Every week, I'll examine the five goofiest moments from a five-issue stretch of a particular comic book series. Here is a list of the moments featured so far.

This week, we look at Tales to Astonish #35-39, the first five Ant-Man stories, written by the brothers Lieber (Stan plots, Larry scripts) and drawn by Jack Kirby (pencils) and Dick Ayers (inks)....

As always, this is all in good fun. I don't mean any of this as a serious criticism of the comics in question. Not only were these writers certainly never imagining people still reading these comics decades after they were written, great comics often have goofy moments (Kirby/Lee's Fantastic Four is one of the best comic book runs of all-time and there were TONS of goofy stuff in those 100 plus issues!).

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I am sure that some writer explained that Reed Richards gave Hank Pym some unstable molecules for his costume, but I'd prefer the idea that unstable molecules are just really really easy to create in the Marvel Universe...



Something that comes up a lot during the Silver Age is that no matter how much of a hero you are, no matter how many good deeds you do, the public will turn on you on a DIME...



"Ant-Man must be doing this! Because we're disloyal jerks!"

What's funny is that this Ant-Man tale took place well after Rachel Carson's work about DDT came out and became such a big deal...



I just love how angry Egghead is that they don't realize that he screwed up. You fool, how can you not realize how incompetent I am!?!?



I dig how Ant-Man initially applied his serum. Just splashed that sucker on....



Okay, I get that Ant-Man has human strength in his Ant-Man form, but that doesn't mean he'd be able to twirl a dude around like this, right?



I think Ant-Man is way overselling the threat of the insect population...



In Ant-Man's first appearance, he makes a pointed effort to stay a secret...



But in the very next issue, Ant-Man is not only no longer a secret but he's a famous hero now...



Obviously, stuff happened off-panel, but wow, that's some fairly notable stuff to be skipping over.

I love how sloppy the Commies are....



Why does she need to have the mask on her person?

I just dig the awesomeness of "spoing"...



5. Perspective problems....

I guess this is a perspective problem by Kirby/Ayers, but I think it is cooler if ants really could carry stuff that big...



4. Yes...tell me more...

I don't mind Ant-Man explaining what happened to the cops, but shouldn't someone notice Egghead standing right there listening to the whole plan?



3. Inconsistent strength.

Ant-Man's strength is like Hal Jordan's weakness to yellow. It was applied really inconsistently.

To wit, he can flick an ant easily...



but he has to do some major plot to stop a beetle?



2. Ants-a-plenty...

I love how Stan Lee thinks ants are all over the place....



1. Stick the landing!

Ant-Man's catapult system is messed up...





"Thanks, pals, for being a CUSHION for me!"

Not cool, Hank, not cool!

The next issues makes it even weirder.....



Just giant piles of ants out nowhere. So weird.