Ditko's 2007 "Toyland" essay (with the accompanying two illustrated pages from 1992's "Laszlo's Hammer") has been posted, with permission, by Batton Lash on the site Big Hollywood.
[link removed, no longer active]
If you want a print copy of the essay and illustrations, plus more Ditko writings and drawings, the essay appears in 2008's THE AVENGING MIND, order info here.
April 6, 2009
New Ditko offer for Canadian fans
Knowing first-hand the difficulty with Canadian ordering of individual copies of the recent Ditko publications released by Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko (the cost of money orders, currency exchange, postage, etc), I've arranged to have some of them available for sale through this site, with PayPal payment and hopefully reasonable postage.
Right now I've just got a small quantity of some of the more recent books. If those sell with minimal hassle I might arrange to carry the whole set of in-print books. Let me know if you'd be interested even if not ordering now so I can gauge interest.
Initially this offer is only to Canadian buyers. If I don't sell out quickly I might take other orders, but I'd also urge any retailer (US, Canadian or any other nation) who does a good quantity of mail-order to contact Robin Snyder for his wholesale terms. I think you'll find them quite reasonable, more than enough to turn a profit, and I'll be happy to use this site to direct grateful customers your way (who might buy other stuff from you).
Right now I've just got a small quantity of some of the more recent books. If those sell with minimal hassle I might arrange to carry the whole set of in-print books. Let me know if you'd be interested even if not ordering now so I can gauge interest.
Initially this offer is only to Canadian buyers. If I don't sell out quickly I might take other orders, but I'd also urge any retailer (US, Canadian or any other nation) who does a good quantity of mail-order to contact Robin Snyder for his wholesale terms. I think you'll find them quite reasonable, more than enough to turn a profit, and I'll be happy to use this site to direct grateful customers your way (who might buy other stuff from you).
April 5, 2009
It Stalks the Public Domain - Triple-Header
Do you ever wake up at night and wonder where you can get some early Ditko artwork now in the public domain? I don't, not since I discovered http://tinyurl.com/ditko-stories.
A quick 2-page story this time, "Triple-Header" from Charlton's THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED #17 [1954]. Not too much to say about this one that you can't get from quickly reading the story. It's the usual tale of treachery gone wrong, a bit over-the-top, and the writer seems to either think that Jakarta is in South America or the Amazon River is in Indonesia (or maybe doesn't know where in the world either is). A bit of the body language is over-wrought (see the choking scene), but there's some good little detail in the artwork, far more than the tale deserves.
The usual links:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
Subscribe to DITKOMANIA
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
A quick 2-page story this time, "Triple-Header" from Charlton's THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED #17 [1954]. Not too much to say about this one that you can't get from quickly reading the story. It's the usual tale of treachery gone wrong, a bit over-the-top, and the writer seems to either think that Jakarta is in South America or the Amazon River is in Indonesia (or maybe doesn't know where in the world either is). A bit of the body language is over-wrought (see the choking scene), but there's some good little detail in the artwork, far more than the tale deserves.
The usual links:
Buy Ditko's creator-owned work
Subscribe to DITKOMANIA
Check out new and upcoming Ditko publications
Download public domain comics, likely including the one this story is from
April 4, 2009
Upcoming Ditko - General update
Just catching up on some upcoming Ditko stuff.
DITKO ONCE MORE is the next Ditko/Snyder publication, expected in May,ordering info here.
DITKOMANIA should have a new issue going out to subscribers this week, and several more this year.
Dark Horse's reprints of the 1960s Warren books have at least three more volumes out this year, and when those are out you'll be able to get all of Ditko's 16 stories spread across five books.
Marvel's softcover Masterworks continue. Second SPIDER-MAN out soon, and the second FANTASTIC FOUR has a bit of Ditko inking (and one story with one panel that might be Ditko pencils). Expect a Hulk and another Spider-Man by the end of the year.
There's a hardcover Spider-Man book that inexplicably collects the classic Sinister Six story from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 with a "sequel" done in the 1990s.
DC's SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE CREEPER seems to have vanished from their schedule. Dare I hope this is so the material can get a proper colour and all-Ditko treatment?
AC's CRYPT OF HORROR #6 is solicited as having some Ditko among other contents, presumably some 1950s story or stories.
