--Link-- Shade logo study by Klein

Todd Klein has an ongoing series on his weblog looking at the development of comic book logos, and just put up a post about Shade the Changing Man which includes a few interesting stories about Ditko in that era (did you know he did his own unused logo design for the series?).

Unusual Tales - Mystery Planet

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

"Mystery Planet" is a 6-page story from Charlton's STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #36 [1958], featuring yet another one-shot generic space hero in the Buck Rogers mould, this time Commander Bryan Bodine, who is sent on a mission with his navigator and girlfriend Nedra to investigate a cannibal planet. Not much to the story, which has a pretty perfunctory resolution, but the design of the killer planet is amusingly goofy.

But before the story, some links:

Buy Ditko's creator-owned work

Graphic novels STATIC and MOCKER still available

Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA

#87 now available
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications

THE HAWK AND THE DOVE included in DC's DITKO OMNIBUS v2

Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from

Scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies

Click to embiggen

    

Unusual Tales - Impossible, But...

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

"Impossible, But..." is a 5-page story from Charlton's THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED #16 [1958], where Dr. Haunt presents a parable about that new-fangled television machine. Mostly interesting for the layout of Haunt's interstitial panels down the middle of each page and gradually zooming in as we go along.

But before the story, some links:

Buy Ditko's creator-owned work

Cover for upcoming #17 SEVENTEEN now posted
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA

Back issues and subscriptions available

Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications

Most Ditko stories for DC now available in hardcover

Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from

Scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies

Click to embiggen

  

 

Unusual Tales - The Man Who Couldn't Die

"Unusual Tales", a series presenting Steve Ditko's comics from 1957 to 1959 that are in the public domain.

"The Man Who Couldn't Die" is a 5-page story from Charlton's UNUSUAL TALES #11 [1958]. This is a nice little war story, a genre Ditko didn't draw too much of, with a supernatural twist, where a Sergeant returns from France to tell the widow of his deceased Major about how much the men all admired her husband, and then reminiscing about the secret of the Major's death that the men have chose to keep. Neat story. A much more prolific war comics artist, Joe Kubert, is often compared to Ditko of this era, so if you're familiar with Kubert's 1950s work it's interesting to compare this particular story with some of Kubert's.

But before the story, some links:

Buy Ditko's creator-owned work

New comic #16 SIXTEEN now available

Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA

Back issues and subscriptions available

Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications

CREEPER hardcover available from DC

Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from

Scans in this series generally adapted to my personal tastes from those copies

Click to embiggen

   

Upcoming Ditko - #17 SEVENTEEN

Next new Steve Ditko comic on the schedule from Ditko and Robin Snyder is #17 SEVENTEEN, with Miss Eerie returning and various other regulars from the previous comics in the series, plus looks like something new.

As usual, updates and ordering information will be available over here, along with info on the many other Ditko books in print. Retailers should contact Robin Snyder for discounts on wholesale purchases of the whole line.

New Ditko - #16: SIXTEEN

Ditko's latest all-new 32-page comic, #16: SIXTEEN, is now available.  Madman returns, plus The Cape, The Outline and more.

As usual, all the new books and various other Ditko publications are available directly from Robin Snyder, details here, and the new book should be available from retailers who order from Snyder now or in the near future (interested retailers should contact Snyder for terms, which are probably better than you get for similar comics from your main distributor). For those who usually buy from me, you can order the single comic with various shipping options from this page, or contact me (kirbyweblog at gmail dot com) if you want to order it with any of the other books.

Nouveau Ditko - L'ARTISTE AUX MASQUES par Lapoussière

As mentioned in the latest DITKOMANIA, Tristan Lapoussière has recently published STEVE DITKO: L'ARTISTE AUX MASQUES, a 256-page French language book about Ditko. The ISBN is 2361830469 and you can find a few purchasing options here. It's part of a series of books about comic book creators listed here.

New Ditko - DITKOMANIA #87

DITKOMANIA #87 is now available, with front and back covers by Wolff & Byrd creator (and penciler and writer for this Ditko inked story) Batton Lash. Inside are a few articles on Ditko's newest characters and a few on Ditko's now almost-fully reprinted work at DC.

Single issue and subscription information are over here, and the Ditkomania mailing list is down this way.