Many Ghosts Of Doctor Graves #1 [1967]

Charlton's MANY GHOSTS OF DOCTOR GRAVES #1 [1967] closes with the 8-page "The Ghosts Of The Stone Lovers" (Case 372), which I think is the only collaboration between Steve Ditko and Pat Boyette (not including their separate art being mixed together in collages for covers and introductory pages and Boyette's introduction to the Konga reprint book THE LONELY ONE).

Sometimes Doctor M. T. Graves is just a host of these stories, sometimes he's an active participant. This is kind of half-way between, as he arrives in the aftermath of a ghostly encounter that left his friend, a curator of ancient Roman art, hospitalized.  The curator tells the story of his remarkable find of a stone statue of two lovers, and how it led to the lovers appearing to him as ghosts and telling about how they came to be cursed following Julius Caesar's murder. In a rather overly long epilogue to the ghost story, Graves investigates. I think that might just have been there to give Ditko/Boyette an excuse to render some more of the statues in the museum, which they do quite creatively.

Boyette seemed to pretty much follow Ditko's style, this story is pretty close to the other Ditko-inked ghost stories of the era, if it weren't signed I'm not sure I'd have had any reason to think it wasn't Ditko solo.

This story was reprinted in DR. GRAVES #75 [1986].

Ghost Manor #26 [1975]

GHOST MANOR #26 [1975] from Charlton begins with the 7-page story "Curse Of The Kolukoffs" written by Joe Gill and drawn by Steve Ditko. Hosted by Mr. Bones, who sets it up as an essential story in the study of lycanthrophy. Set in the Ural Mountains, Baron Sergei Von Koulukoff is a werewolf who aids what I guess are normal wolves in hunting and terrorizing the local serfs. His lifestyle is interrupted by the return of his cousin Leonidas, an avid hunter determined to make the local wolves his prey. And, without spoiling it, kind of a silly ending, but at least it works out for the surviving serfs.

I do like that second page, seen below, with the vicious wolf attack, and the constantly sneering face of the Baron is a Ditko speciality.

This story was reprinted in HAUNTED #47 [1980].

Monsters Attack #3 [1990]

MONSTERS ATTACK #3 [1990] is the middle of the five issues of this black and white magazine edited by Mort Todd and published by Globe Communications. In addition to some John Severin, Pat Boyette and Gene Colan in this issue is the usual Steve Ditko written and drawn story, the 5-page "Face It".

This is a nice little crime story with a science fiction twist that serves as a nice companion to two of Ditko’s major long-form works of the era, STATIC and THE MOCKER. In this, an inventor named Kuga uses his robot to kill Welson, a rich man who refuses to fund Kuga’s work, and steals Welson’s identity with another invention to get access to his money.  As you’d expect, Kuga soon faces a form of justice.

A great looking splash page of the various half-finished works in the lab, and Ditko’s renditions of the face-transforming mask is quite striking, both when it works as planned and when it goes out of control.

This story, like the other four Ditko stories in MONSTERS ATTACK and many fine stories by other artists, has never been reprinted. Yet.

Hm, why did I feel the need to add "yet"...

Strange Suspense Stories #47 [1960]

STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #47 [1960] ends with the 5-page Ditko story "His Brother's Keeper". It features Peter Marsden, a once-renowned but now reclusive scientist, who once pursued a theory that ancestral memories were stored in the unused portions of the brain. We then flashback to the tragic story when he and his brother George went to Egypt to research the work of an ancient sorcerer which might validate his theory. Let's just say that they do, but immediate human tests on experimental drugs are never a good idea.

Odd little story, parts of it are really overwritten in scientific gobbledygook, but the ending is surprisingly subtle, letting the art tell the ending in a silent final panel. Ditko's art is excellent, this is one of his more detailed jobs from the era, with some really fine shading. As usual Ditko does a good job on the Egyptian imagery, and the ending gives him a chance to draw some more historical scenes, and he does a good job with that silent ending.

This story has never been reprinted.

The cover of this issue, as was the norm for Charlton at the time, is composed of interior artwork re-purposed for the cover, in this case a collage of images from the last two pages of this story.

--Link-- Last Call DITKOMANIA #93 Kickstarter

Last call for the DITKOMANIA #93 Kickstarter for the next issue of Rob Imes' fanzine devoted to, well, it should be obvious from the title.  This issue has a focus on monsters, including Konga on the front cover and Gorgo on the backcover, the subjects of a good percentage of Ditko's work from 1960 to 1963.

If you're already a subscriber to DITKOMANIA, a Kickstarter pledge can be used to extend your subscription or get a digital edition with additional material.

Upcoming Ditko - #20

As usual, new Ditko carries within a preview of the next Ditko:

Not sure if that's the final cover, or if those faces will be filled in. And I guess the title is "#20", but it could be "# SNAKE FACE".

New Ditko - #9 TEEN

Now available, Ditko's #9 TEEN, the latest in Ditko's series of all-new 32-page comics. Returning features include The Madman, E (e) & I (i), The Hero, The Trapper, plus a few other features. There's also a very short new essay in Ditko's current series ("#28: Red Flag") and an acknowledgement of the Kickstarter backers.

Said backers should have copies now or soon. As usual, all the new books and various other Ditko publications are available directly from Robin Snyder, details here, and the new book should be available from retailers who order from Snyder now or in the near future (interested retailers should contact Snyder for terms, which are probably better than you get for similar comics from your main distributor).

--Link-- WITZEND preview

If you're considering whether or not to get the upcoming two-volume box set of WITZEND, the publisher has an 87-page PDF preview available now, including the full table of contents for each volume and a few pages of the Ditko stories to be published, including the first pages of the two Mr A stories.