Hello, Fellow Questers,
It's an honor to be back with you all again. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes, and businesses through your tablets, smartphones, and computer screens. I am grateful for the chance to communicate my love of comics to others, like yourselves, who love comics too. I am especially grateful in times like these - times in which we have to say goodbye to pioneers in the comics industry, pioneers like Steve Ditko.
For the time being, I want to focus on some of his creations, the ones that have first appearances that can be found in my humble comics collection. Let's take this journey together to honor Mr. Ditko. Ready? Okay, let's go:
This is my copy of issue #55 (May 1966) of Charlton's horror-suspense anthology series, Ghostly Tales, which ran from 1966 to 1984. Steve Ditko was a regular contributor to the series, adding his own particular style to the series' edgy supernatural stories. This series had some fun chillers backed up by some amazing artwork. Even though the pay was lower than at Marvel, Ditko enjoyed greater freedom at Charlton, which probably explains why he contributed there for so many years. In this issue, Dr. Graves, The Ghost-Fighter/Supernaturalist made his debut! Dr. Graves was created (allegedly) by Dave Kaler and Ernie Bache - but I have this fantasy that Steve Ditko was in on this, too. Fact? Who knows? But Ditko and Dr. Graves are inextricably linked in my mind. Besides this, Ditko did actually contribute to this issue in a story called "Great Caesar's Ghost!" You can read Ditko's story, and the entire issue HERE.
In this Ghostly Tales #55, the magnificent Dr. Graves helps a woman who has inherited an old Virginia estate to banish the entity that is haunting her home. Dr. M.T. Graves is a ghostbuster, detective, and all-around supernatural problem-solver. Sometimes, he just uses his sharp wits and detective skills, Scooby Doo-style, to oust a criminal trying to take advantage of a situation; however, other times, Doctor Graves goes toe-to-toe with real supernatural baddies, besting them with his adeptness in the magical arts and his indomitable supernatural powers. Other times, the Doc can be found just helping restless, or mischievous spirits find peace. Dr. Graves was a hit, and in about a year, he got his own title:
The awesomeness that you see right above is my copy of The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves #1, published May of 1967. This series proved to be quite successful, running bi-monthly from 1967 to 1986. Steve Ditko contributed as both scribe and artist, along with other well-known creators of the age like Jim Aparo (my favorite Batman artist), Pat Boyette, and Joe Gill. In this title, Doctor Graves took on more of a hosting role, sort of like Tales From The Crypt's Crypt Keeper, but every now and again, he would get his hands dirty and mix it up with some supernatural baddies.
Now comes the weird part - Steve Ditko was neither the creator nor co-creator of this character; however, Dr. Graves was, without doubt, a bit of a clone of Ditko's Doctor Strange (click HERE for the MORE ON DOCTOR STRANGE). That didn't keep Ditko from doing AMAZING work with this character - in fact, some of the best Dr. Graves adventures feature Steve Ditko's imaginative pencils:
(pictures courtesy of The Bronze Age of Blogs)
I came across Ditko's Dr. Graves when I was very young, in a box of comics given to me in the will of a deceased family friend. Before I knew who Dr. Strange was, Dr. Graves' stories sent my young mind swirling in fits of fright and supernatural adventure. No artist communicated Dr. Graves' occult challenges better than Ditko, and that is why Ditko and Dr. Graves are forever linked together in my mind, and why Dr. Graves holds a special place in my comics-loving heart. If you want more examples of Ditko's influence on Doctor Graves, click HERE and HERE; Four-Color Shadows has some great examples of Ditko's hands on Dr, Graves. And if you want to read some full issues of Ghostly Tales, or The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves, just click the titles in this sentence. Better yet, go ahead and add these to your comics collection. There can't be many floating about. You'll probably be glad that you got to enjoy some classic Ditko goodness from Charlton Comics.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF STEVE DITKO (1927-2018)
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