"The Worm Turns" is the cover-featured story for Charlton's THE THING #15 [1954], one of Ditko's best early covers, and a great little story about a giant mutant worm unleashed on the world by the misguided work of scientist Norman Thoma (whose name appears to have been changed at some point, since every time it appears there's some weird lettering or odd spacing around the name).Lots of great things to point out in this one. The splash panel is a nice variation on the cover. Bottom of page one is an imaginative look at prehistoric life. Page two has an early look at the classic Ditko bird which would figure into some later work (most notably THE SAFEST PLACE). Then it all just gets more and more creepy as the worm growns and eats bigger things, and that ending is just absolutely crazy. Amazing stuff. After I finish posting all the 1953-1955 stories I'm going to try to have some sort of poll on what the best story is, and I think this one has a good shot.
Most scans in this series adapted to my personal tastes from those found, and available for free download with registration, at the Golden Age Comics Download site. To buy Ditko comics and things on paper, first head over here for ordering info on his available creator owned material co-published with Robin Snyder and take a look over here for info on recent and upcoming books with Ditko from all publishers, even lousy ones. And be sure to check out the fanzine DITKOMANIA.
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