Ghostly Tales #83

Charlton's Ghostly Tales from the Haunted House #83 presents a cover by Steve Ditko that unfolds like a grim storyboard: a gaunt-faced king looms large as a trembling apprentice struggles to paint his portrait, only to face a brutal punishment from an imperious master — and then, in the final panel, a shadowy third artist takes up the brush to finish what the others could not. Ditko's sharp linework and that vivid yellow background give the whole scene an unsettling, carnival-mirror quality perfectly suited to Charlton's horror anthology format. With Joe Gill writing and Pete Morisi handling the art and lettering on the interior tale "All But One Room," this 1970 issue is a satisfying slice of eerie, economical comics storytelling.