Number 1809: Ditko mood, 1957

A story I read about Steve Ditko is that no matter how much he was paid for a job, he always did his best. That is pretty well proven by the kinds of art jobs he did for Charlton, notoriously one of the lowest paying publishers. These two tales, from Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #4 (1957), are good examples.

Unlike the horror comics of just a couple of years earlier, these stories depend on mood rather than violence. Ditko’s ability to draw exotic settings helps considerably in conveying that mood of mystery.

The art is better than the stories. At the time I bought Charlton Comics for stories like these, and more-or-less passed over other titles in their line. Ditko’s work was what I wanted. I was well prepared for Ditko when he brought Spider-Man to life. I had followed him at Charlton during his time drawing Captain Atom and Gorgo, along with the sheer volume of his mystery comics work for both Charlton and Stan Lee.

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