Haunted #12 [1973]

Ditko draws the 8-page story "Eternal Love" in this 1973 Charlton release. A pretty standard story about a girl who sees a ghost, who turns out to be a man who died in that house 200 years earlier in the arms of his beloved, who happens to have the same name and face as her. Later she meets and falls in love with a boy who seems somewhat familiar. Actually, the story seems to be missing a few bits of explanation, not sure if the reader is just expected to take them for granted given how common the plot is or what.

In any case, it's the Ditko artwork that I'm more interested in here, and it does shine in a few scenes. I especially like the figure of the ghost on the bottom of page six, reaching out and with a single tear. It's also always fun to see Ditko's renditions of the host of this story, the ghostly Imp, who often seems really excited or fascinated by the story he's telling.

New Ditko - DITKO PRESENTS

First sighting of the latest Ditko release, DITKO PRESENTS.  As usual, ordering info direct from co-publisher Robin Snyder is over here, along with the list of other Ditko publications he has available.

Upcoming Ditko - S&K reprints

It's the smallest on many dozen reasons to buy this upcoming book, but among the 480 pages in Titan's THE SIMON AND KIRBY SUPERHEROES in 2010 is a newly coloured reprint of the team's CAPTAIN 3-D #1, which young Steve Ditko assisted on with Mort Meskin. Details here.

Upcoming Ditko - PRESENTS update and more

 

Courtesy of Robin Snyder, I now have a better look at the cover to the upcoming DITKO PRESENTS, as well as a preview of the cover of the Ditko book to follow, A DITKO ACT TWO. I've also added a few details on some earlier comics Robin has available, including a great book of KONGA reprints.

Details over here, as usual. Retailers are encouraged to contact Robin Snyder for wholesale terms.

--Link-- Spider-Man pages at LOC video

Head over here for a three minute video about the original art to AMAZING FANTASY #15 in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Upcoming Ditko - Pet Avengers Classic

Yeah, I know. I don't make 'em up, I just report their existence.

The story from SPEEDBALL #6 is presumably "Cat's Eye". The MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #8 story, from the emphasis on squirrels, would be the Iron Man story "The Coming Of Squirrel Girl". Nothing from AMAZING FANTASY #15 seems to fit the theme, so I'm not sure why that's listed [turns out they mean the more recent Ditko-free AF v2 #15].

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PET AVENGERS CLASSIC TPB
Written by STAN LEE, STEVE DITKO, MARY JO DUFFY, SCOTT EDELMAN, PETER GILLIS, STEVEN GRANT, BRUCE JONES, LARRY LEIBER, WILL MURRAY, FABIAN NICIEZA, GREG PAK, LOUISE SIMONSON, DAN SLOTT, MARC SUMERAK & ZEB WELLS
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JUNE BRIGMAN, BOB BUDIANSKY, ANDREA DIVITO, CHRIS ELIOPOULOS, GIL KANE, VAL MAYERIK, TAKESHI MIYAZAWA, MICHAEL NETZER, DON PERLIN, JAVIER SALTARES, PAUL SMITH & SKOTTIE YOUNG
Cover by KARL KERSCHL

The Falcon, the Two-Gun Kid and many another will tell you: A hero's best friend is his animal sidekick! A teleporting dog, a winged horse, a bouncing cat...and lookit the cute puppies! All part of the Marvel Universe animal kingdom showcased in this offbeat collection! Lockheed gone solo! The origin of Zabu! The Super-Apes triumphant! Magic; super-science; and squirrels, squirrels, squirrels! Featuring rarely seen early work by Fabian Nicieza, Greg Pak and other present-day Marvel headliners! Collecting material from THING #4, CAPTAIN AMERICA #220, KA-ZAR THE SAVAGE #14-15, X-MEN UNLIMITED #43, MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #72, SPEEDBALL #6, MARVEL TALES #100, MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #8, AMAZING FANTASY #15, FANTASTIC FOUR #94, NEW DEFENDERS #150, NEW MUTANTS ANNUAL #4, FRANKLIN RICHARDS: HAPPY FRANKSGIVING, NEW WARRIORS #2 and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #57.
208 PGS. $24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3966-9

--Link-- Ditko and Charlton movie monsters

Over on the Center for Cartoon Studies' Schulz Library blog, Steve Bissette has some words of appreciation for Ditko's work on KONGA for Charlton in the 1960s, inspired by this long and detailed article by Christopher Hayton on the topic (which I haven't had a chance to read yet).

New Ditko - DITKOMANIA #73

Just arrived in the mail, and available for ordering is DITKOMANIA #73, the latest issue of the fanzine from Rob Imes. Opening this issue is the Doctor Strange cover you see to the right, by Fred Hembeck (some of my favourite bits in Hembeck's 1980s solo books were the Ditko-inspired pieces, which you can see along with about 900 other pages of stuff in his recent book).

Inside is a lot more about Doctor Strange, plus some stuff about Ditko's more recent comics and other matters. You'll also see a recently discovered unused Hulk pin-up both in the original pencil form and as inked by Mort Todd on the backcover.