Appearing in "On the Trail of the Human Top!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- The "Giant-Man Fan Club"
- NYPD
- Numerous unnamed New Yorkers
Races and Species:
Locations:
- United States of America
- New York
- New York City
- Unnamed municipal prison
- Unnamed Drive-in Bank
- New York
Items:
Synopsis for "On the Trail of the Human Top!"
Giant-Man and the Wasp show the Giant-Man fan club footage of their battle against the Human Top (from their first encounter with him in Tales to Astonish Vol 1 50 & 51). After showing the film, the Wasp muses that it would be frightening if the Human Top ever escaped from jail.
Coincidentally, at that moment, the Human Top has perfected a new trick: spinning so fast that he's invisible to the naked eye. He uses this ability to escape from his jail cell and soon robs a bank, alerting Giant-Man and the Wasp of his escape. Rushing to the scene of the crime, Giant-Man and Wasp realize that they are too late to capture the Human Top.
The two heroes vow to defeat the Human Top and return to their lab track down the foe, little realizing that their target has spotted them and uses his super speed to track them back to their home. Attacking them by surprise, the Human Top snatches Giant-Man's belt of size capsules and uses one of the capsules to grow in size. He easily dispatches Giant-Man, and then captures the Wasp in a jar before escaping.
Using his ants to escape from a locked closet, Giant-Man regains his discarded capsule belt and chases after his foe. He tracks down his enemy and frees the Wasp. During the battle, Giant-Man uses his mastery of changing size, the Wasp, and nearby ants to defeat the Human Top, who is not used to fighting at giant-size. Tricking him into smashing through a weakened roof top, they make the Human Top take a reducing capsule to return to regular size. The Human Top quickly surrenders afterward.
The next day, Giant-Man and Wasp tell the story to their fan club and read over the newspaper story about the Human Top's defeat.
Appearing in "The Treasure: Part II"
Featured Characters:
- Tommy
- Mr. Miller
Races and Species:
Synopsis for "The Treasure: Part II"
A one-page text piece that concludes the story from last issue.
Appearing in "The Gypsy's Secret!"
Featured Characters:
- Giant-Man (Henry Pym)
- Wasp
- Gorko (an alien disguised as a wandering Romani)
Antagonists:
Races and Species:
Other Characters:
- King Midas (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Henry Pym's Laboratory
- Europe
- Baron Radzik's Castle
- Outer Space
- Ninth Galaxy (Mentioned)
- Gorko's Planet (Mentioned)
- Interplanetary Zoo (Mentioned)
- Gorko's Planet (Mentioned)
Vehicles:
- Gorko's Wagon
- Gorko's Spaceship
Synopsis for "The Gypsy's Secret!"
Interrupting one of Henry's experiments, the Wasp is asked to "buzz off." Insulted, the Wasp asks Henry if he ever considered the idea that once he finally finds what he's looking for, what if he still isn't satisfied. When he doesn't catch her meaning, the Wasp tells Henry one of her stories.
The story begins with an old gypsy who is able to turn lead into gold, however is humble and content enough to travel around using gold to buy only what he needs and complete his task.
One day, the gypsy's wagon gets stuck in a muddy road, so he travels to a nearby castle for assistance. The castle is owned by the prejudiced Baron Radzik, who refuses to help a gypsy. When the gypsy offers to pay him in gold, the Baron assumes that the gypsy stole it, since in his opinion, a gypsy could not earn gold legitimately. The gypsy tells the Baron that he is able to change lead into gold.
Realizing the gypsy is a master of alchemy, he demands that the gypsy tell him the secret, but the gypsy refuses to reveal the formula to somebody so greedy. Angered, the Baron forces the gypsy into his dungeon and refuses to free him until he promises to share his secret. Explaining that the formula is too complicated to remember by heart, the gypsy informs the Baron that the formula is located in his wagon.
Letting the gypsy out, the two travel to his wagon. Upon entering it, the Baron soon finds himself trapped in a cage, and soon the wagon splits open revealing a rocket inside that blasts off into space. The gypsy then reveals that he is an alien, and that his mission was to bring home a human for study. He explains to the Baron that he will be his intended subject because nobody would miss somebody as selfish and cruel as him. The gypsy tells the Baron that he will share his gold formula, however it will do him little good, since gold is a common element on the alien's planet.
Finishing her story, the Wasp hopes that Henry can learn something from it. Henry responds that he has now been inspired to learn the secret formula of turning lead into gold, and tells the Wasp to leave him alone so he can work on it.
Notes
- Story One, "On the Trail of the Human Top" is 18 pages.
