New Ditko - THE COMPLETE FOUR-PAGE SERIES AND OTHER ESSAYS

S. Ditko, "Why I Quit S-M, Marvel", 2015

Apparently now available from SD Publishing is THE COMPLETE FOUR-PAGE SERIES AND OTHER ESSAYS, an 80-page collection featuring the nine issue series of essays by Ditko published from 2012 to 2015 and twenty other essays from among the many to choose from.

Available from various sellers, use the ISBN codes:

ISBN-10: 1945307269

ISBN-13: 978-1945307263

And I assume Robin Snyder will have copies available, especially if you're picking up other SD Publishing books.

Here are the 45 essays as published in the original nine issue series (* numbering assumed for unnumbered essays)

#1*:  The Knowers & the Barkers [FPS#1]

#2*:  The Silent Self-Deceivers [FPS#1]

#3*:  A Newspaper Article, A Reporter's Report [FPS#1]

#4*:  A Deadly Fantasy [FPS#1]

#5*:  Why Out Of Their Way? [FPS#1]

#6*: Circle The Mind [FPS#2]

#7*: The Fixated Negative [FPS#2]

#8*: For/Against One's Best Interest? [FPS#2]

#9: An Eternal Truth, Lesson Rejected [FPS#3]

#10: The Fantasy Lifters [FPS#3]

#11*: LINT [FPS#2]

#12: For Good Or Ill [FPS#3]

#13: Tsk! — The Still Unreachable — Tsk! [FPS#3]

#14: Labels And Labelers [FPS#4]

#15: Wants/Needs Shortchanged [FPS#9]

#16*: Honoring Or Dishonoring [FPS#2]

#17: …To The Last Drop [FPS#3]

#18: Anti-Ditko 'Fans' [FPS#3]

#19: Action/Reaction And The Self-Claimed, Self-Creators [FPS#4]

#20: Out Of Their Way [FPS#9]

#21: How Dare He! [FPS#4]

#22: He Should Have X@*#! Done... [FPS#8]

#23: The Intolerable Other [FPS#6]

#24: The Eternally Fixated [FPS#5]

#25: Choice: Either/Or [FPS#5]

#26: 4 tHe knot 2 BritE, rite [FPS#5]

#27: The Movers And The Freezers [FPS#4]

#28: Red Flag [FPS#6]

#29: Too Late [FPS#4]

#30: Repeater, Spreader, Reinforcer [FPS#6]

#31: Copycat Mind [FPS#8]

#32: With Everyone, A Free-Will Choice [FPS#5]

#33: X's 'Idea' [FPS#6]

#34: Memory [FPS#5]

#35: FP: Comic Book Fan Packs [FPS#6]

#36: CC: The Caller and the Called [FPS#6]

#37: Start & Finish [FPS#6]

#38: Correct, Corrector, Corrections [FPS#8]

#40: The Chosen Grey Mind [FPS#7]

#41: A Cure Or The Actual Disease? [FPS#7]

#42 [FPS#8]

#43: The 1st New York City Comic Book Convention [FPS#7]

#44: Foolish Fans [FPS#9]

#45: Why I Quit S-M, Marvel [FPS#9]

#46: Either/Or [FPS#9]

Dennis O'Neil, R.I.P.

Wanted to note the passing of Dennis O'Neil, long time comic book writer and editor with a long list of accomplishments. Among other things, he worked with Ditko several times over the years (as well as doing a lot of notable work on characters Ditko created).

Early in his career, O'Neil scripted the last two published Doctor Strange stories by Ditko over in STRANGE TALES, which I thought were pretty good.  Shortly after that he was also working at Charlton under the pen-name "Sergius O'Shaugnessy", and Ditko drew at least two of O'Neil's stories (a lot of stories in that era have no credits, so there might be more with both of them).  One credited one is the middle chapter of a time travel epic in SPACE ADVENTURES #2 [1968], in between chapters by Jim Aparo and Pat Boyette, which is a pretty great selection of artists.  The other one is uncredited originally, but credited in a later letter column and in the SD Publishing reprint, an entertaining horror story hosted by Mr. Dedd appearing in GHOSTLY TALES #69 [1968].  Around the same time O'Neil was brought over to DC by editor Dick Giordano, where one of his first assignments was scripting Ditko's BEWARE THE CREEPER series following the SHOWCASE story scripted by Don Segall. And then years later, back at Marvel, Ditko drew most of O'Neil's story in IRON MAN #160 [1982], which had some fun scenes (there's some interesting behind the scenes on Ditko not drawing the splash page, but that's for another post).

(I post about some of O'Neil's other work here and here)

New & Upcoming Ditko - THE RETURN OF GORGO #31 and GHOSTLY TALES

The latest SD Comics release is now available, THE RETURN OF GORGO #31. Headlining the issue is the second issue of the series from 1961, a 30-page epic by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko. Also included are a trio of 1950s short stories with some compatible themes, all stories in full colour. Plus a short essay by Ditko and some letters. Should be available now from the usual sources.

And the next SD Comics Kickstarter is currently running, and features the return of the Charlton title GHOSTLY TALES, where Ditko's work appeared regularly from 1966 to 1977, with a cover from another title Ditko appeared in often in that era, THE MANY GHOSTS OF DOCTOR GRAVES. Ditko did over 200 stories for various Charlton horror anthology titles in that decade-plus, so there's a lot to choose from. Bit late on announcing it here, I'm sorry to say, but still over a week to go and it's already almost made the minimum funding goal.