Alter Ego #160 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas' Spider-Happy Comics Fanzine

STEVE DITKO REMEMBERED

No. 160 September 2019

$9.95

82658 00373

Art TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

In the USA

Vol. 3, No. 160 / September 2019 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor

Contents

John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck J.T. Go (Assoc. Editor)

Comic Crypt Editor

A brief bird’s-eye view of a remarkable artist—and storyteller—by Nick Caputo.

Steve Ditko Interview—1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll

Mike & Richard Howell and Mark Canterbury, from the pages of Marvel Main #4.

Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich

Proofreaders

Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding

Cover Artist

“A Very Mysterious Character” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 An essay on Ditko by Yancy Streeter Barry Pearl.

A Life Lived On His Own Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Bernie Bubnis tells of his personal encounters with Spider-Man’s co-creator, 1962-2017.

Two Visits to Steve Ditko’s Studio/Sanctum Sanctorum . . . 45 Russ Maheras on meeting the elusive artist.

Steve Ditko

Steve Ditko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Cover Colorist

Craig Yoe on Ditko, himself, and the Muppets.

Glenn Whitmore

With Special Thanks to: Heidi Amash Roger Armstrong Bob Bailey J. Ballmann Nancy Bardeen Mike W. Barr Robert Barrett Michael Barrier Alberto Becattini Ricky Terry Brisacque Bernie & Lucille Bubnis Bart Bush Nick Caputo John Cimino Comic Book Plus (website) Pierre Comtois Chet Cox Brian Cremins Austin English John Fishel Shane Foley Stephan Friedt Janet Gilbert Grand Comics Database (website) Karen Green

Writer/Editorial: Steve D., We Hardly Knew Ye! . . . . . . . . . . 2 Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Clizia Gussoni Mike Howell Richard Howell Eric Jansen William B. Jones James Kealy Paul Levitz Mark Lewis Art Lortie Jim Ludwig Russ Maheras Robert Menzies Brian K. Morris Frank Motler Will Murray Eric NolenWeathington Jake Oster Barry Pearl Bob Rozakis Randy Sargent Robin Snyder Bryan Stroud Dann Thomas Mike Tiefenbacher Qiana Whitted Yocitrus Craig Yoe

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Steve Ditko, Vince Argondezzi, Fred Patten, & Hames Ware

Steve’s Secret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Paul Levitz remembers collaborating with—and knowing—Steve Ditko

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! First Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Michael T. Gilbert examines the very first art and stories by the great Steve Ditko.

“I Did But See Her Passing By…” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Part XI of the 1998 memoirs of Golden and Silver Age master scripter John Broome.

Comic Fandom Archive: Bart Bush, Then & Now—Part 2 . . . 69 Concluding our talk with the co-founder of OAF (The Oklahoma Alliance of Fans).

Tributes to Vince Argondezzi, Hames Ware & Fred Patten . 75 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 80 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #219 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 P.C. Hamerlinck presents Brian Cremins’ look at Ditko in This Magazine Is Haunted.

On Our Cover: For several years in the mid-1960s and perhaps even after, a Photostat of this Spider-Man drawing, especially prepared by Steve Ditko (with editor Stan Lee’s name also appended), was mailed out to readers who contacted Marvel Comics asking for a pin-up—or perhaps a lock of Stan’s hair or a frame from Steve’s eyeglasses. Though Ye Editor has retained his own copy all these years, this issue’s actual cover was scanned for us by Nick Caputo—for which thanks! This primo piece of art may well have appeared in color before somewhere—maybe even in Amazing Spider-Man, we forget—but it was colored especially for this issue by Glenn Whitmore. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Above: The art of the oft-wonderful Steve Ditko first drew the notice of 19-year-old Roy Thomas with the debut of “Captain Atom” in Charlton’s Space Adventures #33 (March 1960), 2½ years before Amazing Fantasy #15, in stories written by co-creator Joe Gill. This splash panel and the origin story depicted Cap mostly in shades of blue—though on the cover his outfit was red and yellow, which would supersede the former hues in early future issues. Years later, after a costume change, the hero was purchased by DC and has been around ever since. Reproduced from DC’s 2004 hardcover The Action Heroes Archives, Vol. 1. [TM & © DC Comics.] Alter Ego TM is published 6 times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Six-issue subscriptions: $67 US, $101 Elsewhere, $30 Digital Only. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in China. ISSN: 1932-6890. FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

Steve D., We Hardly Knew Ye! knew Steve Ditko—and yet I didn’t ever know him, not really.

As I’ve often recounted, I first encountered Steve at the Marvel offices at 625 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. I can’t swear that I recall the exact occasion of that initial meeting, but it was almost certainly sometime during July of 1965, in the first week or three after I went to work for Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. Even before that, however, production manager Sol Brodsky, who was great about showing me the ropes and telling me anything that Stan would want him to tell me—and absolutely nothing that Stan wouldn’t want him to tell me—took me aside and explained to me that Stan and Steve “don’t speak to each other anymore.” ’Sfunny… I don’t specifically recalling meeting Ditko himself, but I very clearly recall Sol filling me in concerning the odd situation that then existed between the company’s editor and main writer and the artist/plotter of Amazing Spider-Man and Strange Tales’ “Doctor Strange”! I learned no more, I recall, than that this impasse had come about because Stan and Steve had found they were arguing more and more about stories and the direction of the Spider-Man series. It never occurred to me to ask whose idea the no-speak situation had been; but of course, common sense dictated that it had to have been Stan’s decision. As editor, he was technically Ditko’s superior. Years later, in writings for his friend and partner Robin Snyder’s newsletter The Comics!, the artist confirmed that obvious assumption. And indeed, for pretty much the remainder of 1965, I witnessed that four-color version of a restraining order in operation. From time to time, Ditko would walk into Sol’s production office, which I shared with him and secretary Flo Steinberg—I don’t recall if there was any special day of the week that he was more likely to pop in, like Jack Kirby on Fridays, but

I doubt it. It was pretty much dependent, I think, on when he finished either the pencils or inks for a particular story—or perhaps when Sol (or Flo) phoned to tell him that penciled, Stan-scripted pages had come back from a letterer so he could come pick them up and ink them. I’m pretty sure pages were rarely if ever mailed directly to his studio by Artie Simek or Sam Rosen, let alone by Stan or Sol. I don’t remember many of my brief conversations with Steve at the office (really, they were usually just a “hello/goodbye” kind of thing), but I do know that he seemed friendly and distant at the same time, so I never tried to push. I had kind feelings toward him, of course, not just because I had been an admirer of his artwork ever since he’d started drawing “Captain Atom” for Charlton half a decade before (and even more so because of Spider-Man), but because after I published my initial issue of the first volume of Alter Ego (#7, Fall of ’64), he’d sent me, totally unsolicited and unexpected, an ornate black-&-white cartoon. It depicted a sort of hybrid pencil & brush (wearing glasses) transforming over what amounted to a 10-panel horizontal page to Peter Parker to Spidey to Aunt May to Dr. Strange to Jonah Jameson to an ink bottle—which in the next panel had tipped over and spilled ink, so that little pawprints (from some unknown, invisible critter) led to Ditko’s signature and a pile of letters that contained most of the vowels and consonants of his name—followed (after a scribbled “or,”) by an ink blob. The copy, running between the panels—well, you can read that on the facing page, in a reprinting of that sheet, which has been specially colored (for the first time I can recall) for this issue of A/E by Randy Sargent. Five Ditko artistic creations—in a cartoon sequence—and somehow I managed to let someone talk me out of it, decades ago, in a trade that was surely the worst idea I had since I sold my spare copy of Fantastic Four #1 for half a buck. I do recall one occasion, at least the second or third time he’d dropped by Marvel after I started work there, having him say to

COMING IN OCTOBER

161

A Full-Issue Tribute To

STAN (The Man) LEE!

ers, Inc.

TM & © Marvel Charact

• Vintage Galactus cover art by JACK KIRBY & VINCE COLLETTA! • STAN’s cataclysmic & continuing contributions to comics honored, from 1941 to 2018—with special tributes and reminiscences by ROY THOMAS, MARV WOLFMAN, GERRY CONWAY, JIM SHOOTER, STEVE ENGLEHART, JEAN-MARC LOFFICIER, et al.—plus annotated 21st-century e-mails between STAN & ROY—studded with rare photos and raucous art by JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOE MANEELY, JOHN ROMITA, BILL EVERETT, MARIE SEVERIN, JOHN BUSCEMA, GENE COLAN, MOEBIUS, & many others! • Special STAN-Sections by MR. MONSTER & MICHAEL T. GILBERT—BILL SCHELLY—& even P.C. HAMERLINCK’s FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America]! And that’s not all—not by a long shot!

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“Steve D., We Hardly Knew Ye!”

[Characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; other art © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

any other time, to either Sol or Stan, as to why he was quitting. (I knew it wasn’t over a page rate, since Sol had at that time, on his desk, a memo he had intended to mention to Steve that gave him a $5 a page raise, not a totally inconsiderable sum in those days. It was probably a 10% increase or thereabouts.)

me as he was about to leave that he’d be back with another story soon. I smiled and joshed, “So there’s gonna be another one, huh?” or words to that effect. After he had departed, Sol called me over and said to me in a hushed voice that I should be very careful about saying such things to “Steve” (he never called him “Ditko,” even when he wasn’t there). When I professed my puzzlement, Sol explained his reasoning: “A guy like him”—whatever that meant— might get halfway back to his studio and suddenly wonder, “What did he mean by that? Does he know something I don’t?” Somehow, the notion that Steve Ditko might be worried that Stan Lee or Marvel was going to fire him just didn’t compute with me, but I recall watching my words more carefully the remaining time or two he came in after that day. Anyway, I never made any attempt to see Steve socially or visit him at his office—I sensed he wouldn’t have appreciated it; and besides, I was totally wrapped up in the demands and delights of my new job as first “staff writer,” then “editorial assistant,” at Marvel. The next memory I have is of Steve coming in one day to drop off and/or pick up pages from Sol, breezing in and out as usual while Stan, utilizing some kind of radar sense that would’ve made Daredevil envious, as usual managed to remain in his office until the artist had left, so that in all my life I never saw the two of them together. As my wife Dann likes to point out to me, as far as I knew, they could’ve been one and the same person, leading some kind of perverse double life! But on this occasion, I quickly learned—after Stan did, from Sol—that Ditko was quitting, that he’d informed Sol he would complete the “Spider-Man” and “Doctor Strange” stories on which he was currently working, and that would be it for him and Marvel. Apparently he gave no particular reason that day, or

Stan, for his part, seemed genuinely sorry, though not sorely distressed, at this turn of events, but it couldn’t have been totally unexpected, given the prelude. Over the next few days he moved John Romita over from drawing Daredevil to drawing Spider-Man, and within a few days the two of them were spiritedly plotting away—not just the next issue or two, but the general flow of events for several months to come, with me called into Stan’s office to observe and take notes, for the benefit of both gents. My next encounter with Steve came some weeks later—I don’t remember how many—at a housewarming party thrown by my erstwhile Lower East Side roommate Dave Kaler (then writing for Charlton, after I had recommended him to new editor Dick Giordano) at his new Upper West Side digs. Steve was there, probably since Dave was currently scripting the new Blue Beetle comic which Ditko was illustrating, and I remember Steve and me winding up sitting side by side on a sofa at some point. The only thing I recall clearly was finally summoning up the nerve to ask him why he’d left Marvel—I assured him I wasn’t speaking for Stan, and wouldn’t even repeat his answer to Stan if he didn’t want me to. (That’s a promise I’m not sure I’d have been able to keep, but I meant it when I said it, so I’d like to think I would have.) Steve replied, “Well, you know, when a guy’s working against you…” and then his voice kind of trailed off and he never finished his sentence. I felt it best not to pursue the matter, and soon moved on to talk to others. Colleagues like Flo Steinberg, Gary Friedrich, and Denny O’Neil, among others, were also present that evening. Fast forward at least three or four years, and I happened to run into Steve on E. 86th Street, where I’d moved in late 1968 with my new bride Jeanie. We were throwing a party in a few days, so I spontaneously invited him, and he accepted. He turned up, though I recall nothing else about his being there. For some reason I feel that may have been the same night and party at which DC writer Mike Friedrich suggested to Denny and me that, as current writers of Justice League of America and The Avengers, we should find a way to do a surreptitious crossover between our two groups…

writer/editorial

which led to my creating and designing the Squadron Sinister, forerunners of the visually identical Squadron Supreme. But Steve had nothing to do with any of that. I sincerely believe that was the last time I ever saw Steve Ditko, although we did exchange brief letters from time to time, always at my initiation. When I revived Alter Ego at the end of the 1990s, I managed, through the good offices of his friend Robin Snyder, to gain permission to reprint the piece he’d written on his memories of working with Stan on the creation of “Spider-Man” in 1962, and even to reprint his drawing of what he recalled Jack Kirby’s earlier version of the web-spinner’s costume as looking like. Other than that, however, my few attempts to communicate him were less successful. When he and I worked together on the Secret City Saga mini-series for Topps Comics in the early ’90s, utilizing concepts devised by Kirby, I wrote him a letter asking if I could possibly buy a page of original artwork from the series as a souvenir. I received a rather curt, handwritten reply turning me down and stating that “I’d prefer not to get into that market,” whatever that meant. I took the hint, though I may have attempted (unsuccessfully) from time to time through Robin to get permission to reprint something of his that had run in The Comics! I’ll confess that little of Steve Ditko’s post-1960s-Marvel work has any special appeal for me, though he remained an interesting and individualistic artist to the very end in the middle of last year. Beware The Creeper and The Hawk and The Dove seemed to me like pale echoes of Amazing Spider-Man, although naturally I purchased them and somewhat admired the art. His later mainstream efforts from “Starman” to Shade the Changing Man to Speedball had even less appeal to me, and I doubt that I bothered to buy every issue. Still, I remain convinced that his rendering of Amazing Spider-Man

was the most important Marvel comic ever that hadn’t been penciled by Jack Kirby. I recall, a couple of decades ago now, when Stan had been wrapped up in a lawsuit with Marvel over the Spider-Man movie money, I suggested to him that if he won a big settlement, it would be a great gesture to offer some of the dough to Ditko. Stan brushed that aside; he never saw himself and Ditko as joined at the hip as creators of the arachnid. And, despite his oft-reprinted letter in which he acknowledged Steve as the “co-creator” of Spider-Man, it was clear to me, and probably to most people, that he didn’t really mean it. That was something I always disagreed with Stan about, just as much as I take umbrage at Ditko saying, in a piece reprinted in this very issue, that he considered Stan merely the “dialoguer” of Spider-Man. Even after Steve took over full plotting, I maintain that there was nothing “mere” about Stan’s dialogue, least of all with respect to the wall-crawler’s sales. Perhaps even more so than Stan and Jack Kirby, Stan and Steve were on opposite pages on just about everything after a while. It’s a shame, because they made quite a team… and between them produced two of the most important comicbook features of the 1960s. And if they’d produced only one (you guess which one!), that would still be just as true. Well, at least one thing is relatively certain now. They won’t be arguing over Spider-Man plotlines any longer. Rest in peace, both of you. You were two of the greats.

Bestest,

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STEVE DITKO: A Life In Comics

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist by Nick Caputo

teve Ditko was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on November 2nd, 1927, where he spent his childhood and teenage years. After high school he joined the post-World War II Army, and upon his return to civilian life became a student at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York City. There he was taught by comicbook artist Jerry Robinson, one of the early (and renowned) contributors on “Batman.” Ditko was greatly influenced by Robinson, along with many other comicbook and strip artists, including Mort Meskin.

story was “Paper Romance” in Daring Love #1, cover-dated Sept.Oct. 1953, for Stanmor. Other 1953-executed stories include the even earlier “Hair Yee-eeee” (signed “SS,” likely a collaboration with fellow student Sy Moskowitz) in Strange Fantasy #9 (Dec. 1953; Farrell) and at the Simon & Kirby studio, assisting on Captain 3-D # 1 (Harvey) and the unpublished second issue (primarily as background inker) and as full artist on “A Hole in the Head,” a 6-page thriller in Black Magic, Vol. 4, #3, for the Prize group.

Ditko’s entry into the comicbook field began with a number of small publishers. While his first sale, scripted by Bruce Hamilton (“Stretching Things”) for Ajax-Farrell, appeared in Fantastic Fears #5 (Jan. 1954), his first full-art published

Steve Ditko in one of the most-reproduced of the relatively few photos of him known to exist—flanked by the splash page of the most famous story he ever drew, the origin of “Spider-Man” from Amazing Fantasy #15 (Sept. 1962), scripted by Stan Lee—and a splash featuring his most personal creation, “Mr. A,” from witzend #3 (1966). Thanks to Bob Bailey and Jim Kealy, respectively, for the two art scans. [Amazing Fantasy page TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; “Mr. A” page TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

In addition to more Black Magic stories and Ditko’s first Western for Timor [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: See p. 33], 1954 launched a long and creatively rewarding association with Charlton Press. In his first year with the company, Ditko

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

In the late 1950s, Ditko shared studio space in Manhattan with a fellow artist he befriended at the Cartoonist and Illustrators school: Eric Stanton, recognized for drawing erotic/ fetish art in small press publications. According to Stanton, both men assisted each other from time to time. Ditko ghosted for Stanton (as “stantoons”), possibly over layouts; his distinctive inking/ lettering is evident on strips such as “Sweeter Gwen.” Stanton and Ditko remained studio mates for close to a decade and friends for the rest of their lives.

Daring Fears! (Above left:) The splash page of the first Ditko-drawn story ever published—from Stanmor’s Daring Love #1 (Sept.-Oct.1953). (Above right:) This story for Ajax/Farrell’s horror comic Fantastic Fears #5 (Jan. 1954) was reportedly drawn before the Stanmor story, but appeared in print shortly after it. Thanks to Nick Caputo. In fact, all art scans accompanying this look at Ditko’s career were supplied by Nick, unless otherwise noted. [© the respective copyright holders.]

produced over 150 pages of art, drawing crime, science-fiction, and horror stories. For a beginning artist, Ditko’s work displayed a sense of confidence that pointed to a great talent in the making. His understanding of mood, pacing, characterization, and panel-topanel storytelling was already well above average and would grow considerably in the years to come. Only one Ditko-drawn story appeared in 1955, “Flymouth Car Show” in Charlton’s humor title From Here to Insanity #10 (June). 1956, though, was a watershed time, the start of a nearly 10-year association with editor Stan Lee and Timely/Atlas (later Marvel) comics. There he produced 4-page thrillers for Astonishing, Journey into Mystery, Marvel Tales, Spellbound, World of Mystery, World of Suspense, and Strange Tales of the Unusual, some scripted by veteran Carl Wessler. While “The Badmen” (2-Gun Western #4, May) was one of countless Western genre tales, its importance in comics history is assured due to its being the first story with a “Stan Lee and S. Ditko” byline.

That Old Black Magic An early Ditko monster, from the Simon-&-Kirby-produced Prize comic Black Magic #27 (a.k.a. Vol. 4, #3; Nov.-Dec. 1953)—except that Nick Caputo’s analysis, reflected in the online Grand Comics Database, says that Jack Kirby redrew all the monster figures in the story “A Hole in the Head” except the one in the third panel on this particular page. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright notice.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

One For The Money, Two For The Gun… (Above:) This story from Timely’s Two-Gun Western #4 (May 1956) is the first-ever recorded collaboration of Lee and Ditko. Its cover title read “2-Gun Western,” while the indicia apparently read “2 Gun Western” without the hyphen. Get it together, guys! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Oh, You Beautiful Dolls! (Above:) A page of Eric Stanton’s 1960s Spacedolls to which Steve Ditko may or may not have contributed a spot of inking. For more of Stanton’s artwork (on which the Spider-Man artist almost certainly did some work), plus a photo of Stanton, see p. 40. [TM & © Estate of Eric Stanton.]

Throughout the 1950s, Ditko freelanced for both Charlton and Timely/Atlas on a variety of anthology titles. In addition to the aforementioned sci-fi/mystery/fantasy, Ditko illustrated Western, war, crime—even the adventures of horses! (Black Fury and Rocky Lane’s Black Jack, the popular cowboy star’s equine companion, headlined their own comics for years.) In 1959 Stan Lee assigned Ditko his first full inking job over Jack Kirby’s pencils (“I Fought the Colossus!,” Strange Tales # 72, Dec.). Lee was pleased with Ditko’s meticulous delineation (likely inspired by the work of John Severin, whom the younger artist greatly admired) and paired the two whenever possible. In addition to Ditko’s inks on Kirby pre-hero monster stories and covers, he also inked Kirby war (Battle) and a trio of impressive Western covers (Kid Colt Outlaw, Two Gun Kid, and Gunsmoke Western). Beginning with Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 (Dec. 1961), the formerly-titled Amazing Adventures became a platform for Lee and Ditko’s 5-page thrillers. Lee enjoyed collaborating with

Let’s Play Black Jack! A beautifully composed page by Ditko (scripter unknown) from Charlton’s Rocky Lane’s Black Jack (May 1959), the comic that starred the horse of Republic’s one-time B-Western star Allan “Rocky” Lane. By this time, Lane’s appearances in movies had dwindled to a trickle… and presumably, so had Black Jack’s. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

“I Was Drawn By Two Colossi!” (Above left:) Ditko inked Kirby fully for the first time in “I Fought the Colossus!” in Tales of Suspense #72 (Dec. 1959). Writers uncertain—may be from a plot by Stan Lee and a script by Larry Lieber. (Above right:) An all-Dikto war splash from Timely’s Battle #63 (April ’59). Writer unknown. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Ditko, who by this point (according to Ditko) had already begun working “Marvel method,” i.e., with Lee providing him with a brief synopsis and the artist filling in the details. AAF was novel for several reasons. A comicbook fashioned by a team—and specifically promoted as such—was rare; earlier instances include Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. EC publisher Bill Gaines praised his line of artists, although the writers were overlooked; Lee included a contents and coming attractions page, and soon added a letters section. Despite these innovations, sales for Amazing Adult Fantasy were wanting and change was in the air. Unknown to the participants, a key moment in comicbook history transpired when Lee assigned Ditko to a new super-hero feature set to debut in Amazing Adult Fantasy #15—with the “Adult” part of the appellation dropped. Jack Kirby’s penciled “Spiderman” pages were rejected by Lee. According to Ditko, when he saw Kirby’s pages he told Lee they reminded him of Joe Simon’s 1959-60 Adventures of The Fly (penciled originally by

“The Magazine That Respects Your Intelligence!” The Ditko-drawn “Coming Attractions” page from Timely’s Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 (Dec. 1961)—around the same time the first issue or two of Fantastic Four were going on sale around the country. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

rogues’ gallery. Ditko’s next idea was “Doctor Strange.” In “He Giveth and He Taketh Away” (The Avenging Mind, 2007), Ditko wrote: “On my own, I brought in to Lee a five-page, penciled story with a page/ panel script of my idea of a new, different kind of character for variety in Marvel Comics.”

“Look Out, Here Comes The Spider-Man”—Twice! (Left:) Surprisingly, the first-ever Spider-Man cover, for Amazing Fantasy #15-and-only (Sept. 1962), was penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Steve Ditko, after either editor/writer Stan Lee or publisher Martin Goodman nixed the Ditko-solo version. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. (Right:) Fortunately, the rejected Ditko version wasn’t totally tossed and has been printed numerous times—including this color version, which captures the flavor of Stan Goldberg’s coloring (and Timely’s printing) in 1962! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Kirby) over at the Archie group. This statement may have triggered Lee to begin anew, since he was very much aware of the litigious nature of Archie Comics’ publishers. However it transpired, the irrefutable fact is that Ditko, who had previously been scheduled to ink Kirby’s pencils on the new feature, was promoted to full artist, working from Lee’s synopsis. According to his testimony, Ditko added many elements to Spider-Man, notably the idea of a full-face mask and distinctive costume. Amazing Fantasy was planned as an ongoing vehicle for Spider-Man, but publisher Martin Goodman suspended publication of the title. Goodman thought better of that decision when sales reports on issue #15 came in. Several months later, The Amazing Spider-Man was scheduled as an ongoing bi-monthly (soon to be monthly) comic. Within a short period of time, Spider-Man became one of Marvel’s most successful, popular, and critically acclaimed super-heroes. As co-creator, Ditko was instrumental in making Spider-Man a credible character. The teenage world of Peter Parker was unlike that of any other strip; the cast of supporting characters—Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, Liz Allen— offered unique storytelling situations which Ditko orchestrated with gusto. In addition, Lee and Ditko created an army of outlandish villains that rivaled Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy and his

Debuting in the back pages of Strange Tales (#110, July 1963), which headlined “The Human Torch,” Ditko’s “Doctor Strange” re-invented the traditional Mandrake magician/ hero. Always seeking out new ideas, Ditko may have taken stock of how bland the short-lived “Dr. Droom” feature in Amazing Adventures was (he would have been aware of “Droom” due to the simple fact that he had inked the first episode). Ditko crafted a visual motif in “Doctor Strange,” employing mystical hand gestures, defensive spells, and vast floating dimensions with an authenticity that many copied, but none have surpassed. Ditko’s influence on a younger generation of artists, including talents such as Jim Starlin and P. Craig Russell (both of whom have taken turns on “Doctor Strange”), is undeniable and has been acknowledged. Ditko continued to pave the way in Marvel’s early period, co-plotting and drawing Amazing Spider-Man and “Doctor Strange”; he also remained loyal to Charlton, working on movie monsters Gorgo and Konga with writer Joe Gill. Other notable achievements include his redesign of Iron Man, which remains the standard into the present day (Tales of Suspense

How The Other Half Lived Before we forget and whiz through this whole issue without one—here’s a pic of Stan Lee in the 1970s, in his JJJ-style mustache. He and Steve Ditko were an unbeatable combination— just like Lee and Kirby.

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

Strange But True? (Above left:) The very first “Doctor Strange” splash, from Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). On p. 36 of this issue, Nick’s buddy Barry Pearl suggests that Ditko, who conceived the character and plotted that first story with no input from editor Stan Lee, named the hero “Stephen” to some extent after himself. But since Lee apparently had a hand in naming the hero “Doctor Strange,” it’s more likely that the “Stephen” was his idea, as Ditko suggests on p. 49. (Above right:) Less than two years before, in Tales of Suspense #22 (Oct. ’61), Lee and Ditko had collaborated on a similar theme, which, like the first “Doctor Strange” outing, featured a “Nightmare” figure riding a sinister mount. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

#48, Dec. 1963); last-minute inking assistance (with Sol Brodsky) on Daredevil #1 (April 1964) when Bill Everett was unable to complete the work on time; and the brilliant concept of employing head or full-figure drawings of Marvel’s characters in the upper-left corner of every cover (debuting on May/June 1963-dated comics), a simple and effective way to attract the attention of potential customers and identify Marvel’s brand from its many competitors.

Ironing Things Out! The second of the two pages in the “Iron Man” feature in Tales of Suspense #48 (Dec. 1963) in which Steve Ditko re-designed the so-called Golden Avenger’s armor. Inks by George Roussos, as “George Bell.” But—does anybody really know if the re-design was Steve’s idea—or Stan’s? Either way, of course, Ditko doubtless contributed considerably to the actual new look. In a strange way, this more mechanical approach to Tony Stark’s donning of his armor (on the preceding TOS pages) still seems to foreshadow today’s approach of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

Where Are King Kong And Godzilla When You Really Need Them? The splash page of Charlton’s Konga #1 (June 1960) and Gorgo #11 (Feb. 1963), both drawn by Ditko and scripted by Joe Gill, whose photo can be seen on p. 49. Both monsters (Gorgo and Konga, that is—not Ditko and Gill) were taken from popular B-movies. Of course, we use the term “B-movie” loosely here; both films were clearly intended to be solo features, or at the very least the top of a drive-in double bill. Technically, the term “B-movie” refers to flicks that were produced specifically to be the less important half of a double feature. See how educational it is to read Alter Ego? [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Ditko’s first contribution to fanzines appeared—appropriately enough—in an illustrated letter to Roy Thomas in the first incarnation of Alter Ego (#8, Winter 1965). [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: See p. 3.] Ditko took great interest in small-press publications that were often produced by youthful, enthusiastic fans. He contributed to them often, providing art, covers and interviews. In the years ahead, they would become an important outlet for his independent work. In Tales to Astonish #60 (Oct. 1964) Lee teamed with Ditko for a revival of “The Incredible Hulk.” Ditko had drawn the final issue of the series’ initial run, and Lee had kept the character in the public eye as a guest-star in The Avengers and Fantastic Four; but with Ditko plotting (or co-plotting), the Hulk was considerably revised. Changes included Banner turning into the Hulk in times of great stress, and new characters such as Major

Hulking Out—One More Time! While Ditko had inked Kirby in the second 1962 issue of The Incredible Hulk and had done full-art chores on #6, he returned to work over Kirby’s layouts when Ol’ Greenskin returned to solo status in Tales to Astonish #60 (Oct. 1964). Here’s an action page from #67 (May ’65), as inked by Frank Giacoia as “Frank Ray.” [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

Glenn Talbot, a Javert-like protagonist who distrusted Banner and accused him of treason, and The Leader, whose exposure to gamma rays had the opposite effect from what it did on Banner, imbuing him with superior intelligence. George Roussos, Dick Ayers, Vince Colletta, and Frank Giacoia were assigned to ink the strip, the latter being the most compatible. Each story ended with a serial-like cliffhanger (the last one quite literally), but after only eight installments Ditko (according to Lee’s note in the letters section) left the strip. Meanwhile, on Amazing Spider-Man and “Doctor Strange,” changes were taking place. With ASM # 26 (July) and Strange Tales # 135 (Aug. 1965) Ditko was officially credited as plotter, not just “artist.” According to Ditko, he had been plotting the stories solo for some time. Research indicates ASM # 21 was very likely the last story Lee initiated, since it included The Human Torch and The Beetle, guest stars from Strange Tales. Ditko stated he was against including characters from other titles, feeling that it imposed on the space for Peter Parker’s supporting cast and storylines. He also believed a hero didn’t need assistance. Ditko probably took over full plotting of “Doctor Strange” beginning with the “Dormammu” storyline (ST #125).

