Gallery: Unexplored Worlds Delves Into Steve Ditko's Sci-Fi Roots
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Eight years before he teamed with Stan Lee to create Spider-Man, Steve Ditko nearly died at age 27. Stricken with tuberculosis, the artist spent a year recovering at his family's home in Pennsylvania, then embarked on an astonishing creative spree at Charlton Comics, where he cranked out nearly 500 pages of action-saturated science fiction, fantasy, Western and suspense stories in a single year. A notoriously cheap outfit that stressed quantity over quality, Charlton paid contributors a pittance, but Ditko transformed hackneyed dialog and cornball plot twists into startling portraits of desperate souls. Tapping the dark streak that would inform his work at Marvel Comics in the 1960s, [Ditko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ditko) developed his eye for color, action and character psychology during the Charlton era. A rich sampling of the illustrator's pre-superhero stories from 1956 and 1957 comes together in the new hardcover volume *[Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2](http://www.amazon.com/Unexplored-Worlds-Steve-Ditko-Archives/dp/1606993801)*, available Tuesday. To understand the creative DNA that would later inform Ditko's iconic renderings of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, check out these *Archive* illustrations, accompanied by commentary from *Unexplored Worlds* editor Blake Bell. __Above:__ Out of This World No. 3 ----------------------- "Ditko's association with Charlton cemented his reputation as a man whose sole purpose on this earth was to be a comic-book artist," writes Bell, who penned the introduction for *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*.
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler No. 3 -------------------------------------- While no longer able to "pour on the gore" as he had done in the pre-[Comics Code Authority](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Code_Authority) era, Ditko made "dramatic strides" in 1956 and 1957, author Blake Bell writes in *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*. "The pacing of his storytelling is far more effective — the reader is able to follow the action from one panel to the next with greater ease and clarity — and his work began to lose the 'cluttering; found in most artists who were influenced by the [EC \[Comics\]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EC_Comics) stylings. In effect, Ditko was getting more out of a whole lot less."
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Out of This World No. 5 ----------------------- Steve Ditko prevailed despite "bland" Charlton Comics scripts, writes Blake Bell in *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*. "Often, the stories lacked even the *Twilight Zone* twist endings that Ditko and Stan Lee became famous for in the early 1960s.... Some plots seem to just stop without a logical ending, as if the writer ran out of typing paper."
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Strange Suspense Stories No. 31 ------------------------------- Steve Ditko cranked out comics at an astonishing rate. In 1957, he produced more than 450 pages of fully colored comic art, which adds up to the modern equivalent of two full comic books per month.
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Strange Suspense Stories No. 3: 'Assignment Treason' ---------------------------------------------------- Charlton Comics paid contributors about half the going industry rate. Steve Ditko received $6.50 for a page of finished art. In exchange, the publisher promised zero editorial interference.
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Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds No. 5: 'A Forgotten World' --------------------------------------------------------- Ditko stories typically included a "splash of the strong lead panel followed by a smaller second panel that pulls back far enough to establish a location," writes Blake Bell in *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*. "Ditko would then move into a close-up of the lead characters interacting and that would drive the narrative to the next page."
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Strange Suspense Stories No. 3: 'Forever and Ever' -------------------------------------------------- The haunted look on the faces of many Steve Ditko characters may well spring from the artist's near-death experience in the spring of 1954. Charlton Comics artist Fran Matera says: "I remember watching Steve Ditko draw comics in the office. He had tuberculosis. A woman named Angie who worked there said, 'He's not long for this world.'"
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Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds No. 5: 'The Man Who Could See Tomorrow' ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Artistic freedom kept Steve Ditko at Charlton Comics, writes Blake Bell in *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*. "Little attention was paid to the editorial content within the covers of their comics as long as the books remained above a particular profit line."
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler No. 3: 'Escape' ------------------------------------------------ Steve Ditko began to emphasize the eyes as windows of a character's soul during the Charlton Comics era, according to *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2* editor Blake Bell. "A close-up of an eyeball in half a panel helped to create not only depth in a panel, but was also used by Ditko to create a sense of dread and paranoia, adding to Ditko's growing lexicon of human expression."
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler No. 3: 'Operation Blacksnake' -------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Ditko's rendering skills and sequential storytelling ability proved to be his strength, says Blake Bell in *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*. "Not whatever gore or violence he could add as a cherry on top."
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler No. 3: 'The Mirage' ---------------------------------------------------- The use of liquid blacks in Steve Ditko's work from 1956 and 1957 bears the influence of Will Eisner and Wally Wood. *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2* author Blake Bell praises Ditko for "creating the ethereal nature of space, in creating dark and foreboding atmospherics, and in framing a character in a panel."
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler No. 3: 'The Mirage' ---------------------------------------------------- Uncredited writers often handed Steve Ditko uninspired comic book dialog during the 1956-57 period. "The dichotomy between \[the scripts\] he was given and what he was able to accomplish made Ditko a noteworthy artist," writes Blake Bell in *Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 2*.
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Tales of the Mysterious Traveler No. 3: 'The Only One' ------------------------------------------------------ Although Steve Ditko created a few lurid stories earlier in his career, after the Comics Code Authority clamped down in 1954 on graphic tales of horror, murder and dismemberment, the artist achieved impact through more nuanced storytelling.
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Strange Suspense Stories No. 3: 'The Strange Guests of Tsarus' -------------------------------------------------------------- While the so-called [Marvel Comics bullpen](http://bullpenbulletins.blogspot.com/) gathered in New York, Charlton Comics, which was based in Derby, Connecticut, was hit by a hurricane in 1956. Post-catastrophe, the publisher, pleading poverty, paid its artists the lowest wages in the industry. In return, Charlton offered volume and timely payment.
