vintage splash pages from strange tales

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Dick Ayers, Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics, monsters, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

We hope you enjoyed our recent romp through the archives of Marvel’s Strange Tales series this week. To close it out, we present a selection of splash pages that appeared between 1960 and 1962, approximately. You will see artwork from Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers. You won’t find many copies of the originals around any more, but you might get a kick out of Marvel’s high-quality hardcover reprints: Marvel Masterworks – Atlas Era Strange Tales. Enjoy!

I Found the Mad Universe!

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Marvel Comics, microscope, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales # 76; Marvel Comics, 1960. Art by Steve Ditko. This issue also contained I am Dragoom with art by Jack Kirby.

Do Not Panic!

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alien, Fantastic Four, Mars, Martian, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

This great Steve Ditko short story comes from Strange Tales #95. Steve’s splash pages for these stories just rock our world. What great posters they would make!

I Saw the End of the World!

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Don Heck, end of the world, giant ants, grottu, Jack Kirby, mole men, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

What a great page from Steve Ditko! The rest of this issue of Strange Tales is pretty awesome, too — a personal favorite of ours. Jack Kirby and giant ants to lead off!

Collectors’s Guide: From Strange Tales #73; Marvel, 1960.

Prototype issue (Ant-Man). “Grottu, King of the Insects!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “I Saw the End of the World!” with art by Steve Ditko; “I Was Captured By the Mole Men!” with art by Don Heck; “I Am a Walking Time Bomb” with art by Paul Reinman; plus a two-page text story, “The Tree.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.

I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World!

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dreams, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

 
Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #74; Marvel, 1960.

“Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Beware the Hands of Hundu” (art by Don Heck?); “I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World” with art by Paul Reinman; “When the Totem Walks!” with art by Steve Ditko; and a two-page text story, “The Whirlpool of Gairloch.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.

What is X-35?!

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Don Heck, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Dig these two short stories from Strange Tales #101. The issue also had two Human Torch stories that guest-star the Thing, marking the debut of the Torch’s popular run in this title. We like these sci-fi/occult backups by Steve Ditko and Don Heck. The splash pages are super fun, and the stories aren’t bad either!

Collector’s Guide: from Strange Tales #101; Marvel, 1962.

If you like What is X-35, you may also enjoy a similar but wordless treatment by Thomas Ott in the even-creepier The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8. (It’s sold out at Fantagraphics currently but is scheduled for reprinting in a soft cover edition in 2014.

More about Strange Tales #101: Human Torch solo series begins in “The Human Torch!” Plot by Stan Lee, script by Larry Lieber, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers. Fantastic Four origin retold. Also in this issue: “The Impossible Spaceship” with art by Don Heck and “What Is X-35?” with art by Steve Ditko. (Lee and Lieber may have written these last two stories.) There is also a two-page text story, “Sdrawkcab.” Kirby/Ayers cover. Cover price $0.12.

The Mighty Oak!

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mighty oak, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko subject an oak tree to the same atomic test blast that created the Hulk in this classic short story from Strange Tales #100.

 

Strange Tales 71

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Joe Sinnot, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #71; Marvel, 1959.

“I Dared to Defy Merlin’s Black Magic!” with art by Steve Ditko; “I am the Man Who Will Destroy Your World!”; “When the Saucer Strikes!” with art by Paul Reinman; “I Fought the Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed!”; “I Am the Man Without a Face!” with art by Joe Sinnott.

Strange Tales 70

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Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #70; Marvel, 1959.

“A Giant Walks the Earth!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Earth in Chains!” with art by Paul Reinman; “Ghost Ship!”; “Escape to Tomorrow” with art by Reinman; “When Wakes the Sphinx!” with art by Steve Ditko; Kirby cover pencils.

Strange Tales 69

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Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #69; Marvel, 1959.

“The Man in the Iron Box!”; “Rocket Ship X-200”; “Journey Into Nowhere!” with art by Joe Sinnott; “The World That Was Lost!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “That Threat From the 5th Dimension!” with art by Steve Ditko; Kirby cover pencils.

Strange Tales 68

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Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, John Buscema, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #68; Marvel, 1959.

“Last Warning–Evacuate Earth!” with art by Joe Sinnott; “The Creatures From the Bottomless Pit!” with art by Steve Ditko; “Test Pilot!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Next Stop–Mars!”; “Trapped in Tomorrow!” with art by John Buscema; Kirby cover pencils.

Strange Tales 67

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Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnot, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Let’s set the time machine for 1959! Take a look this week at a stack of Marvel’s Strange Tales. You’ll find fast-paced science fiction stories with an occasional occult theme thrown in for good measure. (Strange Tales ran more horror in the early 1950’s, before the Comics Code Authority nonsense began.) Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby feature prominently alongside other masters of these classic short-form comics.

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #67; Marvel, 1959.