From roughly this point on, Ditko and Lee were no longer on speaking terms. Which of them initiated that situation is disputed: Ditko stated that Lee would not come out of his office when he dropped pages off; Lee claimed Ditko stopped talking to him. Thus, Ditko brought in his penciled pages and hand-written notes to production manager Sol Brodsky, picking them up after they were dialogued by Lee and lettered by either Sam Rosen or Artie Simek. Any request for changes in art would be relayed to Ditko by Brodsky. Despite this lack of communication, both Amazing Spider-Man and “Doctor Strange” rose to creative heights. Doctor Strange’s quest for the secret of Eternity built up month after month in 10-page installments, exhibiting a narrative craft which remains impressive. Accompanied by Lee’s solid dialogue, the two crafted a “graphic novel” before that term was conceived. Similar to master storyteller Will Eisner on The Spirit, Ditko knew how to pace a tale and build tension in short segments, a technique many writers and artists with triple the space are unable to accomplish. Alongside his concurrent “Master Planner trilogy” in ASM #31-33, Ditko’s work on these two strips remains a high-water mark that comicbook aficionados and students of the form analyze with the intensity of film scholars dissecting the directorial techniques of Alfred Hitchcock.

Chasing Ditko (Left:) A pursuit page from Amazing Spider-Man #27 (Aug. 1965), “Bring Back My Goblin to Me!,” as plotted & drawn by Ditko and dialogued & edited by Stan Lee. Despite Stan’s poor memory on the subject (he is quoted elsewhere in this issue as saying that Steve merely “mailed in” his pages, which probably never happened), Ditko was almost certainly correct in writing, years later, that it was the editor, not the artist, who decided the pair should no longer confer. (Right:) The “Doctor Strange” splash page from Strange Tales #135 (likewise Aug. ’65). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

Strange Tales #142 (March 1966) was Lee’s last dialogue job over Ditko’s “Doctor Strange.” Roy Thomas stepped into that role for #143-144, followed by Denny O’Neil in ST #145-146. And then, suddenly, it was all over. In November 1965, Ditko gave notice to Sol Brodsky that he would be finishing his last stories for Marvel. The artist had been accepting freelance assignments even before he resigned. At the same time Amazing Spider-Man # 31 was on newsstands, fans could purchase a revived Captain Atom (#79, Dec. 1965, announced in fanzines such as The Comic Reader) with Ditko returning to pencil the strip. His art also appeared in a new mystery title for Charlton, Ghostly Tales, inked by the talented Rocco Mastroserio. Always a prolific artist, Ditko expanded his workload considerably in 1966, including masterful wash-tone and other drawing techniques for Warren’s black-&-white horror magazines (Creepy and Eerie); “NoMan,” “Dynamo,” and “Menthor” stories for Wally Wood at Tower; and “ghosting” stories inked by Sal Trapani, who often farmed out jobs assigned to him to others to pencil, usually anonymously (as in the case of their two stories in Strange Adventures #188-189 for DC). The Ditko-Trapani team also appeared in Adventures into the Unknown, Forbidden Worlds, and Unknown

On The Eerie Canal A Ditko sword-and-sorcery page from Warren Publishing’s Eerie #10 (July 1967). Script by editor Archie Goodwin. [TM & © New Comic Company, LLC.]

Worlds for the American Comic Group and Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes, and Nukla for Dell. Ditko continued to freelance for Charlton, Warren, and Tower in 1967. In the previous year, “The Blue Beetle,” a character who had been making the rounds since 1939, was overhauled by Ditko, appearing as a back-up feature in Captain Atom (beginning in #83). Blue Beetle was awarded his own magazine in ’67; it ran for five issues (#6 was advertised but did not see publication until a decade later). Ditko plotted and drew the strip, although the actual finished dialogue was revised by Gary Friedrich and Dave Glanzman. Ditko wove a tale of intrigue, with the original character tying into the new version. Although it showed great promise, the title was soon canceled. In the 1980s Ditko had proposed a revival at DC (which had purchased the rights to Charlton’s heroes), following his earlier characters and concepts, but management turned the idea down.

Up’n Atom! The Ditko-penciled splash page of Charlton’s Captain Atom #81 (July 1966), with inking by Rocco Mastroserio and script by Joe Gill. Ditko had actually returned to Captain Atom as of its first new full issue, #78 (Dec. ’65), some months before he split from Marvel Comics. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Blue Beetle #1 (June 1967) introduced a new back-up strip by Ditko: “The Question.” Dressed in a business suit and hat, his face a blank slate, Vic Sage was the first of Ditko’s new breed of heroes: non-super-powered crime-fighters with an extraordinary belief in justice. Inspired by the works of Aristotle and the philosophy of Ayn Rand, Ditko’s stories were mini-morality plays diametrically opposed to the anti-heroes that permeated popular culture. Mysterious Suspense # 1 (Oct. 1968) gave Ditko an opportunity to feature “The Question” in a full-length 25-page story.

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

with a device implanted under his skin. The bizarrely outfitted, green-haired, acrobatic Creeper unnerved the criminal element with his mocking laughter. The 75th issue of Showcase introduced yet another Ditko-crafted series, with input from editorial director Carmine Infantino. The Hawk and The Dove focused on two teenage brothers with diametrically opposed views. Their father, a judge, was the balancing factor between pure force (Hawk) and unrelenting passivity (Dove). Ditko’s work on both series was cut short due to health issues. Beware The Creeper ran for seven issues, with the final story finished by Jack Sparling and Mike Peppe; he completed three “Hawk and Dove” stories before Gil Kane stepped in as a replacement. Ditko freelanced almost exclusively for Charlton from 1969-1974. There he drew many overlooked gems for their mystery line, including Ghostly Tales, The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves, Ghost Manor, Haunted, and Ghostly Haunts, experimenting with pen and ink, storytelling, and layouts with uninhibited abandon. Most stories were scripted by Joe Gill, whose work Ditko admired. In addition, the artist dabbled in war, Western, jungle, and romance stories. (For a more detailed account, read my blog posts on Ditko at Charlton: https://nick-caputo.blogspot.com/). Ditko created one new costumed hero at Charlton during this period, the silent “Killjoy,” who appeared in the back of E-Man #2 (Dec. 1973). Ditko later purchased the rights to “Killjoy” from Charlton. In that six-year period, Ditko devoted attention to his most

Beetle Juice! Ditko’s Blue Beetle goes into action in the backup feature in Charlton’s Captain Atom #83 (Nov. 1966). The story was plotted by Ditko and scripted by Gary Friedrich. [TM & © DC Comics.]

That same year Ditko expanded on the Question concept, this time unhampered by Comics Code restrictions. When friend and fellow artist Wally Wood offered Ditko an opportunity to produce material on his own terms (and to retain ownership of the work) in his small-press publication, witzend, Ditko rose to the occasion, creating “Mr. A,” introduced in the 3rd issue. Like The Question, Mr. A was a crusading reporter who wore a metal mask and carried a black-&-white calling card. Mr. A was never published in a mainstream comicbook; instead, Ditko’s hero was featured in fanzines and independent publications—and only in black-&white—a very deliberate choice to emphasize Mr. A’s worldview. Ditko’s moral avenger appeared sporadically for the next 50 years, most recently in stories co-published by Robin Snyder via Kickstarter. Ditko’s first professional sale to DC didn’t occur until 1968 (as noted earlier, Sal Trapani was assigned the two earlier Strange Adventures stories ghosted by Ditko), more than 15 years after he began in the profession. In personal correspondence with this author (dated Nov. 19, 2017), Ditko stated that Stan Lee and Al Fago effectively used him “versus DC comics editors who rejected me until Carmine Infantino took over.” Working for editor Murray Boltinoff, Ditko created “The Creeper,” introduced in Showcase #73 (April 1968) and graduating immediately to his own title. Another uniquely designed character, Jack Ryder gained powers

I’ve Got A “Question”… “The Question” debuted as a backup series in Charlton’s Blue Beetle #1 (June 1967). Ditko did full writing and art on this one. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

his independent work debuted. Joe Brancatelli published Mr. A, the first in a new series. Bruce Hershenson followed with Avenging World. These titles were not distributed alongside Code-approved Marvel, DC, Charlton, or Archie fare; most were sold through mail-order, at conventions, and in the then-few comics-related outlets. Ironically, Ditko’s philosophical, clear-cut tales of right and wrong often shared space in head shops alongside underground comics, where hopelessness, despair, anarchy, sex, violence, drugs, and anti-authority were exemplified by artists such as Robert Crumb. Ditko returned to DC in 1975, briefly reunited with his creation, “The Creeper” (First Issue Special #7), although he had no plotting input (Michael Fleisher wrote the script), and penciled the sword-and-sorcery/fantasy title Stalker with writer Paul Levitz, aided admirably by Wally Wood on inks. Other work included short thrillers in House of Mystery and another crack at humor in Plop (again with Wood). The Ditko-Wood combo continued at former Marvel publisher Martin Goodman’s fledging AtlasSeaboard line, illustrating The Destructor, a hard-edged teenage super-hero scripted by Archie Goodwin. While showing some promise, the title lasted only four issues (Wood contributed to issues #1 & 2). Ditko also penciled two issues of Tiger Man and one

It’s As Easy As “A”—Uh—Well, Just “A”! The final page of Mr. A’s debut in Wally Wood’s black-&-white creatordriven, creators-owned comic magazine witzend #3. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

personal work, which appeared gratis in fanzines such as Sense of Wonder, Comic Crusader, The Collector, and, of course, witzend. In addition to new “Mr. A” stories, Ditko contributed essays and illustrations that focused on his unique worldview. One exception was a 1969 “Cannon” story he penciled for writer/ inker Wally Wood (Heroes Inc., a comic sold exclusively in PXs for servicemen). 1973 marked a creative triumph for Ditko; two comicbooks featuring

Jeepers, Creeper! (Above:) The Ditko-created series “Beware The Creeper!” made its debut in DC’s Showcase #73 (March-April 1968, with a script by Don Segall from a plot by artist Ditko. Seen here is the splash page. DC and Ditko both clearly hoped this would prove the next “Spider-Man” for a larger and more powerful company than Charlton, but it was not to be. (Left:) Ditko’s cover for Showcase #75 (June ’68) introduced “The Hawk and The Dove,” which would be scripted inside by another Marvel and Charlton veteran, Steve Skeates. [TM & © DC Comics.]

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

were disappointed with his one caveat. Ditko made it absolutely clear that he would not return to, nor draw stories featuring, either Spider-Man or Doctor Strange. Instead, he took over Jack Kirby’s creation Machine Man, working from writer Marv Wolfman’s plots. The 1980s was a fertile period for the artist. In addition to Machine Man, Ditko had a 16-issue run (including an annual) penciling Rom, drew several Indiana Jones stories

Charlton Chain-Rattling (Above left:) A “Killjoy” page from the same company’s E-Man #2 (Dec. 1973). [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.] (Above right:) The Ditko-drawn cover of Haunted #1 (Sept. 1971). [© the respective copyright holders.]

of Morlock 2001, paired, for the first and only time, with inker Berni Wrightson. Also in 1975, Ditko produced two more independent comics for publisher Bruce Hershenson, Wha…?, an anthology title, and a second issue of Mr. A. Man-Bat #1 (Jan. 1976) is noteworthy as the sole opportunity Ditko had to draw Batman. Not surprisingly, his interpretation is unique. Batman’s face is hidden in shadow throughout and he exudes a mysterious and determined nature. Ditko clearly put thought into the character’s appearance. A later story proposal exists which further explores the promise of what could have been. Charlton closed its doors to new material in 1977, although Ditko’s work continued to appear via inventory and reprints. With Charlton out of the picture, the artist concentrated on projects for DC, where he created a new title for editor Joe Orlando, Shade the Changing Man, an otherworldly hero pursued by authorities, criminals, and the woman he loves. Rac Shade’s M-Vest device caused his enemies to see distorted images of him. Shade showed great promise and Ditko’s enthusiasm was high. He had plotted far ahead of schedule, but work was halted when DC had a slump in overall sales and management slashed its line. With Shade’s cancellation, “The Odd Man,” intended to be the back-up strip, was left without a home (the story was published two years later, in Detective Comics #487, Jan. 1980). “The Odd Man” would be Ditko’s last new solo creation for DC (he later designed and penciled “Starman” with writer Paul Levitz in Adventure Comics). Ditko contributed to various DC features (often for editor Jack C. Harris), including Legion of Super-Heroes, “The Demon,” and stories in House of Mystery, Weird War Tales, Time Warp, and Mystery in Space. Ditko was briefly re-reunited with “The Creeper,” this time as writer and artist (World’s Finest Comics #249-255). When the strip was dropped, Ditko revised several stories in preparation, appearing as “Shag” in Renegade Press and Snyder-Ditko publications. In 1979 fandom was startled by the announcement of Ditko’s return to Marvel after an absence of over 13 years—although some

Well, After All, He Was Inspired By The Shadow! The mysterious, face-obscured Batman on a fight page in Man-Bat #1 (Jan. 1976). Art by Ditko, inks by Al Milgrom, script by Gerry Conway. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

There’ll Be Some Changes Made! (Left:) A dynamic action page from Shade the Changing Man #5 (Feb.-March 1978). Art & plot by Ditko, script by Michael Fleisher. (Right:) Splash of “The Odd Man,” script & art by Ditko, from Detective Comics #487 (Jan. 1980). [TM & © DC Comics.]

and many one-shots and fillers, including a few heroes he had some acquaintance with in the past (Daredevil, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Fantastic Four) and newer characters (Micronauts, “Captain Universe,” “The Shroud”). He often provided breakdowns for inkers to complete; some of the most complementary included Steve Leialoha, Bob Wiacek, and P. Craig Russell. In 1988 Ditko, with writer Tom DeFalco, developed a new teenage hero, Speedball, which he plotted and penciled. It was the last series he created for Marvel. Starting in 1982, Ditko freelanced for some of the fledging independent publishers, which became another outlet to create self-owned characters. For Pacific Comics he came up with “The Missing Man,” an offbeat, humorous-looking hero whose body was barely visible, sharing space with Dave Stevens’ “Rocketeer” in Pacific Presents. “The Mocker” initially appeared in Jack Kirby’s Captain Victory, although the presentation was hampered by standard comicbook dimensions (Ditko originally prepared the strip for a black-&-white magazine). Static made his initial appearance at Eclipse Comics. The implication of using a powerful experimental suit, and whether it should even exist since it could fall into the wrong hands, was a theme Ditko found compelling. He also teamed with writer Steve Englehart and inker Steve Leialoha on “The Djinn,” a feature created to play to the artist’s strengths, for New Media’s Fantasy Illustrated.

The most significant Ditko event of the 1980s was the artist’s budding relationship with Robin Snyder, who had worked in an editorial capacity for DC and Western. Snyder scheduled Ditko to illustrate several stories, including Flash Gordon and “Star Guider,” a sci-fi series with writer Jack C. Harris. Those plans were aborted when the long-running company shuttered its comics operation (“Star Guider” later surfaced in Renegade Press’ Ditko’s World). Snyder and Ditko did collaborate on two Gobots coloring and children’s books for Western, both top-sellers for many years, according to Snyder. In 1983 Snyder became an editor at Archie, when the company ordered a revival of its super-heroes. Snyder enlisted Ditko to first draw, and then plot, pencil, and ink The Fly. Snyder also assigned him to create presentation art for a line of Archie adventure action figures produced by Mego. Ditko created a compelling storyline in The Fly, but management soon dropped its entire hero-line. Ditko returned to familiar ground in 1985 when Charlton bought new material to supplement its line of reprints. “Static” starred in Charlton Action, a title that showcased Ditko’s stories and art. Dissatisfied with editorial interference at Eclipse on his whollyowned character, Ditko took Static to Charlton, where he was able to retain the copyright. Ditko also drew several new stories in the revived Tales of the Mysterious Traveler. Robin Snyder edited both [continued on p. 20]

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

Marvel Redux While he refused to draw either Spider-Man or Dr. Strange upon his return to Marvel Comics, Ditko did tackle such creations as Kirby’s Machine Man (left, in #10, Aug. 1989) and his own Speedball (right, in #1, Sept. 1988). The former was scripted by Marv Wolfman, the latter by Roger Stern from a plot by Ditko and Tom DeFalco. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Missing—In Action! (Left:) For Pacific Presents #2 (April 1983) from the short-lived Pacific Comics, Ditko created “The Missing Man.” Dialogue by Robin Snyder. (Right:) “The Djinn” in New Media’s 1982 black-&white Fantasy Illustrated teamed Ditko with writer Steve Englehart and inker Steve Leialoha. Later installments appeared in Marvel’s Epic line. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

The Rise Of Ditko & Snyder Steve Ditko and writer (and ofttimes editor) Robin Snyder teamed first on a couple of 1980s Gobots coloring books, then on Archie’s The Fly. Illustrating the latter is a dramatic page from The Fly #7 (June 1984), from a story on which Snyder is credited by the Grand Comics Database with a “dialogue assist.” [Gobots TM & © Western Publishing & Lithographing; Fly page TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc.]

Don’t Give Me Any Static! (Or Maybe You Should!) (Below:) Art for a Charlton “Static” ad—by Ditko, of course. [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

[continued from p. 17] titles. This ambitious start was cut short after only two issues when Charlton closed its doors, this time for good. For over thirty years, Ditko and Charlton had been synonymous. Ditko: “It was always a treat doing a Joe Gill story. They were really justice stories. I also miss Charlton.” (Correspondence to the author, April 22, 2015). With Charlton’s demise, Ditko continued to work for DC and Marvel and began an association with writer/editor Mort Todd, illustrating humorous features in Cracked Mazagine. “Static” continued under the Renegade Press banner, along with several features intended for Charlton. The following year Ditko drew Golden Age heroes The Face and Skyman for Ace. Perhaps the most obscure Ditko art job appeared in a rare foray outside of comics. Rory O’Connor’s essay on producer Albert Grossman included a full-page illustration by Ditko (Musician magazine #104, June 1987). The most significant development from a creative standpoint took place in 1988. Ditko partnered again with Robin Snyder, clearly an editor he trusted, in solo publishing ventures. Their first book was a compilation of “Static” stories, followed by a novellength thriller starring “The Mocker” (this time in black-&-white, as Ditko had envisioned, and with a finite conclusion). With a sympathetic editor at the helm, Ditko could finally orchestrate stories unhindered by a monthly schedule, limited page count, and what he often considered to be hurtful interference. The artist was clearly enjoying his freedom.

Static Electricity The cover of the artist’s first venture partnering with Robin Snyder—Steve Ditko’s Static #1 (1989), collecting the first several stories of that Ditko-created hero. [TM & © Robin Snyder & Estate of Steve Ditko.]

Ditko continued to freelance in the 1990s. New work appeared at Valiant (in Battlemania, Solar, Magnus, Shadowman); Ray Zone (Substance, in 3-D!); Mort Todd (Monsters Attack); Topps (Secret City Saga and Captain Glory, scripted by Roy Thomas), and Defiant (a Dark Dominion card set). At Marvel he drew stories featuring “The Shroud,” “Iron Man,” “The Human Torch,” “Solo,” and “The Hulk”; Will Murray’s The Destroyer; Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; Phantom 2040 (with attractive finished art by Will Reinhold); “Fantastic Four” and “Avengers” segments in Marvel’s Heroes and Legends; covers for Mort Todd’s monster reprints; and a noteworthy event, Ditko’s take on a legendary Simon & Kirby creation, “Captain America,” both script and pencils (with inks by Terry Austin) in Marvel Comics Presents #80-81 (1991).

Start The Music! Atypical Ditko art, for Musician magazine #104 (June 1987). [© the respective copyright holders.]

1998 marked Ditko’s final assignments at both DC and Marvel. For the former, a “Spectre” tale, inked by Kevin Nowlan (Legends of the DC Universe 80 Page Giant #1); for the latter, “Iron Man” (Shadows and Light #1), scripted by Len Wein. Two unpublished stories surfaced years later: a “DeSaad” back-up drawn a decade earlier for DC (in the 2008 Tales of the New Gods trade paperback) and a Hulk-Human Torch team-up originally drawn in 1980 and released in 2011 (From the Marvel Vault #1).

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

Three’s Company! Examples of Ditko’s 1990s work for various companies include Magnus (#2) for Valiant, Secret City Saga for Topps (in this instance, a trading card spotlighting Captain Glory, Night Glider, and Bombast), and “The Shroud” from an issue of Marvel Super-Heroes. [TM & © respectively Random House, Topps Chewing Gum, and Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Only two instances of Ditko’s independent work appeared outside of his ventures with Robin Snyder in the 1990s: Strange Avenging Tales, an anthology title for Fantagraphics, and The Safest Place for Dark Horse. Ditko’s tale of a middle-aged woman fighting for freedom was particularly effective. From 1998 onward Ditko’s new stories and art appeared exclusively in cooperation with Robin Snyder. Anthologies like The Avenging Mind, Ditko “Packages” (thick compilations of essays, editorials, new heroes, and acidic jabs at the comicbook industry), and reprints of Charlton stories. Ditko also provided the impetus for Snyder’s newsletter, The Comics!, a smorgasbord of comics history and first-hand accounts by many who worked in the industry, often spotlighting neglected creators and companies. Debuting in 1990, and continuing into the present day, Ditko contributed extensively to The Comics!, writing essays on the industry and telling his side of the story regarding his work with Stan Lee at Marvel.

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

Safe At Home? (Left:) This distinctive page done for Dark Horse’s The Safest Place in the World in the 1990s, constitutes some of Ditko’s last work for “independent” comics—unless you count his and Robin Snyder’s own imprint. Ditko did full scripting and drawing chores on this one, and co-colored it with Rachelle Menashe. [TM & © Dark Horse Comics, Inc.]

At a point when most artists wind down or retire, Ditko produced a steady stream of new material in his 70s, 80s, and up to his 90th year. Uninterested in drawing cover re-creations or commissions, Ditko created a plethora of new heroes and concepts, including “Madman,” “The Cape,” “The ?!,” “P Masks,” “The Gray Negotiator,” and “Miss Eerie.” Steve Ditko left comics only when he died in June 2018. For decades, the blank page was his canvas, whereon he produced work that was intensely personal and endlessly fascinating. His achievements in the field will undoubtedly continue to be studied as long as comic art is appreciated. Dedicated to Robin Snyder, whose positive feedback, helpful suggestions, and biographical data were a tremendous help. You’re one of the good guys, Robin!

Nick Caputo is a charter member of comic fandom’s “Yancy Street Gang” and the author of numerous wellresearched articles on comics.

A Double Dose Of Ditko! (Left:) This Ditko Package cover from 1989 featured a number of his own (and owned) creations and demonstrated his independent spirit, which persisted to the end. [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.] (Right:) On the other hand, the always-valuable “Dial B for Blog” online site put together this “Ditko League of America” faux cover to illustrate the full range of Ditko artistic co-creations. From l. to r., Captain Atom, Spider-Man, his visualization of Konga, The Creeper, Mr. A, Dr. Strange— and, swinging in from above, Blue Beetle. The rest of the cover, of course, is taken from an early Mike Sekowskypenciled Justice League of America cover for DC. [Captain Atom, The Creeper, & Blue Beetle TM & © DC Comics; Spider-Man & Dr. Strange TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; Mr. A. TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko; Konga TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders; other art © DC Comics.]

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

STEVE DITKO Checklist [This checklist is adapted primarily from information in the online Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999, established by the late Dr. Jerry G. Bails and viewable at www.bailsprojects.com. Names of features that appeared in comicbooks both of that title and in other magazines as well are generally not italicized below. Key: (w) = writer; (p) = penciler; (i) = inker.] Name & Vital Stats: Steve Ditko (1927-2018) – artist, writer Pen Names: J. Kodti; Space Man Education: Cartoonist and Illustrators School Influences: Jerry Robinson Print Media (Non-Comics): Artist: juvenile books – 1984 Gobots on Earth, War of the Gobots (also plot assist); magazines – Mad Monsters 1961, Reason 1970 (reprint); Musician 1987. Penciler: juvenile books – 1985 coloring books Transformers (2 versions), The Autobot Smasher Commercial Art & Design: action-figure dolls for Remco Toys: Fox, Shield, Web, Comet, Sting, Eraser, and Brain Emperor (date uncertain); Mr. T T-shirt 1991 Honors: Eagle Award (UK) Roll of Honor 1985; Eisner Hall of Fame Award 1994; Inkpot Award (San Diego Comic-Con) 1986; Jack Kirby Hall of Fame Award 1990 Comics in Other Media: Bruce Webster (p) The Best of Horror and Science Fiction Comics 1987 (reprint); Cannon (p) 1975 in Heroes, Inc.; Captain Atom (p) 1975 in Charlton Bullseye (inventory from 1968); Cosaga (w)(p)(i) 1978 in Questar; The Defender in Comic Crusader (fanzine); Destruction Agent (w)(p)(i) 1978 in Questar; The Expert (w) (p)(i) in Questar; H-Series (w)(p)(i) 1972, 1976 in Comic Crusader; Mr. A (w)(p)(i) 1968, 1977 in Comic Crusader, 1970 in Champions (fanzine); Rescue (w)(p)(i) 1979 in Questar; Robot War (p)(i) 1986-87 in Cracked; Star (w)(p)(i) in Questar; Sweeter Gwen (p)(i) 1966 (reprint) in Bizarre Life Gang Publications: Blue Beetle (plot)(p)(i) 1974-75 in Charlton Portfolio; Captain Atom (p) 1975 in Charlton Bullsye; Heroes, Inc. (p) (i) 1976 San Francisco Comic Book Company: All-Stars (p)(i) 1970; Mr. A (w)(p)(i) 1970 Creator: Avenging World, Killjoy, Blue Beetle (3rd version), Mr. A, Missing Man, The Question, Static Co-Creator: Captain Atom, Shade the Changing Man, The Creeper, The Hawk and The Dove, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Stalker, Speedball, et al. Promotional Comics: Big Boy Magazine (p)(i) c. 1996 for Big Boy restaurants; Captain Universe (p)(i) 1980 Overseas Comics: Tiny Toons (p)(i) 1992 Comics Studio/Shop: Simon & Kirby Studio (p)(i) 1953-55 (freelance); Wally Wood Studio (p) c. 1966 (probably freelance) 3-D Zone: covers (p)(i) Daughters of Time 3-D 1991; Cracked Classics (p)(i) 1989 (reprint); Daughters of Time (p)(i) 1991; Substance (p)(i) 1990-921, also cover A.C.E. Comics: covers (p)(i) 1987 for Ace Comics Presents; The Face (p) 1986-87; Skyman (p) 1987 America’s Comic Group: covers (p) 1998 reprint; filler (p)(i) 1998 reprint; Jungle Jim (p) 1998 reprint – all for imprint Avalon

To Be Or Not To Be—That Is The Questar! Ditko art from the 1978 Questar publication. [TM & © the respective trademark& copyright holders.]

