Tales to Astonish #42
The Voice of Doom!
Now
Jason Cragg is a soapbox preacher who is usually ignored by the people of New York, who dismiss him of yet another crazy derelict that sermonize on the streets. However, this time, when Cragg begins to speak, something in his voice compels the people to stop and listen. Watching this display is Ant-Man, who is immune to the effects of Cragg’s voice due to his cybernetic helmet filtering out its influence. Cragg tells his captive audience that Ant-Man is a menace that must be driven out of the city. Ant-Man can hardly believe it when people start believing him and wonder how this man got the ability to become so persuasive.
Earlier
What Ant-Man doesn’t know is that, up until a few days ago, Jason Cragg worked in the midwest as a radio announcer. However, Cragg was terrible at his job and advertisers became upset because his Cragg’s ad plugs were terrible. As fate would have it, on a day when Cragg was reading ad copy for dog food, a nearby atomic research laboratory experienced a sudden power surge. Although they manage to shut down their experiment it causes a power surge that reaches the microphone Cragg was using and affecting him in a strange way.[1] Suddenly, everyone listening to Cragg’s ad plug suddenly felt compelled to buy dog food causing sales to surge by 300%. Instead of accepting a raise from his boss, Cragg decided to quit and use his newfound talents for his own personal gain.
Jason Cragg then made his way to New York City, using his new vocal abilities to travel for free and get whatever he wants. When he first arrived in the city, Cragg witnessed as Ant-Man took down some crooks. Seeing how the public and authorities respected the tiny hero, Cragg decided that in order to take over the city he’d first have to get rid of Ant-Man.
Now
Later, Ant-Man is at police headquarters accepting an award for meritorious service. As he accepts the award, Jason Cragg suddenly bursts in and demands that Ant-Man be arrested. Suddenly, the police try to capture Ant-Man, but the hero had the advantage due to his small size and manages to escape. Unwilling to give up, Cragg then orders everyone in he comes across to begin searching high and low for Ant-Man.
Ant-Man is unable to get back to his lab because of all the people looking for him and he tries to seek refuge in the tall grass of a nearby park. However, Cragg has his slaves begin combing the park using magnets. When one of his thralls manages to catch Ant-Man’s helmet and belt with his magnet, Cragg realizes that Ant-Man is now vulnerable to his voice and begins calling out to the tiny hero. Pym tries to resist but eventually surrenders to the call of Cragg’s voice. When Ant-Man willingly surrenders, Jason orders him to walk off the nearby pier. Ant-Man complies but, instead of drowning, he is rescued by his loyal ants. Cragg sees this, but is unable to stop his foe from fleeing.
Ant-Man returns to his lab where he resumes his identity of scientist Henry Pym. He then watches a news report about how Jason Cragg will be giving a live speech that evening. Hank quickly comes with a way of defeating his foe. Changing back into Ant-Man, and with an army of ants breaks into a bio-lab to steal a sample of a virus.[2] Arriving at the studio, Ant-Man also comes across a prop gun that will help him with his plan. Later that evening, when Jason Cragg takes the stage to make his speech, Ant-Man climbs up to his ear and whispers how he has a gun trained on him and will order his ants to shoot Cragg if he doesn’t do what he says. Fearing for his life, Jason Cragg follows Ant-Man’s instructions and uses his voice to reverse the previous mental conditioning that made people think Ant-Man was a criminal.
That’s when Ant-Man reveals that the gun is not loaded. Furious at being so easily tricked, Jason tries to talk and discovers that his voice is deeply strained. Ant-Man then reveals that he coated Cragg’s microphone with a virus that is no affected his vocal cords. Now that his powers no longer work, the people in the audience wonder who let Cragg on stage, and he is promptly thrown out. Tossed onto the street, Cragg fears that even when his voice comes back he won’t be able to speak in the same pitch he used to enthrall other people.[3] Ant-Man watches his foe walk away and thinks how Cragg wasted his power as he could have done so much good with it, and paid the price.
Recurring Characters
Ant-Man, the Voice
Continuity Notes
This story suggests that the radiation from the plant was somehow transmitted through the power grid to Cragg’s microphone and that gave him his powers. The Avengers Assemble Handbook #1, however, clarifies that it was “ionized atoms” that traveled through the microphone. It also suggests that Cragg’s powers could have been a latent mutant ability.
This story specifically uses dated terms such as germ and microbe to describe this illness, which is identified by Hank Pym as Laringytis. This is not scientifically accurate at all and a lot of the references are now topical (see below). The Voice has a profile in the Avengers Assemble Handbook #1, which generalizes that he was infected with a “germ” that ruined his voice. I’d go a step further and flat out call it a virus since “germ” is an outdated term anyway.
Although this story suggests that Cragg lost his powers for good, he will get them back thanks to a series of surgeries funded by the People’s Security Forces in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #36-37.
Topical References
Back in the early days of commercial radio, advertising was done live with on-air personalities, as is depicted in this story. However, as it became easier to record advertisements, on-air advertising was replaced with pre-recorded ad plugs. We have seen a bit of a return to this in the era of the podcast, with podcast hosts usually plugging products on their show, but most competent podcasters also pre-record ad plugs. At any rate, modern readers could assume that instead of a live radio broadcast, Cragg recorded a radio spot for later broadcast.
Dr. Pym is depicted watching television on a black-and-white television set. These are obviously obsolete.
Pym uses a lot of dated scientific terms for Laryngitis, calling it both a germ and a microbe. Also it appears that its use here is based on an outdated understanding of how the illness works. Laryngitis is actually the symptom of an infection in the vocal cords. There are many causes of this condition, one of which is due to a viral infection. Laryngitis itself is not contagious, a virus that can cause it does. Moreover, a viral infection needs a few days before it can develop into full-blown laryngitis. One could assume that whatever Pym infected the Voice with, it was engineered to act faster than your average virus.
Also, Pym is depicted hauling a corked jar containing the “Laryngitis”. This would not be how an infectious illness by today's standards. They are stored in vials or Petri dishes in highly controlled and sterile environments and usually need to be kept frozen to preserve the sample. So you do your own mental gymnastics on how this could possibly work.
