Tales to Astonish #78 - First Appearance of Dr. Konrad Zaxon, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Tales to Astonish (Marvel, 1959 series)
Issue: #78
Publication date: April 1966
Key date: April 1966
On-sale date: December 31, 1965
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 Dr. Konrad Zaxon - 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	The Prince and the Puppet!	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Gene Colan; inks: Vince Colletta; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Sam Rosen	Phillip Masters, Namor, Puppet Master, Sub-Mariner
2	The Prince and the Puppet!	comic story	12	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Adam Austin; inks: Vince Colletta; letters: Artie Simek	Ben Grimm, Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Phillip Masters, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Puppet Master, Hank Pym, Reed Richards, Susan Storm Richards, Johnny Storm, Sub-Mariner, The Thing, Janet Van Dyne
3	More Mirthful, Monumental, Mind-Staggering Memoranda from Your Marvel Madmen!	in-house column	1	letters: typeset
6	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	script: ? (promo copy)
9	The Hulk Must Die!	comic story	10	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby, Bill Everett; inks: Bill Everett; letters: Sam Rosen	Bruce Banner, Hulk, Rick Jones, Betty Ross, Glenn Talbot, Dr. Konrad Zaxon First
15	-	letters page	0.75	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Gene Colan; inks: Vince Colletta	Namor the Sub-Mariner
16	-	statement of ownership	0.25	letters: typeset

Plus 10 pages of advertisements and other matter across 13 sequences, as published.

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 10d [0-0-10 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Super-Heroes #33	1972	On eBay ›
Essential Hulk #1 ISBN 0-7851-0712-6	1999	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk #2 ISBN 0-7581-1654-0	2004	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: The Sub-Mariner #1 ISBN 978-0-7851-5068-8	2011	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

‹ #7778 of 101#79 ›

Sources

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

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com