| Issue | #23 |
| Published | September 1961 |
| Frequency | monthly |
| Cover Price | 0.10 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Stan Lee |
| Notes | Distributed to newstands in June 1961. This issue includes 10 pages of paid advertisements. Distribution date from Joseph Marek's Marvel Comics Group history website. |
| Characters | Moomba |
| Genre | monsters |
| Pencils | Jack Kirby |
| Inks | Dick Ayers |
| Reprinted | in Creatures on the Loose (Marvel, 1971 series) #11 (May 1971) [re-inked]; in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 (2010) |
| Characters | Moomba; Frank; Katu |
| Synopsis | An explorer discovers that native African wood carvings are actually an advance fifth column invasion force under the command of Moomba. Moomba gives his command to strike and all the carvings get up and begin to herd and intimidate their human owners as the wood they are crafted of is so dense that neither fire nor any other human weapons can defeat them. Using unknown means, a native African witch doctor defeats Moomba and extracts a promise from him to leave Earth along with all of his warriors. |
| Genre | monsters |
| Pencils | Jack Kirby |
| Inks | Dick Ayers |
| Notes | Narrated in the first person. This story is divided into two parts: an untitled part one (6 pp), and part two—"The Menace That Was...Moomba" (7 pp). It is an elaboration of the plot of "I Was the Prisoner of the Living Statues!" drawn by John Forte, in Tales to Astonish #6 (November 1959). |
| Reprinted | in Creatures on the Loose (Marvel, 1971 series) #11 (May 1971); in Chamber of Chills (Marvel, 1972 series) #25 (November 1976); in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 (2010) |
| Characters | Barney |
| Synopsis | A former pilot can't get anyone to believe his story about the fatal radium poisoning he picked up from an alien, and so keeps spreading it. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Letters | typeset |
| Notes | Text story with illustration. |
| Reprinted | from Spellbound (Marvel, 1952 series) #2 (April 1952) |
| Characters | John Harris; Alice Harris; Billy Harris; Roby the Robot |
| Synopsis | A strident anti-robot activist is convinced of the worth of robots when his son is saved by his robotic playmate. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Script | Stan Lee ? |
| Pencils | Don Heck |
| Inks | Don Heck |
| Notes | Narrated in the first person. This story is an altered retelling of "The Robot Hater", drawn by Paul Reinman in Tales of Suspense (Marvel, 1959 series) #3 (May 1959). Writing tentatively credited to Stan Lee on the basis of his plot credit in a later retelling of the story. |
| Reprinted | in Monsters on the Prowl (Marvel, 1971 series) #22 (April 1973); in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 (2010) |
| Synopsis | The space pilot landing on an asteroid is perplexed by a voice from nowhere pleading for help, but he realizes that the asteroid itself is the source of the voice. |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Pencils | Steve Ditko |
| Inks | Steve Ditko |
| Reprinted | in Monsters on the Prowl (Marvel, 1971 series) #14 (December 1971); in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 2006 series) #3 (2010) |