“Trapped Between Two Worlds!” (art by Steve Ditko); “I Seek the Sea Serpent” (art by Don Heck); “I Was the Invisible Man!” (pencils by Jack Kirby); and “The Man Who Never Was!” Joe Sinnott cover.

One of Us Is a Martian!

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Al Williamson, Beware the Robots, golden age, Martian, One of Us is a Martian, robot, Steve Ditko, Tales of Suspense

One of us is a Martian. It might be …you! Come to think of it, we’re all Martians, here! So let’s rock this Steve Ditko tale from the golden age of science-fiction comics and see what happens. We’re including an Al Williamson piece called Beware of the … Robots! Yes, the next time someone complains about machines taking their job, you can confidently say, “Let ’em! We’ve got better things to do!”

Thanks to The Warrior’s Comic Book Den for hipping us to this sci-fi classic. They’ve got some great Al Williamson pieces there and much more.

Collector’s Guide: From Tales of Suspense #4; Marvel, 1959.

Amazing Adventures 1961 – First Issue with Kirby and Ditko!

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Amazing Adventures, Amazing Adventures 1961, Dr. Droom, first issue, Jack Kirby, Midnight at the Wax Museum, origin, Steve Ditko, Torr

Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko rock stories of the far-out, freaky, and fantastic in the first issue of Amazing Adventures! We’ve got the 2-part “Torr,” “Midnight at the Wax Museum,” and the first appearance and origin of “Dr. Droom!”

Collector’s Guide: From Amazing Adventures #1; Marvel, 1961. All six issues feature Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Reprinted in the Amazing Fantasy Omnibus #1; Marvel, 2007.

Marvel published several different series under the title Amazing Adventures. Don’t get this confused with the 1970 Amazing Adventures Kirby kicked off with Inhumans stories.

I Came from the Black Void!

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April Fools Day, Creatures on the Loose, I Came From The Black Void, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Here’s a three-page kicker of a story by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, straight out of the back pages of Creatures on the Loose. An alien comes to earth to make first contact – but his plans go awry due to some bad timing!

Steve Ditko’s Secrets of Spider-man!

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how strong is spider-man, Spider-man, Spider-man's mask, Steve Ditko, utility belt

Did you ever wonder how Spider-man’s mask works? Or how strong he is compared to other Marvel heroes? If you already know the answers, then maybe you remember that Spidey used to have a cool utility belt like Batman — complete with extra web fluid cartidges and a bitchin’ belt buckle that shone a Spidey face wherever he pointed it. Writers seem to have forgotten the Spidey Spotlight! Now, feast your eyes on Steve Ditko‘s rendering of these incredible secrets of Spider-man!

Spider-man’s First Battle against the Lizard!

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Amazing Spider-man, Curt Connors, Face to Face With the Lizard, lizard, Marvel Tales, Spider-man, Spider-man Classics, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Mutating Reptiles taking over the world? YES! Too bad Spider-man shows up to give Dr. Curt “The Lizard” Connors his medicine and make him all normal again. Shucks! Didn’t you ever just want The Lizard to win for once?

Enjoy the scene in our gallery below. It’s the very first showdown between Spider-man and The Lizard!

Collector’s Guide: From Spider-man Classics #7. Reprints Amazing Spider-man #6. Reprinted in Marvel Tales #143. Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks Amazing Spider-man #1.

Spider-man’s First Battle with Dr. Doom!

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Amazing Spider-man, Dr. Doom, Marvel Tales, Spider-man, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

It Had to Happen! Spider-man meets Dr. Doom for the first time. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko take us inside Doom’s secret hideaway. There, we witness web-head battle a barrage of high-tech gadgets in a spectacular display of Ditko fireworks and special effects! Check it out!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Marvel Tales #142.
– Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #5.
– Reprinted in Spider-man Classics #6
– Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks Amazing Spider-man #1.

No Sign of Life!

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Chris Columbus, Cowboys and Colored People, Creatures on the Loose, Flip Wilson, No Sign of Life, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko suggest that some aliens just don’t WANT to be discovered! From the pages of Creatures on the Loose.

That reminds me of this old Flip Wilson record where the natives of the West Indies shout to Chris Columbus, “Discover yo ass on away from here! We don’t want to be discovered!”

Steve Ditko’s Strange Avenging Tales!

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Fantagraphics, Indie Comics, Steve Ditko, Strange Avenging Tales, The Baffler

In Strange Avenging Tales, you’ll find a re-working of Ditko’s Charlton character The Question, reconfigured as The Baffler – for copyright reasons, we speculate. Also some short crime stories, a little bit of surrealism, and some satirical social commentary. Personal opinion: Some of the best Steve Ditko artwork we’ve ever seen, and the black and white format really showcases his sense of composition and rendering.

The second issue promised in the back of the book never happened, so don’t beat yourself up hunting for it!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Steve Ditko’s Strange Avenging Tales #1.
Fantagraphics Books, 1997.
Stories & Art by Steve Ditko