Heading:
Author:
Title: MYSTERIOUS SUSPENSE No. 1 * Steve Ditko Collection
Place Published:
Publisher:Charlton
Date Published: October, 1968
Description: CGC certified: VF- (7.5). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: "Chip out right center of front cover; tear left bottom of back cover; tear with crease left center of back cover." STEVE DITKO COLLECTION. CGC-certified as Steve Ditko's personal copy, and with a certificate of authenticity signed by Patrick Ditko, Steve Ditko's nephew. Not cleaned and pressed in order to preserve all traces of Steve Ditko's handling. Overstreet: "Return of the Question by Ditko." Credits: Cover: Steve Ditko. Script: Steve Ditko, D.C. Glanzman. Art: Steve Ditko. GPAnalysis: A non-Ditko Collection 7.5 sold for $100 in 6/24. Ditko Collection Census: This is the only certified Steve Ditko Collection copy.Mr. A debuted in Wally Wood's Witzend #3 in June, 1967, and the Question debuted in Charlton's Blue Beetle #1 the same month. According to Ditko, Mr. A was conceived before the Question, but Ditko briefly sidelined the character because he knew the Comics Code would balk at Mr. A's violence. Rather than bastardize Mr. A to conform to Code guidelines, Ditko transferred many of Mr. A's attributes to the Question. Both were crusading newspaper reporters by day and remorseless vigilantes by night; both wore business suits, fedoras and expressionless masks to fight crime; both announced themselves with distinctive business cards; and both adhered to a rigid set of moral principles, which they espoused to their foes in voluminous word balloons. Ditko dished the details in a rare interview published an obscure 1968 fanzine, Marvel Main #4: "When Blue Beetle got his own magazine, they needed a companion feature for it. I didn't want to [use] Mr. A, because I didn't think the Code would let me do the type of stories I wanted to do, so I worked up the Question, using the basic idea of a man who was motivated by basic black and white principles. Where other 'heroes' powers are based on some accidental super element, the Question and Mr A's 'power' is deliberately knowing what is right and acting accordingly.... Where other heroes choose to be self-made neurotics, the Question and Mr. A choose to be psychologically and intellectually healthy. It's a choice everyone has to make." When writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons conceived Watchmen, they originally based the comic's protagonists on Charlton heroes that had since become DC's property. When DC told Moore to scratch that plan and come up with all-new characters, he replaced the Question with Rorschach, a distorted and exaggerated version of Mr. A. But although Ditko considered the Question and Mr. A to be "psychologically and intellectually healthy" protagonists, Moore's version was the opposite: "We realized that this was a character if ever there was a character that had a king-sized death wish. He was in pain, psychological pain, every moment of his life, and he wanted out of it, but with honor – in whatever his own twisted standards of honor might have been." According to Moore, when Ditko was asked about Rorschach, the artist supposedly remarked, "Oh yes. Rorschach. He's like Mr. A. Except he's insane."***************************** Enjoying the Ditko Sale? Order a fully-illustrated softcover catalogue for 30 bucks or a limited edition hardcover for $200. Fun reference, great keepsake, fully illustrated, chockablock with bon mots, obscure facts, esoteric lore. These books always go fast so don't delay. To order, contact [email protected]. Consign to PBA Galleries. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Our sell-thru rate is 98%, and our research-intensive catalogues are the best in the biz. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of funnybook fiends. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." – R. Crumb. Send inquiries to [email protected]. Coming soon: The DC Universe Collection Part 4: SUPERMAN, featuring every issue of Superman from #1 through the modern era. Contact [email protected] to get on the notifications list.

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