Always remember...

I'm a bit late to the party, but there you go. Click on the link for as much of an explanation as there is for this.

Shade, the Changing Man #3 [1977]

SHADE was one of Ditko's major mainstream works of the 1970s, a decade during which he mostly drew stand-alone short stories and stories from other writers. He did plots and art for SHADE, though, with Michael Fleisher handling the script. The book lasted for 8 issues, with a 9th issue only showing up for copyright reasons in the CANCELLED COMICS CAVALCADE #2 photocopy package.

The series was pretty densely written, with a lot of characters and concepts introduced in the first few issues, and a pretty unusual pacing, with a lot of short scenes jumping from character to character. A very weird sort of intensity, and also some weird visuals, perhaps none moreso than the villain, Sude, who operates behind a giant red globe head with hands. Seriously, what's that about?

In this issue, "Escape into...the Trap!", Shade escapes from his love, Mellu, who thinks Shade is behind a bomb attack on her parents. Shade returns from Earth to Meta and is on the run, hoping to find a way to clear his name, while Sude has sent another agent, the invisible Cloak. Shade manages to escape, but not before being framed for another death, and going back on the run.

Ditko plots and draws the 17-page story and draws the cover.

"Escape into...the Trap!" J-4720
Cover C-475

Eclipse Monthly #2 [1983]

Static was one of Ditko's main works of the 1980s, clearly one he cared about finishing since he eventually took it to four publishers to finish. The first was Eclipse, where he ran the first three chapters in their anthology title. This is the second chapter, which he later revised when it was re-published, including completely re-lettering the story, plus some minor art changes. The biggest change in the script is that he changed the name of the lead character from "Mac Rey" to "Stac Rae". I'm not sure that was an improvement...

In "The Exploder", Mac is testing the new magnetic powers and suit he got in the previous chapter, while Dr. Serch and his daughter Fera observe, with Fera thinking he's being too reckless. While not planning to use the powers in any adventures, and despite being cautioned against it by Fera, pretty soon Mac is in costume and fighting the Exploder, who killed a friend of Dr. Serch. In the end, Fera hides the suit, afraid that they'll be unable to resist the temptation to use it.

Static was a pretty fascinating series. Ditko does tend to over-write sometimes, and there's a reason "didactic" is often used to describe him, but there are quite a few surprises and interesting twists in the full series, though it takes a few chapters for that to start. I'll post more about those when I get to the full book on the weblog someday.

For the early chapters, there's a lot of nice visuals to admire under the heavy word balloons.

Ditko writes and draws the 10-page story.

--Link-- Strange Tales custom covers

Via Fred Hembeck, here's a page where Howard Hallis went through all of the STRANGE TALES issues with Ditko Doctor Strange stories but usually without Doctor Strange covers and created alternate covers using the interior artwork.

http://www.howardhallis.com/drstrange/customs/index.html

Unknown Worlds #50 [1966]

Right after his departure from Marvel, Ditko lined up a lot of other work from various publishers in 1966. A lot of them (for ACG, Dell and DC) were with Sal Trapani, who apparently would quite often line up work and then farm out the pencilling to others. "It Keeps On Happening" is a 3-page example of such a Ditko/Trapani collaboration. A pretty minor story over-all, sort of an even lighter version of the many 5-page stories Ditko used to do for Marvel, this one with a man dreaming he's being chased by robots, then it happening in real life, where they capture and shrink him. After he escapes (and that scene of the robots toasting their success is kind of odd but great) he grows again and is chased, only to wake up and find everything starting over.

Not quite the classic "Dream World" level of "constantly waking from a dream" story, but the robots are cute, and you get one of those creatures that passes for a cat in Ditko's world.

Upcoming Ditko - TALES TO ASTONISH reprint

Out soon, Ditko does some work in every issue reprinted in here, for a total of nine stories solo, two inking Jack Kirby's pencils, one solo cover and three inking over Kirby. Several have never been reprinted before.

