Ghostly Haunts #56 [1978]

This cover-only appearance was among the last group of non-reprint Ditko releases from Charlton in the 1970s (with a handful more issues in Charlton's death-rattle in the mid-1980s). A decent effort, especially with the patterning on the curtains and the ghost/invisibility effect.

Plus of course some great hands. What is that weird pose with the two middle fingers tightly together and the other fingers spread out? I was just trying it, and it is not a pose that comes naturally to my fingers, at least, although it does look cool when Ditko draws it.

Beyond The Grave #6 [1976]

Seems like some odd perspective going on over on this cover-only effort from Ditko. A pleasant enough mild horror, using a variation (without the sexy woman) of the "oblivious to danger from behind" motif of this classic (also seen on many Joe Kubert war covers).

Unfortunately spoiled a little in the production by that superfluous Charlton logo slapped on one character's face. Let me go back in time 30 years and send Charlton a memo:

Attn. Charlton:
Re: extra logos defacing Ditko covers
You should know that reminding people that they're buying a Charlton comic by spoiling the artwork on some fine covers is counter-productive. For the most part people are not buying books because they're from Charlton, but despite it.

Thank you for your attention.

Cheyenne Kid #10 [1957]

Despite westerns being a major genre in comics throughout Ditko's earliest days in the industry, especially among his major publishers Charlton and Marvel, he only drew a handful of short western stories in his career, and many of those starred horses (Black Fury and Black Jack). I guess he just didn't have an affinity for that genre...

Wait, CHEYENNE KID #10 has a message on that topic from 1957, and that message is:

WRONG!

Ditko just drew the cover to this issue of one of Charlton's many western books of the era, but what a cover it is. Action-packed, very clearly composed and full of detail in every corner, almost a throw-back to Ditko's pre-code covers in that regard. This is right up there with some of the best western work I've seen from the era, like the Simon&Kirby BOYS' RANCH, and looks like it could be a movie poster (though that blurb on the cover is poorly placed and a bit annoying).

I'd wonder how anyone could look at this and not throw the artist as much western work as he could handle, except that I know Ditko was just as strong on the fantasy and sci-fi work (and would later go on to help reinvent the super-hero genre). So add westerns to something that Ditko does well, if not often.

It's kind of odd, you'd think that the black-and-white morality plays of the western genre would appeal to the later philosophical leanings of Ditko. I'm just imagining Mr. A done as a western. The A Kid? Two-Gun A? Shoot-out at the A-is-A Corral?

--Link-- Shaw! on Oddball Adult Fantasy

Scott Shaw!'s Oddball Comics turns its (injury-to-the-)eye towards the Ditko filled AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #9 in this recent entry.

http://www.oddballcomics.com/article.php?story=2007-04-09

The Thing #17 [1954]

Paging Doctor Strange. Looks like someone is messing with the Black Arts again.

It's been said (by me, if no one else) that a lot of Ditko's early education in comics was learning what to leave out, with his heavily detailed early work being all wrong for the level of pay and print quality that comics of that era offered. Here's a textbook example of the level of work he did in that period, one of the last published pieces from his brief first stint at Charlton. He tossed everything into this. Multiple spider-webs, chains, a skull, potions, books, the shadow of a gargoyle, curtains, scraps of paper, a crazed wizard in flowing robes and a drooling demon with a sharp tongue emerging from the smoke. I don't know what Charlton was paying back then, but it certainly wasn't enough to justify getting this in return. And while it looks good on the cover (though I'm sure we still lose a lot from the original art), half of this wouldn't come across on the interior printing of the day.

This is another contender for the best of Ditko's cover-only books. It's also has a strong argument for the best of the less than two dozen pre-code covers he did. Just brilliant stuff.

I have to admit, I was tempted to take this scan, strip off the colour and Charlton trade dress, replace it with some Marvel splash page elements from circa 1964, with a blurb about Hoggoth, the Vishanti, Agamotto and all that jive, a few words like "effendi" and a title like "The Menace of the Other Ancient One" and pass it off as the splash page of a lost Doctor Strange story. But that felt too much like work. If anyone does that, feel free to post it (I can send you a larger scan of the cover if you need it) and I'll give you a permanent link over on the side-bar.

Space Adventures #12 [1954]

Here's a fan favourite among Ditko's cover-only books, seeing how it was used as the front cover for both Michael Wileman's A 50'S DITKO COVER GALLERY [1982] and Vanguard's STEVE DITKO - SPACE WARS [2005] (hardcover version). Just a delightful little piece from early in Ditko's career (his first published story was less than a year before this, and his first cover only six months prior).

Ditko's obviously showing a strong influence from the then-current EC sci-fi comics of the era, in particular Wallace Wood and Al Williamson, with the female astronaut being attired in an outfit that is impractical at best (high heels and a conveniently transparent suit over a form fitting suit). That's also a magnificent alien.

And I know some people dislike dialogue on covers, but can even they argue that it works on this one?

Unusual Tales #6 [1957]

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

It's almost impossible to pick a favourite of the Ditko cover-only images, but this one has to be a leading contender. This is fairly early in Ditko's return to Charlton in 1957, after a two year gap where he did a handful of stories for Marvel and not much else. He came back strong, as you can see, with an absolute masterpiece this time around. What really works about this cover is that it completely draws you in, you can't help but want to spend a dime on this, but it's also pretty much complete in itself. I don't know if there's a story in this issue to go with the cover, but do you really need more of a story than you get here, with a perfectly realized monster fish, the reactions of the fishermen, the chaos of the breaking waves.

And, one of the rarest sentences in the English language, kudos to the Charlton production team for some great work on the colour and overall composition of this cover.

Shadows from Beyond #50 [1966]

I've been buying some old Charlton books lately, and was looking on-line at some of the covers so I know what to look for in terms of Ditko stories I don't already have, and I was struck by how good some of the images on books with Ditko covers only are, even though my intent was to identify them so I know to avoid buying them for now in favour of books with Ditko interior art. So I'm going to run a bunch of them here for the next little bit. Scans are from various on-line sources (the GCD (especially this sub-site), various vendor/auction sites, etc.) so quality will vary.



Charlton being Charlton, #50 is the only issue of this title, continuing the numbering from UNUSUAL TALES, while BLUE BEETLE also continued the numbering from UNUSUAL TALES. Oh, Charlton, how at home you'd be in this modern era of backwards numbering, "#0", "#1/2", etc. Anyway, Ditko had been back on Captain Atom for a little while when this came out, and it's an excellent little example of his more playful, design oriented stylings. It might have been better without those little typeset labels. Not sure if Ditko did those or it was someone at Charlton. He did sometimes use that kind of labelling in his fanzine/small-press work, but usually more meaningful and better designed. The cover ran without them, but with an equally obtrusive UPC code, on GHOST MANOR #75 [1984].