It Stalks the Public Domain - Paper Romance

Some more lapsed copyright early Ditko.

"Paper Romance" appeared in DARING LOVE #1 [1953]. More specifically, the indicia lists September-October 1953, which makes it the earliest cover date for a comic book known to have Ditko artwork. As previously discussed, the relationship of cover dates with on-sale dates is fluid, both then and now, so I doubt it will ever be proven if this came out before BLACK MAGIC #27 [v4n3] [November-December 1953] or some other early Ditko, but for now that's what we have. And of course, who knows what order those early stories were drawn in. What little evidence there is supports the notion that this wasn't the first drawn, even if it was the first published.

I think people like me spend too much time thinking about this kind of stuff. Let's actually read the comic book story, shall we?

No wait, first let's talk about the publisher. It's listed as Gillmor Magazines (not "Gilmore" or "Gilmor" or "Gilmour", as it is sometimes cited). On the research I can do without leaving my comfortable chair, this is one of several names used by the publisher which can collectively be called either Stanmor or Key Publications. Owned by Stanley Morse, anyway, and effectively the same company which first had the Hamilton/Ditko "Stretching Things" and sold it to Farrell (and it looks like it shares some ownership with Timor, which we'll get to in a few weeks). This is the only issue of the series, the numbering (as fluid as cover dates and publisher names in that era) seems to continue with RADIANT LOVE, but there's no Ditko in there, so who cares?

Okay, the comic! While I don't know much about Gillmor, I'm going to venture a guess that they paid their writers by the word (unlike this weblog). My god is this a verbose comic. Just too much. As you'll see, it's about a small town girl who is dissatisfied with her small town boyfriend, and engages (with the boyfriend's knowledge) in a pen-pal relationship with big city boy. Not awful, as such things go, but I really wish it had either twice the pages or half the words. The artwork obviously the big reason to care, and it's not quite as distinctively Ditko as some of his other early efforts (although I'm pretty sure it's Ditko solo, as a lot of the atypical elements also appear in lesser amounts in some other early work). A few panels stand out, especially those with some silhouette effect, like the last panel of page three and the last of the story. A lot of the clothing is actually more interesting than the faces.

And interestingly, this is the cover story for the issue. Cover not by Ditko (attributed to Bernard Baily, a long-established artist who co-created Hourman and The Spectre for DC), but it is very well drawn, which can't be said about the other stories in this comic.

And of course, romance stories are unusual for Ditko. This appears to be the only one he did in the 1950s, and he only did a handful for Charlton in the 1968-1978 period (five I think, and even some of those were fantasy stories with a romance element in HAUNTED LOVE). Some of those weren't discovered as Ditko until just a few years ago, and this story wasn't discovered until the 1980s, leading Ditko fans to hope that a comprehensive search of obscure romance comics will yield the ever-elusive cry of "New Ditko Find".

Scans adapted to my personal tastes from those found, and available for free download with registration, at the Golden Age Comics Download site. To buy Ditko comics and things on paper, go over here for ordering info on his exciting and essential creator-owned works and over here for info on recent and upcoming releases from all publishers.

Click and ye shall embiggen.

Sidebar poll

For a lark, and because I might want to use it for something later, poll over in the sidebar on favourite Ditko heroes. I actually messed up, and should have made it plural in the title, since you can vote for more than one, so feel free to pick a few. You can even pick them all, but that's kind of self-defeating...

The results of this poll will prove absolutely nothing. Unless Killjoy wins, in which case it will prove for all time that Killjoy is the greatest hero of them all!!!

Unrelated, except that details on how to buy comics with Killjoy are on the page, but the page on the Snyder-Ditko books in print has been updated with Robin Snyder's e-mail address, for those who had enquiries on international postage and bulk orders.

Fantasy Masterpieces #2 [1966]

This issue reprints "Those Who Lurk Below", a 6-page Ditko story from TALES OF SUSPENSE #12 [1960]. At a 19th century penal colony, one prisoner, Pierre, is singled out for especially cruel treatment by the guard Kragok. Assigned to clean up some ancient ruins in a tunnel, he finds an old book called "The Legend of the Earth Dwellers". From this book Equality learns of the Unspeakable Word. Sorry, that's not right. He finds out about an ancient race which was unable to live on the surface so retreated underground using powerful brain-operated digging chairs. Bolstered by this new hope, he keeps working, and finally finds a digger, not realizing that Kragok has planted both it and the book to give Pierre false hope that he could then crush. Imagine his surprise when the chair works, Pierre escapes to an underground utopia that Kragok is doomed to spend the rest of his life searching for.

This story, especially the page shown, is a great little showcase for the expressiveness of Ditko's faces. The feelings of hate and fear and anger and hope and surprise all come through loud and clear on all the characters. And interesting to note that his visual concept of a utopian city remains consistent through the years, as that last panel is pretty much a different angle view of the city on the cover of AVENGING WORLD [1973] (and reprinted as the cover of AVENGING WORLD [2002]).

Part of a Ditko panel from page 6 is used on the cover of this issue, and the three artists reprinted in here (Kirby, Ditko and Heck) actually all get billing on the cover with their story titles, something not too common at the time.

