Upcoming Ditko - New essays

Just in from Robin Snyder:

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Steve Ditko and his work have been in the news of late.

Many readers have been thinking about, writing about, the creator of numerous comics characters such as Mr. A., The Hero, Madman, Stac Rae, Miss Eerie, and so many others.

Wondering what he has been doing, what he thinks about, why he does what he does, how and what if… and so forth.

There are real answers to some of these questions.

In addition to his fiction, Ditko is also an essayist.

He has written and published dozens of articles and essays from a biographical sketch to creator’s rights, page and panel composition and the development of Spider-Man.

For those interested in Steve Ditko, who he is, what has he done, why he does it, and what he has been thinking, I direct your attention to the source and a new series we have developed.

The first article (“The Knowers & the Barkers”) appeared in his recent comic book, #17: Seventeen.

The second in the series will appear shortly in our newsletter, The Comics!

Look for it.

From

Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko
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Back to me, ordering info for the aforementioned #17: SEVENTEEN, plus other Ditko books (including THE AVENGING MIND [2008], with many of his articles on Marvel history and other topics, and THE AVENGING WORLD [2002], with several earlier ones, plus lots of classic comics), and subscription information for THE COMICS newsletter is available here. I believe many of the earlier issues of THE COMICS with Ditko essays not reprinted in the AVENGING... books, including at least some of the 16 part "A Mini-History" about the development of Spider-Man, are still available if you want to ask Snyder for prices on those. I'll be sure to post here when I know which new ones have Ditko's new articles.

Upcoming Ditko - ATE TEA N 18 [?]

Well, I think the title is ATE TEA N 18. Anyone with a better guess feel free to comment. Anyway, as announced in the just released #17: SEVENTEEN, this is the next new Ditko scheduled to come out, featuring Hero, The Cape, The !? and I'm guessing that's a P Masks story. And a surprise. Hopefully available quicker than the seven months that #17 took.

New Ditko - #17: SEVENTEEN

Ditko's latest all-new 32-page comic, #17: SEVENTEEN, is now available. Returning features, as seen on the cover, are Miss Eerie, The Cape, The Outline and The Distorter, plus a new concept that will probably return and the usual single page bits. And another bit new to this run of books that might intrigue some of you.

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).

New Ditko - DITKOMANIA #89 available

DITKOMANIA #89 is now available, the Halloween issue, with a lot of stuff on Ditko's work at Charlton, including several reviews of a recent IDW book reprinting some Charlton stories, and an article about Ditko's stories with Dennis O'Neil at Charlton. Also a surprising amount of fan art featuring Doctor Graves.

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

Upcoming Ditko - #17 out soon

A bit delayed, but Robin Snyder informs me that the next new Ditko comic, #17 SEVENTEEN, should be out soon. Featuring 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 - DITKOMANIA #88

DITKOMANIA #88 is now available, the Ditko International issue with a focus on reprints of his work in various other languages and countries. Lots of great stuff you may have seen before, but in a way you've never seen it before.

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

Unusual Tales - The wrap

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

I posted the last of the 206 stories that fall into this category earlier today, and updated the various lists. The stories are listed in chronological order here with reprints listed, and in alphabetical order here (including the 1953-1955 stories) and this list is of all the stories that were unreprinted when I began posting. There is a final Cover Gallery post to come eventually, but the dozen covers not in Part One or Part Two are included in still available THE COVER SERIES, along with many later Ditko covers.

Eventually I'll add a list of my favourite dozen or so of the stories, feel free to use the comments here to recommend stories you think are among the best.

Unusual Tales - The Man Below

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

And finally, for now...

"The Man Below" is a 5-page story from TALES OF THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER #5 [1957]. One of a few Ditko stories from the era to use deep-sea diving images, which he does very well. Another Traveler narrated story, this time he's showing a bit of a sense of humour in the one, really happy with the twist ending which actually is a pretty clever reversal. A very effective story.

But before the story, some links:

Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
Wide variety of new material and classic reprints available
Find out about the fanzine DITKOMANIA
Back issues and subscriptions available
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
Creeper, Hawk&Dove, Shade and many more DC stories reprinted in three hardcovers
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

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