The enigmatic illustrator was born 95 years ago…
By PETER BOSCH
The art of the late Steve Ditko (born November 2, 1927) was always impressive from any era. In my opinion, though, there never was a time more remarkable than the late ’50s and early ’60s when he was developing his talent to the fullest. The incredible covers and pages below are from Charlton’s Silver Age title, Tales of the Mysterious Traveler, a comic based on an old-time radio of show of the 1940s, The Mysterious Traveler, in which the title character acted as an observer of the drama taking place.
While Ditko always excelled in illustrating supernatural stories, look at the splash page below of “Little Girl Lost.” In the simple composition, there is so much drama.
Marvel at these 13 covers and pages from Tales of the Mysterious Traveler:
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #3 (May 1957)
Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #4 (Aug. 1957)
Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #5 (Nov. 1957).
Interior page from Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #5 (Nov. 1957).
This cover and the five remarkable interior pages following are all from Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #6 (Dec. 1957).
Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #10 (Nov. 1958)
Interior page from Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #10 (Feb. 1959)
Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #11 (Feb. 1959)
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MORE
— 13 SPLASH PAGES: A STEVE DITKO Birthday Celebration — 2021 Edition: DR. STRANGE. Click here.
— 13 SPLASH PAGES: A STEVE DITKO Birthday Celebration — 2020 Edition: SPIDER-MAN. Click here.
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PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, has just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.
November 2, 2022
Wow! I’ve heard of this comic but never seen any of it! Thanks so much! I am a big fan of Robert Arthur who co-created the radio series!
November 2, 2022
That second cover is very Eisneresque!
November 2, 2022
His style was very well-suited for that genre.
November 3, 2022
Absolutely beautiful! Are those issues collected somewhere?
November 5, 2022
Yes, Fantagraphics reprinted a number of these in The Steve Ditko Archives #2 to 5. They are out of print now, I think, but you can find them on eBay.
November 5, 2022
Thank you, Peter.
January 18, 2023
Because Charlton wasn’t very good about their copyright notices, this title fell into the public domain and can be found on sites like Digital Comic Museum and Comic Book Plus.