Steve Ditko - Impossible Tales!

The Steve Ditko Archives Volume 4 is titled Impossible Tales and as this collection of Ditko tales from the latter part of 1957 and into 1958 show, the title is well chosen. Long gone are the space operas and the gruesome horror tales. They have been replaced by light and bouncy stories of science fiction and fantasy which focus on the destiny of one man. This is a collection filled with tortured souls looking for explanations for why they suffer of who they are. We have misguided robots, time travelers, befuddled scientists,  mutants and more.

These are stories mostly from Charlton and magazines such as Tales of the Mysterious Traveler and This Magazine is Haunted. It's the latter that really stands out in my estimation, since the host of that comic Dr. Haunt has become a real favorite of mine in these readings. He's visually provocative and Ditko increasingly uses him in more and more creative ways fusing him into the stories. He does it with the Traveler as well, but somehow Dr. Haunt is a bit more engaging to my eye. I should also say that two stories from the earlier volume in the series are reprinted yet again because of some pages dropped in that first outing. 

One comic seems to be all Ditko, the St. John comic title Do You Believe in Nightmares. This is a heady book, almost in many ways to my eye what Dikto will do when he turns his sights on Marvel. There are two issues of this comic, the second features work by Dick Ayers and apparently both were the result of Al Fago, longtime Charlton editor selling these tales to St. John's when he was fired by Charlton. 

The rest of the stories appeared in Charlton comics such Unusual Tales and Out of this World. Ditko is exceedingly well represented in the Charlton line at this time but his covers do seem to diminish as he spends more and more time on the stories within. The covers he did produce though are real winners. 

The next volume will continue with Ditko's 1958 work and will also bring to light one of Ditko's most whip snapping aspects, his days as a pornographer of sorts. 

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Golden Age Space Wars!

Skyman is not a Charlton character. The aviation hero actually was part of Columbia comics scene. But Skyman's adventures were popular and he appeared briefly in his own title as well for years in Big Shot Comics. The stories reprinted by Mort Todd in these Charlton Neo volumes come from Big Shot. If you enjoy classic movie serials you will like these tales which are paced almost exactly the same as say Radar Men from the Moon. 

The series began soon after Ogden Whitney returned from active duty during WWII. While never featured on the covers of Big Shot, this series of stories featuring Skyman going to the Moon where he encounters Martians and Hitler are well paced adventures with proper cliffhanger endings. The series ran for years from 1946 until late 1948. 

In addition to aliens and Nazis, Skyman and his girlfriend Fawn must confront threats such as giant green rats who live inside the Moon. (No reference is made about cheese, but that must've been in the back of Whitney's mind.)

Hitler has a bombastic scheme to conquer the Earth with bombs from the Moon, but of course that goes awry. But when Skyman is able to end that odious threat, that doesn't mean the danger is over. 

Aliens from Venus are the next obstacle facing Skyman and Fawn as well as several Earth people who have been snatched by Venusians. Skyman has to salvage more than one spaceship to get around the solar system. 

But it will come as little surprise that Skyman and his girl do find their way back to Earth, but it's not without more mayhem and death than I expected. This story was exceedingly well told, but waiting for chapters over several years must've been excruciating for readers back in the day. 

On a different note, Steve Ditko drew a Skyman adventure written by Mort Todd way back in the 90's which appeared under the Indy ACE Comics brand. I have the original around here somewhere. 

I don't sadly have this version of the story from Charlton Neo which presented the Ditko story and pencil art for the tale. I'd love to see and compare. 

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Steve Ditko - Space Wars!

This collection from Vanguard Productions features the same vintage sci-fi yarns found in the Fantagraphic volumes. Published in 2005 this magazine-sized collection was a robust black and white resource for these earliest Ditko yarns. The reproduction is basic. Among the stories here are "Mystery Planet", "The Deadly Cargo of Spaceship 19", "The Decision", "The Gloomy One", "The Juggernauts of Jupiter", "The Secret of Captain X", and "Journey's End". Also included are later stories from the 60's such as "The Blue Men of Bantro" and "Way Out Man". There are many other yarns as well. I like the vibrant recoloring of the classic cover seen below.  There is also a brief essay by David J. Spurlock about the career of Ditko titled "Ditko's Brave New World". 

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Ditko Cover Classics - This Magazine Is Haunted #14!

This Magazine is Haunted #14 can be read at this link. The mysterious Dr. Haunt presents four stories by Steve Ditko and writer Joe Gill (most likely) in this issue -- "From Out of the Depths", "The Green Man", "The Second Self", and "The Man Who Disappeared". There is another story by artists Bill Molno and Vince Alascia. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - This Magazine Is Haunted #13!

This Magazine is Haunted #13 can be read at this link. Ditko joins forces with writer Joe Gill to produced four stories in this issue -- "He Shall Have Vengeance", "The Drums", "Menace of the Invisibles", and "The Man Who Changed Bodies". In addition, there is a story each by Bill Molno and Rocke Mastroserio. 

The cover art was reused for the thirty-ninth issue of Scary Tales with different stories being featured in the little boxes. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - This Magazine Is Haunted #12!

This Magazine is Haunted #12 can be read at this link. This is reboot of the series and features the new host Dr. Haunt, one of Ditko's finest, though he didn't draw the character first. Ditko and Joe Gill (most likely) produce five stories in this one -- "The Faceless Ones", "The Message", "The Thing on the Beach", "His Fate", and "The Last One". 

This cover was reused for the twenty-fifth issue of Scary Tales. It's brighter but less atmospheric. 

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Ditko Classic Covers - The Magazine Is Haunted #16!

This Magazine is Haunted #16 (from the First Volume) was published 1954. To read the issue go to this link. Ditko drew only this cover and none of the stories inside. Artists Sheldon Moldoff, Rocke Mastroserio, Bill Molno among others are featured. The grisly Dr. Death was the first haunted host of the comic which was inherited from Fawcett Comics. 

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