Atlas owner Martin Goodman set the stage for the Marvel of
the '60s on Nov. 1, 1956. Goodman, on the advice of a
politically-motivated fool in the company named Monroe Froelich Jr.,
switched from distributing his own books, to a partnership with the
ill-fated American News Company (A.N.C.).
Atlas was the most prolific publisher of titles before
A.N.C. wound up in trouble with the U.S. Government with
regards to anti-trust violations and possible mob connections.
In early-to-mid 1957, A.N.C.'s distribution wing went belly up.
Goodman was forced into a deal with rival D.C.'s distributor,
Independent News.
Stan Lee, left alone on the front lines, was forced to market
only 8 monthly books for 1958. The strategy of producing double the
titles on a bi-monthly schedule was chosen.
Given the vast amount of inventory Lee had to chose
from, new work virtually vanished for those Atlas artists
previously providing with mountains of employment. Steve
Ditko was amongst those "cast out".
Only the April issue of WORLD OF MYSTERY (#6)
featured any Ditko Atlas work in 1957. The year 1956
had seen Ditko return to New York, working exclusively
for Atlas, beginning with the famous "They'll Be Some Changes
Made" 4-page story from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #33 (cover
date April).
In fact, only three pages of Ditko work from 1956 were
published outside of the Atlas line of books (FROM HERE TO
INSANITY, v3 #1, Apr, "Starlight, Starbright" [3 pages]).
JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS #51 (Nov '56, "The Faceless Man"
[4 pages]) featured Ditko last regularily published work for Atlas during
this period, until the inventoried, April 1957 issue of WORLD OF MYSTERY #6.
How can we tell this?
On every splash page of every comic story, there is a job
description number which usually takes the form of a letter,
followed by a dash, followed by a given amount of numbers. This
is how companies would keep track of the stories pouring in,
and into which comics thery were going.
Thanks to the rich database of noted Atlas historian, Dr.
Michael J. Vassallo, it has been determined (via the job description
# of L-653) Ditko's contribution to WORLD OF MYSTERY #6 (his last Atlas
story spoken of earlier) would have been drawn in November of 1956,
along with all the other L-600s contributed by the other Atlas
artists.
Ditko would return to Charlton with a vengeance in late '56.
The year of 1957 would see Ditko publish over 440 pages and
26 covers for the company.
It is therefore safe to say Ditko did not hand in a story to Lee, at
Atlas, from the November 1956 date until one balmy day in the early fall of 1958.
Jack Kirby delivered unto fandom the myth (?) he walked
into the Atlas offices in mid-1958, just as the furniture was being carted away.
Stan Lee was crying, saying the company was on its very last
legs.
Lee denies this, to this very day. Kirby's case, which has
him riding in to save the company, is not assisted by the fact
they would not create any real superheroes until 1961.
If they were carting away furniture, it is hard to believe
Atlas's creditors, or the moving guys, would have stopped
dead in their tracks simply based on Kirby's claim that
more science fiction and monster tales would save the
company, especially since Kirby's re-entry into Atlas
didn't bring along any new titles beyond the eight they were
allowed to publish.
If Atlas was THAT close to the brink, Lee et al. wouldn't
have had any idea any new change in direction would save them
until WELL into 1959, when the first real sales figures would
arrive for the first books done under the reformed group of
creators.
Reality would suggest Stan had worked through his surplus
and began soliciting stories from his former greats. Perhaps
Kirby DID show up at the offices RIGHT at this time, but
one can be safe in saying it was a group effort which pulled
Atlas up by it's boot-straps.
Otherwise, 1958 would have been another barren year for Atlas
and Ditko. The artist produced another 424 pages for Charlton in
that year, but he must have been ready and willing to return
to Atlas for its "rebirth".
And what would kick off the rebirth, but a lovely little
title called STRANGE WORLDS.
Garnished with a cover date of December 1958, Lee, Kirby,
Ditko and Heck were back, pumping out the sci-fi/monster stories
so associated with Atlas in their pre-superhero days.
This issue out-races out TALES TO ASTONISH #1 or TALES OF
SUSPENSE; both with Jan '59 cover dates. The other giveaway
signaling the rebirth began with this title is all stories
in this issue are marked on their splash pages with T-76 up
to T-81, although only 76, 77, 80 and 81 are used in this issue.
Jack Kirby's I DISCOVERED THE SECRET OF THE FLYING SAUCERS
is "T-76" and leads off the issue. The "T" series marked
the arrival of new stories, as previous Atlas titles
had only reach the "O"s.
Ditko's Charlton work in 1958 was marked by significant
differences in quality. Some stories were VERY loosely
drawn, with a rather static approach to panel arrangements.
This could range, sometimes in the same issue, up to rather
tightly-drawn stories with diagonal panels and Ditko's
L-shaped panels. It gave the impression Ditko was either
rushed for time on certain stories; experimenting (perhaps,
again, where time permitted) with different techniques,
or simply he was more interested/inspired by some tales
than others.
