September 1, 2010

Unusual Tales - The Thing On The Beach


"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.


"The Thing On The Beach" is a 4-page story from Charlton's THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED #12 [1957]

A story possibly inspired by Jack Finney's then-recent "The Body Snatchers" story or its film adaptation, with the invasion force taking the form of a metal canister rather than pods.  Apparently the threat is real enough that it scares our narrator Dr. Haunt, who's not allowed to interfere, just observe and pass along these stories to us.  Fortunately, luck is on humanity's side, even if Dr. Haunt isn't.

Some gorgeous art by Ditko in this one, with the dramatic rough seas and a great shot of Dr. Haunt on the first page, and a great face on the old beachcomber who finds the canister.

This story appears in TALES OF THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER #32 [2020] from SD Publishing, so only the first page is previewed below.

Some links to check out:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
New material and classic reprints
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA
New issue out now
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
Slightly short of complete Doctor Strange colour reprint later this year
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
Scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies

Click to enbiggen


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