Unusual Tales - Secret Mission

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

From the pages of TALES OF THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER #3 [1957] comes the 5-page Cold War drama "Secret Mission", as our fedora-clad host tells the story of a man who sneaks back into Czechoslovakia in order to gain some valuable intelligence for the west using his artistic skills.

While I sometimes feel that the "never reprinted" status of these stories is deserved, that's not the case with this one.  It's a well written story, with some clever twists, and Ditko just absolutely knocks it out of the park visually.  Every page has some strong work, starting with that great splash panel, with the shading on the dark clouds contrasted with the Traveler's face and the great foreground figure. One of my favourites from this era.

This story appears in TALES OF THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER #32 [2020] from SD Publishings, so only the first page is previewed below.

Some links to check out:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
Over a thousand pages of material available in crisp black and white
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA
Next issue, Ditko's Women
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
 All of Ditko's work for Warren available, spread out in five books
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies

Click images to exercise the freedoms that men like Jon Krakma risked their lives for:

Unusual Tales - Orgo Serves

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

From Charlton's STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #39 [1958] comes the 5-page "Orgo Serves!".  Odd little story about a scientist who has a robot servant that he uses in his experiments, which involve repetitive experiments with high explosives in order to build a powerful bomb.  And also apparently a lot of typing.  The explosives part doesn't end well, so he probably should have stuck with the typing.  Then there's a bit of an odd twist ending.


Ditko's art is a bit sparse in this period, but I think page three, with the explosion, has some really nice elements.

Some links to check out:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
ACT 3 now, ACT 4 soon
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA
#78 now available
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
CREEPER collection ever closer
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
(scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies)

Click images to explode

 

Brief mercantile note

For those interested, I've got all of the available Ditko/Snyder publications on hand right now. This will take you to them listed on the Ebay, or just contact me directly with what you're interested in and I'll hold them for you and give you a shipping price.

New Ditko - DITKOMANIA #78

Available for ordering right now from editor/publisher Rob Imes is DITKOMANIA #78.  Included this issue are reviews of some of the major recent Ditko releases, both new (A DITKO ACT TWO) and reprint (STRANGE SUSPENSE and THE ART OF DITKO).  There's also a long 9-page article by me in this issue, looking at the work that Ditko drew for DC's various anthology comics, including these:

Strange Adventures #188 [1966]
Plop #16 [1975]
The Unexpected #190 [1979]
Time Warp #2 [1979]
House of Mystery #277 [1980]
Time Warp #3 [1980]
Mystery In Space #111 [1980]
Weird War Tales #99 [1981]
Secrets of Haunted House #45 [1982]
Ghosts #111 [1982]

...and a whole lot more.  More importantly, Rob managed to find a copy of the first page of an unpublished DC story titled "The Robot and... The Ghost".

New Ditko - A DITKO ACT 3

The newest release from Steve Ditko and Robin Snyder, A DITKO ACT 3, is now available.  32-pages, again with the nicer white paper used in the most recent releases and featuring Miss Eerie, The Grey Negotiator and The Cape in long stories, plus various other short bits.

Ordering info direct from Snyder over here, as usual, along with all the previous books still available (18 different books in all).  Retailers interested should contact Snyder for discounts and terms.

I've got a few copies available, too.  See here for the easiest way to get just ACT 3, contact me if you want to combine it with any earlier books, or check out Ebay later today.

Upcoming Ditko - ACT 3 on the way

Robin Snyder reports that copies of A DITKO ACT 3 are printed and on the way.  Direct ordering information for the book, alone or in combination with the many other in-print Ditko books, is over here as usual.  Retailers interested in carrying the book should contact Snyder for terms and discounts.  I'll also have copies available soon.

Unusual Tales - Help Wanted

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

From Charlton's OUTLAWS OF THE WEST #18 [1959] comes one of the non-horse starring westerns from Ditko in that era, the 7-page "Help Wanted".

Pretty much a routine story about U.S. Marshal who rides into Dogtown, finding it without law and under the thumb of badman Moose Keppler and his men.

A couple of good action scenes in here, and a couple of neat characters, especially Moose's right-hand man Skull.

Some links to check out:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
ACT 3 release imminent, lots more available
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA
New issue out soon
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
Big book of Indiana Jones reprints on the way
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
Scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies

Click images to big-up.

Unusual Tales - A Remembered Friend

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

"A Remembered Friend" is a very quick 2-page story from Charlton's ROCKY LANE'S BLACK JACK #25 [1958].  As mentioned before, there was a brief period where Ditko was doing a lot of stories for the company's two black horse based western titles, this and BLACK FURY.  Lasted under a year, but in that time he did almost 100 pages.

Not much else to add that you can't see for yourself in the story, so enjoy.

Some links to check out:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
ACT 3 release imminent
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA
#78 due out later this month
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
CREEPER slightly delayed, still on the way
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
(scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies)

Click images to big-up.