Comic Title: Tales to Astonish #39
Publisher: Marvel (Vista Publications Inc.)
Address: 655 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: January 1963
On Sale Date: October 2, 1962 Copyright Date October 2, 1962
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1962

Frequency: Monthly
Cover Price: $0.12
Page Count: 32
Editor: Stan Lee

Title: "The Vengeance of the Scarlet Beetle"
Pages: 10

Feature(s):
Ant Man/Giant Man

Plotter: Stan Lee
Scripter: Larry D. Lieber
Penciller: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
Letterer: Artie Simek

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #4 (1966)
Hulk Comic #8 (1979)
Hulk Comic #9 (1979)
Essential Ant-Man Vol. 1 TPB (2002)
Marvel Masterworks Vol. 59:Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 1 HC (2006)
Marvel Masterworks Vol. 59:Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 1 HC [Variant] (2006)
Marvel Masterworks:Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 1 TPB (2014)
Marvel Masterworks:Ant-Man/Giant-Man Vol. 1 TPB [Variant] (2014)
Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection:The Man in the Ant Hill TPB (2015)

Feature Character(s)

• Ant-Man (last appearance in Tales to Astonish #38; next appearance in Tales to Astonish #40)

Villain(s)

• The Scarlet Beetle (an intelligent insect; no further appearances)

Synopsis:
Ant-Man investigates the source of turmoil in the insect world. He discovers the Scarlet Beetle, a beetle which has been made intelligent due to exposure to atomic radiation. The Scarlet Beetle rallies the insects to his cause to overthrow humanity. Ant-Man tries to stop him, but he is overpowered by the insects and left trapped in a hole at tiny size.

Meanwhile, the Scarlet Beetle has used Ant-Man's enlarging gas to grow to tremendous size. He begins executing his plan to take over the world. Termites disrupt communication by knocking out phone lines, grasshoppers steal munitions from human armories, and spiders waylay human officials with poisonous bites.

The ants are the only species that resist the Scarlet Beetle's commands. They rescue Ant-Man who then engages mutant insect to stop his conquest. With the help of the ants, Ant-Man uses DDT to hinder the insect army. He then leads their master on a chase which result in the Ant-Man shrinking the Scarlet Beetle back to normal size. Ant-Man brings the beetle back to his lab and counteracts the effects of the radiation. The beetle is normal once again and is released by Henry Pym.