This story begins in medias res with Giant-Man caught in a high-speed car chase before flashing back to the start of the adventure. The central gimmick here revolves around an adversary wielding a green ray that drains the knowledge, strength, and powers of its targets. Giant-Man has a chance encounter with this mysterious foe, but, hilariously enough, the villain’s green ray initially proves ineffective against his giant-sized form.

Our antagonist, however, is nothing if not persistent. He devises a plan to specifically target Giant-Man’s powers, and through the narration, we learn that this green ray has already been used to drain the minds of top scientists. This ups the stakes for our hero, who sets out on an adventure to stop this knowledge-thieving menace before the world—and his own abilities—are left powerless.

Meanwhile, the Wasp gets her own quirky subplot: a trained bee to serve as her trusty steed so she can keep up with Giant-Man in battle. Talk about riding in style!

Story

What’s a comic without a solid story, right? Unfortunately, this one trips over its own failed logic. If the green ray is supposed to steal knowledge, why does it only partially affect Giant-Man? When it hits him as Ant-Man, it inexplicably drains only his shrinking ability while leaving his understanding of Pym Particles—and therefore his powers as both Ant-Man and Giant-Man—intact. Given that his abilities are tied to his tech (via his cybernetic helmet), it’s baffling that the ray doesn’t target the knowledge embedded in his noggin. Plot hole, anyone?

And if that weren’t enough, the story digs itself into an even deeper pit. Our antagonist is ultimately defeated not by Giant-Man but by a deus ex machina in the form of mysterious aliens. These extraterrestrials swoop in to reclaim what we presume to be one of their own—our villain—effectively robbing our hero of a climactic victory.

While deus ex machina resolutions aren’t uncommon in literature or comics, this one feels especially lackluster. The hero doesn’t win; he’s saved by outside forces. Combine that with an anti-climactic ending and you’ve got a story that seems to hammer yet another nail into the coffin of Giant-Man’s solo adventures.

Originality and Continuity

One of the biggest selling points of this revamped Giant-Man was his supposed use of a new cybernetic shrink weapon (the blue helmet add on) —a feature designed to distinguish him from earlier iterations of the character. This was meant to complement his new look and justify his evolution as a hero. Yet, here we are, several issues in, and the shrink weapon hasn’t made a single meaningful appearance since its debut.

This glaring omission raises a big question: why introduce a defining gadget and then immediately forget about it? It feels like the writers either abandoned the idea outright or simply forgot it existed, which doesn’t bode well for the continuity or originality of Giant-Man’s revamped identity. Without the shrink weapon, what really separates this version of Giant-Man from his previous incarnations? Other than a cosmetic makeover, he’s left treading the same old ground, offering nothing new to justify the changes.

If Marvel wanted to give Giant-Man a fresh direction, they missed the mark by not incorporating his supposed new weapon into the stories (not that I think this weapon was ever the mark, but I covered that in the past) . At this point, the shrink ray is little more than a forgotten prop, gathering dust in the corner while the character stumbles through poorly conceived adventures. vanishing even sooner then I thought it would.

This lack of follow-through undermines both the character and the storytelling. If the creative team doesn’t seem invested in making Giant-Man’s evolution stick, how can readers be expected to stay invested in him either?

Final Thoughts

Tales to Astonish #67 had an intriguing premise but fell apart under the weight of its own inconsistencies and unsatisfying conclusion. While there’s some charm in the Wasp’s bee-riding escapades, it’s not enough to salvage a story.

Here’s hoping the next installment treats Giant-Man with the heroics he deserves—or at least spares us another alien intervention. However given that his time to shine as a solo hero in this run is soon coming to an end, I don’t hold out any real hope.