Further down the road (and thus still tentative as such listings tend to be), Amazon shows an anthology from IDW with some Ditko, another book from IDW that's all Ditko (Yo, Craig, drop me a line, let me know what's in these), another Ditko book from Fantagraphics and a Dark Horse collection that will have some of Ditko's INDIANA JONES stories from the 1980s. Yes, really.
DITKO ONCE MORE is the next Ditko/Snyder publication, expected in May,ordering info here.
DITKOMANIA should have a new issue going out to subscribers this week, and several more this year.
Dark Horse's reprints of the 1960s Warren books have at least three more volumes out this year, and when those are out you'll be able to get all of Ditko's 16 stories spread across five books.
Marvel's softcover Masterworks continue. Second SPIDER-MAN out soon, and the second FANTASTIC FOUR has a bit of Ditko inking (and one story with one panel that might be Ditko pencils). Expect a Hulk and another Spider-Man by the end of the year.
There's a hardcover Spider-Man book that inexplicably collects the classic Sinister Six story from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1 with a "sequel" done in the 1990s.
DC's SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE CREEPER seems to have vanished from their schedule. Dare I hope this is so the material can get a proper colour and all-Ditko treatment?
AC's CRYPT OF HORROR #6 is solicited as having some Ditko among other contents, presumably some 1950s story or stories.
Further down the road (and thus still tentative as such listings tend to be), Amazon shows an anthology from IDW with some Ditko, another book from IDW that's all Ditko (Yo, Craig, drop me a line, let me know what's in these), another Ditko book from Fantagraphics and a Dark Horse collection that will have some of Ditko's INDIANA JONES stories from the 1980s. Yes, really.
March 29, 2009
Battlemania #5 [1992]
The story opens with Justice settling down for some milk and catching up on the Arkansas Farm Journal. His apartment is pretty funny in the opening page, with a butter churn, some gardening equipment, a basket of vegetables, a bookcase with a gaslamp, what appears to be a lot of moonshine, various models of farm equipment and animals, some family photos and for some reason a TARDIS model (okay, a police box, but I don't think they actually make models of those that aren't tied-in to Doctor Who, and I don't think they have them in rural Arkansas). Anyway, his housekeeper opens a package, which turns out to be a cobra, which Justice makes short work of. Since his housekeeper broke her glasses in the commotion, and refuses to accept a handout from Justice to pay for them, Justice goes to get the money from the man logically responsible, Jake "The Snake" Roberts.
The resulting quest for remuneration takes Justice to battles with The Snake at the gym, a rooftop (with, hey, a water-tower!), the streets and finally the snakehouse at the zoo before justice finally prevails.
This is surprisingly good, maybe the best of Ditko's BATTLEMANIA stories. The faces lack a certain Ditko-ness, presumably to keep them on-model to the actual wrestlers, but the body language is all there, the story structure follows the classic Marvel formula that Ditko had a hand in defining, "The Snake" is very much shown as a Ditko villain in the style of Kraven, and the fights in the various locales are very well done, especially the rooftop and the zoo. Not a masterpiece by any means, but you could do far worse in looking to sample Ditko's late-period for-hire work.
March 27, 2009
It Stalks the Public Domain - Botticelli of the Bangtails
The award-winning* series of early Ditko stories continues. See http://tinyurl.com/ditko-stories for the full list.
(*not really)
From Charlton's RACKET SQUAD IN ACTION #11 [May-June 1954] comes "Botticelli of the Bangtails", an 8-page police/crime story by Ditko. The detectives in this story are J. J. O'Malley and Steve Pryor, who were on-going characters in the book, though this would be the only time Ditko drew them (his only other contribution to the title would be the cover to the following issue. The focus on this story is on the outlaws, though, and the horses, as Manny Sherman, after losing big on the horses, comes across an artist painting portraits of horses and comes up with a ridiculously elaborate scheme to counterfeit race-horses and clean up on the bets, first disguising an everyday nag to look like the favourite, then the favourite as an unknown underdog. It all blows up in the end, though, and O'Malley is there to pick up the pieces.
