Perhaps the oddest template to ever come across this Ditko fan's
desk was discovered by publisher, JIM VAN HISE; the man responsible for
the fanzine THE ROCKET'S BLAST AND THE COMIC COLLECTOR. In the year 2000
revival of said fanzine, Jim did up a GIANT article on Ditko's 1950s
Charlton work and came across a very interesting 'template', if you will.
So far, we've only spoke of VISUAL templates. Now, it is known that
famous Charlton writer Joe Gill would have to pump out the stories at
a mile a minute, to make up for the fact they were paying him next to
nothing. And since he had little to no editorial interference at all,
he could pretty much get away with anything. Little did the editors
know, however, in an issue of UNUSUAL
TALES #27 (Apr '61), they were getting a little more than a
story 'template'. On your left is the opening page to a story from
Charlton's STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES
#33 (Aug '57) called ''Director Of The Board''. Now, we've heard
of some stories sounding similar, but on your right is the opening panel
from that issue of Unusual Tales, a story entitled ''A Look Into The Future''.
One suspects Ditko and Gill were looking into the past. Look at the
visual similarities between the machinery and the words. In the USUSUAL
TALES panel on your right, the opening line of the story is ''Director
Of The Board''! And there's more...
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Not only is the visual similar, but the two stories, four years
apart, are virtual word-for-word, same plot, rehashes of each other!
Look at the closing panels from each story below...
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The name of our 'Director Of The Board' changes, but EVERY other
word is EXACTLY the same! Even the positioning of the key elements in
the visual is the same! One HAS to believe Ditko knew what was going on
when this story slid across his desk. One HAS to believe Joe Gill, if he
was the writer of both stories (and that is most likely to be true),
was making money at Charlton by turning in the same stories more than once.
Most times, you'd think they would at least change the dialogue to cover
it up, but not here. Who knows if this is the only example of this
happening, but usually, where there is smoke, there is fire. Still, it
could be argued Charlton got what they deserved for paying their freelancers
so little and for paying so little attention. One wonders, though, how
Ditko, the moral avenger of a black-and-white truth would justify this
activity now. Surely, taking money from Charlton for the same story
does not fit in with his ideas of the 'unearned'.
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