Mystery Tales

Issue: 40 / Year: 1956

Condition: VG-

MYSTERY TALES #40. Atlas/Marvel Comics, 1956. Comic used prominently in a scene of the popular ABC-TV program "Lost." First Atlas art by Steve Ditko!

ABOUT MYSTERY TALES #40: Though there are many great issus of this Atlas/Marvel title, Mystery Tales #40 stands out for two key reasons: (1) It's the first work done at Atlas by legendary comic-book artist Steve Ditko (alongside Journey Into Mystery #33), who soon became instrumental in the creation and development of Spider-Man and other key Marvel superheroes. And (2), Mystery Tales #40 gained a special mystique when it was featured prominently in a scene of the acclaimed TV drama "Lost."

HOW MYSTERY TALES #40 WAS USED IN "LOST": Mystery Tales #40 appears in "Lost" Season Four, Episode #11, which is titled “Cabin Fever” and originally ran May 8, 2008 on ABC-TV. Since then it has become highly sought-after by "Lost" fans, regularly selling for multiples of guide value.

The scene where Mystery Tales #40 appears involves a flashback: Richard Alpert visits a 5-year-old John Locke in the year 1961, showing up at his house under the pretense that he's seeking a gifted child to attend a special school. Alpert first must conduct a test (referred to as "the Dali Lama test") to find out if Locke is ready, so he places six objects on a table and asks Locke to choose one of them. The objects include a baseball glove, a knife, a leather-bound "Book of Laws," a compass, a container of sand, and Mystery Tales #40. Locke chooses the knife, and Alpert realizes Locke is not ready (perhaps an indication of Locke's fitness as a future caretaker of the island), and abruptly exits the room.

HOW THE MYSTERY TALES #40 STORIES TIE IN WITH "LOST" MEANINGS: "Lost" fans have pored over Mystery Tales #40 and found numerous parallels between the comic's stories and the plotlines and themes of "Lost." (Soon after the comic appeared on the show, several ardent fans published a blog about their quest to track down a copy of Mystery Tales #40 and hopefully unravel clues to the TV show's mystery.) To begin with, the cover art depicts a distressed-looking man sitting in an airplane and looking at the window at a hidden city -- or as the text says, "The Hidden Land!" This scenario pretty much sums up the entire "Lost" premise of people on an airplane ending up in a mystery location.

Not only does the title story echo "Lost," but so do each subsequent story. It's almost as if the show's creators, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, had used Mystery Tales #40 as part of their "Lost" bible when conceiving the storyline. Such stories as "The Warning Voice," "The Crossroads of Destiny," and "March has 32 Days" involve time travel, recurring incidents at airports, parallel realities and other science-fiction concepts that define the "Lost" mythos. ("March Has 32 Days" was specifically referenced in the Lost ARG Dharma Initiative Recruiting Project.) Even the story about the statue seems to echo the giant foot statue seen at a remote beach location of the "Lost" island.

Condition is VG-, small tear at middle top cover. Staple pulls but cover is attached at both staples. Complete, no restoration.

 
Publisher: Atlas
Sku:  DHV-07-146