Ditko Cover Classics - Mysteries Of Unexplored Worlds #11!

Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #11 was published in 1957.  Ditko drew two stories for this issue -- "Oggo the Thinker" and "The Mountain that Was". You can read the issue at this link. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Mysteries Of Unexplored Worlds #10!

Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #10 was published in 1957. Ditko drew four stories in this issue -- "The Joke", "Forbidden Planet", "One Way Trip", and "The Strange One". You can read the issue at this link. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Mysteries Of Unexplored Worlds #4!

Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #4 was published in 1957.  Steve Ditko draws two stories in this issue -- The Forbidden Room" and "Valley in the Mist". You can read the issue at this link. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Mysteries Of Unexplored Worlds #3!

Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #3 was published in 1957. Ditko drew four stories in this issue -- "They Didn't Believe It", "A World Where I Was King", "A Forgotten World", and "The Strange Guests of Tsaurus". You can read the issue at this link. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Out Of This World #11!

Out of This World #11 from 1959 is one of my all-time favorite Steve Ditko images. It features a delicacy that is sometimes missing from his more robust work. You can read this comic in full at this link. Ditko drew three stories in this issue -- "The Time Chamber", "The Hammer of Thor" and "The Careless Man". 

Here's a look at the black and white version of his awesome cover. 

When I first encountered this artwork reprinted on an issue of Space War in 1978 I at first thought it was the work of Joe Staton. The explosions look just like the bubbly style Staton had used in his earliest days with Charlton. But the signature of "J. Kodti" soon taught me the error of my ways. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Out Of This World #7!

Out of This World #7 features one of Steve Ditko's oddest covers. He is clearly looking for new and different ways to communicate the weirdness of the stories he crates. You can read the issue at this link.

Ditko supplies the art for four of the stories in this issue -- "Journey into Paradise", "The Most Terrible Fate", "Through the Walls" and "Cure-All". 

Here's a small glimpse at the black and white artwork. 

It was used as the cover for an issue of Creepy Worlds, a 1960's series from Alan Class. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Out Of This World #6!

Out of This World #6 was published in late 1957. One can see on this cover a great desire on Ditko's part to experiment with the presentations. He was not satisfied to simply knock out yet one more cover. You can read this issue at this link.  There are four stories drawn by Steve Ditko in this issue -- "All Those Eyes", "The River's Wrath", "The Secret Room", and "Plague". 

The cover art was reprinted by Alan Class in a 1963 run in Britain. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Out Of This World #5!

Out of This World #5 was published in 1957 and features a truly weird Ditko cover, one which makes good use of the somewhat dull tones often seen on Charlton's comic covers. You can read this issue at this link. There are four Ditko stories in this issue -- "The Thing from Below", "The Night They Learned the Truth", "I Made a Volcano", and "The Man Who Stepped Out of a Cloud". 

Here is a glimpse at the black and white art by Ditko for this cover. 

The cover art was reprinted on an issue of the British comic Sinister Tales years later. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Out Of This World #4!

Out of This World #4 was published in 1957 and sports one of Steve Ditko's wildest covers. The scene is of course on "Ditko Street" as it should be. You can read this comic at this link. There are three Ditko stories in this issue -- "From All Our Darkrooms", "Flying Dutchman" and "The Conquered Earth". 

Here's the original artwork for this masterwork comic cover. 

The cover was adapted and reprinted on Ghost Manor #62 in 1982. 

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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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Charlton Classic Covers - Yellowjacket Comics #5!

Yellowjacket Comics #5 is the fifth Charlton Comic, on sale November 1, 1944. Here's a link to read this issue. The cover is ferocious fight scene, but again no mask. We are again treated to two Yellowjacket adventures. Other features in the comic are Diana the Huntress, Harbor Lights a marine adventure, and The Filipino Kid a war story, and King of Beasts with some other assorted small items. 

This is last Charlton comic for a while. The sixth issue would not appear on the newsstands for nearly a year. 

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Charlton Classic Covers - Yellowjacket Comics #4!

Yellowjacket Comics #4 is the fourth Charlton Comic, on sale October 1, 1944. Here's a link to read this issue. The cover finally features our hero smashing through the cover, but again sans mask. We are treated to two Yellowjacket adventures this time.  Other features in the comic are Diana the Huntress, Harbor Lights a marine adventure (with Theresa), and The King of Beasts, and some other assorted small items. 

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Charlton Classic Covers - Yellowjacket Comics #3!

Yellowjacket Comics #3 is the third Charlton Comic, on sale September 1, 1944. Here's a link to read this issue. The cover finally features our lead hero face forward, though minus a mask of any kind.  Other features in the comic are Diana the Huntress (a fun feature that gets cover featured for a first time), Harbor Lights a marine adventure, and The Filipino Kid a war story, and some other assorted small items. 

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Charlton Classic Covers - Yellowjacket Comics #2!

Yellowjacket Comics #2 is the second Charlton Comic, on sale August 1, 1944. Here's a link to read this issue. The cover finally features our lead hero, though still managing to keep his back to us. Other features in the comic are Diana the Huntress, Harbor Lights a marine adventure, and The Filipino Kid a war story, King of Beasts a circus tale, and some other assorted small items. I bet Rosita sold a few issues. 

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Charlton Classic Covers - Yellowjacket Comics #1!

Yellowjacket Comics #1 is the very first Charlton Comic, on sale July 1, 1944. Here's a link to read this issue. The cover doesn't make all that much of the title character who is seen only in an inset. In fact, no scene like that featured on the cover occurs inside the comic. Other features in the comic are Diana the Huntress, a Famous Tales of Terror featuring Poe's "The Black Cat", King of Beasts about the circus, Harbor Lights a marine adventure, The Filipino Kid a war story, and some other assorted small items. 

