Professor Briggs. This is the second of such bizarre creatures that the crew has discovered. As Kane goes into Briggs' cabin, he finds the Professor studying the remains of a four-foot starfish. Briggs is convinced that this strange mutated sea life is related to his old colleague Doctor Parker - a scientist who disappeared over a decade ago. Briggs has a copy of a map that Parker charted before he disappeared.

At the professor's request, Captain Kane sets a course for this mysterious hidden area of the sea. As they follow Parker's map, the ship collides with a giant green mountain that wasn't indicated on the chart. Kane and Briggs manage to rope together two oil barrels and use them as a flotation device, but the rest of the crew is lost.

The two men come to an island. They discover a tribe of natives surrounding a massive wooden barricade. In front of the barricade is Doctor Parker tied to a post. The natives capture Kane and Briggs and secure them as well. Parker tells them that he has been experimenting with a hormone regulator serum. He tested the serum on several specimens, but could not control the animals' growth. The product of Parker's work makes its presence known as a giant snapping turtle bursts through the outer side of the barricade. This is Experiment 247. As natives flee in terror, the three men manage to free themselves and make for an inlet where Doctor Parker has a motor launch secured. Parker tells them that Experiment 247 is actually the second of such trials he has conducted. The original project, Experiment XYZ, was conducted years earlier. Kane and Briggs soon realize that Experiment XYZ is actually an even larger turtle, and was also the "mountain" responsible for scuttling Kane's ship. The massive creature is too large to even notice the three men, who safely race away.

Tales to Astonish Vol 1 1 001

Appearing in "I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!"

Featured Characters:

  • Unnamed Paranormal Investigator (Main story and flashback) (First appearance)

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Poltergeists (First appearance)
    • Numerous unnamed poltergeists

Other Characters:

  • Unnamed Realtor

Races and Species:

Locations:

Synopsis for "I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!"

A couple named Rita and Larry Winters buy a house that is supposedly haunted due to their budget constraints. They don't believe the rumors, and soon they have renovated the creepy old house into a cheerful looking place. Yet, seemingly unexplainable events begin to occur. Items begin flying off of shelves and counters, sturdy objects float through the air, and the couple begin hearing strange noises.

A paranormal investigator hears rumors of the couple's experiences, and decides to investigate so he can disprove the existence of supernatural forces as he has done on all of his previous cases. Upon his arrival, the couple accepts his offer to investigate and go to stay in a nearby hotel while he works. The investigator creates diagrams and timelines to show that all of the incidents were caused by worldly phenomena such as earth tremors.

When the couple returns, he shows his findings to them. They are still hesitant to stay in the house, but fear that no one will buy it from them even if they provide evidence that it isn't haunted. The investigator offers to buy it from them for what they paid on it, and the couple hurriedly accepts. Now in his new home, the investigator pats himself on the back for a job well done disproving poltergeists once again, before taking off what is revealed to be a human mask to reveal that he himself is a poltergeist. The ending panel shows his true face, and other poltergeist with him in the house, illustrating that the incidences really were the work of poltergeists all along.

Tales to Astonish Vol 1 1 011

Appearing in "The Heat's On"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Uncanny Tales #37
(originally printed as The Fan)

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Races and Species:

Synopsis for "The Heat's On"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Uncanny Tales #37
(originally printed as The Fan)

When a young boy builds a fan to help his family get through a heat wave it brings down the flying saucer that caused the heat.

Appearing in "I Was the First Man to Set Foot on... the Mystery Planet!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Staff of Life (Living Oil)

Other Characters:

  • Numerous unnamed robotic miners
  • Numerous unnamed alien robots

Races and Species:

Locations:

  • Earth-59011
    • Earth
      • Project X-36 (Underground City) (First appearance)
    • Mystery Planet (First appearance)

Synopsis for "I Was the First Man to Set Foot on... the Mystery Planet!"

A man named Tom Jonson and his partner Hank Jordan are overseeing robots they are using to create an underground city called Project X-36. Halfway through construction, the robots all break down. Tom curses the robots, saying he hates all robots and wants to destroy them. The partners are convinced their firm will become broke because of the failure, when suddenly atomic oil begins to rain from the sky. The source of the oil rain is a strange electrically charged planet passing above Earth.

Tom decides to take a ship up to the planet to investigate and see if they can obtain a source of the oil that can be used as a source of profit for his firm. As he approaches it, he notes that the planet is green and littered with exploding pools of oil. On his descent, his ship flips over and he hits his head, rendering him unconscious. He drifts in and out of delirium for awhile as he is saved by the planet's inhabitants, who study him with telepathy and nurse him back to health.

Once he is healthy, he tries to strike a bargain with them so that they can all profit from the oil pools on the planet. The aliens say that can't waste the oil because it is their "staff of life". After Tom insists, the aliens suggest that he go see a pool for himself before deciding anything. Seeing the logic in the suggestion, Tom sets off with two guides to investigate an oil pool. When they arrive at one, Tom gets too close to the edge even though one of his guides, Azka, warns him not to. The oil forms into arms and begins to pull him into the oil pool, which is dangerous because the oil is radioactive. The other guide jumps in the oil and saves him at the cost of the guide's own life. Azka then reveals that their entire race are robots. Tom realizes that's why they need the oil to survive.

Once they return to the other inhabitants, Tom again tries to strike a deal on the oil. The alien robots realize that he only cares about profits, and exile him back to Earth. The story ends with Tom falling back to Earth empty handed.

Tales to Astonish Vol 1 1 014

Appearing in "I Foiled An Enemy Invasion!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Frank (First appearance)

Antagonists:

  • Tenuous (First appearance)

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Synopsis for "I Foiled An Enemy Invasion!"

Mark Briton is a reporter on vacation. While driving down the street when he sees a peculiar billboard stating simply "The Ten Uous Are Coming!" with the picture of men dressed in strange uniforms holding guns. There is no indication to who put up the ad. As he drives, he sees many more of these billboards and notes that all of the men on the billboards have different faces. Curious, he drives to a nearby town and visits their newspaper company to ask what they know. All that the company is able to tell him is that they have been receiving reports of more of these billboards, but no one knows who put them up.

He decides to go to Center City, where he lives. He asks the local TV studios about them, thinking it may be an advertisement for a new TV show, but they don't know much about them either. Curiosity again winning the day, he decides to take a flight to Hollywood to ask around and see if someone is advertising a new sci-fi movie. Again, nobody knows where the billboards came from.

Mark decides to go examine one of the billboards closely. He notes that it feels like the man's eyes on the ad seem to follow him. Going over the message on the billboard again, he realizes the true message is "The Tenuous Are Coming!". Mark calls the army and tells them to gather all of the billboards. The army is skeptical, but doesn't want to take chances so they round up all of the billboards and take them to a secure bunker.

Mark has also found his way there, and the army tells Mark if he is wrong they will become laughing stocks. Just then, the men on the billboards step out of the billboards with their hands raised, surrendering. Mark explains that the word tenuous means thin or slender. Mark says that what happened to the Tenuous and where they came from is a story for another day.

Tales to Astonish Vol 1 1 018

Notes

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Links and References

References

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