Some nice work by Ditko on this one, with good distinctive designs for the various villains of the piece, great square-jawed heroic police detectives and some good work on the horses. The flying art supplies in the last page are a nice touch to bring back the art theme of the story.
Ditko also draws the cover to this issue, which in a rare occurrence for his early covers, actually goes with the story he drew for the issue.
Most scans in this series 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 available creator owned material (including his latest comic, OH, NO! NOT AGAIN, DITKO!) and over here for info on recent and upcoming publications from all publishers, and check out Rob Imes' revival of DITKOMANIA, the Ditko fanzine, now accepting PayPal.
Click images to enbiggen.
(*not really)
From Charlton's RACKET SQUAD IN ACTION #11 [May-June 1954] comes "Botticelli of the Bangtails", an 8-page police/crime story by Ditko. The detectives in this story are J. J. O'Malley and Steve Pryor, who were on-going characters in the book, though this would be the only time Ditko drew them (his only other contribution to the title would be the cover to the following issue. The focus on this story is on the outlaws, though, and the horses, as Manny Sherman, after losing big on the horses, comes across an artist painting portraits of horses and comes up with a ridiculously elaborate scheme to counterfeit race-horses and clean up on the bets, first disguising an everyday nag to look like the favourite, then the favourite as an unknown underdog. It all blows up in the end, though, and O'Malley is there to pick up the pieces.Some nice work by Ditko on this one, with good distinctive designs for the various villains of the piece, great square-jawed heroic police detectives and some good work on the horses. The flying art supplies in the last page are a nice touch to bring back the art theme of the story.
Ditko also draws the cover to this issue, which in a rare occurrence for his early covers, actually goes with the story he drew for the issue.
Most scans in this series 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 available creator owned material (including his latest comic, OH, NO! NOT AGAIN, DITKO!) and over here for info on recent and upcoming publications from all publishers, and check out Rob Imes' revival of DITKOMANIA, the Ditko fanzine, now accepting PayPal.
Click images to enbiggen.
March 26, 2009
New Ditko - The Ever Unwilling essay
THE COMICS Vol. 20, No. 3 [March 2009], the latest issue of Robin Snyder's newsletter, features a 2-page essay by Steve Ditko, "The Ever Unwilling", which is his clearest statement yet on the issue of the identity of the Green Goblin and its (non)-relationship with his departure from Spider-Man.
Ordering info, plus a list of available prior issues of THE COMICS with Ditko content (including his 16-part 2001-2003 "Mini-History of Spider-Man"), over here as always, along with Ditko's in-print and upcoming co-publications with Snyder.
Specifically, since someone asked me to clarify (and since I want to have it somewhere for easy reference), the "Mini-History" can be found in these issues:
The Comics v12 #5 [May 2001] - A Mini-History - Some Background
The Comics v12 #7 [July 2001] - A Mini-History Part 1 - The Green Goblin
The Comics v12 #10 [October 2001] - A Mini-History Part 2 - Amazing Fantasy #15
The Comics v12 #11 [November 2001] - A Mini-History Part 3 - The Amazing Spider-man #1
The Comics v13 #1 [January 2002] - A Mini-History Part 4 - The Amazing Spider-man #2
The Comics v13 #4 [April 2002] - A Mini-History Part 5 - The Amazing Spider-man #3
The Comics v13 #5 [May 2002] - A Mini-History Part 6 - Spider-woman/Spider-girl
The Comics v13 #8 [August 2002] - A Mini-History Part 7 - The Amazing Spider-man #4
The Comics v14 #2 [February 2003] - A Mini-History Part 8 - Others, Outsiders (OOs): Complainers and Complaints Against Betty Brant
The Comics v14 #4 [April 2003] - A Mini-History Part 9 - The OOs and Aunt May
The Comics v14 #5 [May 2003] - A Mini-History Part 10 - The OOs and JJJ
The Comics v14 #6 [June 2003] - A Mini-History Part 11 - Further Complaints and Influences of the OOs
The Comics v14 #7 [July 2003] - A Mini-History Part 12 - Guest Stars: Heroes and Villains
The Comics v14 #8 [August 2003] - A Mini-History Part 13 - Speculation
The Comics v14 #9 [September 2003] - A Mini-History Part 14 - The Mistrial
The Comics v14 #11 [November 2003] - A Mini-History - Wind-up
Ordering info, plus a list of available prior issues of THE COMICS with Ditko content (including his 16-part 2001-2003 "Mini-History of Spider-Man"), over here as always, along with Ditko's in-print and upcoming co-publications with Snyder.
