Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Artist: Don Heck
Our story this month begins with a letter carrier delivering a telegram to a Professor Elias Weems. The letter is from his beloved grandson Tommy. Tommy writes of how he is excited to come visit his grandfather the following month. Weems recalls to himself how proud his grandson is of Weems scientific prowess and his profession. However, the following week, Weems is suddenly let go from his job at a research laboratory. He is flat out told by the boss that modern research needs young, alert minds and that "old-timers no longer fit the bill".
On his way home, Weems grows more and more furious at the situation. He decides to invent a machine that will make others too old: a machine to age all living creatures! He toils day and night to create his fantastic machine. After completing the machine, he tests it on a sapling, an elephant, and finally a human (the latter two he quickly restores to their proper age, another function of his invention).
The following week, a threatening letter is delivered to the local precinct, in which the "Time-Master" (as Weems now calls himself) demands that the city be turned over to his control, otherwise he will age people before their time. Ant-Mans army of ants overhears this threat and relays it to our hero. Hank Pym quickly changes into his costume, hurls himself through the air courtesy of his catapult and lands on a soft, cushiony pile of ants. After speaking with the police, Ant-Man visits all of the various labs in the city, "playing a hunch". Fairly quickly, he figures out that Weems is our Time-Master.
Ant-Man confronts Weems at his house, telling him that he can't go through with it. Weems disagrees and promptly ages the tiny Ant-Man. He is placed into a flower pot, from which he can't escape (he's apparently too old to scale the walls). Undeterred, he uses his growth gas to become normal size, though still rather old. He heads out into the city and finds the Time-Master, who is in the process of aging a whole crowd of people... including, quite by accident, his grandson Tommy. Weems suddenly regrets his actions, but inadvertently drops his aging gun off the edge of building. Luckily, Ant-Man has a large group of ants create a cushion to safely catch the gun. With the switch flipped, the gun changes the people of the crowd back to normal age.
The crowd turns on old man Weems once the realize he is the culprit. He is arrested and tried. However, Weems old boss shows up at the hearing and takes some of the blame. Somehow, the judge agrees to not charge Weems and he gets his old job back. Our story finishes with Professor Weems showing his laboratory to his proud grandson.
Despite some of the silliness of the issue, I found myself enjoying this story. I don't have much else to say about it, though.
Next: Meet the Wasp!
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