With his return to Atlas, Ditko led off with a BANG!
I CAPTURED THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN! (the second story
in STRANGE WORLDS #1) is VERY striking, right from the
splash page.
Perhaps inspired by the new company's "run for greatness",
Ditko pulled out all the stops for this first story. Whether
he thought this way or not, he pulled off a story leaps and
bounds ahead of some of his Charlton work from that year.
Primarily, the panel layouts are not the least bit
static. There seems to be no confinements to the page
in its bordering. Panel edges can be wavy, and sometimes
non-existent.
The figures are not as sketchy as some of the weaker,
Charlton tales. The features are tightly rendered, giving
added weight to their facial expressions and the drama they
reinforce.
Ditko does not skimp on the background detail at all.
Foreground and background are in symbiosis, allowing for a
stronger willingness of belief in the narrative.
The story speaks of a crook who beats a scientific
expedition to snowy-covered land on another continent,
in search of a Yetti. He hopes to bring him back home
and reap the glory. He also uses many illegal methods
to achieve his goals.
If the story can be broken down into four parts -
the beginning of the Quest; finding the Lama Monastery,
who's inhabitant our criminal hopes will lead him to the
monster; the summoning the Yetti, and the conclusion -
uniquely, this story begins in the third element. The
Lama is seen in the first panel of page one, calling
the Yetti, before we slip back into the introduction.
Page Two is as visually interesting as the first.
Rather than the static six-panel page, Ditko's uses
multiple, smaller panels for the illegal activities
of our criminal in the introduction. Ditko then breaks
into a flourish of different-sized panels for the trek up
the mountain into Yetti territory.
The ninth panel on the page is particularly
interesting as the text literally breaks the panel
in two. Our criminal is up at the top on a ledge,
pulling up his pack on a rope. The text itself breaks
the rope.
Page Three is also of interest to those who look
for narrative elements Ditko may have drawn upon when
co-creating Spider-Man and Dr. Strange.
As spoken of before, our criminal reaches the
top of his mountain to find a Lama monastery, inhabited
by (seemingly) only one, ancient Lama. Of course,
our criminal demands the Lama produce a Yetti for him,
to bring upon riches and fame.
The narrative and visual similarities between Stephen
Strange's ascent to the Ancient One's lair are difficult
to miss. Strange may have had less criminal intent, but
his desires were the same.
The Lama Monastery could easily double, in look and
location, for the Ancient One's mountain locale. Even the
Lama himself wears similar head gear and purple garb.
And both the Lama and the Ancient One see right through
their pursuers. "His eyes seemed to read every wrong deed
I had ever done" - a line from Dr. Strange's origin or this
story? YOU make the call.
The quest, the characters involved and the final
locale could lead one to believe Ditko referenced
back to this very story, rather than any Dr. Droom work,
when dreaming up the look and feel for Dr. Strange's
spooky beginnings.
By Page 4, the Yetti has been summoned. Ditko's
ability to increase the suspense of a moment is played
out to grand effect.
The Lama makes the call, and we see our criminal in
almost full-view, in normal colour. As the footsteps of
the Yetti edge closer, the colour of our criminal changes
to a uniformed yellow.
Ditko focuses in on his face, closer with every panel,
until the final panel of the page, where we just see the
eyes and nose from the side, as he looks towards his
doom.
We are surprised to see a less-than-fearsome
creature before us on Page 5. The Yetti has almost
pathetic features and is only human-sized. When spoken
to by the Lama, the Yetti breaks down and cries at the
Lama's feet, as if in thanks.
Why? The answer is the ironic climax of the story -
not revealed here - for those who still wish a surprise
upon buying the book for themselves.
One could have trouble reconciling the notion
Lee simply handed these finished plots/scripts to Ditko.
Ditko's contributions to these pre-superhero books
are unique from any other artist during that time.
They are the ones that are spooky, mysterious,
foreboding, and even scary. Kirby's work perfected
the "save the world from the big, weird monster" tale,
but they were pretty consistent in their lack of a narrative
WHAM! at the end of their stories. The Lee/Ditko stories
always relied on that dark, sinister punch-line, usually
based on a heavy-handed moral.
This is in no way stated to remove Lee's contribution
to these stories (or those with any other artist of the
time), but simply to allocate Ditko (and the other artists)
credit for co-plotting these adventures.
Right from this first story for the "new" Atlas, the
familiar Lee/Ditko end-of-story twist is present, suggesting
Lee and Ditko (and perhaps Lee and others) huddled together
for co-plotting sessions right from the get-go, rather than
a responsibility Lee eventually handed over to Ditko.
Either way, those who stumbled onto STRANGE WORLDS #1
in late 1958 were in for a pleasant surprise. The energy -
the impact of "lift-off" of the new Atlas - can be felt in
this very issue.
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