Steve Ditko Cover of the Week: Unusual Tales #9

Here's a rather moody cover from 1957 that many of you may not have seen before. As I've mentioned before, one of the things I love best about this period of Ditko's Charlton covers is his attention to detail. I often rave about his sense of motion and overall design, but when Ditko wants to get all detailed oriented, it can be quite amazing. Just look at the main male figure. He has a button on the cuff of his coat, a button on the cuff of his jacket and a cuff link on his shirt. That's something we wouldn't see in many 70s covers. There's also some wonderful texture to his gloves, from the use of blacks to the seams in the leather. I also like the two smaller figures approach the building - the glowing lights add a good deal of atmosphere. I'm not so sure about the rather dead space at the bottom left corner. It's meant to be the 'red snow', but the colour is quite weak. The 'Ditko' signature in the sign above the building is a really nice touch - I love it when cover artists some fun inserting their names. All in all, it's a very effective cover - I just wish the red snow was a bit more red.