Comic Art Publishers: Avenging World (w)(p)(i) 1974; Mr. A (editor) (w)(p)(i)(letter) 1973, 1975, plus covers; Wha…? (p)(i) 1975 Deluxe Comics: filler (p) 1985; illustration (p) 1984; NoMan (p) 1984-86 (reprint); T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (p) 1984 (reprint) Fantagraphics Books: The Baffler (w)(p)(i) 1997; Clyde and Claude (w)(p)(i) 1997; covers (p)(i) 1997; The Kinky Hook (asst. i) 1991 (reprint); Mr. A and others (p)(i) in The Ditko Collection (reprint); The Spoilers File (w)(p)(i) 1997; Steve Ditko’s Strange Avenging Tales (p)(i) 1997; Sweeter Gwen (p)(i) 1992 (reprint) J.C. Comics: covers (p) 1983 for Hall of Fame Featuring the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents New Media Publishing: The Djinn (p)(i) 1982; The Mocker (w)(p) (i) 1982 Pacific Comics: covers (i) 1982-83; The Missing Man (w)(p)(i) 1982-84; The Mocker (w)(p)(i) 1983; preview page (w)(p)(i) 1982 Renegade Press: Comic Action (plot)(p) 1986; covers (p)(i) 1985-86; Cracking Blazer (plot)(p) 1986; Ditko’s World (plot)(p) 1985-86; Frisky Frolics (p)(i) 1986 (reprint); Heads (plot)(p)(i) 1986; Murder (plot)(p)(i) 1986; Revolver (p)(i) 1985-86; Star Guider (w)(p)(i) 1985; Static (plot) (p) 1986

A Brief Bird’s-Eye View Of A Remarkable Artist

American Comics Group: mystery features (p)(i) 1966 Archie Publications: backup feature (p) 1983 in The Fly; Blue Ribbon (p)(i) 1983-84; covers (p) 1983-84; Fly Girl (p) 1983; The Fly (p)(i) (some w) 1983-84; The Hangman (p) 1983; The Jaguar (p)(i) 1984 Charlton Comics: backup features (p)(i) in Konga 1962, Texas Rangers in Action 1970, The Phantom 1970; Baron Weirwulf and Impy (p)(i) 1981-81 (reprint); Beyond the Grave (p)(i) 1975-76; Black Fury (p)(i) 1958; Blue Beetle (plot)(p)(i) 1966-68; Captain Atom (w)(p)(i) 1960-61, 1965-67 (reprint 1978-79); Case 372 (p) 1967; Cheyenne Kid (p)(i) 1958; Colonel Whiteshroud (p)(i) 1975, 1979 (reprint); covers (p)(i) 1954-79, 1985; Creepy Things (p)(i) 1975-76; Crime and Justice (p) (i) 1955; Doomsday Plus One (p)(i) 1976; Fantastic Giants (p)(i) 1966; Fightin’ Army (p)(i) 1956, 1970 (reprint 1982); filler (p)(i) 1969-70, 1976; From Here to Insanity (p)(i) 1955-56; Ghost Manor (p)(i) 1970-76; Ghostly Haunts (p)(i) 1972-77; Ghostly Tales (p) 1966-77 (reprint 1982); Gorgo (p)(i) 1961-64 (reprint 1966); Haunted Love (p)(i) 1973; Haunted (p)(i) 1971-76; Jungle Jim (p)(i) 1969-70; Killjoy (w)(p)(i) 1973-74; Konga (p)(i) 1960-63 (reprint 1966); Liberty Belle (p)(i) 1974; Mad Monsters (p)(i) 1961; The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves (p)(i) 1967-77; Midnight Tales (p)(i) 1975; Monster Hunters (p)(i) 1975-77; Out of This World (p)(i) 1957-59; Outer Space (p)(i) 1958, 1968; Outlaws of the West (p)(i) 1959, 1970; Paul Mann (p)(i) 1968; The Phantom (p)(i) 1970; The Question (w)(p) (i) 1967-68 (signed “D.C. Glanzman”); Racket Squad in Action (p)(i) 1954; Robin Hood (p)(i) 1958; Rocky Lane’s Black Jack (p)(i) 1958-59; Romantic Story (p)(i) 1970; Scary Tales (p)(i) 1975-76; The Sentinels (w) 1967-68 (signed “D.C. Glanzman”); Shadows from Beyond (p)(i) 1966; Space Adventures (p)(i) 1954-56, 1958-61 (reprints 1969, 1979); Space War (p)(i) 1960 (reprint 1978); Static (w)(p)(i) 1985; Strange Suspense Stories (p)(i) 1954, 1957-61; Tales of the Mysterious Traveler (p) (i) 1956-59, 1985; Texas Rangers in Action (p)(i) 1970; Thane of Bagarth (p)(i) 1985 (reprint from 1960s); The Thing (p)(i) 1954); Unusual Tales (p)(i) 1956-61; Winnie the Witch (p)(i) 1970, 1972, 1978, 1984 (some reprint)

A-Haunting We Will Go! Ditko’s splash page, complete with Dr. Haunt, from Charlton’s This Magazine Is Haunted #13 (Oct. 1957). Scripter unknown. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Dark Horse Comics: Bitter/Better Person Series (w)(p)(i)(colorist) (letterer) 1993 in The Safest Place in the World, also cover; Indiana Jones: Sargasso Pirates (p)(i) 1996 graphic album

Wally Wood: filler (w)(p)(i) 1971; Mr. A (w)(p)(i) 1967-70; witzend (w) (p)(i) 1966-71, 1982

DC Comics: Action Team-Up [Superman & others] (p) 1989; Black Lightning (p) 1986; covers (p)(i) 1968-70, 1975-80; The Creeper (w) (p)(i) 1968-69, 1975, 1978-79; The Demon (p)(i) 1979; Ghosts (p)(i) 1979, 1982; Green Lantern (p) 1989; The Hawk and The Dove (plot) (p)(i) 1968; House of Mystery (p)(i) 1976-78, 1980; House of Secrets (p)(i) 1976-77; Legion of Super-Heroes (p) 1979-81; Man-Bat (p) 1976-76; Mystery in Space (p)(i) 1980-81; The Odd Man (w)(p)(i) 1978; The Outsiders (p) 1986; Plop! (p)(i) 1975; Secrets of the Haunted House (p)(i) 1977-78, 1981-82; Shade, the Changing Man (w)(p) (i) 1977-78; Showcase (p)(i) 1968; The Spectre (p) 1998; Stalker (p) 1976-76; Starman [2nd version] (p) 1980; Strange Adventures (p) 1966; Superboy and The Legion of Super-Heroes (p) 1979; Time Warp (p) (i) 1979-80; The Unexpected (p)(some i)(some w) 1979-82; Weird War Tales (p)(i) 1977, 1982; Who’s Who in the DC Universe (p)(i) 1986 entries; Wonder Woman (p)1978

Notes on Comics Career: Letterer on most of his own work for various publishers

Defiant Comics: Dark Dominion (p) 1992; Michael Alexander (p) 1993

Fan & Trade Zines: [no room to list; see entry at www. bailsprojects.com]

Dell Publications: covers (p) 1966; Get Smart! (p) 1966; Hogan’s Heroes (p)(i) 1966; Nukla (p) 1966

Snyder-Ditko: Ditko Package (p)(i) 1989, 1992 (reprint); The Lonely One (p)(i) 1989 (reprint); The Mocker (w)(p)(i) 1990; Out of This World (p)(i) date uncertain (reprint); Static (w)(p)(i) 1988, 1989 Stanton Archives: various features (p)(i) c. 1958-62 Star*Reach Productions: Imagine (p)(i) 1978, plus cover Sword in the Stone (Canada): Adventures into the Unknown (p) 1990 (reprint); Forbidden Worlds (p)(i) 1991 (reprint); Kegor (p)(i) 1991 (reprint); Paul Mann (p)(i) 1998 (reprint)

COMICBOOKS (U.S. Mainstream Publications): Acclaim Comics: Battlemania (p)(i) 1991-92; card inserts in comics (p)(i) 1991; Magnus, Robot Fighter (plot)(p) 1992; Shadowman (w) (p) 1992, 1994; Solar, Man of the Atom (w)(p) 1992; X-O ManoWar (layouts) 1992 – all for imprint Valiant

Eclipse Enterprises: covers (p)(i) 1983; Mr. Monster (p)(i) 1986 (reprint); Star*Reach Classics (p)(i) 1984 (reprint); Static (w)(p)(i) 1983; Tales of the Mysterious Traveler (p)(i) 1990 graphic album (reprint) Eerie Publications: Weird (p)(i) 1968 (reprint) Farrell Publications: Fantastic Fears (p)(i) 1954; Strange Fantasy (p) (i) 1953

Steve Ditko: A Life In Comics

(i) 1962-65, 69, 79-80; Human Torch (w)(p) 1963, 1991; illustration (p)(i) 1981; Indiana Jones (p) 1984-86; Iron Man (p)(some w)(some i) 1963-64, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990; Journey into Mystery (p)(i) 1956-63; Journey into Unknown Worlds (p)(i) 1955-56; Machine Man (p)(i) 1979-80, (w)(p) 1989; Marvel Tales (p)(i) 1956; Marvel Universe (p) 1983, 1985-86; Micronauts (p) 1979-80, 1982; Missus Arbogast (p)(i) 1990; Mystery Tales (p)(i) 1956; Nighthawk (p)(i) 1981; The Phantom (i) 1995; Rom (p) 1984-86; Sgt. Fury (i) 1965; The Shroud (plot)(p) 1990-91; Solo (p)(i) 1990; Speedball (p)(some w) 1989-91; Spellbound (p)(i) 1956; Spider-Man (plot)(p)(i) 1962-66; Strange Tales (p)(i) 1956-66; Strange Tales of the Unusual (p)(i) 1956; Strange Worlds (p)(i) 1958-59; Sub-Mariner (plot)(p) 1988; Tales of Suspense (p)(i) 1959-63; Tales to Astonish (p)(i) 1959-63; Two-Gun Western (p)(i) 1956; U.S. 1 (p) 1984; Untold Tales of the Marvel Universe (p)(i) 1982; What If? (layouts) 1988; What the--?! (p)(i) 1988; World of Fantasy (p)(i) 1959; World of Mystery (p)(i) 1956; World of Suspense (p)(i) 1956 New Media: The Djinn (p) 1982 Seaboard Comics (a.k.a. Atlas-Seaboard) The Destructor (p) 1975; Morlock 2001 (p) 1975; Tiger-Man (p) 1975 St. John Publishing: Do You Believe in Nightmares? (p)(i) 1957 Stanmor: Blazing Western (p)(i) 1954; Daring Love (p)(i) 1953 Topps Comics: Captain Glory (p)(i) 1993; Jack Kirby’s Secret City Saga (p) 1993; Wolff and Byrd (i) 1993; covers (p) 1993 Tower Comics: Agent Weed (p) 1967; Dynamo (p)(i) 1966-68; Menthor (p) 1966, 1968; NoMan (p) 1966-67; Weed (p)(i) 1966-67 Warren Publications: Creepy (p)(i) 1966-69 (with some reprint); Creepy Annual (p)(i) 1971 (reprint); Eerie (p)(i) 1966-67, 1982; Thane (p)(i) 1967

When He Was “Sturdy Steve” Following Ditko’s passing, the publisher Panini, which reprints Marvel work in Europe, put together this tribute to the artist’s work for that company. Thanks to Robert Menzies. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Feature Comics (Quality): Black Magic (p)(i) 1953-54, 1961; Young Romance (p)(i) 1953 First Publishing: The Faceless Ones (p)(i) 1983 Harris Publications: Creepy – The Classic Years (p) 1991 (reprint) Harvey Comics: Captain 3-D (asst. i) 1953 I.W. Publications: Utah Kid (p)(i) 1958 (reprint) Major Magazines: Cracked (p)(i)(lettering) 1986-87; Monsters Attack! (w)(p)(i) 1989-90 (imprint Globe Communications) Marvel Comics: Amazing Adult Fantasy (p)(i) 1961-62; Amazing Adventures (p)(i) 1961; Amazing Fantasy (p)(i) 1962; Ant-Man (p) (i) 1990; Astonishing Comics (p)(i) 1955-56; The Avengers (p) 1984, 1986; backup features in Kid Colt Outlaw & Two-Gun Kid; Battle (i) (some p); Bug and Acroyear (p)(i) 1979; Bulls-Eye (p)(i) 1954; Captain America (w)(p) 1991; Captain Marvel (p)(i) 1980; Captain Universe (p)(i) 1980-81; Chance (p)(i) 1991; Chuck Norris (p) 1987; covers (p) (i) 1959-66, 1979-81, 1984, 1993-94; Daredevil (asst. i) 1964, (p)(i) 1980, 1985-86; Destroyer (p)(i) 1990-91; The Djinn (p) 1984-85; Dr. Droom (i) 1961; Dr. Strange (plot)(p)(i) 1963-66; Dracula (p)(i) 1980; Fantastic Four (i) 1963, (p)(i) 1981; Gallery of Villains (p)(i) 1964-65; Giant-Man (i) 1963, (p) 1964; Gunsmoke Western (i)(some p) 1960-61; Hulk (p)

Captain America TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. Art by Steve Ditko & P. Craig Russell.

STEVE DITKO

Interview–1968 Conducted by Mike & Rich Howell and Mark Canterbury

A/E

EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview, which was conducted by mail, first appeared in the fanzine Marvel Main #4 (Oct.-Nov. 1968). It has been reprinted with the permission of Mike & Rich Howell. At our request, Mike wrote the new introduction below, which immediately precedes the interview. Alas, Mark Canterbury, who asked a few questions of his own, passed on several years ago. The interview was retyped for Alter Ego by Eric Nolen-Weathington.

Steve Ditko & Richard Howell The former, on left, in the mid-1960s—and the latter, on right, in a more recent photo (though, alas, we have none of his brother Michael or of Mark Canterbury). Above them is Rich’s cover for Marvel Main #4. [Heroes TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Part I - Introduction

How Steve Ditko Talked To Marvel Main by Mike Howell, founding editor of Marvel Main

he summer of 1968 was one of the most historic in American culture. Along with assassinations, demonstrations, and presidential elections, another, quieter, bit of upheaval was taking place: Steve Ditko was bringing out new characters and often-polarizing stories. News of this tectonic change in the national comics industry was spread by the Blue Blazer Irregulars who made up the nascent comic fan community through their network of choice: the fanzine. Through a combination of idle determination, sincere respect for Ditko’s work, and an elevated sense of mission, I directed my self-published mimeographed fanzine, Marvel Main, toward trying

to get a “big name” interview. And we got a beauty, from Steve Ditko. How difficult was that? you might wonder. Well, if you were a sheltered, suburban 14-year-old it was really quite a challenge. To start, I had no idea where (although New York City was a starting guess) or how to locate Ditko. My trips to the big city of Boston helped me learn the subway system and become familiar with Filene’s Basement and its automatic markdown policy that was catnip to my mother. When my brother Richard and I accompanied her there, we almost always were rewarded with a Tintin book, so braving the crowds had its perks, but that didn’t get us any closer to Steve Ditko. A bit of background. Our core fan group was very tightly held: myself, my brother Richard, and our next-door neighbor, Mark Canterbury. We shared a delight in comics and absurdist humor and quirky corners of what would grow into America’s pop culture. The fact that we all sucked at sports and that dating, etc., seemed decades away helped with our hermetic association. Our impulse to keep ourselves amused led each of us to found a self-published

From Marvel Main #4

magazine-in-search-of-an-audience. I guided Marvel Main, Mark captained Heckzapoppin’, and Richard, prolific as always, handled multiple projects. In time, we found kindred spirits in two somewhat local guys—Martin Greim and Bob Cosgrove—who were older than we were and who helped us to learn more of the ways of comics and self-publishing. Other than that, we were busy trying to see who could come up with the coin to subscribe to RBCC. Alter Ego was a bridge too far. People today tend to define Western Civilization as “before the Internet and the world as we know it.” While that is certainly true (if nothing else, having the Internet in 1968 would have greatly saved on paper, printing, and mailing costs), our largest technology disadvantage was simple: long-distance calls. In those days, your (parents’) phone service gave you free calls to your town and the ones contiguous to it. Great if you needed to call Lynn or Revere; not much help in blind-calling New York City. (Did I mention that those calls cost more the further away you dialed? Atavistic concept, I know. Not easy to explain when Dad gets the phone bill.) The Canterbury household was run considerably more loosely than the Howell one (to be fair, so was the Prussian Army). Teamwork Uber Alles, we proclaimed, and laid siege to Mark’s extension phone. Here’s where things get a tad hazy. In my idealized memory, I figured out two very important facts: Ditko is an unusual name, and it didn’t cost anything to call Directory Assistance. Armed with that knowledge, we came up with a 212 number in fairly short order. Now came the tricky parts. Call the number and the meter starts running as soon as you hear “Hello.” OK, that meant calls must be made from Mark’s enclave. Second, once we’d ascertained that we had reached THE Steve Ditko, what the hell do we say to him? We went for it. Several times we’d ring the number but it went unanswered. Was it out-of-date? Out-ofservice? Had Ditko left New York City ? the comics industry? It was a cool idea, but….

“Yes, this is Steve Ditko.” Our plan was to interview him over the phone, but Ditko wasn’t having it. Very politely, he said he would answer our questions in writing if we submitted them to him in writing as well. Absolutely, Mr. Ditko, and thankyouthankyouthankyou. We immediately convened our (hare-)brain trust, debated how far to press him on his Marvel past, and whether it was worth Ayn Rand questions. Rather quickly, we came up with a way too long list of questions, typed them up and sent them off. Reading the published interview now, it appears that each of us took turns asking a burst of questions, then ceding the floor to the next in line. The interview was submitted as written questions without any designation of who was asking what. Ditko could answer (or skip) any question in any order it pleased him. My best guess is that we added the “question credits” as a way to share the accomplishment of interviewing Ditko among us. Middle school kids don’t get many brushes with fame, however that’s defined. After what seemed like forever, a large envelope was delivered from NYC. (Did we have the savvy to have supplied a postage-paid envelope to our honored Cover Subject? Since SSAE was common in those circles, I’d like to think we did.) Inside, page after page of Ditko’s thoughts on lined paper. Our subscribers would be elated! Our reputation would grow! We’d finally step forward to create the type of observation, reporting, and insightful opinions to make Marvel Main the Time magazine of the comicbook world! Well, not quite. It’s true that Marvel Main #4 sold more than any (or perhaps all) previous issues, but that was still short of our press run of 25. More significantly, all three of us were headed off to new— and significantly more demanding—schools. Cars and girls were starting to

Comics’ Main Man Rich’s 1968 art bookended a two-page spread that began the interview. By the 1980s, Rich became an artist for DC and Marvel, working on such features as All-Star Squadron, Hawkman, The Vision and the Scarlet Witch, et al. [Heroes TM & © respectively Marvel Characters, Inc., DC Comics, & Estate of Steve Ditko.]

Steve Ditko Interview—1968

look like possibilities as well. There never was a Marvel Main #5. Please do not think I’ve fallen into the asinine attitude that comics are something you somehow “outgrow.” My lifelong fandom and Richard’s wide-ranging professional career give lie to that. It was only about ten years ago when it came to my attention that the Marvel Main interview was a rarity; it was only when The New York Times started to pull together Ditko’s obituary (a task they seemed ill-prepared for) that its historical value became apparent. Which is why the trail comes to Roy and Dann and Alter Ego and observations of not only his own creations but thoughts on how art reflects or shapes the real world it comes from. From those turbulent times to the ones banging on our windows at this moment. —Mike Howell April 2019 P.S.: No, none of us had the sense of history to save Ditko’s handwritten responses. Yes, I still feel stupid about that.

Part II – The Interview

MH: During your years at Marvel, you were only depicted once, and that time by your own hand (Spider-Man Special #1), whereas you were left out of the Bullpen photos (Marvel Tales #1) and the record (MMMS Kit #1). Was this by your own choice? DITKO: Yes. MH: In the 1967 Comics Awards Poll conducted by noted fans Mike Robertson and Ted Billy, you usurped such greats as Kirby, Wood, Frazetta, and Williamson. By a substantial margin too. (16 over the second-place Kirby.) How do you feel about this, and how do you think it happened? DITKO: This is the first time I’ve heard of the poll, but I don’t feel anything in particular because it doesn’t affect me in any way. A poll only means that X number of people prefer one to another. It doesn’t make one a better artist. Good art or anything cannot be decided by a poll, popularity, or likes and dislikes. A preference is not a standard for what is good or right. Everything has to be measured with a clearly defined, appropriate standard. People’s likes or dislikes or preferences may change, but it can’t affect a proper standard that remains unaltered. I don’t know why each person voted the way they did. MH: Did anyone or anything particularly influence your style?

MIKE HOWELL: Your last two or three strips (“Question,” “Mr. A,” The Creeper) have all dealt with reporters and mobster-type crime. Is this a personal crusade of yours?

DITKO: The biggest thing influencing my style would be that I see things in a certain way, and that means handling everything so that personally point of view comes across.

STEVE DITKO: Reporters have an easier, more natural way of getting involved with all types of crime. They are not restricted with set routines or limited in their scope of activities. I prefer conflicts that are based on reality rather than based on fantasy. When you get wound up with super-villains, super-fantastic gadgets, and super-incredible action, everything has to be made so deliberately that it all becomes senseless. It boils down to what you want a story to stand for.

MH: When did you break into comics, and who did you first work for? DITKO: In 1953. A very small publishing company. I don’t even remember the company’s name. MH: Out of all the characters that you have created, which is the best extension of your thoughts and beliefs? Why? DITKO: The Question (and Mr. A; I can’t seem to separate the two). Why: they are positive characters, not negative. They stand for something. They know what they stand for and why they must make that stand. They are not just against something. Every criminal in the world is opposed to himself being robbed or murdered, but do these criminals stand for justice? Being against something isn’t enough. Every person, whether he wants to be or not, is in a continuous struggle. It’s not a physical life or death struggle, yet it’s a threat to every man’s survival.

The Doctor Is Still In! As a tribute to Ditko soon after his passing, the Italian firm Panini Publishing put out a special edition (“Vol. 7, #7, Oct. 2018”) of the onetime Marvel UK mainstay magazine, Mighty World of Marvel, with a cover spotlighting Ditko’s Doctor Strange. Thanks to Robert Menzies. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Rich Howell writes: “I was very saddened to read about Ditko… although 90 is pretty good these days. I remember walking down the street in Manhattan past one of those immense over-air-conditioned chain stores and seeing several immense 3-D constructions of Spider-Man, Dr. Octopus, and someone else (The Vulture?) hanging off the side of the building. Most of the tourists were impressed, I suppose, but I wondered what Steve Ditko would be thinking of his co-creations made into huge media presences as he walked past them every day. “I worked with Ditko a whole twice, and in each case he was argumentative to the point of mutiny, so I had some comprehension of why he wasn’t part of the Spidergravy-train (some of which was by his own decision, I understand), but for him to have contributed so much to the bedrock of the Marvel empire and not [be] sharing in its flourishing… well, it just makes me sad.”

From Marvel Main #4

First If Not Foremost Maybe Steve Ditko didn’t remember precisely which comics companies he worked for first, but we do. (Above:) His first published story was “Paper Romance” in Stanmor’s Daring Love #1 (Sept.-Oct. 1953), from which the above panel is taken—see splash on p. 6. (Right:) But even before that, for Ajax/Farrell, he had drawn the already-masterful “Stretching Things” for Fantastic Fears #5 (Jan. 1954), the splash of which was likewise seen on p. 6. Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website. [© the respective copyright holders.]

No man has to battle or fear the supernatural; it doesn’t exist. No man has to fight or fear creatures from outer space. No man has to battle foreign armies. The country’s armed forces are prepared for that possibility. A man’s battle isn’t against foreign conspiracies; the FBI and CIA are set up and equipped to deal with that threat. The police are equipped to deal with crime. Health problems are battled by the medical profession. Against any of the above dangers, no man has to face them alone. But in that one continuous struggle, man has to constantly face the danger alone. No one can face it or fight it for him. It is the struggle for his mind! It is the struggle against everyone he comes in contact with. It is a struggle to keep his mind from being corrupted and being ruled by irrational premises. A man is what he stands for—why is it right to stand for it, and to protect and defend it, all the time? In the struggle, a man can lose only if he gives in, defeated by self-destruction, by accepting the wrong as right—to act against himself. Honest men, like dishonest men, are made. The honest refuse to accept wrong as right; the dishonest refuse to accept right as right. Each deliberately makes a choice. This struggle is not openly recognized. Accepting lies, dishonesty, etc., or practicing evasions, etc., are not criminal acts. Nothing but a man’s own mind can protect him from accepting and practicing the irrational, and suffering from its corrupting effects, but a man has to choose to do it. This is the premise that “The Question” and “Mr. A” are based on. Evil is powerless. A mind that refuses to accept or defend the truth, by that act, permits lies to exist, to give them respectability and influence, thereby undercutting and eventually destroying everything that is of real value. Destroyed, not by the power of evil, but by the good’s refusal to protect itself against an enemy that could exist only with good’s permission.

A man’s refusal to understand the issue changes nothing. If a man doesn’t know why a thing is right or wrong, he has no defenses—he’s vulnerable. He has no standard by which to measure, accept, or reject any proposition. The Question and Mr. A are men who choose to know what is right and act accordingly at all times. Everyone should. MH: Did any particular comic you’ve done cramp your style? DITKO: Style is not what you do (type of story), but how you handle it (rendering). I could be cramped by the subject. In doing, say, a World War II story, whereas in a science-fiction tale, whatever I draw doesn’t have to look like anything that ever existed. The rendering (style) wouldn’t be affected, one or more aspects of it will be emphasized—more or less light and shade, detail, etc. MH: You’re referred to around fandom as “Steve Ditko, man of mystery.” Can you explain why there is a shroud of mystery surrounding yourself? Was this intentional, or did it just happen? DITKO: It just happens because I’m a cartoonist in the comicbook business, not a performer or personality in show business. When I do a job, it’s not my personality that I’m offering the readers, but my artwork. It’s not what I’m like that counts, [but] what I did and how well it was done. I produce a product, a comic art story. Steve Ditko is the brand name. I make no mystery of what I do, and where I can properly explain why I do what I do (like in this fanzine), I’ll do it. If a

Steve Ditko Interview—1968

I’m not a professional writer, so it’s difficult to be properly objective about the writing, and to spot and correct mistakes. It’s easier to write or handle fantasy than to put forth a new stand that has to be clearly defined and consistently followed in everything that is said and done. It demands logical progression in thought and deed deliberately ignored in most comic stories. Most of the art had to be deliberately underplayed. The panel scenes had to be interesting, but not overly dramatic. The major conflict was a clash of right and wrong.

“A” “Question” Two characters that Ditko sometimes said he “can’t seem to separate” and at other times claimed to be totally unrelated. (Left:) “The Question,” from a mid-1960s Charlton comic. (Right:) The hero of his 2017 self-published (with Robin Snyder) comic Steve Ditko’s Mr. A #24. [Question page TM & © DC Comics; Mr. A page TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

person knows the what and why’s, he knows all about the “who” that is important to know. MH: What strip do you enjoy doing the most? DITKO: “The Question” and “Mr. A.” MH: Most of us are well acquainted with your fantasy stories, which were exceptionally philosophical, and created a lot of empathy with the characters. Did you write them yourself? Did you enjoy doing them?

The biggest threat and danger was not physical, but the destructive effects of spreading and unchallengingly accepting lies of minds run by irrationality by choice or default. Over-dramatic would’ve undercut conflict.

MH: Who, besides yourself, did, in your opinion, the best job of inking your pencils? DITKO: I couldn’t say who without listing all the others and listing the why’s and why-nots. RICH HOWELL: Why did you quit Creepy and Eerie? Will you ever contribute again?

DITKO: I wish you had listed some specific ones so that I’d know exactly what to comment on.

DITKO: I don’t know the full story of what went on at Warren, so I can’t comment on it. As for the future, I don’t know that, either.

MH: What strip was the easiest you ever did? The hardest?

RH: Art-wise, do you prefer the regular comics or the Warren line, where you can do washes?

DITKO: No strip is easy for me to do, for I draw for a tough critic—for me. I have to do what I think is right, and it has to be done in a way that excites me, so it’s hard to settle for something that would be easy to do. I believe in telling a picture story so that, (1) The panels have to be clear. I have to show what’s going on. I want to know. (2) They have to be interesting. I don’t believe in boring myself while I draw. The hardest to draw were “The Question” and “Mr. A” because, before I drew a line, I had to make them positive characters. To know what they stood for, why it is right to make that stand, and to act the way they did, to have solid reasons, so I could prove their positions and actions if I was ever challenged. They had to be a man. A hero in the honest use of the word. Strength not because of “super” powers, but a strength of acting on proper principles. Not a contrived strength of muscle, but a strength of right knowledge. No innocent people can suffer or be abused or penalized because of what the Question and Mr. A stand for.

