ASTRA ISLAND
Official Name: Astra Island
Location: An island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean (probably)
Visitors: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Humanoids, Hulk (Dr. Robert Bruce Banner), Leader (Samuel Sterns), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Major Glenn Talbot, U.S. Navy personnel
Places of Interest: None; formerly a U.S. military research facility, including the complex that housed the Absorbatron
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#64/2 (February, 1965)
History:
(Tales to Astonish I#64/2 - BTS) - Astra Island was a small deserted island the U.S. military turned it into a nuclear test site for Dr. Bruce Banner's Absorbatron invention.
Chameleon (Dmitri Smerdyakov) informed the Leader (Samuel Sterns) about the plan and the Leader sent a horde of Humanoids to Astra Island to steal the Absorbatron.
(Tales to Astonish I#64/2) - Major Talbot took Banner to Astra Island to conduct the first tests of the Absorbatron. Talbot wouldn't let Banner out of his sight while Banner prepared the Absorbatron for the atomic blast Talbot would order a nearby cruiser to carry out as soon as the device was ready. Meanwhile the island was surrounded beneath the surface of the sea by Leader's Humanoids. Banner rushed to the surface when he became agitated and couldn't prevent his transformation into the Hulk. Talbot followed him, but rushed back into the facility when he saw the Hulk and closed the bunker's door. He then pushed a series of buttons to lower the Absorbatron into an underground shelter enclosed with titanium shielding to keep it safe and then informed the crew of the cruiser that the Hulk was trapped on the island and asked them to contact General Ross for further instructions. On the surface of Astra Island the Hulk battled Leader's horde of Humanoids, who had now the order to capture the Hulk. A short time later Talbot received word from the cruiser that they were ordered to land a large fighting force on the island.
(Tales to Astonish I#65/2) - The military attacked Hulk on Astra Island while he was still battling the Humanoids, but the grenades thrown by the soldiers accidentally made a ledge on the island collapse and the Humanoids and the Hulk fell into the sea. The Hulk swam away from the island as fast as he could because he felt that he was only a short time away from transforming back into Banner while the Humanoids were ordered by the Leader to return to the mainland. On Astra Island Talbot ordered soldiers to find Banner only to receive word a short time later that a patrol plane had witnessed Banner getting picked up by a Russian submarine. Talbot was sure that this was proof that Banner was a spy.
(Tales to Astonish I#68/2) - To Major Talbot's the POTUS, who had been told by Rick Jones about Banner's secret, sent him and Banner back to Astra Island to conduct the test of the Absorbatron. At the same time the Leader sprayed an army of microscopic Humanoids on the island before the Navy task force arrived. Moments after Banner and Talbot entered the bunker on Astra Island, the Leader grew the Humanoids back to life-size with a radio signal and he ordered them to steal the Absorbatron before the military landed. The Humanoids seized Talbot and invaded the underground facility where they came face to face with Banner, the Absorbatron's inventor, who transformed into the Hulk during the attack. Leader captured the Hulk, who was knocked out by sleeping gas, and was hopeful that the Absorbatron would be delivered to him as well by the Humanoids.
(Tales to Astonish I#69/2) - Leader landed on Astra Island. He ordered some of the Humanoids to bring Hulk to his ship and others to dismantle the Absorbatron from its base. The Humanoids were observed by the nearby Navy task force, who stopped the countdown for the atomic test, and sent in a landing party to deal with the threat for the Absorbatron. On Astra Island the Leader got rid of the Humanoids because they had served their purpose and then took off in his air ship, towing the sleeping Hulk and the Absorbatron behind him with a magnetic attractor-beam. The Navy's landing party arrived on Astra Island and entered the underground facility where they found Major Talbot, but Banner and the Absorbatron were gone. The Navy suspected that Banner was piloting the air ship and that the Hulk had helped him steal the Absorbatron to the shock of Talbot. Talbot and the Navy left the island to track down the air ship using the Navy's radar to track its line of flight.
(Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1 (fb) - BTS) - Additional buildings were built on the island, but the military eventually completely abandoned it.
(Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1) - After Spider-Man turned into a Hulk when the Gamma radiation driven out of Banner by Loki merged with him, the Fantastic Four were forced to stop Spider-Man's rampage and then brought him on Bruce Banner's suggestion to the abandoned military research base Astra Island because it was unpopulated. The Fantastic Four left during sunset, but Banner stayed with Spider-Man, who transformed into a Hulk once again, during the night.
(Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1 - BTS) - Spider-Man rampaged through the island and headbutted a building to the ground after calling it "Norman". Banner watched Spider-Man's rampage during the night and even got him new pants before he turned human or rather spider-powered mutate again.
(Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1) - Spider-Man awakened in the ruins of a building on Astra Island and Banner told him about the destruction he had caused during the night. Banner told Spider-Man that the rampage looked cathartic. The Fantastic Four returned with new knowledge that Loki was behind everything. Johnny Storm gave Spider-Man and Banner fresh clothes to put on because their clothes were ripped before they all left the island to find Loki, who actually tried to do something good, and talk to him.
Spider-Man worked out that Banner's Gamma radiation was drawn to the radioactive nature of his own powers while Banner explained that his powers had changed recently and the Hulk was like a battery now that lost and absorbed radiation. Susan realized that Reed had a containment box that could help and the Fantastic Four took it to Astra Island and then left again before sunset. Banner locked himself inside the box while Spider-Man activated a Gamma explosion from outside that started Banner's turn into the Hulk again. Outside Spider-Man also turned into a Hulk again, but as planned the partially transformed Banner was able to absorb the Gamma radiation in Spider-Man to save him from being a Hulk. Spider-Man offered to stay with Banner the night, but when he turned into the Hulk he surprised Spider-Man because the Hulk knew Peter Parker's identity. Hulk thanked Spider-Man for wanting to be there for Banner and then walked off the island into the sea.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko & George Roussos.
The houses seen in Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1 sure look like residential houses. I wonder if the military kept using it after the Absorbatron debacle, but in different ways or if they abandoned it and civilians lived there for a bit. I assume the former because the island seemed to be pretty far away from civilization as it should be for a nuclear test site.
We're not told which ocean Astra Island is in, but since nuclear bomb tests tended to happen in the Pacific, that seems the most likely option.
--Ron Fredricks
On the other hand we had Talbot and Banner heading there from Washington D.C. and the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Banner from New York City. We'll never know until another writer gives us a more specific location.
--Markus Raymond
And then the damn island appeared in Disney+'s What If...? animated series in 2024 in Season 3, Episode 1: What If...The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers? as the home of Banner. The episode is about giant mechs fighting giant gamma monsters. Very Toho Studios meets Marvel...Godzilla-like stuff!
This profile was completed on 11/17/2025, but its publication was delayed for Stan Lee's birthday on 12/28.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Astra Island has no known connections to:
images:
Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1, p13, pan3 (main)
Tales to Astonish I#64/2, p4, pan4 (Astra Island, with Absorbatron on raised platform)
Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#64/2 (February, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (pencils), George "Bell" Roussos (inks)
Tales to Astonish I#65/2 (March, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Steve Ditko (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
Tales to Astonish I#68/2-69/2 (June-July, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Mickey "Demeo" Esposito (inks)
Immortal Hulk: Great Power#1 (April, 2020) - Tom Taylor (writer), Jorge Molina (pencils), Adriano Di Benedetto with Robert Poggi (inks), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 12/28/2025
Last updated: 11/17/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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