Tales to Astonish #54 for Sale - First Appearance of El Toro - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 1959 series)
Issue: #54
Publication date: April 1964
Key date: 1964-04-00
On-sale date: 1964-01-03
Indicia publisher: Vista Publications Inc.
Price: $0.12
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of El Toro - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Antonio Rojo - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	No Place to Turn!	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Dick Ayers; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Giant-Man, Hank Pym, Antonio Rojo First, El Toro First, Janet Van Dyne, Wasp
1	No Place to Hide!	comic story	13	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Don Heck; inks: Don Heck; letters: Art Simek	Giant-Man, Hank Pym, Antonio Rojo First, El Toro First, Janet Van Dyne, Wasp
2	The Treasure	text story	1	letters: typeset	Tommy Miller; Mr. Miller; Mrs. Miller; Wish
3	There Were Five Frightened Men...!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee, L. Lieber; pencils: Larry Lieber; inks: P. Reinman; letters: Art Simek	Victor Conrad; Mr. Smythe
4	Two More Triumphs for Marvel	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.875
5	Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation	statement of ownership	0.175	letters: typeset
6	Conquest!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber; pencils: Larry Lieber; inks: Sol Brodsky; letters: Art Simek	Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Wasp

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 9d [0-0-9 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Tales #9	1967	On eBay ›
Fantasy Masterpieces #10	1967	On eBay ›
Essential Ant-Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-0822-X	2002	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man / Giant-Man #2 ISBN 978-0-7851-2911-0	2008	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

‹ #5354 of 101#55 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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