DITKO: I like them both. I even like to do stories in just pen and ink without color or wash. All stories are not suited for wash, but those that have the right element and mood are hard to beat in that medium. RH: Did you plot the stories you did for Warren? DITKO: No, I worked from a script. RH: Besides yourself, who do you regard as the five best artists in comicdom? DITKO: That question is too difficult to answer and be fair. You have to set up and give a standard on how you judge the artist, and there are too many factors to be considered, and they don’t fit every artist the same way. Artists fall into too many categories. Some are pencillers, some are inkers, some do both. Some artists specialize

From Marvel Main #4

I think it would be more interesting and revealing to ask comic readers why they didn’t buy it. RH: Are there any plans to revive “Blue Beetle” and “The Question,” and will you do them? DITKO: Only Charlton Press can answer that. MARK CANTERBURY: There is a strong similarity between “The Question” and “Mr. A.” Is this intentional? Why? DITKO: I had been thinking about a type of character that would be different, or that would be a step ahead of what was being done ever since the early Spider-Man days. The kind I decided on was the Mr. A type. When Blue Beetle got his own magazine, they needed a companion feature for it. I didn’t want to do Mr. A, because I didn’t think the Code would let me do the type of stories I wanted to do, so I worked up The Question, using the basic idea of a man who was motivated by basic black and white principles. Where other “heroes’” powers are based on some accidental super element, The Question and Mr. A’s “power” is deliberately knowing what is right and acting accordingly. But it is one of choice. Of choosing to know what is right and choosing to act on that knowledge in all his thoughts and actions with everyone he deals with. No conflict or contradiction in his behavior in either identity. He isn’t afraid to know or refuse to act on what is right no matter in what situation he finds himself. Where other heroes choose to be self-made neurotics, The Question and Mr. A choose to be psychologically and intellectually healthy. It’s a choice everyone has to make. MC: Would you give us some person data? Age, marital status, children, etc.?

Spaced Out!

DITKO: It’s like you said… a man of mystery!

Ditko enjoyed doing non-series stories for the likes of Warren’s Creepy and Eerie—as he had for Charlton’s Space Adventures #11 (May-June 1954). Thanks to Frank Motler. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

in the type of story they do (romance, war, super-heroes, etc.). Some types demand more or less imagination, or draftsmanship (war, fantasy), and the artist has to be judged accordingly. The artist has to be separated from the popularity of the strip, personality, etc. He can only be judged by his artwork, and that has to be broken down into storytelling, draftsmanship, composition, imagination, rendering, etc. Some artists are good in some phases, poor in others. You have to weigh the separate parts with the total effect, then try to separate the art (in black and white as the artist does it) from the effects or appeal of coloring (that the artist does not Beetle-mania do and is not responsible for). So it’s much simpler for anyone Interrupted to pick his own favorites—the ones that give him the most Ditko—and enjoyment—and let the serious art critics struggle with the his most burden of deciding who is the better artist. enthusiastic RH: What inspired the new Blue Beetle? Why do you think it didn’t sell? DITKO: I was looking over the first Blue Beetle that Charlton Press put out, and it was terrible. I began thinking how it could have been handled. The ideas I had were good, so I marked them down, made sketches of the costume, gadgets, the bug, etc., and put them in an idea folder I have, and forgot about it. A year or so later, when Charlton Press was again planning to do super-heroes, I told Dick Giordano about the Blue Beetle” idea I had. He was interested in trying it, so it came out of the idea file, and into the magazine.

fans—enjoyed his work on Charlton’s revived Blue Beetle, but alas, it ended with this issue, #5, cover-dated November 1968. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © DC Comics.]

“A Very Mysterious Character” An Essay On STEVE DITKO by Barry Pearl Barry Pearl seen some years back, when his older brother Norman was teaching him to read. Thanks to BP.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” —Atticus Finch, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

ne day a man will ring your doorbell and offer you CELEBRITY! He will offer you fame and fortune and recognition. He will fight your battles for you and gear up the troops to go after your perceived enemies.

And all you have to do is give him everything you have… your privacy, your intimate moments, your private thoughts, your old artwork, your new artwork, and details from events fifty years old. You’ll be expected to show up at conventions and sit and autograph comics that someone will sell tomorrow on eBay and sit in on panel after panel examining your work from fifty years ago and dismissing what you are working on now. There are those who accept the offer, love the money and attention, but then complain about the lack of privacy and the wave of criticism. Those who don’t take it are called eccentric, outsiders, has-beens, and hard to work with. With their subject out of the limelight, people can write newspaper articles and books saying outrageous things that bring publicity onto themselves, knowing

their subject will not bother to respond. They will tell you that they tried to get Ditko to cooperate with them, but it is never unconditional. They want something from him: his opinions, his personality, and most of all his approval. They will have people who never meet him write about him, make claims about him, and, by keeping him out of it, they seem to validate their own absurd remarks. This is not journalism; in fact, it is not even common sense. Some people’s work speaks for itself. In the world of serious comicbooks, no one’s work speaks more for itself than Steve Ditko’s.

Steve Ditko Here’s a rare photo of the artist in 1963 with his nephews Mark (on the left) and his older brother Steve—yep, another Steve Ditko! With thanks to Mark Ditko, via John Cimino. This pic came in just before we went to press.

The Marvel Age of Comics was built on Jack Kirby’s creativity, Steve Ditko’s ingenuity, and Stan Lee’s continuity. Jack Kirby gave wonder to the Marvel Universe. Steve Ditko gave it awe. Kirby externalized the quest for knowledge, Ditko internalized it. On a journey to the Infinite, Kirby took us to the outer reaches of the universe. On a journey to find Eternity, Ditko took us into the minds of the Ancient One and Doctor Strange. In Doctor Strange’s first adventure in Strange Tales #110, Ditko introduces us to Nightmare, a villain that personifies an anxiety that we all share. Ditko places us in another dimension, one that exists in all of us, where the laws of physics are not relevant or even observed. Soon, this will be developed into the intangible home of Dormammu and all that follow. The Hulk is a great example of Ditko recognizing what made a character work and what didn’t. When Kirby introduced him, his change was caused by external factors, dusk and dawn, and later a machine. Ditko’s Hulk changed that to an internal issue, uncontrollable anger. This made the Hulk unique among

He Rode A Blazing Western! The Rawhide Kid (as re-conceived by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the early 1960s) and Peter Parker/Spider-Man may indeed have had similar origin stories as Barry suggests. But Steve Ditko never drew Rawhide Kid, so we’ll just toss you the splash page of a Ditko-illustrated “Utah Kid” story from Timor Publications’ Blazing Western #1 (Jan. 1954). Barry’s buddy Nick Caputo, who supplied it, says that the “Utah Kid” references are “crudely lettered” (like, the “H” looks ready to fall off!)—and he does bear more than a passing resemblance to Timely/Atlas’ Ringo Kid—so could this have been an art sample that went astray and wound up at another company? We’ll doubtless never know. [© the respective copyright holders.]

An Essay On Steve Ditko

the reader identify with him and have complete empathy for the character. That’s right; you rooted for a creation of pen and ink. When things seemed to work out with girlfriend Betty you felt good, and when trouble arose between them you got concerned. When they broke up, it didn’t just break Peter’s heart, it broke yours, too. Unique to the comics of that time, Peter Parker’s girlfriend, Betty, had a terrible family history. Her worthless, criminal brother, Bennett, owed money for gambling, and Betty was forced to borrow money from the mob. She was first attacked by the Enforcers and later confronted by Doctor Octopus.

“The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living” Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson explains—to himself, at least—why he hates Spider-Man, in AMS #10 (March 1964). Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

comicbook characters and disturbingly compelling. In a small but meaningful way, we are made to examine the question of “control” and how its loss can lead to unwanted consequences. Ditko also changed the character of Bruce Banner. Kirby’s Banner worked for the government and built bombs; Ditko’s Banner ran away from the government and then tried to prove himself loyal. The Rawhide Kid, in August 1960, had a similar origin to Spider-Man, which would follow in August 1962. A teenager, Johnny Bart, was raised by his Uncle Ben and gained great ability as a marksman. Bad guys kill his uncle and Johnny adopts a new identity, The Rawhide Kid, to track them down. Because the Kid is a vigilante, the good guys as well as the bad go after the new hero. The saga of Spider-Man also uses all these concepts. Heck, without Ditko, Spider-Man could have turned out to be another Ant-Man! To a child in and of the 1960s, at first glance, the sight of a human looking like an insect walking up walls did not seem unique. Simon and Kirby had presented The Adventures of The Fly, who could scale sheer vertical surfaces, for Archie Comics in 1958. To say that Spider-Man was connected in any way to The Fly is silly. But to say that Ditko didn’t learn from reading those stories would be just as misleading. Some of the poses that Spider-Man has in the early issues are not dissimilar from Kirby’s in The Fly. I was introduced to Ditko by his short, five-page stories in Amazing Fantasy, Tales of Suspense, and other Marvel anthology titles. I quickly learned that it did not bode well for someone if they were too rich or too greedy and appeared on a Ditko splash page. Of course, it was always to be their own actions that caused their bad endings. And we often saw their reaction to that. Ditko, who seems never to have worked from a finished script at Marvel, took an outline by Stan Lee and created a unique mood, style, and story line for one of the greatest characters in fiction. Not just in comicbook fiction, but in popular fiction. Few others created as much emotional impact in their work, an effect often due to his expert pacing. Ditko made Spider-Man complex and compelling. It was truly a one-of-a-kind artistic achievement. Like Clark Kent, bespectacled Peter Parker worked for a great metropolitan newspaper and was interested in a co-worker. But that’s where the similarities end. Parker was a character no one had seen before. To Peter Parker it wasn’t a day job. He didn’t punch in every day. Betty Brant was not a co-worker. She worked at the place where Peter sold his pictures. The emotional threads that Ditko wove into the story arcs were powerful and unforgettable and you never, ever thought the stories were anything like Superman… or anything else. The interactions Parker had with the cast of characters Ditko introduced made

J. Jonah Jameson had a unique vendetta against Spider-Man. In issue #10, J.J.J. admitted that, although he had money and promoted causes, he was jealous of Spider-Man, who risked his life to save people, getting nothing in return; he just wanted to do the right thing. This was complex thinking for a 1960s comic. These were mature concepts, not seen in comics since the Comics Code had been implemented in 1955. I was too young when “Doctor Strange” debuted in Strange Tales #110, and I didn’t fully appreciate it. The world therein was askew and the characters didn’t look right. Then, one rainy day years later, I reread all of his published adventures (midway through to the Eternity saga) and realized its brilliance. Ditko showed that comics were not just for kids but for adults. Doctor Strange’s powers did not come from cosmic rays, freak lightning bolts, or radioactive insects. His power was knowledge and how to use it. He read, he studied, and he practiced his profession. Strange reads the book of Vishanti in Strange Tales #120 (May 1964) to find a solution. He then visits a haunted mansion to eliminate its ghosts. This is the last time a New York City doctor ever made a house call. When “Doctor Strange” appeared in Strange Tales #110, I figured Ditko was reworking the magician idea that we had seen in comics with such as Mandrake and Zatarra. He reimagined them just as he did with the Hulk and Iron Man. I just assumed that Ditko wanted to re-work Doctor Droom, the mystic hero that had appeared in Amazing Adventures #1, who was drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Ditko. I was wrong. We know now that Steve plotted and drew that first story and then gave it to Stan. The series started off a bit slow, but interesting, as a five-page filler. Stan Lee wrote (in The Comic Reader #16, 1963): “Well, we have a new character in the works for Strange Tales, just a 5-page filler named Dr. Strange. Steve Ditko is gonna draw him. It has sort of a black magic theme. The first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him. ’Twas Steve’s idea; I figured we’d give it a chance, although again, we had to rush the first one too much.” “Doctor Strange” graduated from filler to being the first double feature of the Marvel Age because it was brilliantly done. When the segment grew to ten pages, it allowed stories to become more complex and characters to be developed. In fact, the 170-page story that started in Strange Tales #130 remains a highlight of complexity, emotion, and storytelling of the Marvel Age. It became one of the most memorable story arcs of the era and it helped usher in the concept of longer stories, which has evolved into the graphic novel. Doctor Strange was a brilliant character, magical and mystical, with no real history. As his collections have been released in Masterworks and Essentials, I have suggested to people not to read Strange Tales #115, “The Origin of Doctor Strange,” until they have finished the other stories. Unlike many other comics heroes, Doctor Strange does not have a backstory; no parents, no friends, and no baggage. Peter Parker had an uncle and aunt and had lost his parents, Superman

“A Very Mysterious Character”

(in Tales to Astonish #59, the issue preceding the “Hulk” series in that mag), we see that the cause of Banner’s transformation is simply high blood pressure. The heck with gamma rays… had he stayed away from salt, he would have been okay.

Who Was That Masked Monster? The unmasking of the Hulk, in The Incredible Hulk #6 (March 1963). Script by Stan Lee, art by Steve Ditko. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

came from another planet. Doctor Strange just showed up, just him and The Ancient One. They were just there. (Somehow, this seemed fitting for their world. Things just happened; there was no long and convoluted explanation, which comics often had.) Throughout the years, there have been discussions, among comicbook fans, on the influence of Stan Lee on the origin of Doctor Strange. In the origin story, the only glimpse we see of a history, we see that he was once a skilled but arrogant surgeon who injured his hands. He learns the mystic arts and seeks redemption for his past life and acts. Redemption was a very common theme in most of Stan Lee’s works. Daredevil, Thor, Iron Man, and so many others sought redemption. This includes Peter Parker. Stan Lee mentions in the letter’s column in Strange Tales #115 that fans felt that an origin story was necessary. My only disappointment with Doctor Strange is that the final chapter of Ditko’s epic seventeen-issue story arc, in Strange Tales #146, “The End at Last!,” leaves one with the impression of having been rushed. He was leaving Marvel and must have felt that he owed the fans a conclusion and could not leave without giving them one. Ditko seemed to be the “go to” guy at Marvel. Ditko was aware of what comics were out there and what was working and what was not. It seemed to me that if something wasn’t working right, they brought it to him to fix. Ditko was able to understand the fundamental nature of the character, and even if he changed things, Ditko kept its essence. Ditko took Iron Man out of a bulky, heavy costume and made him into the sleek, colorful jet-setting modern playboy.

Ditko gave the Hulk his anger management issues. By introducing Major Talbot he not only gave Banner an adversary but he also gave him a motivator. Talbot accuses Banner of being a communist or at least working with them. To prove that he is not, to prove that he is a loyal American, Banner now continues his research to make more weapons. We don’t feel that he is doing this absent of consequences, but he is doing it to show that he is loyal. Also, he is showing himself that while part of him may be destructive, he is also a worthwhile person, not inventing anything for personal gain, but for the good of his country. In contrast to Doctor Strange, Spider-Man had a detailed back story. This indicates that Strange’s lack of one was deliberate, for even when the stories became longer, his past was not addressed. Spidey suffered great consequences from not stopping that burglar. He lost his uncle and his aunt lost her husband. Their finances were destroyed for years. In the era of Batman and Dick Tracy where villains were misshapen, grotesque, and often looked like their evil names, Ditko took a more unsettling route. His villains look like normal people; they weren’t overly ugly with distorted features, although some did wear masks. Most of his villains—The Green Goblin, Crime-Master, Mysterio, Electro, Sandman, and even The Enforcers, looked human, but menacing. So the real villains in Spider-Man’s world could be your neighbors. Steve Ditko kept a chart on his wall that clearly outlined the Spider-Man storyline for the next three or four issues. To him, criminals were little men, almost faceless like Frederick Foswell, in Amazing Spider-Man. One of my favorite stories is “The Man in the Crime-Master’s Mask!” (issues #26-27). This was a two-part story that had me guessing for 40 pages. It’s a brilliant concept: a whodunit with a high-powered villain being someone no one even knew, and therefore no one would suspect. Years later, when I would hear these strange rumors that Ditko left Marvel over a conflict about the identity of The Green Goblin, I would also be told that Ditko wanted it to be no one we had ever seen. Ditko would never do that. He would never repeat a theme that he had just done a year earlier. For example, in #36, Norman Osborn, while holding a rifle, threatens to go after some people. I think that was a clue.

Ditko’s work on “The Incredible Hulk” was frankly incredible. He took a character whose own book had failed and made him interesting and compelling. Jack Kirby had said that he had modeled the Hulk after the Frankenstein monster. The Hulk behaves very much like that monster and is treated very much the same: an innocent haunted and hunted by people. At first, the Hulk seemed more like the Wolf Man, because he turned into an uncontrolled creature at night. The first five issues lacked consistency. It was also hard to like Bruce Banner because, like Tony Stark, he was a weapons manufacturer, a brilliant bomb maker, and a bit of a dweeb. (Whereas Clark Kent and later Spider-Man pretended to be meek and mild, Banner actually was.) In The Avengers #3, Banner turns into the Hulk when he is calm and sleeping and back to Banner when he gets upset. When Dick Ayers drew the Hulk

And This Guy? The Crime-Master is unmasked as—nobody you ever saw or heard of before, in Amazing Spider-Man #27 (Aug. 1965). Script by Lee, art & plot by Ditko. Hard to believe that Ditko really planned to pull that stunt again with The Green Goblin, so Stan probably had his conversations with Steve a bit mixed up. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

An Essay On Steve Ditko

really didn’t change his environment. He still had Flash Thompson in his classroom, antagonistic as always, and blonde Liz Allen was replaced by blonde Gwen Stacy. Ditko probably did not want this change, because he did not want to lose his characters, so he kept them despite the change in locale from high school to college. What, for instance, was Flash Thompson, in college on an athletic scholarship, doing in the same science and chemistry classes as (science major) Peter Parker? No one held his ear to the ground to sense what the fans were thinking more than Stan Lee. Comicbooks had begun losing their adult male audience in 1945, when WWII ended. Now, on college campuses, Marvel was getting them back, as evidenced by Esquire’s choosing Spider-Man and the Hulk as two of the people who counted on campus in 1966. Stan Lee wanted to keep his characters relevant and popular in this new market. In 2015, in the Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko Four-Page Publication, Ditko clearly explains why he left Marvel in November 1965. It had nothing to do with The Green Goblin.

Graduation Day J. Jonah Jameson gives the graduation speech to Peter Parker’s high school class in Amazing Spider-Man #28 (Sept. ’65), by Lee & Ditko—or Ditko & Lee, if you prefer. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

In the New York Herald Tribune’s magazine at the turn of 1966, Stan said: “I don’t plot Spider-Man any more. Steve Ditko, the artist, has been doing the stories. I guess I’ll leave him alone until sales start to slip. Since Spidey got so popular, Ditko thinks he’s the genius of the world. We were arguing so much over plot lines I told him to start making up his own stories. He won’t let anybody else ink his drawings, either. He just drops off the finished pages with notes at the margins and I fill in the dialogue. I never know what he’ll come up with next, but it’s interesting to work that way.” There have been many articles and references over the years regarding Ditko and his identification with Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Well, he did name Doctor Strange Stephen, didn’t he? Many assume that Ditko identified with his heroes. If so, did J. Jonah Jameson, a cheap, penny-pinching publisher who insisted that all stories be written from his point of view, represent Martin Goodman or Stan Lee or an amalgam of both? Of course, if this is true, does that make Flo Steinberg the model for Betty Brant, J.J.J.’s secretary and Parker’s first girlfriend? J.J.J. was to become a direct threat to Spider-Man. Earlier, J.J.J. worked in the background to encourage villains to stop Spidey. This changed with issue #25. This was the first time J.J.J. became the actual face of a villain when he manned the Spider-Man-seeking robot. Perhaps Ditko felt that was just what Goodman and Lee were doing. But Lee and Ditko had stopped talking to each other about one year before Ditko left Marvel. He would draw the pages and send, or bring, them in for Lee to add his dialogue. By issue #35 (Apr 1966), Peter Parker is deserted by friends, threatened by unseen enemies, and feeling isolated. Steve Ditko was plotting the books by himself and there is none of Lee’s exuberance or optimism in the character or the stories. If there was any regret in Spider-Man for me, it was the way his graduation and entrance to college took place. It was common in comics to have change without really having change, to give the appearance that something is new and different but it kind of stays the same. When Parker went to college, it changed the scenery but it

Steve Ditko: “I always picked up pages from Stan, he’d tell me about anything to change, add, etc.” Until one day, he continues, “I went to the Marvel office. Silent Sol [Brodsky] handed me the pages to ink… NO comment about anything. I left with the pages. I inked the pages, took them in, Sol again took the pages from me and into Stan’s office—came out saying nothing—and I left…. I always wrote down any ideas that came to me about the supporting characters, any possible, usable story idea. At some point after they had been dialogued and lettered, I got my original, penciled pages back and inked them. That became our working system on S-M and DS. One day I got a call from Sol. The next S-M annual is coming up.… I asked myself, “Why should I do it?” Why should I continue to do all these monthly issues, original story ideas, material, for a man who is too scared, too angry over something, to even see, talk to me?...at some point, I decided to quit Marvel.” In 1975, Stan said in the Fantasy Advertiser: “Steve was a very mysterious character. When he first started he was the easiest character we ever had to work with. I used to think that if everybody was as easy to work with as Steve, it would be great. I would call him in the middle of the night with an emergency ten-page script and Steve would bring it in the very next day without a complaint. He was just beautiful. But, little by little, he became tougher and tougher to work with. After a while he’d say to me, ‘Gee, Stan, I don’t like those plots you are writing for Spider-Man.’ So I’d say okay, because I couldn’t have cared less, Steve was so good at drawing stuff, I said, ‘Use your own plot, I’ll put the dialogue in.’ So he’d do his own, and I’d switch them around, and I’d put the dialogue in and make them conform to what I wanted. Then he’d say, ‘I don’t like the sound-effects you’re putting in.’ So I told him to use his own, I didn’t mind. I’d bend over backwards to accommodate him, because he was so good and the strip was so successful. But it was like Chamberlain giving in to Hitler; the more I appeased him, the harder he got to work with. Finally, it reached the point where he didn’t even come up to the office with his artwork—he’d just mail it in. Then, one day, he said he was leaving. You now know as much about it as I do. What bothered him, I don’t know.... He’s another guy I’d take back in a minute, but I have a feeling he’d be impossible to work with.” Ditko influenced many artists, but none could ever re-create his world, try as they might. Ditko was an essential, irreplaceable part of the foundation of the Marvel Age. He was able to take a concept or character, new or old, and develop it into something completely fresh and different, even unrecognizable from its first germ of an idea. I will remember him, and miss him, for that.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 1

A Life Lived On His Own Terms

Encounters With Spider-Man’s Co-Creator, 1962 to 2017 by Bernie Bubnis

Bernie Bubnis with a cosplay Spidey at the New York Comic Con in October 2017—and, because this article is partly the story of Bernie’s long “hunt” for essence of the elusive Steve Ditko, an image of the iconic cover of Amazing SpiderMan #34 (May 1966). Thanks to Bernie for the photo, which was taken by his wife Lucille, and to the Grand Comics Database for the cover scan; note his “Comicon 1964” button. [Cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

first met Steve Ditko in 1962. The last time I saw him was October 2017, and that is where this story begins.

The New York Comic Con at the Javits Center was a circus of people. I was flipping through some original artwork stacked on two tables. Every other second, someone bumped into me, and it was getting crowded. So crowded that it started to bother me. A guy in a Spider-Man costume offered to climb onto my shoulders so my wife could get a better photo. Just take the photo with him next to me, please. I was ready for lunch. My wife and I left Javits and headed to a restaurant on West 52nd St. that we remembered from years ago (please, please make it still be there). Victor’s Cuban Cafe was, and it brought

back memories of joining a conga line led by Roberto Duran (Victor’s boxer cousin) and dancing into the night. Honestly, remembering a good moment in your life is a magic pill, and that led me to start remembering a lot of good moments with artist and writer Steve Ditko. Wasn’t his studio just around the corner? I had corresponded with him over the years, but those letters were too few and far between. My last in-person meeting with him had been in August 1964. I was growing up, and life’s responsibilities took control of my time. Our correspondence became more consistent in 2014, the year the NYCC would host a panel called “Survivors of the 1964 Comicon.” I knew he would want to be there... hey, what do I know... I’m a dreamer. He didn’t, but his handwritten letters would make me wait patiently for the next envelope from him to arrive in my mailbox (please, please make him answer his phone).

Boxed In Bernie and Lucille Bubnis at Victor’s Cuban Cafe that 2017 day—and a portrait of boxer Roberto Duran that hung there. Bernie recalls joining the fighter there in a conga line years earlier. Thanks to the Bubnises for both photos. We’re informed by Bernie that Roberto Duran “is still an icon to a lot of people. This portrait was in the bar area of the restaurant, and they were redoing the floors. When I showed interest in taking the photo, two workers built a shaky platform and then stood on it to take this photo for me. That is true love.”

His hearing is bad and he admits it. Mine is bad and I don’t admit it. My wife took the phone and let him know we would be coming by. His studio/ apartment was located at 1650 Broadway, and the entry was from West 51st Street. A guy at the front desk asked if we had an appointment and pointed us to the elevators. Before his floor, the doors opened and in steps someone I knew. “Steve, it’s me, Bernie!“ He looked confused, so my wife increased the volume, “IT’S BERNIE BUBNIS FROM THE 1964 COMICON!” He stared and said, “You look different.” I didn’t know if he was kidding, and I started laughing, “It’s been

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 1

over fifty years.” He grinned and said, “It matters.” We shook hands. I don’t think he was kidding. The reason he was on the elevator was because his studio did not have a bathroom. He had to go to another floor. Before he would let us in, he looked at my wife and said, “You can stay out here if you are going to take more pictures.” My wife had to bite her tongue and ego. Without saying a word, she pocketed her camera. I was so happy my wife loved me enough to not be herself at that moment. I wanted nothing to ruin this day. Nothing. I am so glad she took those photos. I can look at them now and remember the moments I had spent with Steve Ditko over a half century ago. I do not have any photos from the early days when I first met him. Just memories... just memories of a good man whose life intersected with the life of a lost kid. Memories of just why seeing him one last time was so important to me. In 1962 I found Steve Ditko’s phone number and address in the New York City Phone Directory. How many Steve Ditkos could there be? Worth the try. He answered and I tried to explain my call. “Why would you want to speak to me for your magazine?” I’m sure I must have said “fanzine,” but he was probably right, and I started to call it a magazine myself. I tried to explain, but I became flustered. I should have rehearsed this before I called. I started dropping names like Stan Lee and his then-secretary, Trudy Ross. Anything to keep him from hanging up, and he sure sounded like he was about to. “Do you have my address? Then make it after 10 during the week.” Gulp, he sounded like a teacher that never gave you good grades. I did not know where I would find the courage to show up.

“S. Ditko” That’s what the sign on the door of the artist’s studio door (as photographed in October 2017 by Lucille) has apparently always read—so maybe it wasn’t just Stan Lee’s idea (as some have speculated) that his early-’60s artistic collaborator use an initial instead of his first name on some stories. The above Ditko splash page from Amazing Adventures #4 (Sept. 1961) is signed thus—though other yarns during that same period are bylined either “Steve Ditko” or simply “Ditko.” Thanks to Barry Pearl for the art scan. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

New York City was an hour’s train ride from my suburban home on Long Island, but being there was like visiting another planet. Times Square cigarette billboards that blew smoke rings from their cutout cardboard mouths, buses that filled your lungs with exhaust, the taste lingering in your mouth, and 42nd Street looked like it stepped out of the pages of an EC comicbook. Ditko’s studio was in a gritty building just steps into the Hell’s Kitchen area on W. 43rd Street. I stood in front for at least an hour practicing my list of questions. I wrote and numbered them on a yellow pad. I kept

Ditko Plays Host (Far left:) Bernie watches as the artist opens his studio door from the outside in October 2017. (Near left:) Steve at the door. Notice the blue tarpaulin viewed past him. Photographer and support group Lucille Bubnis was informed that no pictures could be taken inside his studio.

A Life Lived On His Own Terms

Bernie Bubnis re-reading them and found countless reasons to delay my entry. Finally, it was now or never. I gulped and knocked on his door. He remained at his drawing board and I walked over and handed him a copy of my fanzine Comic Heroes Revisited. I had rehearsed in my mind that we would shake hands, but I nervously just shoved the book at him and tried to explain what it was. The small studio was alive with window light, which accented the flaws of my homemade effort. He flipped the pages. Why didn’t I just shake his hand and ask my yellow pad questions? I’m an idiot.

