Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "What Happened?"

It's a question I've groggily-asked on more than one New Year's Day...

...but here it's the title of an example of classic Ditko storytelling!

Most likely scripted by Joe Gill, this taut tale from Charlton's Out of This World #3 (1957) is one of those fun "gotcha" shorts in the vein of both EC Comics' sci-fi line and, later, TV's The Twilight Zone.

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve, and be here tomorrow for the 50th Anniversary debut of Europe's Star Trek, Raumpatrouille – Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion (or Space Patrol: the Fantastic Adventures of the Starship Orion)

Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "Man Who Stepped Out of a Cloud"

Let's have a look at a Steve Ditko story...

...that shows both his storytelling and rendering talents at their best.

Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this tale from Charlton's Out of This World #5 (1957) is a great example of how to tell a complete story in just five pages.

While the script isn't the greatest, Ditko tells the story effectively with both "talking heads" (and very distinctive, individualistic talking heads, at that), and kool graphics showing things impossible to portray convincingly with the sfx technology of the 1950s.