Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity

Jackson, MS: Uiversity Press of Mississippi, 2021. First printing. Paperback. New. 275pp. Octavo. Illustrated wraps. As the cocreator of Spider-Man and sole creator of Doctor Strange, Steve Ditko (1927–2018) made an indelible mark on American popular culture. Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity resets the conversation about his heady and powerful work. Although Ditko is not the originator of mystic liberalism, his comics provide a unique window into how such an ideology operates in popular media. Examining selections of Ditko’s output from 1953 to 1986, Kruse demonstrates how Ditko’s comics provide insight into a unique strand of American thought that has had a lasting impact.