Bernie Burns Brightly In the 1960s (Left:) Circa 1964, a year or two after he first met Ditko. 1964 was the year Bernie was one of the major forces behind the first true comics convention ever. Thanks to BB for the pic. (Right:) One of the pages of the Dick Ayers-drawn story “A Spy There Was...” from The Human Torch #37 (June 1954)—scripter unknown—and Bubnis’ tracing of it for his 1962 fanzine Comic Heroes Revisited #1 (Spring 1962). Oddly, for some reason he doesn’t recall, Bernie re-paced the panels of the story as he traced it, combining parts of its p.5 & p. 6. The yarn’s Bubnis-traced splash panel was reprinted in A/E #153. [Page TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The flipping stopped at one page. “Was this in a comicbook?” It was the first page of a Dick Ayers “Human Torch” story from the ’50s. I had traced and “redrawn” the pages onto master printing sheets that allowed me to “print” the images via my spiritduplicating machine. It took some doing, since you had to trace the pages through a light machine and ignore the images on the comic’s reverse pages. Then place this sheet onto the ink-bearing lower sheet. Next, go over the images again so the ink of the lower sheet would be transferred to this top white sheet for printing. Steve just looked at me after my explanation and said, “Did you do this for fun? “ Was that a trick question? I’d done it because I wanted to show my readers a story from an old comicbook. Not everyone could afford to buy old comics. “Then you did it because you wanted to. Then that makes sense.” As it turned out, Steve Ditko was interviewing me more than I was interviewing him. For a tough-grading teacher, he was pretty easy to talk with. I had a slight accent because as a child I grew up speaking Lithuanian as a second language, the only way I could talk with my immigrant grandparents. It still lingered in my speech. He noticed and asked me where I was from. Mohanoy City is a small mining town in Pennsylvania. Steve was also a Penn native, born in Johnstown. He was thirty-five in 1962. This first meeting was more about me than about the artist of “Spider-Man.” He asked me to bring photos next time of my home town if I could find any. “Bring”? Did that mean there would be another meeting? I floated

home two feet off the ground, not sure my feet touched Earth for another week. On my next visit I brought along photos of my father and grandfather. He then did something that surprised me. He started to sketch them and the buildings in the background. He kept all sorts of sketchbooks he later used for references. I’m not sure if my relatives ever became characters in one of his stories, but my father sure belonged in a horror comicbook. Steve talked of his dad, and I could feel that he admired him a lot. I said nothing about my father that day, but Steve would learn more about him... soon. On future visits I always brought along fanzines for him to read. He really seemed interested in the dedication of fans and their publications. I also got to meet Eric Stanton, an artist who shared the studio with Ditko. At first I did not realize the type of “comics” he was drawing, but it soon became clear that these bondage drawings were not being sent to the Comics Code people. Stanton was much more expressive than Steve. He would always have a wisecrack about something. When I mentioned to Ditko that I wanted to put together an article and would have to ask him some questions, he pointed at Eric and said, “Don’t mention him. “ They both laughed, but I knew he meant it, and I never did include him in the article. More than once I saw Ditko’s art pages sitting atop Stanton’s desk. I know he inked at least some “Spider-Man” backgrounds. I thought this because I could never imagine Ditko letting anyone else ink Spider-Man himself.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 1

constant position at his drawing table. His smile slowly disappearing.

Eric Stanton Ditko’s longtime friend and studiomate (who passed away in 1999), in a photo taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Also seen is a page from his fetishistic comic Sweeter Gwen, to the inking of which Steve seems to have contributed. The photo is from Stanton’s Wikipedia entry. Thanks to Bernie B. for the Gwen art. [Page TM & © Estate of Eric Stanton.]

Stanton did not seem to have any secrets, except that he was Ditko’s secret. Eric never stopped working just because I entered. He would always talk, but made no attempt to cover up or move art, even if it was a “Spider-Man” page. Only once did I see a page on Ditko’s desk that surprised me. Years later I found out it was page 21 of Stanton’s “Sweeter Gwen” serial. Steve knew I could clearly see it, but without a word he flipped it over and never took his eyes from mine. I never said a word, but when I saw it again ten years later I then knew Ditko had helped with the inking. His style hits you like a sledgehammer. Later in their relationship, friction between the two drove them apart. When I knew them, they acted like two kids, with Steve playing the straight man to a Stanton joke. That was never more evident than the day I walked in on them and Steve was taking some heavy kidding from Eric, “Maybe she thinks you’re too handsome,” Stanton laughing, Ditko grinning with embarrassed red cheeks puffed up on his face. “Go back, this time wear a wig.” All I knew was that I had walked in on something to do with Steve’s love life, and the jabs continued for a few minutes. Until they weren’t funny any longer and Eric knew it. He tried to console Ditko now. “Hey, at least you tried. Don’t worry about it.” Ditko resumed his almost

By this time Stan Lee’s new secretary was Flo Steinberg. I learned later that Ditko asked her to lunch. She politely said no. I was only 14 at the time, but understood rejection. That day Steve Ditko had the look of a 14-year-old boy. One who just got turned down by the prettiest girl in art class. Years and years later, I asked Flo if Steve ever asked her out more than once. She said, “Probably, but times were different then. You didn’t date fellow employees.” I could not help but ask if she would have said “yes” if they did not work together. I never remember a discouraging word from Flo and this answer would be no different, “Bernie, sometimes the answer is just... no.” Sorry, Steve. I knew from my first visit, his studio was easy to find because it had his name on the door. This day I knocked a few times and got no answer. The knob turned, I slowly opened the door and entered. I saw that Steve was on the phone. He stared out the large windows by his desk and kept the phone pressed against his ear. Lots of dead silence, then a “Yes.” Another minute and then a loud “No.” He looked into the phone and yelled, “I can’t do that!” and slammed the receiver into its base. “They want everything yesterday.” He went back to drawing as if I wasn’t there. I had gotten accustomed to Steve Ditko’s wordless stares. I knew when they meant: “So...go ahead...” or “I’m busy right now.” Why waste words? He never did. That is why my article on him

Fabulous Flo Steinberg Marvel’s 1963-68 corresponding secretary poses with Bernie at the 2014 New York Comics Convention, which featured a 50th-anniversary panel tribute to the 1964 con. Photo by Lucille Bubnis; seen bigger in A/E #153. Also shown is Steve Ditko’s short letter to collector Bryan Stroud about Flo’s passing in July of 2017. In it he mentions being at the 1964 convention, sitting with Flo and listening to artist Tom Gill’s talk—a rare firsthand mention by Ditko of that groundbreaking event. Thanks to Bryan.

A Life Lived On His Own Terms

Interview With The Vampire-Drawer Bernie’s interview with Ditko as printed in RBCC [a.k.a. Rocket’s Blast Comicollector] #31 (get out your magnifying glass!). Of it, Bernie wrote Ye Ed separately: “[Editor/publisher] G.B. Love did not like my paragraph lampooning Steve’s matter-of-fact outburst after I told him Joe Kubert had given me a piece of original art: ‘I’m not giving you anything’ or something to that effect. At the time, his delivery was SOOO FINAL that I started laughing. I looked at him and made a face and said, ‘Hey, you’re sure now? You’re not going to change your mind?’ And another face, and I continued to laugh even more. I then said, ‘I didn’t ask for anything. I’m just telling you the story.’ I made another dopey John Belushi-type face and he started to smile, then actually laugh. In my article I retold this story, but my sophomoric sense of humor read more like an attack on Ditko than the good-natured kidding around it actually was. “G.B. said he would pull those paragraphs before printing. I was a headstrong a**hole, so I told him to leave it in or don’t run the piece. I never gave in, so it took him almost 10 months to go ahead and pull the paragraph and run [the rest of the piece] without telling me. I always thought that it was the best of my series on the pros. I was just another frustrated writer being pummeled by my editor. I’m sure you’ve seen both sides.

that appeared in the Rocket’s Blast #31 was so hard to write. He made me work for every word. His one-word answers begged me to ask every question twice, sometimes three times. I started to believe he enjoyed this game. We determined that his first comicbook work was “Stretching Things” in Fantastic Fears #5. I did not know it at the time, but a copy of that comicbook sat on the shelves behind us. No effort was made to display it. He always seemed surprised that anyone would care about his career. The only thing important to him was on his drawing table... that day. He spoke more of people like Jack Kirby and Mort Meskin than he did of himself. Not every visit to Ditko’s studio was a pleasant experience. My dark-framed glasses did little to hide the enormous blackened skin that encircled my right eye. The moment Stanton saw me he howled, “What happened to you? “ Ditko stared back from his desk but said nothing. Perhaps a slight grin on his face. If I knew my next comment would ignite a firestorm... no way does it come out of my mouth. “My father...” My voice just trailed off as I fought to find a better way to finish my sentence. Before I could blink, Ditko bounced from his chair and stood before me. I don’t remember removing my glasses, I guess he did, it just happened. I was shocked to see him move so quickly. I just wanted to leave. My eyes filled with tears.

“When I re-read my own words [in this piece for Alter Ego], it is painfully evident that Steve started to build a lot of walls around himself post the Golden Age of comicbook fandom. Or just lost his sense of humor. [Back in the day] I had showed Steve the entire RBCC interview, complete with the offending G.B. censoring before I knew it would be removed—and we started laughing about it all over again! “I miss finding one of his letters in my mailbox. Glad I got to see him one last time. I’m not sure he ever knew how much he always meant to me. I was just a kid visiting my hero. One last time.” [Article © Bernie Bubnis; thanks to J. Ballmann for the scans.]

a Marvel comicbook. I tried to explain but no one listened. “How about your mother ? Does she know...?” I didn’t answer. I knew she knew. Ditko wanted my phone number. He wanted to know where my father worked. He was demanding answers, and there were none. None I wanted to give. Stanton calmed him down. His arms encircling Ditko’s shoulders, he whispered in his ear. I heard nothing. Nothing but the ringing in my head. Stanton’s whisper got louder and I heard, “No, no... you can’t do that.” I left without saying another word. This was not supposed to happen. I swore to myself that I would never see Ditko or that studio again.

My father chose crime first, then his family. After years of not understanding him, I started to know him too well. Age was stealing his bravado as an enforcer for a gang that terrorized the West Side of New York City. Alcohol became his confessor and his devil. Never answer him back. I learned that the hard way.

My father passed away a few months later, in May 1963. I knew I would feel uncomfortable at his funeral, so I avoided attending. New York City would be the perfect place to hide. Hide from his memory, from my family, and maybe from myself. I had to apologize to Steve for just walking out , or apologize for even showing up that day. A phone call would not work. I had to see him in person.

“Your father didn’t do this!” He examined my eye, then shook his head. “Why would he do this?” Mostly I was just some kid who stopped by his studio to say hello. Today I was forcing him to enter one of his own five-page horror stories that appeared in the back of

As if it was the first day I met Steve Ditko, I just stood outside his building, too frightened to enter. I didn’t know what I was going to say. I’m just going to say I’m sorry. Do it. Knock on the door. Do it. I entered, holding my breath. I just stood there; I still

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 1

didn’t know what to say. Like always, he was sitting at his drawing table. He saw me and said, “Did you bring any new fanzines?” He had never asked me that before. I would just put them on his desk, on top of whatever pile of paper was already there. I carried nothing. I started breathing again. At that very moment, I knew I was safe. I really believe that Steve Ditko always felt safe at his drawing board. He told me once, “I work until I’m finished.” It sure seemed that way. I know Stanton once asked him how late he worked the day before. Steve’s answer: “Way past your bedtime.” I’m glad he was there today. My planned speech was forgotten; I just told him my father died and announced that I was skipping the funeral. BANG! As easy as that... I thought. He dropped his pencil, our eyes locked, and I thought his stare would drill a hole right through my head. I backed up against the shelving on the wall and slid to the floor. He and I talked for over an hour... him telling me that I was doing the wrong thing. I should be with my family. Without family there is nothing. I told him some stories of my childhood and why I preferred to hide inside science-fiction novels and ten-cent comicbooks. He told me to be “stronger than the fears” around me, do not let the past control my future. At some point I stopped talking and just listened. He never raised his voice or picked up his drawing pencil. We just talked. It was a turning point for me, remembered moments that steered my life for years to come. I stood up, thanked him, and headed home to be with my mother. My regular visits to his studio would continue, and sometimes I would bring a guest. This day it was fellow fan Len Wein, long before he became a famous writer for comicbooks. This day he wanted Ditko’s autograph on a copy of Spider-Man. Oh my. Len buys a Spider-Man comic off the racks at Penn Station. I tell him that I don’t think Steve will sign a comicbook. Len opens the book to the first page and puts it on Ditko’s art board. Ditko does sign (in the lower border under the art), using his drawing pencil. Then... he erases it. He reminds both of us, “If you do it for one person, you have to do it for everyone. So I don’t sign for anyone.” Months later, he did reward Len with an original drawing

Along Came A Spider... The Spider-Man drawing Ditko did for an early Bubnis fanzine. We’ve printed it before, but what the hell. Thanks to Will Murray for sending this particular scan. [Spider-Man TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

of Dr. Strange, and it was signed. Len used it for the cover of his fanzine Aurora. If I had to guess, Ditko was tiring of fans visiting his studio.

“Survivors Of The First Comicon” Len Wein The late great comics writer and editor (seen at far right) and his onetime buddy Bernie Bubnis reunited for the panel to celebrate the 1964 con, on Oct. 12, 2014, at the NY Comic Con. Len’s next to early comics dealer Howard Rogofsky, while Bernie and Flo Steinberg talk near the podium. Thanks to Bernie B. for the photo.

We printed this pic from the 2014 reunion back in A/E #149, but the guys who joined forces to put on the first-ever comics convention deserve another bow. (Left to right, standing:) Rick Bierman, Bernie Bubnis, Ethan Roberts, Art Tripp, and non-attendee but major fanzine collector Aaron Caplan. Seated in the wheelchair because of an injury is Len Wein. Two of the guys are holding copies of Len’s vintage fanzine Aurora #2. Sadly, Len and Ethan have passed since this pic was taken. Photo courtesy of Bernie.

A Life Lived On His Own Terms

From “A” To “E” (Above left:) The single page of Ditko’s “Mr. A” that appeared in witzend #7, at the end of an “Avenging World” installment. Thanks to Art Lortie for this and the following art spots. [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.] (Above right:) Page 1 (of 4) of editor/ publisher Bill Pearson’s parody of the strip done for witzend #7, titled “Mr. E.” Pearson later wrote, in a witzend collection, that he had “hated publishing that ‘Avenging World’ diatribe.... I really debated with myself about running ‘Mr. E,’ but just had to offset Ditko’s strong positions.” This is not, of course, the time or place to debate the decision of an editor to write and publish a parody of a contribution to a magazine originally devoted to allowing artists and writers to copyright, control, and showcase their own creations without the interference of the “big boy” editors and publishers. [TM & © Bill Pearson & Tim Brent; quote © Bill Pearson.] Of the “Mr. E” piece, Bernie writes: “It was a solid shot at Steve, and I wrote him about its appearance. I remember his reply to me being something like, ‘I have become a target.’ His words made me feel that ‘satire’ can feel like an ‘attack’ to the person being lampooned. I never forgot how sad he sounded in that letter, but we never discussed it again... until I reminded him of that issue of witzend in 2014. To my surprise, he needed little help in remembering it forty years later. I have attached his response. His ‘etc.’ (I think) refers to another person who helped with the [‘Mr. E’] strip. Either Steve threw nothing away, or his memory got better with age. He sure remembered that two people did the strip.... I always felt [the ‘Mr. E’ strip] was part of a turning point that pushed Steve further away from fandom. Not that he ever needed too much help.” Ditko’s 2014 letter, reprinted above (re-formatted into one paragraph), reads: “Bill Pearson’s editorial policy, competence wasn’t up to Woody’s. Pearson’s, etc. Mr. E was just publicly, humiliating confession that he couldn’t tolerate comic book fiction he did not like. He even violated Woody’s policy - Pearson asked me to contribute something, then rejected what I did: IN PRINCIPLE. —Steve”

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 1

Trudy, Madly, Deeply Trudy Ross was the secretary who, in the latter part of 1962, briefly preceded Flo Steinberg as Stan Lee’s secretary—and, incidentally, the person who had suggested to Bernie Bubnis that he might try looking up Steve Ditko’s phone number in the NYC directory (which he duly did). To try to help us out with regard to info about Ms. Ross for A/E #153, Bernie dropped Ditko a line: “I asked him if he could remember a Trudy Ross at Marvel. He answered [on 2-27-18, about four months before his death] and took a parting shot at his former employer. Mr. Ditko has left the building.”

Somehow, in early 1964, I trapped myself into a dangerous corner. Numerous attempts by my fandom friends to organize a “convention” devoted entirely to comicbooks would always hit a brick wall. Well, I decided to finally break that wall. Unfortunately, I decided to use my head instead of a hammer. Ouch. Fellow 1964 Comicon organizer Ron Fradkin told Steve our plans and he agreed to attend. His only request was that he did not want to give a speech or appear as a speaker of any kind. We just wanted him there. Period. Thank you, Mr. Ditko. Just show up... please. The original location for this event was to be a YMCA in Newark, New Jersey. Ethan Roberts knew that was a mistake and offered his father’s union hall in lower Manhattan as a substitution. This last-minute change confused a few people (no kidding), so I wanted to make sure Steve had the new address. I knew this Ditko stare. Holy crap. He told me he had a new deadline and would not be able to attend. Holy crap. We’re gonna hit that wall. You can’t say you’re coming and then change your mind. You can’t do this. Everyone we thought would attend has said no. Kirby, Schwartz, Gil Kane, you name ‘em. No one thinks this is real. You can’t do this. I never asked you for anything. Please, please, you’ve got to help us. He sat quiet at his desk and watched as I begged. I must have gone on for a solid ten minutes. He said nothing. It was over and I knew it. I opened the door to leave. As I closed it behind me I heard, “I’m sorry...” So was I. Our plans went ahead without him. Tom Gill, the Lone Ranger artist, had guaranteed us that he would attend. He really was the only professional who took us seriously. Stan Lee sent over a knowledgeable (sort of) intern editor named Dave Twedt. At least this thing wasn’t going to be in someone’s basement. We were at least driving around that brick wall. To this day I cannot forget the sight of fifty heads turning in unison as the hall’s closed doors opened loudly during Twedt’s speech. A guy in a white T-shirt entered and grabbed a seat in the last row. Twedt kept his poise and introduced Steve Ditko to the crowd.. No introduction was necessary for anyone in that room. Every mouth dropped open at the same time, and we all knew that brick wall was gone forever. Ditko had put that deadline on the back burner and decided to ensure that this would be the very first Comic Con. He was joined later by Flo Steinberg. I lost a summer job because I attended my own convention.

No days off, kid. I spent all my money on ads and postage for hundreds of handwritten letters begging people to attend. Instead of accepting a no from Julius Schwartz, I said something stupid and he physically threw me out of his office before refusing to attend. It gets worse. One of the attendees was writing an article listing all the mistakes we made at the con. Put them all together and I was wearing my depression like a prison jumpsuit. A week after the comicon, I knew I had to thank Ditko for attending. He hated the spotlight, but remained for the entire day. I also wanted him to see some of the artwork that fans like Buddy Saunders, Alan Weiss, and Ronn Foss had contributed for the planned “after-con” convention fanzine. Trouble was that by this time I did not have any interest in printing this zine. All I wanted to do was feel sorry for myself. I told him how I felt. Steve Ditko’s studio was the wrong place to feel sorry for yourself. Here it comes: Originally, Ditko provided me with two pencil sketches for a once-proposed photo-offset progress report for the 1964 convention. At this point, the only comicon fanzine would be a much less expensive spirit-duplicator version. I told him I could not use them and perhaps I would just forget about a con zine of any kind. Wrong answer, and this was the only time I heard him raise his voice: “DO NOT GIVE UP. YOU TELL PEOPLE YOU ARE GOING TO DO SOMETHING—THEN DO IT. DON’T MAKE EXCUSES. WHATEVER YOU DID—YOU DID. GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE. “ He asked me what process I was going to use to print this zine. When I told him ditto, he said to get him two masters and he would draw directly onto them. It was a lesson I never forgot, and I replayed his words in my mind whenever I felt burdened by a task in the future. Fifty years later, I reminded him in a letter just how important his advice had been to me. Soon after, Robin Snyder told me that Steve wanted him to print that letter in their fanzine The Comics! I thought it was too personal and offered to rewrite it for use in a later issue. In October 2017 it was one of the first things we talked about. He told me that most people do not take advice. We laughed when I told him that he screamed the advice at me, I was afraid not to listen. He did add, “No one is going to change another and no one is really responsible for another individual’s behavior.” Steve lived his life on his own terms. I’m sure I am not the only person who is stronger for having known him. I will miss him. I will always hear his voice, “Get on with your life.” I did... thanks to advice from my pal Steve Ditko.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 2

Two Visits To STEVE DITKO’s Studio/Sanctum Sanctorum by Russ Maheras

wrote my first letter to Steve Ditko in early 1973, while I was still in high school. It was the typical letter a budding fan-artist might send a seasoned professional comics artist back then— full of effusive praise, capped with a request for some secret kernel of artistic knowledge that would magically transform overnight a fan’s crude artistic efforts into professional-level artwork. Ditko did his best to answer, giving what was, in retrospect, a solid list of advice.

Russ Maheras circa 1973, around the time he first met Steve Ditko— juxtaposed with an anonymous but skillfully done homage composed of samples of Ditko’s 1960s super-hero work, which appeared online shortly after the artist’s passing: Charlton’s Captain Atom and Blue Beetle—Marvel’s Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and Nightmare—and DC’s Creeper. Thanks to Russ for the photo, and to Michael T. Gilbert for sending the homage. [Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, & The Creeper TM & © DC Comics; Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and Nightmare TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Two years later, I wrote him again, and this time I asked if I could stop by his studio for a visit when I was in New York City later that year. He politely declined, and I pushed that idea into the dustbin of history—not realizing that 28 years later my request would become a reality. More than two decades passed before I wrote Ditko again, in 1997. In the interim, I joined the Air Force, learned to be an aircraft avionics technician, got married, had kids, opted to be a career Airman, traveled and lived abroad for nearly a decade, earned a bachelor’s degree, retrained into public affairs during the early 1990s military drawdown, kept drawing, and kept publishing my fanzine, Maelstrom. In fact, my third letter to Ditko was a request for what I knew was an extreme longshot: an interview for an upcoming issue of my zine. Again, he politely declined. I wrote a few more letters during the next two years about nothing in particular—including a couple while I was stationed in the Republic of Korea in 1998. In one of them, I included some terrifically supple Korean-made brushes that were ridiculously cheap, but feathered ink like a Winsor & Newton brush costing 30 times as much.

In 1999, I retired from the Air Force, published Maelstrom #7, and dutifully sent Ditko a copy. Our correspondence continued off and on until 2002, when I started preparing a Steve Ditko article for Maelstrom #8—along with a cover I drew that featured many of his more notable characters. When the issue was published, I sent him

a copy, and something about it must have struck a chord, as he sent me several letters of comment. Suddenly, our correspondence was a regular back-and-forth, and as my letters got longer, so did his. Some of his letters were 10, 12, or even 16 pages long. So when I found out I had a business trip to New York City in mid-August 2003, I figured it couldn’t hurt to call ahead of time and ask if it I could stop by his studio on the 11th. To my surprise, he said yes. What follows are the notes I made in my hotel room immediately following visit #1, followed by notes I made after my second studio visit on Feb. 11, 2005.

Visit #1 At about 2:50 p.m., Aug. 11, I knocked on Steve Ditko’s studio door. He opened it and said without introduction, “Hello, Russ,” and reached out and shook my hand. I went inside and gratefully thanked him for seeing me. I asked him where I could set down my laptop carry case and he pointed to a spot; then I asked him if he minded if I took off my suit coat, and he said, “Here, let me take that from you,” and he took my coat and hung it up on his coat rack.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 2

Letter Rip The envelope (with the “S. Ditko” return address) and letter that Russ M. received from the artist dated March 11, 1973. The missive reads in full: Dear Russ, All the work I did in the 50’s, 60 etc are filed away – too much trouble to check. No, I’m not interested in autographing old or new issues. You don’t have to use any pen – used what you believe does the job you want – that produces the effect you want. There are art books on pen & ink techniques. You can experiment with them and the various penpoints or stay with the brush. You’ll have to decide what works best for you. “ADVISE”!? Okay, Drawiang, inking begins with the mind. You have to think about what you are doing – How “ “

“ it

Why “ “

“ it

What is the best way of doing it “ are your weak points “ “

“ strong “

How to correct the weak points What this line is for “ that black is meant to convey etc, etc, etc. If you do something that looks good, right – know why. “ “ “ “ “ “ wrong, work on it till you understand what is wrong & what is the right way. You can’t just start with the “best” – you start with the one that will hire you. Regards, Steve

He works out of a small office on the seventh floor of an old 12-story office building, and has been there about six years. The long, narrow office consists of two rooms. The one closest to the single door leading to the office is like a small hallway, and contains a wardrobe and coat rack. This short hallway leads to the rest of the office, which measures about eight feet wide by 20 feet long. At the end of the room is a large window overlooking 51st Street. On both sides of the main room are low bookshelves neatly filled with books, magazines, and boxes filled with paper and other items. There are many books about philosophy of all kinds. Above the shelves, neatly taped on the walls, are various art proofs, philosophical charts, magazine excerpts and other material. Proofs include the covers for Avenging World, The Mocker, Static, and various Ditko Packages. No original art is evident. Also taped on the wall are the addresses for people he regularly corresponds with, such as Robin Snyder. He apparently is a regular reader of The New York Post, as there is a small stack of them piled on a bookshelf. He has two drawing/work areas in a squared off work space next to the window. One, which, because of the way the light enters through the window, looks like his main workspace, is along the

east wall. The shelves above this workspace are filled with many small boxes and containers full of his art supplies. There are a wide variety of multi-color markers, pens, and other supplies. The second flanks him to the right, and extends from the west wall to the east, leaving a three-foot space with which to enter the workspace from the main part of the room. He also has a wheeled office chair with several layers of home-made padding material on it. The office door is just across the hall from the elevators, and looks like the rest of the doors in the hall, except that his studio door has “S. Ditko” painted on it. Steve is a fairly thin, gray-haired older man. His thinning hair is combed back, and he wears narrow-frame glasses. That day, he was wearing a short-sleeved soft-plaid shirt (with pocket) that buttoned up in front, a white T-shirt, and slacks. He stands nearly erect, and appears in excellent health. He’s alert, moves deliberately, and has no signs of any age-related issues. His hearing is fine, and his mind seems very quick and very sharp. He is a friendly, articulate and affable man, who, while he may have strong opinions (as do I), is still easy to talk to. He listened carefully to what I said, and if he agreed, nodded or affirmed his agreement. If he disagreed, he would say so and explain why. We stood and talked until 5 p.m. At one point, about a half hour into our talk, I asked if he would like to sit down. He quickly said, “No, I sit too much.”

A Package Deal By the time Russ Maheras finally met Ditko in 2003, the fabled artist’s major output was the “Package” publications he produced in conjunction with his friend and publishing partner Robin Snyder, such as 2000’s Steve Ditko’s 176 Page Package, which featured “Mr. A” and “Kill-Joy.” [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

Two Visits To Steve Ditko’s Studio/Sanctum Sanctorum

A Trio Of Immortals Three comic-art favorites of Ditko—and of his contemporaries and predecessors—were: Harold R. Foster, writer/artist of King Features’ Prince Valiant (as evidenced by this panel from the 3-28-43 strip)… Burne Hogarth, whose reprinted Tarzan comic strip art graced the cover of United Features Syndicate’s Sparkler Comics #31 (March 1944)… …and Alex Raymond, whose Sunday-resplendent Flash Gordon is seen fencing with Ming the Merciless in a classic scene from the 1930s. [Prince Valiant & Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.; Tarzan TM & © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]

He reads voraciously and said he goes to the library regularly. He gave me a book by Ben Stein called The View from Sunset Boulevard (Basic Books, New York, 1979), which analyzes how a relatively small group of Hollywood creators view the world of business, and how their well-meaning but seriously distorted view is regularly foisted upon tens of millions of American television viewers each night in the form of prime-time sitcom and adventure shows. This is the same Yale-educated Ben Stein who is a successful columnist, and also creator of the offbeat game show Win Ben Stein’s Money, which has won seven Emmys. Ditko said he still draws. He also said he has lots of ideas, but no real outlet to sell them to. He said editors regard his work and the work of other older artists as old-fashioned. “They think we’re dinosaurs,” he said. When he was going through art school, he said he had to work very hard to improve his artwork. He said there were people all around him who could draw better, but they didn’t make it in the business because they didn’t keep at it—didn’t persist. At first, he said he was rejected by all the comicbook publishers—there were about 13 or so in the early 1950s—but he kept at it. Regarding the aborted book about Ditko that was to be published by Eclipse in the 1980s, Ditko said the company had the entire book already written before they came to him for possible participation. After he agreed to assist, they went back and started unilaterally writing more—interviewing his brother and other people. Ditko said, “It was at that point I said, ‘Forget it!’” He said he uses a Winsor & Newton #3 and a Hunt 102 crowquill for drawing. I asked if he modifies the crowquill tip by sanding it with emery cloth, etc., and he said he does not. Ditko said he thinks Gary Groth might be a Fabian Socialist, and appears to be an adherent of George Bernard Shaw and others—except that he seems to like some aspects of capitalism when it suits him, such as his Comics Journal and Fantagraphics enterprises.

