Ghostly Tales #55
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeGhostly Tales #55 is the debut issue of one of Charlton Comics' most enduring Silver Age anthology titles — a series that ran an impressive 115 issues across eighteen years and helped define Charlton's distinctive horror-host ecosystem. The issue simultaneously introduces two of that ecosystem's key figures: Dr. M. T. Graves, who quickly proved popular enough to graduate to his own title (The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves, 1967), and Mr. L. Dedd, the purple-skinned, vampire-dressed narrator who would anchor Ghostly Tales itself for the entirety of its original run. It also marks the opening chapter of Steve Ditko's long creative relationship with Charlton's supernatural-anthology line — a body of work that, while often overshadowed by his superhero output, occupied the majority of his Charlton years and showcased his talent for atmospherically weird, EC-inflected storytelling.
An anthology issue featuring multiple tales introduced by Mr. L. Dedo from his haunted house. The main story, "From the Haunted House," involves characters in ancient Rome, including Caesar, a maiden named Fama, and a young man named Rykus whose fate hangs in the balance as Caesar seeks to punish him. A second story depicts explorers in a cave who experience terrifying phenomena—whispering voices and mysterious creatures—as their imaginations run wild with fear in the darkness.
When Pamela Simms inherits a Virginia estate, a menacing shadow forces her to flee—until she calls in Dr. Graves, the ghost fighter, to investigate whether the threat is supernatural or something far more earthly. As competing voices from beyond the grave clash over whether she should stay or go, Dr. Graves must separate the real hauntings from the very human deception at work. By the story's end, the true source of the terror is revealed, and Pamela discovers she may not be as alone in her new home as she feared.
Reichsmarshal Wolfgang von Hocksdorff returns to a graveyard on a battlefield where he once defeated a French soldier twenty years before, only to establish his command post in a mausoleum and order the execution of hostages as reprisal for a French attack. When PFC Louis Jean Valjean—the very man von Hocksdorff killed in treachery—appears before him as a ghostly presence, the Reichsmarshal must confront the consequences of his cruelty and his past.
John Trane ventures into a newly discovered cave near the Canadian border for spelunking, only to encounter mysterious whispering creatures and strange phenomena in the darkness. As he struggles to escape the unsettling forces at work in the cavern, the line between nightmare and reality begins to blur in unexpected ways. What Trane experiences underground carries consequences far beyond the cave itself.
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Ghostly Tales did not launch from scratch; Charlton inherited its #55 starting point by absorbing the numbering of its own Blue Beetle vol. 1 series (which had concluded with #54), a common cost-saving postal maneuver the company used to avoid the fees associated with registering a brand-new title. The debut fell squarely in the period just after Ditko's return to Charlton in 1965 to work on Captain Atom, and editor Pat Masulli slotted Ditko into the lead story of the new horror title immediately. The three-page Dr. Graves introductory story, 'The Ghost Fighter,' was written and drawn by Ernie Bache, while Ditko's 'Great Caesar's Ghost' was inked by Rocke Mastroserio — one of a handful of early issues where Mastroserio, rather than Ditko himself, finished the pencils. A 1966 fanzine note recorded in the Grand Comics Database credits Dave Kaler as writer of the Dr. Graves shorts in Ghostly Tales at this time, though the GCD indexes the Bache story separately as a Bache creation.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Dr. M. T. Graves, introduced in the three-page story 'The Ghost Fighter' written and drawn by Ernie Bache (cover-dated May 1966).
- First appearance of Mr. L. Dedd, the series' ongoing host character — a middle-aged gentleman depicted with purplish skin and horns who dressed in vampiric fashion and narrated stories from his haunted-house parlor.
- Debut issue of the Ghostly Tales series itself; its #55 numbering was inherited directly from Blue Beetle vol. 1 (Charlton, 1965 series), which concluded with #54.
- Contains 'Great Caesar's Ghost,' a seven-page story penciled by Steve Ditko and inked by Rocke Mastroserio — Ditko's first contribution to Charlton's supernatural-anthology format following his 1965 return to the publisher.
- The issue's five stories are: 'Great Caesar's Ghost,' 'Dr. Graves the Ghost Fighter,' 'Where Can Heaven Be?,' 'Army of the Dead!,' and 'A Powerful Tale!' — reflecting the anthology format that would define the title throughout its run.
- Dr. M. T. Graves proved popular enough that Charlton spun him off into his own title, The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves, which launched in 1967 and won the 1967 Alley Award for Best Fantasy/SF/Supernatural Title.
- Mr. L. Dedd's host role in Ghostly Tales continued under a later alias, I. M. Dedd; a formal in-universe origin for the character was eventually provided in Charlton Bullseye #2 (1975).
- Ghostly Tales was part of a coordinated wave of Charlton horror-host anthologies that also included The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves, Ghost Manor, Ghostly Haunts, Haunted, and Scary Tales — all sharing many of the same creators, particularly Ditko.
Cast · 2 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Secrets of the Unknown #76 (1967), Ghostly Tales #1 (1977), Ghostly Tales #145 (1980), Crypt of Horror #24 (2015)
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