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Favorite Covers - Young Men!

One of the most important comics, a real gem is Young Men #24 published in 1953. Sparked by the success of DC's Superman on the new-fangled televisions across the nation, Martin Goodman, as always on the lookout for the latest fad, decided it was time to rekindle the Human Torch as well as his Timely cohorts Captain America and the Sub-Mariner. To that end the trio are gathered together in one big comic which tells the world what they've been up to since last seen some four to five years earlier. 

The Human Torch had been buried by gangsters after they found a way to stifle his flames. But they'd imprudently used Yucca Flats as the burial ground and the eventual atomic tests there allowed the Torch to awaken, this time with a radioactive snap to his original flame profile. He quickly finds the thugs who had tried to salt him away, but then cannot find his partner Toro. It turns out Toro had been traded to the Commies and a quick flight to Korea allows the Torch to see a mysterious jet streaking across the sky as his partner who brainwashed fought for the Communist forces. Torch brings him home and soon he's cured, and the duo work together to rescue an FBI agent's daughter from the clutches of the mob.

A lot is piled into a very briskly paced story. But its real impact was a visual one. Russ Heath was the artist of record despite the cover of the comic and the splash page for the Torch story having been done by Torch creator Carl Burgos. Heath's version of the Torch while aflame is different from the classic Burgos version which had been the template for many later renditions.

This sleeker version would be adopted for The Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm when Roy Thomas took control of that book after Stan Lee departed to the west coast to see to Marvel's movie needs. I've always thought this particular rendering of the Torch to be about the best one there is.

Captain America and Bucky get revived too. With artwork by John Romita (and Mort Lawrence on the splash panel) the duo have been playing it cool as Steve Rogers is now a professor teaching at the (ahem) Lee School. Bucky is one of his students and gets fired up when other boys seem to imagine that Cap and Bucky are the stuff of legend. Soon though the return of the Red Skull, this time an agent for the Communists, and a plot to take over the United Nations building are scotched when Steve and Bucky again suit up and dive in fists flying.

In a later story in a later issue of Young Men, Cap, the Torch, and the Sub-Mariner actually share an adventure sort of in a story dedicated to Cap. The trio lasts only briefly as seen in this panel.

The real significance of this 1953 revival though is not sorted out until the early 70's when Steve Englehart takes it up as a plot point. Of course, since in the then current Marvel continuity Cap had been on ice since before the end of WWII, the presence of a Cap and a Bucky during the Cold War was a conundrum. It turns out this duo were wannabes who got hold of a bad batch of the Super-Soldier serum which enhanced their already racist and jingoistic attitudes. This bad Cap battled the real Steve Rogers in a memorable four-parter by Englehart and Sal Buscema. (More on this tomorrow.) 

The third story in this great comic features Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. The story is written and drawn by his creator Bill Everett. And Namor's absence is handled in the most off-hand way possible. He's just been out of town. When Betty Dean becomes curious about some ships which have gone missing, she makes some calls and soon enough the Sub-Mariner knocks on her door.

I love the way Namor fills out that suit, looking downright dapper and surprisingly urbane. He's far from the berserker he's often portrayed as in other stories, before and after. (The story goes that Namor lasted longer than the others during this revival phase because TV was interested in bringing him to the small screen. It never happened, but this smooth operator would've been right at home.)Namor and Betty find out the ships are being sunk by alien robots from Venus and end the threat, though no one in the official channels believes them.

Bill Everett was a great artist, one of the polished ever to tackle a page in the Golden Age. He seemed only to ever get better, each time he took on his prize creation showing more and more sophistication. His final run on the Sub-Mariner ended when Everett passed away too soon.

I first ran across Young Men #24 in the back of Marvel Super-Heroes #20 which was fronted by a Doc Doom story. The reprint blew me away back then, the polish and sophistication of the artwork was a real eye-opener.

Later still I picked up a copy of Marvel Masterworks - Atlas Era Heroes. I got it for the Marvel Boy stories, but was delighted to find all of the Young Men issues featuring the "Big Three" included.

I read it this time in the trade paper The Golden Age of Marvel Comics Volume One, a beautiful package with a nice overview of comics of the era.

Final Issues

The Timely revivals in 1953 were unsuccessful. The Sub-Mariner lasted the longest because of TV interest, but despite a legitimate push the heroes found no firm footing and by 1955 were back in the bin of forgotten heroes, until the next time they were needed.

This is a Revised Red, White, and Blue Dojo Classic. 

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The Neal Adams Superman Family Album!

Above is the very first cover that Neal Adams created for DC's Superman Family of titles, and it's a doozy. The energy and drama of an Adams cover is all too evident. Below I've attempted to assemble all the "Superman Family" covers Adams produced for Action Comics, Superman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. I know he created some outstanding covers for Superboy during this period, but I hand to draw the line somewhere, and you can find those covers here at posts I created about the Legion last Spring. I did however include those issues of World's Finest in which Superman was hosting various other stars from the DC firmament other than Batman. I've attempted to arrange the gallery in chronological order, and I've attempted to indicate where Adams was just inking a cover as he does in a few of these. If I've forgotten one let me know. Beginning in 1967 and sprawling across the next few years the late and great Neal Adams dominated the covers at DC. Enjoy! 

Adams returned in the late Bronze Age to kick out a few more outstanding covers for the Superman books. These are some of my all-time favorites. 

I'll wrap up this overlong post with Neal's contribution to the Action Comics #1000 celebration. Why? Because I want to. See you tomorrow with something completely different and smaller. 

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