Tales to Astonish #38
Betrayed by the Ants!
Since the appearance of Ant-Man, organized crime has been taking a serious hit. However, none of the mob bosses can figure out how to deal with the diminutive hero as they lack the intelligence to match wits with Ant-Man.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, a scientist known as Egghead has been called before the US government’s atomic energy board.[1] Egghead has been asked to answer rumors that he has been attempting to sell atomic information to foreign governments. When Egghead refuses to answer their questions, he is fired from the board. When the news of Egghead’s firing makes the news, the mobsters seek to hire him to deal with their Ant-Man problem. When the mobsters offer to pay Egghead for coming up with a way to defeat Ant-Man, he gladly accepts when they give him an advance payment.
Egghead then begins intensive research on ants as well as Ant-Man’s crime-fighting techniques. He deduces that Ant-Man is able to communicate with ants in order to get them to do his bidding. He then begins working on a device to counteract this ability so that he can make the ants betray their master. When the device is complete, Egghead convinces a colony of ants to assist him in trapping Ant-Man by tricking the hero into believing that someone is plotting to steal the Wentworth Necklace from the museum. He tells the ants that they are to lure Ant-Man onto a sheet of flypaper that he has set out as a trap.
Egghead then goes back to the mobsters and details his plan to them. A few nights later, the crooks prepare to steal the Wentworth Necklace. Sure enough, Ant-Man and his ants arrive on the scene and enter the museum through the ventilation system. However, Egghead is waiting for the hero and he uses a billow to blow Ant-Man into a box lined with flypaper. Unfortunately, this only traps Ant-Man for a few brief moments as he is able to leap free from this stick situation thanks to his newly constructed spring-boots.
The diminutive hero then begins leaping around the room as the crooks try to nab him, causing them more harm than good. He then snatches the leader’s hand in a lasso made of string. Then, using his strength, Ant-Man is able to whip the mobster around the room. This catches the mobsters off guard because they didn’t’ realize that Ant-Man retains his normal strength when he shrinks down in size. By this point, an army of ants have carried a massive blanket of flypaper over most of the crooks and drops it on them. When the rest of the gang attempts to flee, they discover that someone has let the air out of the tires of their getaway vehicle. Moments later, the police arrive and arrest the mobsters. As they are being hauled away, Ant-Man explains the flaw in Egghead’s plans: That he attempted to appeal to greed and vanity, emotions that ants lack. Instead, the ants only pretended to aid Egghead as part of Ant-Man’s overall plan to defeat his foe. He then details how he treated his body and costume in a formula that made him immune to the flypaper, and then poked holes in the tired of the getaway car and stole the keys before going in to face Egghead and his cronies. Unfortunately, Egghead managed to escape but the police are certain they’ll capture him sooner or later.
Although Egghead has escaped, being outsmarted by Ant-Man has caused him to suffer a breakdown. Broke and without a job, the once brilliant scientist now finds himself in a Bowery rooming house muttering to himself.
Recurring Characters
Ant-Man, Egghead
Continuity Notes
Egghead’s real name is not revealed in this story. His last name was revealed to be Starr in Marvel Feature #5. His first name was revealed to be Elias in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #13.
Topical References
Egghead is depicted watching film reels of Ant-Man’s past exploits. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology.
At the end of the story, Egghead is stated as finding shelter in a flophouse. This should be considered a topical reference because this is a dated term and is considered disparaging to those who live below the poverty line. Instead they should be referred to by the more politically correct term of boarding house or rooming house.
