Tales to Astonish 34

In this issue:

A Monster At My Window
12 pages :: Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers
reprinted in Monsters on the Prowl 29

The Strange Fate of the Statue Maker
6 pages :: Jack Kirby/Paul Reinman
reprinted in Monsters on the Prowl 30

Dear Editor,
I loved this story as a boy. I remember this character well. He was a gruesome monster but intelligent enough to communicate.

I read this story in its reprint form, in Monsters on The Prowl #29. I was about 8 or 9, and the comic was one of three in a pack for 75 cents (bagged along w/ a Kirby Nick Fury Reprint in WAR IS HELL and issue #178 of The Incredible Hulk.) I remember re-reading and re-reading the MAMW story, always with a feeling of awe and gothic atmosphere everytime I read this comic. What great memories.

Another instance of the splash page being used for the cover, although the monsters jaw became smaller for some reason.

I read the 'Monster At My Window' story when very young, and it has haunted me ever since - in fact, I can still only look at the cover with my eyes shut! Your site is fantastic - thank you sooooo much for featuring full stories as well as the covers! What more can I say, other than: “I found Blog - The Site I Could Not Leave!” :)

This is the story that brought my wife and I closer together. A few years ago, I was looking for a copy of Monsters on the Prowl #29 to replace the one that I had as a child (and had been long since lost). This was the single story that gave me a fever for Kirby monsters that's lasted until this day.

I finally found a copy on ebay (at much more than I was willing to pay… Even the reprints are getting pretty tough to find, I guess), and when the picture loaded, my wife nearly fainted. She had owned that same issue of MOTP when she was a child, and the story and cover had stuck with her all these years. Her remembrances of the enjoyment she received from this book and various other Marvel monster reprint books that she had owned as a child during the early 1970s. Now she has transformed from being the tolerant and patient wife of a bigcomic-loving kid into an enthusiastic scouting partner when she accompanies me when I check out new shops for Marvel monster books.

Monsters on the Prowl #29 brought my wife and I closer together by giving us a childhood interest in common.

I also had Monsters On The Prowl #29 when i was a a kid. 'A Monster At My Window' is my favorite monster story by Stan 'the man', but i don't think the other monster would've acted and thought so human as Paul Marshall. He even had a girlfriend. LOL Did you notice how much she looks like Thor's girlfriend, Jane Foster, in the story?

I've wondered how the story after the story would've ended. The monster at the window looks tough, but i used to think the other monster would've out maneuvered him and won the fight. Maybe the confidence of the other monster in the end of the story affected my decision?

I, too, loved this story and cover when I was a kid, and searched out the issue on eBay. One of the great cover concepts, reminding me of the William Shatner “monster at the airliner window” episode of Twilight Zone.

Hi,
I would like to expand on my original comment.
This creature appears all muscle. Some might say he looks like a lump of clay, with no brain.
I am impressed with how awesome and scary he looks. He appears frightening.
He must have superior tracking skills to find his quarry.
He made some frightening comments during his attack.
This was a great cover.
I remember it because years ago I had a copy of the re-print.
It was tucked away in a binder to read at school during break time and not during class.
Prior to my chance to read it, a bully stole it and tore it in half.
Mr. C—-m orderd everyone to stay in his chair until the guilty party came forward to confess.
Mr. C. made the bully pay me back for it.
I bought a new copy later.
That cute little story aside, this was a good story, a good charactor, and a good read.
The battle scene at the end was good as I recall with two titans slugging it out.
The art, both the inking and drawing was good. The Kirby and Ayers team was always great.
Take care,
Bob T.

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