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MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA TALES TO ASTONISH VOL. 1
By STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOHN BUSCEMA, AL WILLIAMSON, DON HECK, JOE SINNOTT & FRIENDS
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Marvel Masterworks have brought you classic stories from Marvel’s Silver Age super-hero heyday and the start of it all with its Golden Age. Now thrill to the first offering of Marvel’s Atlas Era! Before the dawn of the Marvel Age, the comics world sat astride the shoulders of Atlas Comics - a world full of gun-fighting outlaws, romantic heartbreak, death-defying heroism in battle, terrifying depths of horror, and visionary science fiction. In TALES TO ASTONISH return to the days when atomic monsters roamed the Earth and alien invasions were a daily occurrence. Marvel’s classic creators will make you quake at the sight of the 9th Wonder of the World! You’ll tremble before the Things on Easter Island! Beware the might of Mummex-King of the Mummies! Flee before the Giant from Outer Space! Dare defy the Floating Head! Prepare to be Astonished! Collects TALES TO ASTONISH #1-10 (1959-1960).
272 PGS. $49.99

Upcoming Ditko - THE THING from PI

Another Ditko reprint book of 1950s Charlton and St. John work by Ditko from Pure Imagination is scheduled for next month.

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STEVE DITKO'S THE THING! VOLUME 1 TP
by Steve Ditko
The Thing! is one of the most sought-after series by Ditko and pre-Code fans alike. Packed with wild ideas and wilder images, The Thing! #12-15 feature some of Steve Ditko's earliest work in the field of comics. It's almost 100 pages of the kind of comics your parents didn't want you to see. Also included in this volume are some of Ditko's best work for the Charlton horror books. Save yourself hundreds of dollars and years of search for some of Ditko's most sensational work!
SC, 8x11, 160pgs, B&W $25.00

UPDATE
Greg Theakston posts that the following stories are in the book
“Cinderella” from THE THING! #12 (Feb. 1954)
“Library of Horror” from THE THING! #13 (Apr. 1954)
“Die Laughing” from THE THING! #13 (Apr. 1954)
“Avery and the Goblins” from THE THING #13 (Apr. 1954)
“Rumplestiltskin” from THE THING! #14 (June 1954)
“The Evil Eye” from THE THING #14 (June 1954)
“Doom in the Air” from THE THING #14 (June 1954)
“Ingeritance” from THE THING #14 (June 1954)
“The Worm Turns” from THE THING #15 (July 1954)
“Day of Reconing” from THE THING #15 (July 1954)
“Come Back” from THE THING #15 (July 1954)
“If Looks Could Kill” from THE THING #15 (July 1954)
“Family Mix-Up” from THE THING #15 (July 1954)
“Live for Reunion” from MYSTERIES OF UNKNOWN WORLDS #5 (Oct. 1957)
“Stranger in the House” from MYSTERIES OF UNKNOWN WORLDS #5 (Oct. 1957)
“Stowaway” from MYSTERIES OF UNKNOWN WORLDS #5 (Oct. 1957)
“A Dreamer’s World” from MYSTERIES OF UNKNOWN WORLDS #5 (Oct. 1957)
“Nightmare” from DO YOU BELIEVE IN NIGHTMARES? #1 (Nov. 1957)
“The Sonambulist” from DO YOU BELIEVE IN NIGHTMARES? #1 (Nov. 1957)
“The Strange Silence” from DO YOU BELIEVE IN NIGHTMARES? #1 (Nov. 1957)
“You Can Make Me Fly” from DO YOU BELIEVE IN NIGHTMARES? #1 (Nov. 1957)
“The Man Who Crashed” from DO YOU BELIEVE IN NIGHTMARES? #1 (Nov. 1957)
“The Elixar” from STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #36 (Mar. 1958)
“Failure” from STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #36 (Mar. 1958)
“Confederate Girl” from UNUSUAL TALES #25 (Dec. 1960)

Upcoming Ditko - Various Marvel in MILESTONES

Scheduled to come out in February, 2006, a one-shot of various reprints of Ditko work, one of them (the Dragon Lord story) never reprinted before. Nothing great, but somewhat interesting stuff.

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MARVEL MILESTONES: DRAGON LORD, SPEEDBALL & THE MAN IN THE SKY
Written by MARV WOLFMAN, STEVE DITKO, TOM DEFALCO, ROGER STERN & STAN LEE
Penciled by STEVE DITKO
Cover by FRANK MILLER

Who - or what - is the Wani? And can Tako Shamara, latest in the line of men trained to combat the creature, stay its wrath? It’s a question of honor as the Dragon Lord debuts in MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #5 (March 1980). Plus: A colorful new bouncing, brawling crimebuster bursts forth in in SPEEDBALL #1 (September 1988). Also featuring “The Man in the Sky” from AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #14 (July 1962) - the first Marvel mutant story!?
48 PAGES $3.99