Specifically, since someone asked me to clarify (and since I want to have it somewhere for easy reference), the "Mini-History" can be found in these issues:
The Comics v12 #5 [May 2001] - A Mini-History - Some Background
The Comics v12 #7 [July 2001] - A Mini-History Part 1 - The Green Goblin
The Comics v12 #10 [October 2001] - A Mini-History Part 2 - Amazing Fantasy #15
The Comics v12 #11 [November 2001] - A Mini-History Part 3 - The Amazing Spider-man #1
The Comics v13 #1 [January 2002] - A Mini-History Part 4 - The Amazing Spider-man #2
The Comics v13 #4 [April 2002] - A Mini-History Part 5 - The Amazing Spider-man #3
The Comics v13 #5 [May 2002] - A Mini-History Part 6 - Spider-woman/Spider-girl
The Comics v13 #8 [August 2002] - A Mini-History Part 7 - The Amazing Spider-man #4
The Comics v14 #2 [February 2003] - A Mini-History Part 8 - Others, Outsiders (OOs): Complainers and Complaints Against Betty Brant
The Comics v14 #4 [April 2003] - A Mini-History Part 9 - The OOs and Aunt May
The Comics v14 #5 [May 2003] - A Mini-History Part 10 - The OOs and JJJ
The Comics v14 #6 [June 2003] - A Mini-History Part 11 - Further Complaints and Influences of the OOs
The Comics v14 #7 [July 2003] - A Mini-History Part 12 - Guest Stars: Heroes and Villains
The Comics v14 #8 [August 2003] - A Mini-History Part 13 - Speculation
The Comics v14 #9 [September 2003] - A Mini-History Part 14 - The Mistrial
The Comics v14 #11 [November 2003] - A Mini-History - Wind-up
March 24, 2009
It Stalks the Public Domain - A Nice Quiet Place
List of all of these posts over here : http://tinyurl.com/ditko-stories.
From Charlton's STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #19 [1954] comes this 6-page crime-suspense thriller, "A Nice Quiet Place", featuring two bank robbers who head to a remote cabin to lay low until the heat is off, but of course meet their fate due to the all round lack of trust.
Not a great story, but Ditko does very well with what he's given, though he's still a bit rough around the edges. I think the middle tier of page three works really well, showing off Ditko's early style of handling clothing and shadows, and a lot of the panels of the mountain lion look really good, very primal and vicious.
[Full story now available in the Snyder/Ditko publication MURDER #22, so only first page included below]
Most scans in this series adapted to my personal tastes from those found, and available for free download with registration, at the Golden Age Comics Download site. To buy some Ditko comics go over here for ordering info on his available creator owned material co-published with Robin Snyder (including several new books from the last year and some upcoming stuff) and head over here for info on all recent and upcoming books with Ditko from all publishers. And be sure to check out the revived DITKOMANIA from Rob Imes, currently running bi-monthly and with some great art and articles.
Clickening images enables embiggening.
From Charlton's STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #19 [1954] comes this 6-page crime-suspense thriller, "A Nice Quiet Place", featuring two bank robbers who head to a remote cabin to lay low until the heat is off, but of course meet their fate due to the all round lack of trust.Not a great story, but Ditko does very well with what he's given, though he's still a bit rough around the edges. I think the middle tier of page three works really well, showing off Ditko's early style of handling clothing and shadows, and a lot of the panels of the mountain lion look really good, very primal and vicious.
[Full story now available in the Snyder/Ditko publication MURDER #22, so only first page included below]
Most scans in this series adapted to my personal tastes from those found, and available for free download with registration, at the Golden Age Comics Download site. To buy some Ditko comics go over here for ordering info on his available creator owned material co-published with Robin Snyder (including several new books from the last year and some upcoming stuff) and head over here for info on all recent and upcoming books with Ditko from all publishers. And be sure to check out the revived DITKOMANIA from Rob Imes, currently running bi-monthly and with some great art and articles.
Clickening images enables embiggening.
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