The Steve Ditko Archives #1

In "Stretching Things," Lawrence Dawson, a man whose body is fragile from brittle bone syndrome, finds a shocking new lease on life through an experimental treatment. But as his body begins to stretch beyond human limits, his mind unravels—driven by fear, power, and a desperate need to keep his transformation hidden. When he turns to Dr. Harrell for a cure, the past repeats itself in blood and silence.

In this haunting twist on a classic tale, Cinderella flees her oppressive home, where her sisters are no ordinary siblings but vampires who keep her in servitude. With the prince in danger and time running short, she ventures into the night to warn him of a coming attack—though the true cost of her journey may be more than she ever imagined.

In "Avery and the Goblins," an old prospector named Avery Calhoun ventures into a decaying castle rumored to hide a fortune, only to find it teeming with cannibal goblins guarding a long-lost treasure. As he navigates the crumbling halls, the quiet rhythm of his search gives way to something far more unsettling—each step closer to the prize feels like a step deeper into a trap.

In a quiet corner of space, alien guard Ogu finds himself drawn to Earth, where he stumbles upon a traveling circus and a game of poker that takes a surreal turn. After winning a sky in a high-stakes hand, he realizes the planet’s inhabitants depend on it for survival—and tries to return it, only to be arrested and put on trial for abandoning his post.

In the vast silence of space, Airman Andor answers a call that leads him to a tense standoff between an irate elderly man and his young, blonde maid, Kyt. When the old man attacks Kyt with an electric whip, Andor intervenes—shooting him in self-defense—and then shares a sudden, charged moment with Kyt before leaving the force. With a single kiss and a new purpose, Andor sets course for the distant asteroid Klaxon, chasing a map and a mystery that could change everything.

Two ambitious reporters, Sam Drake and Ken Karl, chase a sensational lead to Mr. Mord’s eerie wax museum—only to find themselves trapped in a nightmarish realm where the exhibits seem all too real. With the museum’s sinister curator and a feline figure named Mephistopheles watching from the shadows, the line between performance and peril begins to blur.

In this chilling tale from The Steve Ditko Archives #1, the ancient demon Rumpelstiltskin lures a miller’s daughter with a twisted bargain, his hunger for human skin driven by a dark, ritualistic need. With a sinister promise and a deadly price, he draws her into a trap where beauty and terror blur, and the line between fate and damnation grows dangerously thin.

In "The Evil Eye!", Warren Cairo’s murderous intentions toward his wife Gerda take a horrifying turn when her hidden powers expose his darkest plans. As his scheme unravels, Gerda’s witchcraft turns the tables in a chilling twist of fate.

In "Doom in the Air," the ghost of Wes Brewster—lynched by the Jones brothers—rises from the desert dust after an atom bomb test, his vengeance a silent, glowing threat. Now a spectral force of radiation and retribution, he stalks the frontier, leaving a trail of sickness in his wake.

In "Day of Reckoning!", three sailors seal their fate by murdering the shipbuilder Jezab Grimm and trapping him aboard his own ship, the Mermaid. Years later, the Mermaid returns—not with a crew, but with a relentless, vengeful purpose, hunting down each of its former murderers one by one.

In a twisted carnival drama, Flexo the rubber man makes a deadly move against Satana the snake lady, driven by greed. Months later, returning to the scene of his crime, he finds himself face to face with a presence far more dangerous than he ever imagined.

In "If Looks Could Kill!", a desperate surgeon named Gustave Savage is abducted by the enigmatic hypnotist Merlin. After a brutal struggle leaves Merlin dead and Savage blinded, he makes a shocking choice—transplanting the hypnotist’s eyes to regain his sight. But now, every glance he casts carries a deadly power, turning his once-ordinary gaze into a weapon he never asked for.

In "Bridegroom, Come Back!", a man’s dark secret comes back to haunt him when a bride he murdered returns from the grave, her wedding dress still pristine, her eyes hollow with unfinished vows. The story unfolds with chilling precision, turning a ritual of deception into a haunting reckoning.

In "Von Mohl Vs The Ants!", the ruthless plantation owner Hugo von Mohl faces a relentless siege from a swarm of deadly ants, turning his isolated African estate into a battleground of fire, explosives, and desperate survival. As he fights to hold his ground, one small, overlooked passage becomes the ants’ quiet path to victory.