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By Steve Ditko (Eclipse Books)
ISBN: 0-913035-83-1
Before his time at Marvel young Steve Ditko perfected his craft doing short stories for Charlton Comics. The short complete tale was once the sole staple of the comic book profession, when the plan was to deliver as much variety as possible to the reader. Sadly that particular discipline is all but lost to modern comic creators.
Apparently the title came from a radio show which Charlton licensed, and the lead character certainly acts more as voyeur or host than active participant, speaking to “camera†and asking the reader for opinion and judgement as he presents a selection of funny, sad, scary and wondrous human interest yarns all tinged with a hint of the weird and supernatural, and all rendered unforgettable by the sheer genius of Ditko’s storytelling mastery and his full, lavish brushwork. I have many of these stories in the comic versions, but the crisp black and white art reproduced here puts them to shame. This art is gorgeous!
I suspect, but don’t know, that Joe Gill scripted most of these stories, although if anyone has any information I’d be delighted to hear from you. This glorious little gem should be permanently in print and used as a primer for any artist who wants a career in comics.
© 1990 Robyn Snyder. Tales of the Mysterious Traveler is ™ Sword in the Stone Productions.