Cover is a montage of the covers from the various stories reprinted in this book.
"Spider-Man" by Lee and Ditko; 11 pages (Parts 1 and 2).
Meet Peter Parker, your average high school student. Peter's life is full of blessing and curses. On the negative side, both of his parents are dead, he is scrawny and an outcast among his peers. On the positive, his aged Uncle Ben and Aunt May love him dearly, and he is a smart, hard working student, with a great sense of humor. A twist of fate increases both sides of that equation, as Peter is bitten by a radio-active spider at a science demonstration. He finds himself with miraculous powers, which he initially uses only for his selfish ends. When he fails to stop a thief who will later go on to rob and murder his Uncle Ben, Peter learns that with great powers come great responsibility.
Reprinted from Amazing Fantasy (1962) #15.
"Part 1: The Coming of The Hulk" (V-709) by Lee and Kirby; 6 pages.
At a desert military base, Dr. Bruce Banner readies for the test of his invention, the Gamma Bomb. General Thunderbolt Ross chafes at how long it is taking. With the countdown to detonation started, Banner spots teenager Rick Jones driving out to the test range on a dare. Banner instructs an assistant to hold the countdown while Banner gets Jones to safety. Banner's assistant, a Communist spy, sees an opportunity to eliminate Banner, and does not hold the detonation, and Banner is bathed in Gamma rays. When he comes to, he finds Jones has brought him back to base for treatment. The strain of the incident gets to be too much, and Banner undergoes a wild transformation to a grey skinned 'Hulk', and smashes his way to freedom, with Rick Jones in pursuit.
Reprinted from Incredible Hulk (1962) #1.
"Return of the Ant-Man" by Lee/Lieber and Kirby; 13 pages.
Henry Pym had not used his shrinking formula since his strange encounter in the ant hill, but has kept it close, studying ants and developing a helmet that would help him communicate with them. His lab has been hired by the U.S. Government to develop a Cold War weapon. The Communists desperately want it, and kidnap him and his colleagues in an attempt to force them to divulge the secret. Pym uses his serum and helmet to get the assistance of an army of ants to put the spies to route.
First costumed appearance of Ant-Man, Henry "Hank" Pym, first seen in Tales to Astonish (1959) #27 in "The Man in the Ant Hill!".
Reprinted from Tales to Astonish (1959) #35.