A while back, Ditko said an editor contacted him to draw a “Batman” story for DC. He got the script and the writing was such that he said you could have cut Batman out of the story and inserted someone with a business suit or any other character, and it wouldn’t have made any difference. There was nothing in the story that was uniquely Batman. He told this to the editor, and the editor said he’d get a different writer to do the story. The second story arrived and it was even worse than the first. Ditko said he liked illustrators such as Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth, and Alex Raymond, and added that he liked the old, large-sized Sunday comics pages. He said he does not like the small strips of today. Someone phoned while I was there, and whoever it was, they apparently check up on Ditko every day. Ditko said Wallace Wood (Woody) seemed to have been his own worst enemy at times. Said he loved the way Woody inked his stuff. Said emphatically that Woody could ink his work any day. Said Frank Giacoia was a great inker. Said people have trouble inking his work because his penciling is so loose. He said Joe Kubert and Woody were the same way. He said he read a copy of the book The Intellectuals: A Controversial Portrait (The Free Press, Glencoe, Ill., 1960), until it fell apart. Found another used copy recently and is starting to break that copy in. Spider-Man was an angst-ridden anti-hero with problems, and Ditko saw that, as the character progressed, Spider-Man was being saddled with more and more flaws and problems. He said he knew that, as more time passed, Spider-Man would eventually become unrecognizable as a hero. He said this in response to my comments about some of the strange incarnations Spider-Man has undergone over the years, such as Venom. He saw the (first) Spider-Man film. He has mixed feelings about it and said it was too dark a film. Also did not like its portrayal of the military and businessmen. He talked about the Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serials and other serials such as The Shadow with Victor Jory, and noted how the actors said that, despite the young audience for such fare, they always played their roles straight. This is not what happened with the 1960s Batman TV show or The Shadow movie. They did not respect the material and played it for laughs. I said that kids can see right through material that is not taken seriously by its creators, and Ditko emphatically agreed.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 2

The Lay Of The (Ditko) Land A photo taken by Russ Maheras in February 2005 of the building on West 51st Street in Manhattan in which Steve Ditko kept his studio—and Russ’ drawing of the layout of that studio. [Drawing © Russ Maheras.]

did.

I asked if he read the pulp Doc Savage and he said he probably

He had not seen the film Daredevil, but someone had written him and said it was a very dark film. He said comics today don’t have heroic characters anymore. They are too dark. He said that many of those who criticize the philosophical aspects of his work know almost nothing about philosophy in the first place. He loves to work with wash. Regarding the shading, he said he would visualize the image he was planning to draw and then do it. The story “K,” which he drew with Duotone shading for the magazine Mad Monsters #1, was supposed to be shot by Charlton as line art, but they goofed and screened it like a photo instead. The results, he said, were terrible. The story had Frank Sinatra at the end of it. At just after 5 p.m., while in the middle of a sentence, he suddenly paused as if some mental alarm clock had just triggered. His head turned toward a small clock on top of a bookshelf as if to confirm the time, and he politely ended our meeting. I asked him if he would like to go somewhere to eat dinner, and he said no thanks, “There are too many distractions—people with cell phones and things like that.” He got my suit coat from the coat rack, handed it to me, and escorted me to the door. As I waited for the elevator, he stood at the door and we talked until it arrived. We shook hands and I departed.

Visit #2 On Friday, Feb. 11, 2005, from 2:40 p.m. until 5 p.m., I made my second visit to Steve Ditko’s studio on 51st and Broadway in Manhattan. For this visit, after much thought, I decided to bring a stack of dozens of publications, from all genres, spanning Ditko’s

career—many with Post-It note tabs to flag a story or piece of art I was hoping to discuss. I also brought along a personal collection of Ditko-drawn fantasy stories that, as a young fan, I had torn from various reprint comics and then stapled together into thick “annualsized” volume. I had no way of knowing how Ditko would react to my request to go through the stack, but to my delight his interest was piqued, and he graciously agreed. He spent more than an hour flipping through the material, re-analyzing it, making comments, and reflecting. I believe he really enjoyed the entire exercise, which jogged his memory about a wide variety of topics. And, as an added bonus, once the visit concluded and I was back in my hotel room furiously scribbling out page after page of notes about my visit while everything was still fresh in my mind, the stack of material helped me remember many more comments and anecdotes than I probably would not have remembered otherwise. Initial impressions: Ditko was wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with blue pin stripes. He still seems in great health. His eyesight seemed excellent, and he moved spryly. He seems very alert, has a great memory, and is very aware of current events. When I arrived, he was listening to a lite rock station on the radio. He said he liked doing the five-page fantasy stories for Marvel. Stan Lee didn’t want fancy science-fiction costumes, because he wanted the focus to be on the people, rather than the hardware, so Ditko put his astronauts in T-shirts. Lee would never describe a monster for a story he wrote. He’d leave the look totally up to the artist. This is why the monsters drawn by Jacky Kirby, Ditko, and Don Heck are all distinctively different. While looking at the story “I Wore… the Mask of Drothor!,” he chuckled approvingly at the sight of the splash page, after which I mentioned it was one of my all-time favorite Marvel Monster splash pages. When he saw the story “The Creature from the Black Bog!” he said, “I think Larry Lieber scripted that one.” He said Joe Gill took the screenplay of Gorgo and adapted it.

Two Visits To Steve Ditko’s Studio/Sanctum Sanctorum

was setting up Osborn, which is why his son Harry Osborn was introduced as Peter’s classmate in college. The Green Goblin face was based on a medieval goblin/ gargoyle one might see on an old building. Norman Osborn’s first appearance was at a club with J. Jonah Jameson, and he was unnamed. I asked Ditko about Osborn’s unique hairstyle, and he said he wanted a look that was distinctive and different to set Osborn apart from other characters. He added that such clarity was an important part of the story communication process. The three-part story arc in Amazing Spider-Man #31-33, where Aunt May is dying, was intentionally designed to occur just as Peter Parker started college—for maximum dramatic effect. The robots in Amazing Spider-Man #37 were designed to be a step ahead of robot designs from that period. The name “Stephen Strange” was Lee’s idea. “It was Stan’s little joke,” Ditko said, adding that he never would have used his own first name for Dr. Strange. Ditko said he did, however, occasionally work the names of people he knew into stories.

“Astronauts In T-Shirts” Steve was quite literally correct in using the above phrase, because, in the Lee-Ditko story “The Secret of the Universe!” in Amazing Adult Fantasy #11 (April 1962), the “pilot” of an interstellar trip did indeed wear a T-shirt!

His adaptation impressed Ditko. “The Question” lettering was done at Charlton on a giant typewriter. The artwork was actually rolled in like an oversized piece of typing paper. The “Spider-Man” story development in the early stages of his collaboration with Lee went as follows: Ditko and Lee would have a story discussion. Ditko would leave, pencil out the story, and then, inside the panels, he’d write in the “panel script” (suggested dialogue and narration). He’d then bring it back in to Lee. They’d discuss the story from start to finish, Ditko would annotate changes outside the panels, and then Ditko would leave. Lee would then write in the final dialogue and the book would be lettered. Ditko would come in, take the pages back, and then make any changes during the inking process. Ditko said Lee wanted a Spider-Girl after just a few issues. He had no long-term vision for Spider-Man. He never thought about what he would do with the characters from one issue to the next. He’d just say, “Let’s make Attuma the villain,” and Ditko said he would have to talk him out of it. Ditko said he started doing the plots all by himself “around issue 18 or so.” At around that same point, he said Lee stopped talking to him, so he plotted the remaining issues in his Amazing Spider-Man run with no input from Lee. Ditko said the credits should not have read “Written by Stan Lee.” They should have read: “Dialogue by Stan Lee.” Ditko said he was absolutely going to make Norman Osborn The Green Goblin. He

Gorgo Go-Go!

Joe Gill

Ditko’s splash page for the Charlton-published Gorgo #1 (officially dated “1960”), re-telling the story of the film that came out in 1961! Steve was quite admiring of the script/adaptation by Charlton writer Joe Gill (seen at left in his later years). The artwork is repro’d from the Yoe Books/IDW hardcover Ditko Monsters: Gorgo!, which reprints the entire comics series. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

What A Revoltin’ Development The Molten Man Was! Steve Ditko related to Russ Maheras how he would have to talk editor/scripter Stan Lee out of using far-out super-opponents like Sub-Mariner’s sub-sea foe Attuma. Perhaps the most outré they got—though this was after Ditko was being credited for all the plotting—was The Molten Man, in Amazing Spider-Man #28 (Sept. 1965)—well, unless you count Dr. Strange in Strange Tales Annual #2! Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 2

Ditko said he used to have a whole collection of National Geographic magazines on hand for reference. He also had a file containing reference material for every part of the world. For example, he said he used a photo reference for a Tibetan monastery window he drew in a “Dr. Strange” story. However, he did not always use the reference material he gathered. One time, he said he assembled some material for a story and then started drawing. The next thing he knew, the story was done, yet he hadn’t even glanced at any of reference material. “I’d let the story flow and it would sometimes draw itself.”

He said he used to commute to the city on a train with Charles Nicholas, who created the original “Blue Beetle.” Ditko said when he was drawing the new “Blue Beetle,” he tried to work Nicholas’ name into a story, but it never happened.

because the deadline was so tight, there was no way he could draw the story in pencil, and then ink it. While flipping through the Eerie story titled “Collector’s Edition,” he said the engraving-style artwork in the story was an experiment in black-&-white rendering. The technique on the “eyes” was done with white Zip-a-tone. While looking at the “Isle of the Beast” story in Eerie #9, Ditko said, “That was a weird one.” As he looked at various Creepy and Eerie pages, I asked him how he came up with some of the amazing panels he drew, and he said he let the drawings guide themselves. While looking through one of the Amazing Spider-Man books, he said the same thing regarding a long fight scene that was infused with very skillful choreography. He paused, looked at the scene, and gave it a satisfactory nod. While he was looking at Beware The Creeper #1, I asked him about the origin of the character, and Ditko said The Creeper was his idea. He said the same when we got to the “Hawk and Dove” books. The characters were his idea. The judge was supposed to be the central character, but because writer Steve Skeates was a “young radical” at the time, he was not a good fit for the book. On the book 3-D Substance, he tried to give Jack C. Harris some input about the reproduction and layout development of the book, and Harris said, “I don’t need your input.”

When asked about the wordless “Mr. A” story in Martin Greim’s fanzine Comic Crusader Storybook, Ditko said that the reason there was no dialogue or narration is because he thought enough fans were familiar with Mr. A by that time that they’d be able to follow such an experimental story. Regarding the first “Mr. A” story that appeared in witzend, Ditko said that Bill Pearson didn’t want to use it, possibly because he didn’t like the philosophy of the strip. Ditko added that’s probably why Pearson did the “Mr. E” take-off of Ditko’s character. witzend creator Wallace Wood, who was a great friend and collaborator of Ditko’s, apparently intervened, and the “Mr. A” was published. Ditko said that the “Who dares…” pulled quote on page 1 of the comicbook Mr. A #1 was not written by him and was added without his knowledge. He added that the typeset text was originally hand-lettered, and also used without his knowledge. Ditko added that he had lettered the first story. I asked about the perceived similarity between Mr. A and The Question. Ditko said that, in his mind, the two were unrelated. Mr. A first appeared in witzend, and The Question was just a super-hero in regular clothes. While Ditko was looking at his wash story in Tomb of Dracula (magazine) #2, he mentioned that the wash reproduction was terrible. Pointing to a few panels, he said, “There’s nothing there!” He went on to say that the only reason he did the story in wash was

The “Norman” Conquests Although Norman Osborn wasn’t introduced by name until the panels seen below from Amazing Spider-Man #37 (June 1966), Ditko always maintained that Osborn had actually been introduced, though unnamed (and clearly without speaking any dialogue, even anonymously), in the above panels way back in ASM #23 (April 1965). Stan said on several occasions that Steve had wanted The Green Goblin to turn out to be someone the reader had never seen before, but it’s quite possible that he was there confusing the Goblin with Crime-Master. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Two Visits To Steve Ditko’s Studio/Sanctum Sanctorum

books for DC or Marvel sold as well. He said he had too many “silent fans”—people who said they were fans, but did not buy his books. He added, if his books don’t sell, why should a company hire him to draw for them? After all, a business is a business. Although he did qualify that with the statement, “They are expensive, though.” At one point during the conversation, I said, “I’m going to ask you something, and you can tell me to shut up if you want to, but is the reason you don’t attend conventions like the one at San Diego due to money concerns? I mean, I’ll fly you there so you could attend.” He replied emphatically, “No, no. That’s not it at all!” At one point he said, “I don’t get out much.” He also said that he’s one of the few creators from his generation who is still around. While going through the stack of publications, I mentioned that I had missed a lot of 1980s comics because I had spent most of the decade stationed overseas. Without missing a beat he quipped, “You didn’t miss much!”

Don’t Say “A” Word! The second page of the mostly-wordless “Mr. A” story from Martin Greim’s celebrated Comic Crusader Storybook, which featured contributions from pros and fans alike. Thanks to Bill Schelly. [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

I found it curious when, during the course of one of our side conversations, Ditko said he believed he didn’t have a set style, and that it changed with the type of story he was working on. He said he believed this differentiated him from someone like John Severin, whose style he believed to be more distinctive. I replied that I can always recognize the Ditko style. He mulled what I said, but did not respond, and the conversation moved elsewhere. In retrospect, Ditko is not the first professional artist I’ve run across who does not appear to realize just how strong his/her artistic style is, and that there are those of us who can spot such individual styles almost immediately. Several people regularly write to him. A friend sent him a tape of the 60 Minutes television episode about Stan Lee. Someone he knows well called him while I was there. They had a brief, friendly conversation. He received a second such call later on.

I asked who influenced his art, and he said there was no single major influence. He said there were so many great illustrators back then, such as Alex Raymond, and he took in all of their work. I asked him if he ever had a mentor, and he answered, “No. I always worked alone.” I asked about what I perceived as a similarity between his early 1950s work and Joe Kubert’s. I mentioned that when I was a very young fan, I sometimes got their earliest works confused. Ditko said there was no link, but he was aware of Kubert’s work at DC on “Hawkman” and “Vigilante.” At one point, Ditko related an anecdote about himself, Wallace Wood, Paul Levitz, and the comicbook series Stalker. Ditko penciled the series and Wood inked it. After the first issue was put to bed, it was time for Levitz to divvy out the original artwork between the two veteran artists. Ditko said that, because of Levitz’s experiences and/or observations involving original art among other artist team-ups, Levitz seemed to expect an argument. Ditko said he and Wood just looked at each other and said, “How about you take the pages for the first issue, and I’ll take the pages for the next one?” And just like that, it was settled. Ditko said he always enjoyed working with Wood. Ditko lamented that none of his post-Spider-Man

Wallace (Wally) Wood was a superb comics illustrator who inked Ditko’s work on the four-issue DC swordand-sorcery series Stalker, co-created by writer Paul Levitz. Seen here is the Ditko/ Wood cover of Stalker #1 (June-July 1975). [TM & © DC Comics.] The self-portrait/selfcaricature of Wally Wood is TM & © Estate of Wallace Wood.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 2

Anecdote postscript: After I returned to Illinois from New York, I contacted Levitz, who was then the president and publisher of DC Comics, and asked him about the DC comp policy, and asked whether or not Ditko should be receiving comp copies. Levitz said that Ditko should have been on the comp list, and he would ensure Ditko received the hardcover reprints of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Captain Atom. In a Feb. 20, 2005, letter to me, Ditko said that he had already received the former from DC, and the latter was forthcoming.

Too Many “Silent Fans”? That was the curse, Steve Ditko felt, that befell his later work, with many people claiming to admire his work and yet not buying Beware The Creeper or The Hawk and The Dove or his Charlton Blue Beetle—or, later, his “Starman” and Speedball the Masked Marvel—in the same quantities they’d purchased the mid-1960s Amazing Spider-Man or even Strange Tales featuring “Doctor Strange.” He never seems to have considered that Stan Lee’s scripts might have had anything at all to do with the popularity of his two Marvel successes. On the other hand, howcum DC and Marvel stuck different inkers on one of the most successful pen-and-ink artists of only a few years before, as per his “Starman” half of the cover of Adventure Comics #472 (June 1980), inked by Dick Giordano—or Speedball the Masked Marvel #2 (Oct. 1988), inked by Romeo Tanghal? [Adventure cover TM & © DC Comics; Speedball cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

He has a cassette tape recorder and a large variety of tapes. Many were objectivistic in nature. There was a VCR box stacked in a corner, so he may have access to a VCR as well. We did not discuss any objectivist topics while I was there—just comics, world events, and a little general philosophy. He told me that a “Mr. A” project was on hold right now, and that Robin Snyder was unable to publish it for some reason. That’s been the case for about a year. I gave him the book News and the Culture of Lying: How Journalism Really Works, and a near-mint copy of the Wood/Ditko comic Heroes, Inc. He was appreciative of the comic, and a few weeks after my visit he wrote and thanked me again for the journalism book, which he had already read and enjoyed. He said that DC and Marvel send him “legally required payment” for work of his that they reprint. Ditko said that Marvel sent comp copies, such as the Essentials reprints, but DC did not, with one exception: In 2000, they sent him a copy of the Millennium Edition reprint of Mysterious Suspense #1. It was a first, and he said he was surprised to receive it. But he said they did not send him the reprint hardcover books “like the recent Captain Atom book.”

Russ Maheras and the cover he drew for his fanzine Maelstrom #8 (July 2002), a tribute to Steve Ditko. [Characters TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 3

STEVE DITKO by Craig Yoe

(Originally posted on Facebook July 7, 2018)

ho had as much effect on my young life as Steve Ditko?

Actually, there were a number of people— my father, the Beatles, my Boy Scout leader, my best friends David and Linus, musician Carlos Suris who sang and talked to me about Christ, and the late-night TV horror host, Ghoulardi. But Steve was the visual artist of the bunch, and being an artist or trying to be one (or at least associating with artists) has defined my career. So, I owe Steve Ditko tremendously much. I grew up as a young kid loving comics. I assumed they weren’t created by mere mortals but by Gods like Walt Disney. In my adolescence, though, I discovered the early issues of Spider-Man and understood, because of Stan Lee’s revealing and entertaining ballyhooing of his and Ditko’s comics, that they were drawn by a flesh-and-blood person. This was at the period of time when my peers and I were supposed to start seriously thinking about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I didn’t want to be a what but a who—Steve Ditko. I wanted to draw with unabashed style, with a relatable humanity and at the same time create amazing fantasies. So I dove into comics fandom and the world of fanzines. I even created a super-hero for a zine called Wonderment where every pose and panel was swiped from my hero. I never became Steve Ditko or even made a living as a comicbook artist. I tragically failed and became instead a Creative Director for Disney, Nickelodeon, and for Jim Henson and his Muppets. But I had a Hoary Host of Hoggoth moment and realized that the latter position gave me the opportunity to just maybe meet my idol. I somewhat nervously phoned Ditko and invited him over for lunch and a tour of the Muppet Creature Shop. He nicely agreed! Our receptionist in the lobby of the grand old four-story uptown Victorian that housed Muppet headquarters buzzed me that a Mr. Steve Ditko was there to see me. I walked down the grand spiral staircase to find Ditko sitting in the theatre chairs positioned to make the waiting person look like they were sitting in the front row of a Muppet Theatre. Muralized Kermie, Piggy, Animal, and the whole crew

Jim Henson and a whole mess of Muppets. Craig Yoe worked for Henson’s company until after the Muppet creator passed away in 1990. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Craig Yoe and A/E editor Roy Thomas admiring one of Craig’s numerous fabulous hardcover reprintings of classic comicbook material, in this case a volume of his offbeat Haunted Love series. The photo was taken by Craig’s wife and partner, Clizia Gussoni, at the 2016 Heroes Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since both were Marvel-boosters from the outset in the early ’60s, the guys might just as easily have been poring over the likes of Amazing SpiderMan #1 (March 1963), whose Steve Ditko-drawn splash page is pictured above right. Script & editing by Stan Lee. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

were peering over Steve Ditko’s shoulder. The fantastic denizens assembled, including the artist, were all looking at me. I ignored the others and excitedly greeted Spider-Man’s artist creator.... STEVE DITKO! We walked around the corner for lunch. Conversation was difficult. Ditko was not unfriendly but offered terse answers to any questions I brought forth about how he liked the weather or the food or about his philosophy about creativity. After a few tries I began to see that any inquiry or opinion I myself made was met with quiet, some rigid, some disagreeable responses, no matter what the topic. I wanted to be respectful, of course, but I was increasingly uncomfortable and found myself glad when Ditko passed on dessert! Instead of pie, we soon made our way to a third location, the nearby Muppet Creature Shop. There Steve seemed relaxed and relatable as he opened up with soft-spoken but eager questions about how the Muppet puppets were made. His enthusiastic curiosity about the Muppets creativity was sincere and refreshing. Steve was enjoying himself and I was relieved. In my mind, the environment at the disheveled Creature Shop with all of the creature parts, exotic feathers, gizmos, large eyeballs, fantastic sculptures, and more was like some scene Steve might have drawn for the pre-super-hero Strange Tales comicbook, so maybe Ditko, himself a creature creator, felt more at home. Time flew and it was now quickly time to go back to the Victorian mansion/offices in order to have Steve Ditko and Jim

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 3

would love his close involvement in selecting the stories.

Henson meet each other. I honestly don’t think the two were all that aware of each other’s contributions to art and culture. I was, however, never more thrilled than when I introduced the creative titans and witnessed the magical hand that brought Kermit the Frog to life and the wizardly hand that created the art of Dr. Strange clasp! Just last week I ran across a thoughtful thank-you letter Steve sent me after his visit to Muppet headquarters. This kind gesture felt natural and not a big deal. I even had casually written a daily to-do list on the small blank space at the bottom of Steve’s note. (Yes, dumb!) I sensed we were somehow sort of becoming friends. Steve, in fact, invited me to visit his studio, which I did go to a few days later.

Steve with no hesitation begged off on all aspects, gently but firmly insisting that he didn’t own the comics from Charlton Publishing that I was reprinting and wouldn’t accept any payment whatsoever. He humorously yet quite forthrightly told me if I wanted advice I should see a priest. He did wish me the best.

Steve Ditko Was A Big Boy!

I was a little upset by Steve’s total lack of any interest in the project, but Paul Levitz, who knew and had worked with Steve as the publisher of DC Comics, told me later that this was just Ditko’s way. Paul assured me that Ditko was just being honest and I shouldn’t take anything personally.

The first page of the 4-page issue of the famous restaurant chain’s Big Boy Comics #470, apparently published in 1997 and produced by Craig Yoe’s own art shop, which was penciled by Steve Ditko and inked by Luke McDonnell. Script by Craig Boldman. [TM & © Elias Brothers Restaurants, Inc., & YOE! Studio.]

Steve’s studio near Broadway was surprisingly dark and no bigger than a small walk-in closet. The thin comicbook artist squeezed behind his drawing board and sat on the one well-worn chair in his digs. With his expressive hands he motioned me to sit on a tall stack of what looked like fanzines on the floor. At a glance I realized they were simply-produced amateur-looking propaganda from Objectivist true believers. We had a pleasant visit but I wondered about what looked like many bundles of original art wrapped in brown paper on the dusty shelves. I didn’t inquire, though, as Ditko gave off the vibe that asking about such things might be considered an invasion of privacy. After the mutual visits we kept in touch. When Jim suddenly passed and I decided to move on from the Muppets and start my own operation, I asked Steve to pencil an issue of the Big Boy Comics. Yoe Studio produced this promotional comic that Stan Lee had started in the 1950s for the hamburger restaurant chain. Steve happily accepted the assignment. Ditko appeared to very much like the idea of drawing in a humorous animation-type style. His awe-inspiring pencils showed a master storyteller at work, as did everything he ever did from his first assignments in comics to his last efforts with his publishing partner Robin Snyder. About six years ago I was asked by Greg Goldstein to start an imprint, Yoe Books, for IDW. I knew my first book had to be a tribute to the guy that inspired me to become a designer and artist in the first place. I called Steve to see if he would help me select stories for such a book. I told him I wanted to pay him for the use of the material I was reprinting and

Steve and I did still kept in touch, mostly through letters. I remember one he sent in a mid-December that shocked me a bit, it seemed so uncharacteristic. He warmly wrote to me about how he very much loved the snow, the sights, and the sounds of Christmas. Steve opined that it was his favorite time of year. The “Miracle of the Holidays,” I guess. The resulting book, The Art of Ditko (with an intro by Stan Lee extolling his stated co-creator’s brilliance) was followed by The Creativity of Ditko. (Levitz wrote the intro to that one with Ditko’s expressed blessings). I did more Ditko books—Ditko Monsters: Gorgo and Ditko Monsters: Konga. Then we published Ditko’s Shorts (a book I did with Mark Knox of Steve’s 1-, 2-, and 3-pagers that showed off his stunning storytelling chops). All along, I continued to offer Steve involvement of any kind, monetary or editorial or otherwise. He assured me he absolutely wanted nothing of the sort, but told me, “Keep doing what you’re doing!” I have kept doing such, and even today when I heard the news of Steve’s passing I was finishing up a new book comprised primarily of some of my inspiration’s stunning stories.

Art & Creativity The Art of Ditko and The Creativity of Ditko, Craig Yoe’s first two books collecting the work of the Amazing SpiderMan artist. [Art TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Speaking of stories, I always was a little wistful whenever I came to the last panel of a comicbook tale illustrated by Steve and found the words “The End.” I could never get enough of the masterful artist’s work. Now those words apply to the life of the unique genius who will never again thrill us with another new line of ink, and the words “The End” cut very deep indeed.

Up Close & Personal With Steve Ditko!—Part 4

Steve’s Secret

A Remembrance by Paul Levitz

t’s monstrously difficult to eulogize someone when they’ve made it repeatedly clear that they wish their private life to be kept scrupulously private, and to have their work judged, well, strictly as their work presents itself. A full and fair analysis of the 65-year body of Steve Ditko’s comics work I must leave to more unprejudiced scholars, but even judged on the most superficial level it’s a triumph: some of the most memorable monsters from a particularly dreary period in comics (the ‘50s); arguably the most significant single run of a super-hero comic in their resurgence (his Spider-Man leading the commercial revitalization of Marvel); the first enduring character to emerge from the indie movement (Mr. A coming out of witzend); and going on to create until, probably, his dying day. He spanned comics from the newsstand to Kickstarter, and every page he produced was distinctively his. But of all the talents he displayed in his stories as a creator, a writer, and an artist, none impressed me more than his ability to create firmament from his imagination. A Ditko fantasy world was somehow, impossibly, concrete at the same time as it was spun from wisps of ink. When his characters travelled to other dimensions, heaven, hell, or outer space, they moved with an incredibly realistic grace. The worlds built around them were utterly unreal, but solid and substantial.

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Paul Levitz This tribute by the comics writer who was, just a few years ago, the long-running president of DC Comics, isn’t really about visits to Steve Ditko’s studio… but Paul did meet with the artist in person, a number of times over the years. One of the fruits of their encounters was the Stalker sword-and-sorcery series, a page of which (from issue #1, June-July 1975) is depicted here, courtesy of Nick Caputo. The detail from a 1985 photo of Levitz is courtesy of Bob Rozakis. [Page TM & © DC Comics.]

I know this first-hand. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Steve on 18 stories, tasking his imagination to build medieval worlds, hell, a fantasy dimension, and a galactic empire, and it was always a delight to see the pages as they came in. The work was always personal, distinctive, the storytelling crystal clear, and the environments he created so deeply imagined that you could almost walk into them. Call it skill, talent, or a special gift, it was distinctively Ditko. Each world, each creature, was unique and completely unrealistically real. So perhaps he had a reason for keeping his private life private. Perhaps behind that simple door to his studio was a genuine gateway to other worlds that only he could open, whether by magic or science. Implausible, perhaps, but so was the work, wasn’t it? Maybe the secret of Steve Ditko was just a bit more complicated than we could ever imagine.

PIN-UPS 237mm

16.2

PIN-UPS

313

LEE • KIRBY • DITKO

FEATURING THE ART OF

STEVE DITKO, JACK KIRBY AND MORE! WITH WITTY WORDAGE BY

STAN LEE

Edited by

CRAIG YOE

“I keep buying books from Yoe Books as gifts, then keeping them for myself! Check it out!: YoeBooks.com” —Mark Hamill

(Above:) Ditko’s “Stretching Things” from Farrell’s Fantastic Fears #5 (Jan. 1954), recolored by Bernie Mireault in 1991. This story, scripted by Bruce Hamilton, was one of Ditko’s first! [© Farrell Publications.]

(Above:) Gilbert’s “Revenge Of The Boneless Man,” drawn in 1991 for Hamilton’s Grave Tales and published in 2005 in Atomeka’s Mr. Monster: Who Watches The Garbagemen? Color by Bernie Mireault. [© Michael T. Gilbert.]