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #7 [1986]

Not surprisingly, having drawn ten issues of this Jack Kirby creation's solo series, Ditko was called upon to provide the illustration for Machine Man's handbook entry, with the usual Joe Rubinstein inks. Good solid illustration, although I always preferred the more freaky giant bug-eyes that Kirby designed the character with than those smaller ones in the Ditko re-design.

--Link-- Ditko's 1998 visit to DC

It doesn't fit within the maddeningly narrow unwritten parameters of this weblog, so I posted it over here, but go check out an account of Ditko visiting the DC offices in 1998.

Monsters Attack #1 [1989]

MONSTERS ATTACK was a black and white anthology comic book edited by Mort Todd and published by Globe Communications, the company that put out CRACKED. It lasted five issues and featured lots of comics by the likes of John Severin, Pat Boyette and Gray Morrow, plus some illustrated prose and articles on horror/monster movies (Romero's "Living Dead" trilogy (as it was then) in this first issue).

And of course Steve Ditko, who had a short story in every issue. This debut issue has the 6-page science fiction story "In Solid", very much a morality play in the vein of the old Marvel/Charlton work (in fact, it even has thematic echoes with the old Hamilton/Ditko "Stretching Things"). A criminal breaks into a science lab hoping to steal some notes, and ends up turning an experimental device on the scientist. This somehow makes the scientist's body absorb into the very fabric of the building, able to bring the walls or floors or machines to life. And of course, he's out for revenge.

This is a very strong story from Ditko, taking a clever visual idea and really running with it in the few pages he has. In fact, since Ditko in 3-D has been on my mind lately, I was briefly thinking how perfect this would have been as a back-up in SUBSTANCE a few years later, and then I realized that Ditko captured the 3-D look here without any need for special effects and glasses.

The scripting is also really good, capturing in very few words both the fear and confusion of the criminal and the anger and thirst for revenge of the scientist. If this had been in those old Marvel or Charlton comics of the 1950s, I think it would be considered one of the highlights of that era.

I hope at some point we see a collection of the various short pieces like this that Ditko owns the rights to (along with a collection of Mr. A.). There's some good stuff in there that hasn't been widely seen.

It Stalks the Public Domain - Stretching Things

I was tempted to call this feature Ditko Public Domain Package, modified logo and all but that felt wrong somehow...

And apologies to Batton Lash, from whom I just realized I stole the name I did use.

Anyway, since a few dozen publishers are getting in on the act, I figured this site might as well feature some lapsed copyright classics.

"Stretching Things" was written by Bruce Hamilton and drawn by Steve Ditko and first appeared in FANTASTIC FEARS #5 [1954], published by Four Star Publications (comic book company names being fluid back then, this was one of the names to appear in the indicia of publisher Robert Farrell's comics, which are commonly referred to as Ajax-Farrell). Bruce Hamilton later explained that he had sold the script to a company called Stanmor in 1953, which was in the habit of reselling the better stories in their inventory. As far as can be determined, this is the first story Ditko drew bought by a publisher, although a few others were published prior to it (comic book cover dates in the era being as fluid as publisher names, even that can't be determined with any certainty).

It's a wonderful little story by Hamilton, with some nice twists in its quick five pages, and Ditko does an excellent job bringing it to life. Page three in particular shows a lot of the storytelling that became Ditko staples in the fantasy stories for Charlton and Marvel in the years ahead, with the contrast with the shadows and the way the litter in the wind adds a sense of movement and depth. The printing is pretty horrid, proving Charlton was hardly the bottom-of-the-barrel in those days, but the work transcends those mundane limits.

Scans adapted to my personal tastes from those found, and available for free download with registration, at the Golden Age Comics Download site. To buy Ditko comics and things on paper, go over here for ordering info on his creator-owned works and over here for info on recent and upcoming releases from all publishers.

Let me know if you like this and would like to see more of these. I've got access to at least a dozen such stories, so one every few weeks should be good if there's interest.

As the prophets said, click to embiggen.

Marvel Tales #151 [1983]

The chronological reprints of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN continue this issue, following an odd aberration the previous month where the first Annual is reprinted out of order, before the first appearances of Kraven and the villain of this piece, Mysterio. Because you can't have a double-sized issue be anything but a multiple of 50, I guess.

Anyway, this issue reprints THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #13 [1964], both the cover and the 22-page story "The Menace of Mysterio", both by Steve Ditko. The cover has more than the usual tweaking, eliminating one of the two bottom panels, extending the other, and sundry other changes. The story opens with "Spider-Man" stealing some money in one of those conveniently labelled "$" bags.  This causes the public to turn on our hero, much to the delight of publisher J. Jonah Jameson, who feels vindicated.  Peter Parker, of course, is confused, and wonders if he's developing a split-personality, given all the pressure he's under, including financial, and even goes to a psychiatrist before realizing how bad an idea that is.  A new costumed figure, Mysterio shows up to challenge Spider-Man, with the backing of JJJ. Of course, you know how that turns out, Mysterio is revealed as the fake Spider-Man, Peter gets some photos of the action in their big battle, clearing the good name of his alter-ego, making a few bucks and tweaking old JJJ.

Great little issue, especially for those who like a solid dose of Parker in their Spider-Man comics, with some good scenes of his evolving interaction with his classmates, Betty Brant and JJJ. The psychiatrist scene is pretty funny and insightful as a quick innovative take on the whole super-hero alter-ego thing. And Mysterio is yet another in an incredible string of villains introduced to torment Spider-Man.