Curse of the Weird #1

Steve Ditko. Through his artistic lens, Ditko is a legend; having a hand in creating Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, The Blue Beetle and nameless others. But while I am fan of Steve Ditko the artist, I am even more of a fan of Steve Ditko the writer! 

A lot of this is due to the very first comic I ever bought (Ghostly Tales #152) featured a Ditko penned and penciled story. Though it was a reprint, I was hooked at a very young age. And so for Day 5 of my Halloween readings, I'm devoting some time to one of my all-time favs in Curse of the Weird #1.

It's true! This issue isn't 100% devoted to Steve Ditko. But it was a definite selling point to me. Curse of the Weird was a 1993 4-issue miniseries from Marvel. It was one of several short run series and one-shots published at this time that chronicled Marvel's rich horror history. This title focused on the pre-code horror published by Marvel's parent company- Atlas!

The first story was a Stan Lee/Ditko collaboration called 'Do Not Panic!' It's an alien first contact story with a great twist ending. 

Next up was a Russ Heath beauty called 'The Brain.' It looked like something destined for the pages of Vault of Horror or Tales From The Crypt. The only thing missing was that crisp, clean type-set style font. Well, that and a believable storyline.

Surrealist illustrator Basil Wolverton is featured in the third slot. 'The Eye of Doom' is reminiscent of Wolverton's magnum opus 'The Brain Bats of Venus'. So much to the point that this story too takes place on the same heavenly body! It's classic Wolverton! Not for everyone. But I loved it!

Things get wrapped up with a terrifying tale from Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett. In 'The Man Who Owned a Ghost' a man trades away his soul in hopes of killing his wife. In typical Faust-fashion, things never go right proving you should never make a deal with a devil!

This is a very good collection of classic horror from before the beginning of the Marvel Age of Comics. Don't pass up Mort Todd's (Cracked Magazine) in-depth article about the creation of these fabulous lost tales. It's a little bit disjointed with randomly inserted images of other titles. But it also gives an intimate glimpse into one of my favorite eras in comics- the comic book scare of the 1950s. 

There's 3 more issues out there. I've never run across them. But they'll definitely be coming home with me when I do. 

4 great artists. 3 fantastic stories. Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.