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

First Love… by Michael T. Gilbert

Hooked on Ditko! 1959 was the year Grandma Nurock gave me a beat-up copy of Marvel’s Tales to Astonish #1. Jack Kirby’s lead story featured a mutated turtle, roughly half a zillion feet tall. Wow! Tales illustrated by Jack Davis and Carl Burgos followed. But the story that really hooked me was “I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!”— illustrated by you-know-who!

Steve Didn’t Put All His “X” In One Basket! (Above:) “The Thing from Planet X” from Tales of Suspense #3 (May 1959). Scripter unknown. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

I was seven years old. And so began my sixty-year love affair with Steve Ditko. Ditko’s art was direct and powerful, the storytelling wildly inventive and compelling. Moody black areas gave the stories solidity. Ditko’s characters were warm and ethnic-looking—a stark contrast to the cool, WASPy heroes drawn by DC mainstays like Carmine Infantino and Mike Sekowsky.

“I’ve Got A Secret!” (Above:) Ditko’s splash and final panel for “I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!” from Tales to Astonish #1 (Jan 1959). Scripter unknown. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

By contrast, the hero of Ditko’s “Poltergeist!” tale looked like a Polish peasant. In this story an investigator devoted to debunking the supernatural comes to a young couple’s house—a house apparently haunted by mischievous spooks called Poltergeists.

First Love

He’s determined to find a logical, scientific explanation for floating chairs and such. Eventually the investigator does manage to provide logical explanations for all the seemingly supernatural events. However, in a twist ending, the investigator turns out to be one of those very creatures working undercover to maintain the secrecy of his fellow Poltergeists. Ditko’s final panel, with the investigator shedding his disguise as his fellow Poltergeists cavort in the background, was a visual tour de force. Not long after, Gram gave me another Marvel monster comic, Tales of Suspense #3, with “The Thing from Planet X.” This one was signed “Ditko.” “Planet X” demonstrated that Ditko could draw space monsters every bit as well as supernatural horrors. In this tale, an evil space-plant with a hypnotic brain enslaves a group of star travelers. Ditko’s imaginative depictions of eerie space creatures, heroic astronauts, and sci-fi machinery made the futuristic terror tale come to life. This kid found it positively chilling!

Ditko’s Cold War Warrior! My love affair with Ditko took another leap when Charlton debuted a new super-hero, “Captain Atom,” in their science-fiction title Space Adventures. Issue #33 (March 1960), to be precise. It’s important to remember that there were only a handful of super-heroes on the stands in 1960, so this was a special event. Years earlier, Steve had provided inks to Simon & Kirby’s short-lived Captain 3-D comic, but this was Ditko’s first solo super-hero effort. At age nine, it hit me like a ton of bricks. In Joe Gill’s script, Air Force Captain Allen Adam was

Lemme Atom! (Top:) The relatively small splash panel form Ditko’s first “Captain Atom” story, from Space Adventures #33 (March 1960)—as re-colored later (see p. 1 for the original coloring) for a reprint issue. (Directly above:) Panel from Space Adventures #36 (Oct. 1960). Script to both tales by Joe Gill. [© the respective copyright holders.]

disintegrated in a military accident, and then reassembled as nuclear-powered Captain Atom! The Captain’s ornate uniform was a knockout. Ditko’s ability to design striking costumes was apparent even then. That talent would come in handy a couple of years later when he created Spider-Man’s iconic uniform, as well as those of a bevy of his colorful adversaries. Captain Atom was bursting with energy under Ditko’s brush. His body had muscles to spare, and Ditko’s inking made Cap’s costume look like atomic chain mail. In flight, Captain Atom resembled a glowing comet! America’s Ace Commie-Basher! One of my favorite Cap stories was Joe Gill’s “The Crisis!” from Space Adventures #40. Gill’s anti-Communist right-wing political slant was perfectly in sync with Ditko’s own politics. In the late 1950s, Russian dictator Nikita Khrushchev was America’s most feared super-villain. We kids hated that dirty Commie—and so did Captain Atom. Only, unlike us, Cap could do something about it! “The Crisis!” tells of a bald Khrushchev look-alike, Malnov, who threatens the U.S. with an array of nuclear missiles. It looks bad for the Land of the Free until Captain Atom rams right through that Soviet arsenal with his atomic body.

Another Kind Of “Rocket Science” America’s answer to the Communist Cold War threat. From Charlton’s Space Adventures #40 (June 1961). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Still unaware of Cap’s attack, Malnov threatens America with nuclear annihilation. But when an aide quietly informs the U.S. ambassador that America’s Ace has destroyed all the Commie missiles, the ambassador answers the Russkie’s threats with a single word: “Nuts!” This was a time when we kids were practicing “duck and

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

cover” exercises in school in preparation for a possible Russian atomic strike. Gill and Ditko’s story made me feel just a little bit safer. True, it was propaganda, but Ditko’s art made it first-rate propaganda. For my money, no one has ever depicted the oppressive evil of Communism more effectively than Ditko did in these stories. Decades later, when I drew an “Iron Curtain” flashback sequence for Eclipse’s Mr. Monster #2, I was inspired by Ditko’s bleak “Captain Atom” pages. But Ditko was more than a superb propagandist. He was also really, really funny! Wicked Funny! Take, for example, “Way Out, Man,” from Charlton’s Unusual Tales. Joe Gill wrote a goofy send-off of the “Beat Generation,” and Ditko ran with it. The beatniks shown on the story’s splash page are remarkable, each drawn with their own distinct facial and body types. The scene is full of life, and everyone’s having fun. Later Steve would portray such “bums” in a nastier light, as Ditko’s right-wing politics became more pronounced. Silly Ditko Beatniks would soon be replaced by sneering hippies brandishing protest signs. But this delightful tale was drawn in the more innocent early ’60s. In this story, Martians visit Earth and wind up hanging with the Beatniks. Ditko’s depictions of this kooky crowd were right out of Mad magazine. Crazy, man, crazy!

The Perfect Marvel Age: Eleven! Charlton had some decent comics, but Marvels were my favorite. When I was eleven, I scored a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 as part of a trade deal with schoolmates. Yeah, that’s right. The first “Spider-Man” story. A couple of months later, my family stopped by Grandma’s Bronx apartment, and she gave me a second copy. Bummer! And somehow a little later I found myself with a third copy.

At The Corner Of Bleecker And Barsoom? Ditko makes fun of Beatniks and Martians in the Joe Gill-scripted “Way Out, Man,” from Unusual Tales #29 (Aug 1961). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Luckily (!), I was able to quickly trade away my dupes. Each of which now go for up to a half a million in near-mint condition. Which pretty much describes how my copies looked in 1962. Oh, to have them now! But who cared about money? I had a brand new Marvel hero to discover, drawn by one of my favorite artists—the same guy who’d done such an amazing job on “Captain Atom” two years earlier. And this was just the start! For thirty-eight issues and two annuals, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko spun pure gold. I won’t belabor the obvious about their contributions to “Spider-Man.” There’s plenty of that, I’m sure, in the rest of this issue of Alter Ego. For the moment, let’s forget about Lee’s snappy dialogue, chatty letter pages, and clever integration of soap-opera elements into the super-hero stew. And while we’re at it, let’s forget about Ditko’s mastery of human anatomy, or his superb action scenes. We know all that. What made “Spider-Man” so special to me was the humor. It would pop up in the most unlikely places. Like the time that Peter’s tormentor, Flash Thompson, dressed up as Spider-Man when our hero was missing in action. It took the villain about one minute to show Flash what a poor substitute he was. Or the scene where Spider-Man’s resident tormentor, J. Jonah Jameson, thinks he’s finally defeated his wall-crawling foe, only to discover just the opposite. Seeing his gloating face crack in a beautiful three-panel sequence was priceless!

More ”Village People” Another kooky pic from “Way Out, Man,” from Unusual Tales #29, (Aug 1961). Dig that crazy spaceman! [© the respective copyright holders.]

Then there was one of my all-time favorite sequences. By now, Ditko was essentially writing the issues, with Lee supplying finished dialogue. In their story “Bring Back My Goblin to Me!,” Ditko arranged for Peter Parker (who’d lost his Spider-Man costume the previous issue), to buy a substitute at a costume shop. Unfortunately the cheap material starts to fall apart while he’s battling a bevy of crooks. How humiliating! Later, while on a pier,

First Love

our hero trips on a rotting plank and falls into the water, causing his suit to shrink! To add insult to injury, a group of kids witness the embarrassing scene. As Spidey pulls himself out of the water, the dripping hero apologizes, saying that he won’t be giving any autographs. One kid whispers to his pal, “I haven’t got the heart to tell him that we’re Human Torch fans, anyway!” As I kid I did something I almost never do with any comic, much less a super-hero comic: I laughed out loud!

Baby Steps! It’s worth noting that the boy who made the last comment was black. Lee and Ditko had been quietly integrating the strip for a while, adding a “negro” cop or background figure as the series progressed. Such scenes were very rare in comics at the time. Baby steps. Lee was a dyed-in-the-wool liberal and Ditko a hard-right conservative, but this was something they agreed on. This, in part, because Ditko believed a man should be judged by his actions, not his color. For comics, it was a welcome move forward. Dreams Of A Wannabe Cartoonist! I have a clear memory of being a bored twelve-year-old, stuck at my dad’s tailor shop after school, waiting for him to take me to Hebrew school. I entertained myself by asking one of those questions bored Marvel fans often asked themselves. Namely, who was my favorite cartoonist, Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko? I ran this over and over in my head. It was a close call, but I finally picked Ditko. Why? While Kirby excelled at larger-than-life heroes and villains, futuristic cities, and wild machinery, Ditko’s work focused on the ordinary. His people had baggy eyes, wore rumpled clothes, and lived in gritty, shabby cities. I’d seen those cities and could relate to them more than Kirby’s grand visions. I liked small. Also, Ditko showed me the beauty in ugliness. On some level I decided to do the same if I ever became a cartoonist.

Building A Better Marvel Universe! When it came to Marvel super-heroes, Ditko’s “Spider-Man” was just the beginning. Steve also drew a couple of the earliest “Hulk” stories. Issue three was the first Incredible Hulk I stumbled on, discovered in a drug store spinner rack while mom shopped at the local A&P supermarket next door. It wasn’t a Ditko issue, but Kirby’s art looked really scary. I begged mom to buy it for me, but apparently she decided 12¢ would break the bank. But, a few months later, my dad treated me to a burger and a Coke, and then let me buy a comic. And there on the stands was Hulk #6, the final issue of the first series. It was totally Ditko, and I can’t tell you how many times this kid read and re-read the issue! Later, I managed to score the second issue, featuring the evil Toad Men. Steve’s moody inks over Kirby’s pencils made this, to me, the all-time definitive Hulk. No wonder. Even Stan Lee once stated that Ditko was Kirby’s best inker. Other Marvel heroes were graced by the Ditko touch. Steve did some last-minute inking on the first Daredevil when Bill Everett missed a deadline. He also redesigned Kirby’s bulky Iron Man costume, making it sleek and shiny. To be honest, I still prefer

Double Take? No—Triple Take! Oops! J. Jonah Jameson’s triumph turns to ashes in this scene from Amazing Spider-Man #19 (Dec. 1964). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Kirby’s massive grey version, but I’m in a minority on that one. And then there was Dr. Strange.

Strange Bedfellows! “It is a great pleasure and privilege for the editors of Strange Tales to present, quietly and without fanfare, the first of a new series, based upon a different kind of super-hero…” said the splash panel caption introducing Marvel’s newest hero. “Strange” perfectly describes Doctor Strange’s debut. If you blinked, you missed it. Marvel’s newest hero was indeed introduced “without fanfare,” stuck in the back of Strange Tales, without even a cover mention. That may have been because it was one of the few early Marvel heroes that writer/editor Stan Lee didn’t at least co-create. According to Ditko, Stan asked Steve to come up with a Strange Tales backup series. Lee’s only contribution to that first story was providing finished dialogue and changing Steve’s original title, “Mr. Strange,” to the now-iconic “Doctor Strange.” Fandom first heard about it in a short statement Stan gave in a 1963 to the fanzine, The Comic Reader. “Well, we have a new character in the works for Strange Tales, just a 5-page filler named Dr. Strange. Ditko is gonna draw him. It has sort of a black magic theme. The first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him,” said Lee dismissively. Then he added… “’Twas Steve’s idea.” Marvel’s chief cheerleader wasn’t exactly gushing over Ditko’s new character. But inasmuch as the story had already been drawn, Stan agreed to give it a try. I missed that first tale, buried in the back of Strange Tales #110, but did pick up the following one. “Doctor Strange” quickly became one of my favorites—each installment drenched in deep dark shadows and other Eisner-esqe touches. Ditko, who collected Will Eisner’s ‘40s-era Spirit Sections as a kid, likely studied Bob Powell’s “Mr. Mystic” strip in the back of the comicbook-style newspaper section. Not surprisingly, there were some notable similarities between Doctor Strange and Mr. Mystic, including a talent for astral projection. Though Doctor Strange had a slow start, he proved to be an enduring character for Marvel, eventually leading to a blockbuster 2016 movie. And all because of an unassuming cartoonist who quietly labored long hours over a drawing board, creating his own special magic. “’Twas Steve’s idea,” indeed.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Excelsior! But all good things must end, and in 1966 Steve left Marvel and began freelancing for various companies. It was a shocking loss for this “Spider-Man” and “Doctor Strange” fan. Devastating! After Marvel, I found Ditko’s new comics to be a mixed bag. Steve’s art for Tower’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was terrific, and his wash-tone drawings for Warren’s Creepy and Eerie were some of his very best work. He also drew tons of art for Charlton’s spook comics. Ditko was working from other writers’ scripts on those books. There were disappointing projects, too. Dell’s Captain Atom knockoff, Nukla, and stories for ACG’s Forbidden Worlds didn’t do much for me. Both were marred by uninspired Sal Trapani inking. Ditko was always his own best inker.

Playing “Traps” (Above left:) Baron Mordo imprisons Doc in this Ditko splash page from Strange Tales #117 (Feb 1964). Script by Stan Lee. (Above right:) Doc gets trapped in a Genie’s lamp in Michael T. Gilbert’s Lee/Ditko homage from Marvel Double-Shot #4 (April 2003). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

And speaking of Captain Atom…

In December 1965, shortly before leaving Marvel, Ditko began drawing new “Captain Atom” stories at Charlton, and even updated Cap’s costume shortly thereafter. Ditko followed up by completely reinventing their venerable Blue Beetle character. I thought the new Beetle was pure genius. Ditko also introduced another crimefighting character, The Question.

Enter: Mr. A. The Question debuted the same year as another Ditko creation, Mr. A. Both The heroes were cut from the same cloth— uncompromising hard-liners out to destroy evil, not coddle it. Everything about Mr. A. was black-&-white, even his business card!

Another Spidey “Splash” Page! A literal “splash” page, this time—from Amazing Spider-Man #27 (Aug. 1965), courtesy of Lee & Ditko. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Mr. A.” was the ultimate expression of late-’60s Ditko. Steve’s pal, cartoonist Wally Wood, invited Ditko to contribute to witzend, a new professional fanzine he was publishing. There would be no pay, but Ditko could copyright his character. Ditko would own it. No editor telling him what to do,

Dr. Strange’s Grandpa? Bob Powell’s “Mr. Mystic” projects his astral self, Dr. Strange-style— only decades earlier, in the May 12, 1940, Spirit Section. [TM & © Will Eisner Studios, Inc.]

First Love

changing his words. No Stan Lee. Ditko jumped at the chance! I was sixteen in 1967 when Mr. A. made his first appearance, in witzend #3. It did not disappoint. The first story had Mr. A. refusing to help as a young killer falls to his death. A little over a decade earlier, the Comics Code had sanitized the field, so a scene like that was something of a shock. But witzend was primarily sold directly to fans, thereby bypassing the Code. Ditko’s story depicted a level of comicbook violence not seen by fandom since the mid-‘50s. I loved it! What I didn’t love was the preaching. Mr. A. was good at two things: fighting crime and proselytizing about it. After defeating the bad guy, Ditko’s hero would gas on about the nature of good and evil and so on, filling panel after panel with turgid dialogue. I put up with it because I loved Ditko’s work so much, but it felt a bit like eating spinach. It was supposed to be good for me, but I didn’t much like it. I wasn’t alone. Ditko’s later sales never matched those of his early Marvel work. Regardless, Ditko was clearly passionate about Mr. A., drawing him for over half a century, until his death in 2018. In 1967 Steve created the equally pedantic “Avenging World” series. Dozens more in a similar vein followed, many done gratis for various fanzines. If Stan Lee had been the Paul McCartney “feel-good” member of the Lee/Ditko band, Steve seemed determined that his comics would go in the opposite direction. No feuds with Flash Thompson or sticky romantic entanglements with the likes of Betty Brant or Liz Allen. Ditko’s heroes didn’t have time for such frivolities. Most of his heroes’ alter egos were no-nonsense reporters and such, straight from Ditko central casting. None had hobbies or any apparent personal life. That struck me as reflective of Steve himself, or at least the Ditko I imagined him to be. Most of Steve’s life seemed devoted to his work. No wife, no kids, just hours and hours at the drawing board.

DC And Beyond… Even without Stan Lee, Ditko kept creating new characters. The big news in 1968 was Steve’s defection to DC, with two new titles, The Creeper and The Hawk and The Dove. DC’s house ads promised great things, but the comics left me surprisingly unmoved. Ditko’s art was fine, but without Stan’s warm dialogue, the characters felt distant, wooden. Worse, the stories increasingly became excuses for Ditko’s political diatribes—cyphers delivering Objectivist talking points rather than flesh-and-blood characters. As the emotional content of his earlier work faded, I began to lose interest. Like most fans, I wanted entertainment, not lectures. In later years, Ditko’s art declined. He seemed to turn inward, depending more on stock characters, rather than drawing from life. Eventually, his work resembled crude “outsider” art, though his imagery remained wildly original to the end. At his best, Ditko was hard to beat. The comics he helped create in the ’50s and ’60s are timeless classics today. But that’s only part of the story. Ditko continued inventing quirky characters throughout his career, whether it was Shade the Changing Man, Speedball, and

“A” For Effort! Mr. A. from witzend #4 (1967). [TM & © Estate of Steve Ditko.]

Squirrel Girl for mainstream comics, or creator-owned heroes like Static, The Whisperer, Void, and Kill-Joy. Ditko made each one special. And, on a personal level, though I rarely agreed with Steve’s politics, I’ve always admired his integrity, his talent, and his work ethic.

And In Conclusion… If I’ve given short shrift to Ditko’s later career, blame lack of space. Seven pages are too few to describe a career as rich and prolific as Steve’s. More importantly, the works that most affected me were the comics I read as a kid. Nowadays, when I need inspiration, I re-read “I Know the Secret of the Poltergeist!” or “The Thing from Planet X!” and I’m instantly transported into a world of unbridled imagination—the world of my youth. Steve’s world. Great art is like that. Even though he’s gone, I’ll never forget Steve Ditko. Because, no matter how old you are, you never forget your first, great love. Till next time…

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ALTER EGO #153

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Golden Age artist FRANK THOMAS (The Owl! The Eye! Dr. Hypno!) celebrated by Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt’s MICHAEL T. GILBERT! Plus the scintillating (and often offbeat) Golden & Silver Age super-heroes of Western Publishing’s DELL & GOLD KEY comics! Art by MANNING, DITKO, KANE, MARSH, GILL, SPIEGLE, SPRINGER, NORRIS, SANTOS, THORNE, et al.! Plus FCA, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Unsung artist/writer LARRY IVIE conceived (and named!) the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, helped develop T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, brought EC art greats to the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and more! SANDY PLUNKETT chronicles his career, with art by FRAZETTA, CRANDALL, WOOD, KRENKEL, DOOLIN, and others! Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

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ALLEN BELLMAN (1940s Timely artist) interviewed by DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO, with art by SHORES, BURGOS, BRODSKY, SEKOWSKY, EVERETT, & JAFFEE. Plus Marvel’s ’70s heroines: LINDA FITE & PATY COCKRUM on The Cat, CAROLE SEULING on Shanna the She-Devil, & ROY THOMAS on Night Nurse—with art by SEVERIN, FRADON, ANDRU, and more! With FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Golden Age artist/writer/editor NORMAN MAURER remembered by his wife JOAN, recalling BIRO’s Crime Does Not Pay, Boy Comics, Daredevil, St. John’s 3-D & THREE STOOGES comics with KUBERT, his THREE STOOGES movies (MOE was his father-inlaw!), and work for Marvel, DC, and others! Plus LARRY IVIE’s 1959 plans for a JUSTICE SOCIETY revival, JOHN BROOME, FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY and more!

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“I Did But See Her Passing By…”

Part XI Of JOHN BROOME’s Memoir My Life In Little Pieces

“I Love Paris…” (Above:) We know we just printed the entirety of this photo back in A/E #149, when this serialization of John Broome’s memoir began, but it’s one of only two we have of Peggy from a 1946 picnic in Gaylordsville, Connecticut—either on July 6 (according to Julie) or on Sept. 28, as per John’s daughter Ricky Terry Brisacque. (L. to r.:) John’s friend, DC editor, and sometime pulp agent Julius Schwartz, Peggy & John Broome. Whatever the precise date, it was clearly warm enough for the guys to wear T-shirts! From the Julius Schwartz Collection. (Right:) It’s not exactly one of the “departments [= provinces] of France” that Peggy used to count instead than sheep when trying to fall asleep… but this “underground canal” beneath the streets of Paris, with its night club full of so-called Apache dancers, will have to suffice. This page, like others reprinted in recent issues, is from the Flash chapter of the “Justice Society of America” adventure “The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives” in All-Star Comics #57 (Feb.-March 1951). Script by John Broome; art by Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs. Thanks to Jim Kealy for the scan, and to Brian K. Morris for retyping the manuscript for A/E. [TM & © DC Comics.]

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: As I’ve stated before, the 1998 “Offbeat Autobio” of the esteemed and influential Golden and Silver Age comics writer Irving Bernard (“John”) Broome is really not an autobiography, nor does it contain any direct references to comicbooks—though his comicsscribing friend David V. Reed (a.k.a. Dave Vern) is mentioned on occasion therein, including in this installment. Still, when Broome’s daughter Ricky Terry Brisacque granted us the opportunity to serialize that brief book in Alter Ego, we jumped at the chance, because we feel it’s always good for people interested in comics history to read a creator’s life story—or even just a part of it. Would that we had similar reminiscences by the likes of Jerry Siegel, Bill Finger, et al.! The subjects this time seem to be love, sex, and everything in between…

Life, Love, and Mousseaux Some nights when I can’t sleep (not so often as is the case with Mrs. B., she who to encourage somnolence habitually fills her long white hours—ses nuits blanches—with an inward recital of all the departments of France arranged according to their official numerical designations from 1 to 95—she used to work in a car rental agency in Paris; the nine planets going away from the sun; all the capitals of all the United States, and as back-up material, all the U.S. presidents, too, properly numbered and with full first names de rigueur of course), I—completely unequal, be it said, to any such redoubtable mnemonic exercises—find myself instead dwelling helplessly, and wakefully, on certain remarks made to me in life’s course, little biting barbs usually, but potent enough to have got almost permanently stuck in my craw in one instance for a full forty years … l am standing in my skis on a snowy rise in the lovely and

not too precipitous Laurentians near Montreal with a fellow skier I’ll call Justin Brady. Justin is a new acquaintance, a solidlybuilt, respectable citizen about ten years older than I and a better skier, too. We have become sort of comradely during the week of ski-training afforded by our hotel and leading up to competition on the last day to decide our rewards, a gold, silver, or bronze ski-pin (he will get a gold and I a silver, which, however, is maybe a mistake, for the following year I will be demoted to a mere bronze). Anyway, as we are standing there before continuing down the slope, a real sweetheart of a gal appropriately turned out skims gracefully by, and, instantly rapt, I follow the enchanting vision compact of bright colors and alluring curves as it weaves and wriggles its heart-caressing way down the hill, perhaps therefore paying insufficient attention to what my companion is saying,

Part XI Of John Broome’s Memoir My Life In Little Pieces

for when I turn to him again Justin (who by the way has met my attractive wife not yet graduated from the beginner slopes) is fixing me with a wry, reproving, paternally accusing look. “Hmmm,” quoth he, interrupting exceptionally one of his own oracular pronouncements on the art of skiing safely and well, but mostly safely, “Do you have a roving eye, John?” Remembrance after so long informs not if deponent was up to any reply to this thrust, or even to recognizing it as a thrust, so callow was he still at thirty-five or so. However, belatedly—very belatedly—he does know, or let me say I know what I should have said. Primo, I should have given Mr. Brady a smile as phony as the Mona Lisa’s and had at him thiswise: “Why, Justin, are you blind to beauty?” Quiet. Destructive. Such a counterattack, I like to think, might have kept old Justin awake forty years later instead of me. But not to say his shot was not on target. It was dead on. I did have a roving eye. I still do. It’s not something I’m proud of, nor am I ashamed of it. It’s just something I was born with, like hemophilia or flat feet (both of which, fortunately, I was spared), and those of us born with this, say, failing can no more ignore feminine beauty than lightning can bypass a particularly appetizing-looking skyspire. One look and we tumble helplessly. I did but see her passing by Yet shall I love her till I die. … and… that sense of loss that makes beauty what it is ... Once I tried my hand at one of these paeans to beauty: Beauty, I saw you pass by with an O so ‘cilious eye (Prizes will be given for any good continuation …) I first fell in love at ten: Rose Weiss, like a true fairytale princess, had hair of spun gold; she watched me street racing from her third floor balcony; we walked the beach along the hot sands hand in hand. Is there a word in English for ten-year-old bliss? Michelangelo considered the human body the acme of visible creation. As many of us know, there are some women in whom beauty is absolutely total from the tips of their unnecessarily painted toenails to the crowns of their equally lily-gilding coiffures; there is no part of these women that is not beautiful; they are literally buried in beauty, suffused with it—they are like the butterflies Nabokov describes whose startling coloration and artistic design cannot altogether be explained by Darwin, but convincingly argue an effort on the part of creation to produce beauty for its own sake. Despite being a skinny beanpole (6’ ½”, 150 lb.) with outjutting Adam’s apple, I was, it seems, in a general way attractive to women. The reasons for this apparent allure long eluded me (it took months before I could believe my wife was stuck on me, and not on a collar-ad college pal she had dated) until finally I came to realize how different women are from men mentally. Yeats quotes someone saying: Man’s desire is for women, woman’s desire is for the desire of man. Words of wisdom. Key to an ancient riddle: the way of a maid with a man or is it the reverse? (The way of a serpent on a rock and, what’s the third mysterious way, the way of a lion with its prey?) Anyway, a man’s desire for her, that’s what reaches a true woman’s heart. Not performance but desire. The handsome young prince on his white charger, the image of her most treasured dreams, what is he but desire personified riding with overwhelming force into her life?

Here She Comes… Even some of John’s late-Golden-Age forays into comics writing were not devoid of a bit of feminine pulchritude… as witness this Murphy Anderson-drawn splash page from Strange Adventures #26 (Nov. 1952). Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Let the man of her choice be in appearance another Ichabod Crane: see him in full flight, coattails flying behind his bony frame, all elbows and knees: see him wearing short pants on the college basketball court—playing center naturally on account of his height—doesn’t he resemble remarkably the stick-legged bird itself? Trivialities! She sweeps them aside. And the Adam’s apple that has caused him so much unhappiness, what do women feel about that? Answer: if they feel anything at all it is no doubt an emotion tinged with envy for that morsel of tough cartilage symbolizing as it were the projective and dominating nature of the male apparatus which a cruel and apparently haphazard stroke of fate has forever denied them from birth. Although no accredited Lothario, and not even remotely close to being a second King Farouk (du bist Farouked, mein kind), I was still something of a tomcat, but my eyes—pace Justin—were always bigger than my you-know-what. For a cluster of reasons (no money, weak stomach, not to mention an unexpectedly life-fulﬁlling wife), I couldn’t begin to match friend Vern and his impressive track record, by age 40, of 500 women downed. But not to say I didn’t try. To put it in Brooklynese, I’ll give you a for instance. There was once a beautiful Frenchwoman whose husband’s possessive passion for her was so great that he could hardly bear to be separated from her for more than a few hours at a time, or

“I Did But See Them Passing By...”

of his host seated to his left, also inches away, pierced through. “Ah. Monsieur,” said Bertrand Regnier, considerably louder, it seemed, than necessary. “In your travels around the world that we have heard about, tell us please, is it that you have made love to many women?” Only then for the first time since the initial handshake at the door did the American focus on his host, and see to his astonishment that M. Regnier was glaring at him. Or perhaps he was mistaken? Perhaps that slightly insane, screwed-up look of an angry bouledogue was normal to the man? He started to respond to his host’s most undiplomatic sally with a laugh and a would-be jest—shooting a glance as he did so at his wife across the table for support and sympathy, but encountering only a distinctly amused air as she gorged herself on the strawberries and cream (which he knew she adored)—but M. Regnier, with the tenacity of the animal he seemed to resemble, would not let his grip on the conversation be loosened. “And as to your lovemaking, monsieur,” he went on inexorably, “I have no doubt it has been directed, above all, to the wives of others!” Choississez vos armes! En garde! Dieu et le Droit! I (for, of course, the American was yours truly) managed to squeak out, “Not above all, just including...” At least I hope I did, but whatever I said, I don’t believe he heard me. He wore the air of a man who has won a ﬁne victory. He was very satisfied with himself and carried on the rest of the afternoon in high humor, in which wife Peggy, for one, saw no reason in the world not to join him.

