STRETCHING THINGS MR. MONSTER #6, June 1986 Text Piece Copyrighted and Reprinted
with Permission of Michael T. Gilbert.
[Ed. Note : the text piece (which comes before Ditko the story in this issue of Mr. Monster)
also has a reprint of the Alter-Ego #6 cartoon Ditko drew for the fanzine back in 1964 and a
small portion of the one he did for #8 in 1965]
Michael T. Gilbert is offering copies of MR. MONSTER #6
featuring the re-coloured reprint of Ditko's first story ''Stretching Things'' for only
$4 U.S., which includes shipping! You can send cash or a money order to Michael T. Gilbert
P.O. Box 11421, Eugene, OR, U.S.A., 97440. Feel free to e-mail
Michael with any questions.
As a rabid comic fan in the 1960s, I remember devouring fanzine articles about the
great, forbidden horror comics of the 1950s...the ''pre-Comics-Code'' stuff. It would be
many years before I finally got to see them in the flesh (rotting, of course!). And
when I did, well...frankly, I was disappointed! My mind had fantasized about these stories...
creating dank, gloomy shadows, twisted deformed monsters, evil alleyways. When the real thing
came, it was inevitable that the actual stories couldn't possibly match up to a young teenager's
sick imagination (though the E.C. stories came very close!). Then, by luck, I stumbled onto
two stories that changed all that. One was in Eerie Comics, and featured the occult
detective, Dr. Drew (an example of which can be seen in Mr. Monster #4). Dr. Drew was
everything I'd envisioned as my perfect horror tale.
Equally powerful was an unsigned reprint that I stumbled across in FMZ #1, an
obscure fanzine from 1970. The story was ''Stretching Things'', written by Bruce Hamilton
and illustrated by a very young Steve Ditko. It originally appeared in Farrell Publications'
Fantastic Fears #5, January 1954.
''Stretching Things'' is often called Ditko's ''very first comic book story,'' but if so,
it wasn't the first one printed. In any case, echoes of Ditko's early influences abound in this
atmospheric five-pager. Will Eisner's patented deep black shadows and kinetic camera angles
blend with Jerry (Batman) Robinson's strong page and panel composition to forge an
exceptionally strong horror tale. Not unexpected, since Ditko studied Eisner's published
Spirit pages for ideas when he was young, and actually took courses from Robinson
when he completed his military service after World War Two.
Historically, ''Stretching Things'' is notable, as it represents the formative work of a
cartoonist whose contributions to the field of comic books cannot be overstated.
As a superhero artist for Marvel and Charlton in the 1960s, Steve Ditko co-created (with
Stan Lee) one of the most successful and enduring superheroes...The Amazing Spider-Man.
Other characters bearing the Ditko stamp include Dr. Strange (which he created),
The Hulk, Captain Atom, The Blue Beetle, The Creeper, and many more.
Always the individualist, Ditko helped promote the early independent comics movement, first
with his uncompromising Mr. A. (in Wally Wood's witzend and various fanzines),
and later with his Missing Man for Pacific Comics and Static for Eclipse.
His horror and science-fantasy stories in the 1950s were also uncompromising, bloody,
and bizarre. One tale concerned a blind doctor who sliced a living man's eyes out to
facilitate grafting them (with no anesthesia) into his own eye sockets! Painful, I'd wager.
Ditko's storytelling sense has always been uncanny. He has the ability to pick just the
right camera angle, facial or body expression to keep your eye moving toward that final panel.
His characters, particularly in his 1950s and early 1960s work, have solidity and depth, deep
wrinkles, thick shadows, hard ugly faces. Backgrounds could be gritty or fanciful, depending
on the needs of the story. And when they were fanciful (such as his work on Dr. Strange)
he created worlds of the imagination to which later artists could only hope to aspire. John
Bynre, P. Craig Russell, Frank Miller, and scores of other talented and influential artists
of today were profoundly influenced by this storytelling genius. His work still stands as one
of my own strongest influences. Regardless of changing tastes and styles, Ditko's work was (and
will continue to be) a unique and uncompromising standard of excellence...to be studied and
enjoyed now and for generations to come.
Color for this Eclipse version of ''Stretching Things'' is by Steve Oliff, whose outstanding
color work greatly enhanced the Basil Wolverton and Dr. Drew reprints of earlier issues.
The tedious but vitally important behind-the-scenes production work for this printing
was done by fellow ''Ditko-maniac'' Roger Stewart. The original 1953 Fantastic Fears
color printing was a disaster, and the original art has long since been lost. Roger and Steven's
efforts for this current printing culminated in the first and only decent color printing of
''Stretching Things'' since it was originally drawn...over 30 years ago!