This looks like a story Kirby outlined very quickly. The pacing is very slow, and does nothing other than pull you toward a twist ending, the kind that can be predicted from page one. Stan Lee's trademark dialog is throughout: very simple exposition, questions that repeat phrases, and explaining everything for young children.
"Big thing turns out to be small" is a classic Stan Lee idea: Jim Steranko tells a story of when Lee told him to come up with a plot. He said Lee made a suggestion of a story about aliens landing on a planet, and the planet turns out to be a child's balloon. Steranko didn't think that was much of a plot, and didn't use it. But it's typical of the Lee-Ditko twist ending stories.
Design wise, the splash page is another giveaway: the title leaves acres of space, and that isn't how Kirby designs things. This story misses most of the eight signs of a Kirby plot. Either Kirby was laying out a story suggested by someone else, or he created just the simplest outline in a few minutes. So let us move along.
"Big thing turns out to be small" is a classic Stan Lee idea: Jim Steranko tells a story of when Lee told him to come up with a plot. He said Lee made a suggestion of a story about aliens landing on a planet, and the planet turns out to be a child's balloon. Steranko didn't think that was much of a plot, and didn't use it. But it's typical of the Lee-Ditko twist ending stories.
Design wise, the splash page is another giveaway: the title leaves acres of space, and that isn't how Kirby designs things. This story misses most of the eight signs of a Kirby plot. Either Kirby was laying out a story suggested by someone else, or he created just the simplest outline in a few minutes. So let us move along.
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