Wedding Bell Blues The wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West, as scripted by John Broome and penciled by Carmine Infantino in The Flash #165 (Nov. 1966). Inks by Joe Giella. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © DC Comics.]

for her to give even the smallest of her smiles to another man. As she grew older, this woman somehow grew even more beautiful. In her ﬁfties, she met a vivacious and attractive American woman of about her age who spoke excellent French and the two became fast friends, so that one day this friend and her husband, also an American, were invited to the home of the French couple—call them Paule and Bertrand Regnier—for a collation, or late afternoon snack, of giant strawberries and thick cream served with a bottle of Mousseaux in an ice bucket . Now the American husband had met his lovely hostess in company with his wife once or twice before at an outdoor cafe or at an open air concert in the Luxembourg Gardens, and he was more than a little attracted to her, as what man wouldn’t be? Her gleaming skin, her liquid eyes, her perfect form, her utter femininity without a trace of archness, all these; plus in the past, her frankly welcoming returns of his ardent looks were enough to make the impressionable American feel those strange, unsettling, but wonderfully promising ﬁrst pangs of love. More than enough! Seated only inches away from the precious creature who now in his thoughts had already become his inamorata, struggling in vain to hoist a giant strawberry with a spoon too small for the job, he was, if the truth be told, in the fell grip of an all-embracing lascivio-romantic emotion that was bathing him, flooding him inwardly, cutting off all other earthly contact, until the rough voice

An odd thing was that something of the same sort had happened on our first visit to France almost a decade earlier. Then there had been a M. Bacchialoni, our real estate agent who, along with his charming wife and daughter, had invited Peggy and me and our little daughter to his home for dinner, and hearing at the table that I had served with the occupation forces in Japan just after World War II demanded at once to know how I had made out with the Japanese women. I can only assume that discomfiting one’s guests comes under the heading in France of Vive le Sport. Anyway, later, back in New York, I told friend Vern about that day at the Regniers and he, brushing aside all except what was for him the essential, wanted to know how I had made out with Paule Regnier. I had to disappoint him. “Nothing came of it,” I told him. “I don’t know if she was willing, but as for me, well, I decided that I absolutely could not have an affair with a woman whose husband was so uncivil.” After all, I had my scruples. John Broome’s unusual memoirs will be continued in our next issue.

A [Still] Life Is For The Living This still-life drawing by John Broome was printed on the page opposite the final three paragraphs of this installment of My Life in Little Pieces. [© Estate of John Broome.]

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JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

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MAC RABOY Master of the Comics

Beginning with his WPA etchings during the 1930s, MAC RABOY struggled to survive the Great Depression and eventually found his way into the comic book sweatshops of America. In that world of four-color panels, he perfected his art style on such creations as DR. VOODOO, ZORO the MYSTERY MAN, BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. Raboy went on to illustrate the FLASH GORDON Sunday newspaper strip, and left behind a legacy of meticulous perfection. Through extensive research and interviews with son DAVID RABOY, and assistants who worked with the artist during the Golden Age of Comics, author ROGER HILL brings Mac Raboy, the man and the artist, into focus for historians to savor and enjoy. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER includes never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics! Introduction by ROY THOMAS! ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8 • SHIPS AUG. 2019! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.95 Roger Hill’s 2017 biography of REED CRANDALL sold out just months after its release—don’t let this one pass you by!Pre-order now!

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BART BUSH, Then And Now – Part 2 Comic Fandom Archive

Continuing Our Talk With The Co-Founder of OAF (The Oklahoma Alliance Of Fans) Interview by Bill Schlley

Introduction

BILL SCHELLY: How was Oklahoma’s Multicon born?

can think of few fans who have done as much in fandom as Bart Bush: a fan and collector with wide-ranging interests, a fanzine publisher, a comicon organizer, and a comic retail store owner.

My interview with Bart last issue covered his youth, his early collecting years, his entrance into comic fandom, and the formation of OAF. We then discussed the OAF fanzine from its launch in 1967, and its evolution from a newsletter to a more elaborate fanzine under Bart’s editorship, beginning with OAF #15 (June 1968). We ended the discussion with Bart’s entry into college in the fall of 1970, when he was forced to shed those editorial duties.

BART BUSH: Dallas held the first Southwesterncon in 1966, Houston held the second one in 1967, and then it went back to Dallas in 1968. The idea is that they would each do the con every other year. Houston held the Southwesterncon in 1969. But then Dallas announced that it was bidding to host the 1973 World Science Fiction Convention, so it didn’t want to do the Southwesterncon in 1970. That’s when OAF stepped forward to do the 1970 con. Dallas put their support behind us, as did Houston, who didn’t want to do the con in two successive years. BILL: What were the specific challenges OAF had in putting on cons that, say, New York cons or San Diego cons didn’t have?

But it turned out that the Oklahoma Alliance of Fandom had bigger fish to fry than an informative fanzine; its members became the nucleus of a committee that would mount not one, but four major conventions in Oklahoma in the 1970s and 1980s. Therefore, although we would get to a discussion of OAF activities in recent times, we first needed to talk about the phenomena known as Multicons. This interview, at Bart’s request, was conducted via e-mail in the waning days of 2018 and the first weeks of 2019. All photographs are courtesy of Bart Bush. —Bill Schelly.

BART: The biggest challenge was hoping fans would come to the Midwest for a show. None of us had done anything like this. Most of us were teenagers and were inexperienced in business matters. But we had seen how the previous cons had gone, and with their help and support we figured we could pull this off. Don Maris and Robert A. Brown were the chairmen for 1970. Eric Groves and Don Maris chaired Multicon 1972, Don and Robert in 1975, and then Robert and myself in 1981.

Bart Bush in 1971 (left) and today (right). In the early-to-mid ’70s he published four issues of the fanzine Comic Detective, largely as a tribute to the classic comic strip Dick Tracy, as well as other syndicated detectives such as Alfred Andriola’s Kerry Drake, seen here on the cover of CD #2 (Summer 1973). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Continuing Our Talk With The Co-Founder Of OAF

acquire guests. Our goal of harmony with those groups of fans has always been maintained. BILL: How was Buster Crabbe as a guest? What did he do at the con?

Multicon 1970 & ’72 (Left to right:) Chairmen Don Maris, Robert A. Brown, Eric Groves, and Bart Bush. See main text for which years each of them served.

BILL: According to a post-con report, Multicon 1970, held June 18 through 21, drew some 511 people, over double the number that had shown up for the 1969 Southwestern Con. It also states that you sold 93 dealer tables. How did the con committee achieve this spectacular result? BART: Movies were a big part of conventions. The Southwesterncons had a tradition of showing great old films and serials to capacity-filled rooms. So we spent a lot of time lining up worthwhile films for the con. Neverwhere, Richard Corben’s first animated film, debuted at the con. Getting a great lineup of serials, B-features, and cartoons was a high priority and a good draw. In the days before cable TV and VCRs, comicons were one of the few places you could see rare films. Also, we were able to announce Buster Crabbe, Reed Crandall, Jim Harmon, and R.A. Lafferty as our guests, which was pretty impressive! Unfortunately, Reed Crandall didn’t make it. We advertised in RBCC with full-page ads, [in] ERB-dom, and other fanzines in 1969 and 1970. We created a lot of buzz with our lineup of guests, films, auctions, speakers, etc. Fans from coast to coast spread the word along, and it ended being bigger than we imagined. Naturally, our attendees included many from the Houston and Dallas fan areas, who we sometimes worked with to

BART: He was an incredible guest. When we invited him, he thought he was meeting a small group of fans. We picked him up at the airport, arrived at the con, and walked into the meeting room where 200 fans awaited his arrival. When he was announced at the door, everyone stood and applauded. He strolled down the aisle to the front, where he took off his sunglasses and was in tears as he savored this incredible reception. He spoke for an hour and told tales of adventures in Hollywood, and for the rest of the show, he was accessible, did photo shoots, and signed autographs. The next week he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson recalling the great time he just had in Oklahoma! After that, he was in big demand for shows and advertising. OAF jump-started his next career. BILL: Apart from publishing the OAF fanzine which carried news of the con’s progress and details leading up to the event, what aspects of the con were you responsible for? BART: I helped with the auctions, ran the projectors, the front desk, whatever was needed. BILL: Are there any other vivid memories of specific things that happened at the con that you recall? Anecdotes? BART: One guy showed up with a truckload of chicken boxes full of SF pulps from the 1920s and 1930s. Plus he had a stack of pulp interior original art. I recall Jerry Weist picked up a J. Allen St. John piece for $20. I got the two Buck Rogers Amazing pulp issues for a mere $5. He said he found them in a barn in Illinois, heard about our show, and drove down to Oklahoma City! Another guy came with a Detective #27 and wanted $200—and didn’t sell it. BILL: In the fall of 1970, you began your sophomore year in college. Where was that? BART: I started at Northern Oklahoma Junior College in 1969.

Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe (Left-To-Right) Ad for Multicon ’70 from RBCC #71— A 1970 newspaper photo of Larry “Buster” Crabbe signing autographs for a group of enthusiastic Multicon fans— —and a production frame from the first of the three Republic Flash Gordon movie serials in which Crabbe starred, beginning in 1936—only two years after Alex Raymond’s fabulous and influential newspaper comic strip had made its dazzling debut! [Flash Gordon TM & © King Features Syndicate, Inc.]

Bart Bush, Then And Now—Part 2

It was convenient because it was within a few miles from where I lived in Ponca City. No, I went there for two years, and then I started at Oklahoma University in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1971. BILL: That’s the “big city,” it being in the Oklahoma City vicinity. Was that a big change for you? BART: It was very liberal from my small-town perspective, but I was okay with that. Getting your eyes opened is a good thing, and the town attitudes expressed have kept me here since I arrived 48 years ago. We had a good number of fans in Norman, including legendary ACG collector Lee Whittlesey, radio show dealer Don Maris, the eventual Hanna-Barbera animator Larry Latham, and other OAFs in the local area. I recall driving all over town to every 7-11, U-Tote-EM, QuickTrip, or any store that might have Shazam! #1. We were convinced this would be rare and desirable. We found hundreds of copies and bought them all! We had cornered the market! We’d be rich! Well, we all know how that turned out. BILL: What did you study in college? BART: I got degrees in Psychology and Journalism in 1973. But before I could decide what direction to take my career, I partnered with Don Maris to open Down Memory Lane, Oklahoma’s first comicbook store, and never looked back. BILL: Before we discuss Down Memory Lane, I want to ask you about your fanzine Comic Detective, which you published while you were in college. BART: I have been interested in Dick Tracy as long as I can remember. One of my first comicbooks was in 1958, with Dick Tracy and Flattop Junior and his amazing car. My folks received the weekly Sunday New York Daily News, where Tracy was prominently featured on the front page. I read it every week and was fascinated by the characters. My interest dropped off in the early 1960s, but when I discovered back issues of the comicbook available via RBCC in 1966, I ordered five issues from Buddy Saunders for 60¢ each—the giant issues in 1960-1, #141-145. When I finished those nearly 400 pages of classic Gould, I knew I had found my collection goal. This stuff was great, and I wanted more Dick Tracy to read. RBCC provided that opportunity. By 1969 I had completed the Dell/ Harvey 145 issue run of the Dick Tracy comicbook, and wanted to learn about other fictional detectives, so I started the fanzine Comic Detective. The first issue came out in either late 1970 or early 1971. #1 and #3 were devoted to Dick Tracy, and #2 was an all Kerry Drake issue. I had planned to continue the fanzine but just didn’t have enough time and money in those days. BILL: Comic Detective #3 is dated “summer 1973,” so it looks like it appeared just after you graduated from college. Now then, how did Down Memory Lane form? What was it like working with Don Maris? BART: We had been seeing the success of other regional stores, primarily Roy’s Memory Shop in Houston, where Roy Bonario had a following of collectors for his shop. Don Maris and I decided to attempt the same sort of thing in Norman, which we decided to call Down Memory Lane. It was a small 800-square-feet location on Main Street across from the local high school. It had no air-conditioning or heating system, only electricity for lights. The rent was $150 a month. We survived the early rough years by having the new comics about three weeks ahead of the local distributor’s release. Having this jump on their delivery time meant we solidified a base of customers for ourselves which allowed us to get the store started. But it was tough. You didn’t get rich selling 20¢ comics! Adding in Don’s radio show reel-to-reel and cassette tapes provided more income as we reached a new audience. When more back issues,

movie posters, and Frazetta art posters were added, sales jumped even higher and the whole system got rolling. Then in 1977, Star Wars and Star Trek became big sellers in terms of posters, T-shirts, and paperbacks. It was still a very difficult business and profits were slim trying to adjust for the types of merchandise you hoped would sell. The business did survive, but changed over the years: different locations, different names and product lines, always wishing to serve the collector’s best interest. But after 37 years in the retail comic industry I retired in 2011. BILL: Let’s loop back and talk just a bit about the other Multicons that came along.

Dick Tracy Forever! Bart’s interest in Chester Gould’s groundbreaking and long-popular comic strip was cemented when he was able to score a copy of the giant-sized Dick Tracy #141 (Aug. 1960), with its reprints of great stories. One of the covers of Bart’s fanzine Comic Detective was depicted on the first page of this section. [Dick Tracy art ® & © Tribune Content Agency, LLC.]

BART: The second Multicon, in 1972, had special guests Will Eisner and Lum and Abner. At Multicon ’75, the guests were George Pal, Spanky McFarland, Bret Morrison, Al Williamson, and George Takei. OAF’s final major show was Multicon ’81 with guests L.B. Cole and John Byrne. BILL: Why did the Multicons taper off? BART: As comic stores increased in number, the coming of the VCR and computer age, and the general number of larger comic shows increased, the need for the Multicons and OAF diminished. Finally, in the mid-1980s, OAF itself went on hiatus. BILL: In Alter Ego #87, we ran Brett Weiss’s account of the OAF 40th Anniversary Reunion in 2007. Why did you do the reunion? BART: I decided it might be fun to see if anyone would show up for a 40th-anniversary OAF reunion, so I booked a meeting room at the Biltmore Hotel in OKC, contacted the local fans, and held a one-day affair. BILL: When you organized it, was it a “one-time thing” in your mind? Because it has turned into an ongoing comicon. BART: It was intended to be just a reunion of friends, but at that gathering it became clear that we wanted to get together again. Just as I hoped, the friendships, the bonds, the memories flooded back and the attendees demanded more. BILL: And so the OAFcons continued in the succeeding years. It’s been my honor to be a guest of the con more than once, and I’m proud to be an official OAF now. I feel that OAFcon has an especially warm and friendly atmosphere. I once called it “the beating heart of old-time fandom,” and think there’s a lot of truth to this. Of course, lots of collectibles are bought,

Continuing Our Talk With The Co-Founder Of OAF

collecting goals/dreams is to own as many Golden Age comics as possible. Unfortunately my financial position doesn’t allow for that, so I tried reading those old comics on-line, but I found that format to be too impersonal. I missed the tactile feeling of reading a physical comicbook, and felt that web reading is an unrewarding way to enjoy the old comics. I like to flip back and forth through issues, checking artists, stories, etc, and web reading makes that nearly impossible.

Down Memory Lane Don Maris and Bart Bush opened Down Memory Lane in 1973. It was the first comics store in Oklahoma. These shots were mostly taken in 1977. The store would go through various locations and sizes in the ensuing years. The first image shows the store’s colorful window displays. Seen reading a comic in the store interior is an unidentified fan, while Bart himself is seen in the other photo.

sold, and traded there. The selection of old and offbeat comics is quite remarkable. BART: OAF is different from other shows. This is a show for serious comicbook fans and collectors. Not animé, not gaming, not cosplay, not anything but old comics, collectibles, and the like. Free Admission. Small in size—400 to 500 attendees—but a room full of knowledgeable fans. Many have professional credentials, such as Kenneth Smith, Anthony Tollin, John Wooley, Jack Bender, Michelle Nolan, Roger Hill, Brett Weiss, yourself, and many others who attend most every year. Dealers and fans from all over the country come, such as Bud Plant, Buddy Saunders, Roy Bonario, Larry Bigman, David T. Alexander among them. There are always plenty of great collectibles in abundance at OAFcon: Golden Age comics, pulps, movie posters, original artwork are in abundance every year. Dealers love OAFcon and great sales reported year after year prove this. BILL: Lately I’ve noticed you have been enthusing about some of the books reprinting public domain Golden Age comics. I’ll bet many readers of Alter Ego share your enthusiasm. What is it specifically about Golden Age comics that has such appeal for you? BART: You’re right, I am a big fan of Golden Age comics. I find the origins of the comicbook to be most fascinating. One of my lifelong

Enter Gwandanaland Books, publisher of public domain comics. Finally someone is putting together print-on-demand books of comic titles, characters and artists. Most of the 1940s comics are in the public domain. Not Timely, DC, EC, and some others, but the rest are not under copyright, such as MLJ, Quality, Fox, Centaur, Fiction House, and Fawcett. Gwandanaland has hundreds of titles scanned from original comics, 8.5” x 11”

Who Were Those Masked Men? (Left:) Unidentified early cosplayers (perhaps before the term existed) garbed as The Joker, Dr. Strange, and Dracula at Multicon 72, flanked by fans Bill Wallace (far left) and John Ellis (far right). (Below:) Larry Bigman, Bart, Chuck Wooley and Jerry Weist, at Multicon 72.

Bart Bush, Then And Now—Part 2

More Multicon Memories (Clockwise from above left:) The Multicon 1975 program booklet with cover art by Mike Morgan—a photo of special guest Spanky McFarland of the old Our Gang (later known as Little Rascals)—and Captain Marvel 1940s artist/co-creator C.C. Beck and a fan at Multicon with a commissioned art piece by the famed cartoonist. [Art TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

softcover format, and these books really are perfect for me. Now I finally get to read all the Black Hood stories or the complete run of Super-Mystery Comics! [NOTE: Gwandanaland regularly publishes lists of its titles on Facebook. —Bill.] BILL: Are you still a pulp magazine collector? BART: I don’t collect original pulps anymore, but I do enjoy all the facsimile editions being published. The Shadow, The Spider,

Operator 5, and Hollywood Detective are my favorites and I still enjoy reading them. BILL: I know you are also a fan of dime novel hero Frank Merriwell. How did this interest arise? It seems like it happened in the 1990s, later than most of your other interests hit. Is your “Merriwell Index” still available? BART: In the early 1990s, I read Frank Merriwell’s Father, the autobiography of Gilbert Patten, the man who wrote 1000-plus Merriwell stories under the byline Burt L. Standish. For those not familiar with Frank and Dick Merriwell, they are the predecessors to the Hardy Boys and Jack Armstrong. The stories are set in the 1890s, but are full of action, adventure, mystery in the Hardy Boys vein, and the sporting thrills of Jack Armstrong. The Merriwell stories run in a continuous storyline with the characters aging and advancing in their lives throughout the dime novel run of 20 years. Every issue of Tip Top Weekly has a letters page from fans who follow the series and speculate about the character’s actions just like comicbook fans did years later. I entered into a serious Frank Merriwell phase, studying and reading the 245 Merriwell paperbacks, and started collecting the 1000-issue run of Tip Top Weekly. During my research I turned up many previously undiscovered facts and unseen stories that prompted me to publish The Merriwell Reader in 1996, a fanzine lasting five

Frank-ly Speaking

Multicon Memories Larry’s OAF tribute on the occasion of its sixth birthday in 1973. [Art © the respective copyright holders.]

The OAF #58 (July 1997) contained Bart and Matt Waldroop’s “Frank Merriwell Index,” now out of print. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Continuing Our Talk With The Co-Founder Of OAF

OAFs Of The World, Unite (From Left To Right, Of Course!) Bart with noted comics historian Michelle Nolan at a recent OAFcon. Roy Bonario (on left) and Don Maris at the “night before the con” dinner, on the occasion of OAFcon. At the 2008 OAFcon (l. to r.): J. Scott Stewart, Bill Schelly and Buddy Saunders. At the 2011 OAFcon (l. to r.): Roger Hill, Jim Gray, John Wooley, and Stephen Fears. Seated: Bill Schelly.

issues. OAF #58 (July 1997) was devoted to my “Frank Merriwell Index.” It listed all the various stories, books, films, radio shows, and other items relating to Merriwell from 1896 to 1997. Plans to update and republish the Index and the original five-issue fanzine run is an unfinished project at this time. BILL: Due to your index, I began seeking out and reading the Frank Merriwell stories, and instantly became a fan. I collected some Tip Tops and Merriwell series paperbacks, and became a real fanatic for a time. You influenced me in this way … and, in thinking about it, I suspect that you and other OAF members have had quite an influence on a large number of fans. BART: I think so. I am probably proudest of this part of the OAF

legacy. We helped advance the hobby with respect and hard work. BILL: I don’t think anyone would dispute that. Thanks for the interview. Next issue: In A/E #161, we celebrate the career of Stan Lee. Please check out my web site at www.billschelly.net, where you’ll find a list of all my books, including James Warren: Empire of Monsters and Sense of Wonder, My Life in Comic Fandom. You can contact me through the site, as well.

in memoriam

FRED PATTEN (1940-2018)

“A Prominent Fan Of Science-Fiction And Comicbooks” by Bill Schelly (Condensed from his article in his book Founders of Comic Fandom)

red Patten was a prominent fan of science-fiction and comicbooks whose writing often promoted comic art produced in Europe and other countries outside the United States.

Frederick Walter Patten learned to read from the comic strips in the Los Angeles Times, in the city where he was born. By age five, he had discovered Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories and was also a reader of the super-hero comics of the Golden Age. At nine, he was reading science-fiction in book and magazine form, an interest that blossomed as the 1950s progressed. He entered the University of California in 1958, and later its School of Library’s graduate program. In 1960, he discovered SF fandom, becoming involved in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFAS), a prominent science-fiction club. From there it was a short step to contributing to SF fanzines, even as he received his Master’s degree in Library Science in 1963. It was as a member of the LASFAS that Fred Patten became known to the burgeoning comic fandom movement. Following Dick and Pat Lupoff’s sensational appearance as Captain and Mary Marvel at the 1960 World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh, a number of LASFAS members made a group appearance at the 1962 Worldcon in Chicago costumed as the Justice Society of America. Fred went as The Flash. A photo-feature on this masquerade appeared in Alter Ego [Vol. 1] #6 (Spring 1964), which brought Patten’s name before the publication’s large readership.

Fred Patten and (below) Biljo White’s cover art for the second installment of the writer’s article on the comicbook super-heroes of mid-1960s Mexico. [Art © Estate of Biljo White.]

In 1964, new Alter Ego editor Roy Thomas wanted to feature an article on Mexican heroes. Fred volunteered to write the piece, “¡Supermen South!,” which was serialized over A/E #8 & 9. As was characteristic of him, the articles were well-written, informative, and intelligent, and firmly established his reputation in comic fandom as a premiere writer about comics. At about the same time, Patten joined comics apa [= amateur press alliance] Capa-alpha. His contributions, appearing under the name Heavy Water, began in K-a #4 (January 1965). He served as Central Mailer from K-a #39 (January 1968) to #86 (December 1971). In 1972, Patten and Richard Kyle formed the Graphic Story Bookshop in Long Beach, California. When Kyle launched his fanzine Graphic Story World (May 1971), Fred wrote a regular review column called “The Book World,”which led to his joining forces with Kyle to import European graphic albums to the U.S., where they had formerly been unavailable and largely unknown. Along the way, he became interested in Japanese comics (manga) and animation (animé), and led pioneering efforts to establish a fandom for these art forms. In 1977, he was a founder of the Cartoon/ Fantasy Organization, the first American animé fan club. From 1969 to 1990, Fred worked as a technical catalogue librarian at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, California. Then he became the first employee of Streamline Pictures, a pioneering animé specialty production company founded by Carl Macek and Jerry Beck in 1988. Over the years, he wrote many articles and columns for comics and animation publications such as Comic Buyer’s Guide and Animation World. Along the way, he also became a central figure in Furry Fandom (dealing with anthropomorphic animals, sometimes referred to as “funny animals”). He served as the Official Editor for the Rowrbrazzle Amateur Press Association until early 2005. In March 2005, Fred suffered a stroke. He donated his mammoth collection of comics, animé, manga, books, and fanzines to the J. Lloyd Eaton Collection at the University of California, Riverside. Despite being debilitated to the point of being forced to type with just one finger on his left hand, Fred continued to type his contributions to APA-L (a weekly L.A.-based apa) until January 2009. He had produced something for APA-L each week for more than 40 years.

in memoriam

HAMES WARE (1943-2018)

“A Friend And Mentor”

An Appreciation by William B. Jones

or several years I belonged to an informal “Saturday Club” that met irregularly for lunch at Burge’s restaurant in Little Rock’s Heights neighborhood. It was a small gathering of writers, students, and fans of comics and animation art. One of the members was a quiet man who spoke only when he had something of substance to contribute. He displayed a good-natured sense of humor and a wide-ranging interest in comicbook artists, cartoons, and film. His name was Carlton Hames Ware, and when he died on September 5, 2018, at the age of 75, people far beyond that close-knit circle in Arkansas felt they had lost a friend and mentor.

Hames Ware and a page of his meticulous and thorough notes on the Cook-Mahon art shop, from an issue of The Daily Cartoonist magazine, via Karen Green & Michael T. Gilbert.

I came to know Hames forty years ago. In my first semester of law school, I was trying to find some distraction from the daily doses of mind-numbing legalese. A classmate who knew I had read and loved Classics Illustrated as a kid told me he had found some in a flea market. He thought they might make a good break from Torts and Future Interests. The following weekend I drove to the place outside Little Rock on the Old Benton Highway and was surprised to find old CI titles and line-drawing covers I had never seen. At the time, organized, systematic comicbook collecting was in its early stages. Classics Illustrated comics, with their multiple print runs and mysterious Highest Reorder Numbers, were often considered complicated, esoteric oddities. As I combed through the issues, I kept running across the neatly penned name “Hames Ware” or the initials “CHW” on the covers. My stack continued to grow taller, and finally the dealer said, “There are more than 100 Classics here; I’ll let you have them all for $100.” I knew that some of the titles had been out of print since the late 1940s. Assuming that I’d never see so many in one place again, I pulled out my checkbook. The seller said, “These all came from the childhood collection of Hames Ware. He’s an expert on comicbook artists, and he lives in Little Rock. You should give him a call. He’s a really nice guy.” He gave me the number, and I made the call. Hames was delighted to hear his Classics had gone to a good home and invited me to visit him. It was the beginning of a decades-long friendship and—more than law school—a life-changing education. What I didn’t know about Hames when we met in 1978 was that he was already something of a legendary figure in the developing field of comic art scholarship. From 1973 to 1976, he and co-editor Jerry Bails (“Father of Comic Book Fandom” and Alter Ego founder) produced the four-volume Who’s Who of American Comic Books (later electronically updated and expanded), which meticulously documented the careers of Golden Age artists. Hames interviewed many veterans of the comic art shops for the project. His profiles of them, along with his co-editor’s, have formed the foundation for decades of serious research in the growing academic field of comics studies. Hames’ notes and papers are now part of the collection of Columbia University’s Rare Book

and Manuscript Library. I was one of those who directly benefited from Hames’ pioneering research. In 1993, with his encouragement, I began working on a manuscript that became my book Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History. I wanted to tell the stories of the artists, scriptwriters, and editors who created the series and made it an international graphic-novel prototype. Hames shared with me his only set of the 1970s Who’s Who volumes, supplemented with notes he had taken while engaged in tracking down information on the likes of Henry C. Kiefer and Alex A. Blum. From my conversations with him over the years, I had learned that Hames knew several surviving CI contributors and was still in contact with them. In those pre-e-mail days, he generously provided me with mailing addresses (“Always write to them before calling,” he advised), thus connecting me with Lou Cameron, George Evans, and other artists whose correspondence and phone interviews formed the narrative core of my book.

Hames Ware

Years before the Mast and The Dark Frigate, who in retirement declared with boisterous satisfaction: “I used to draw boats, and now I build them!” Hames went beyond mimicry in his impressions. He created a wide range of character voices that served him well in his parallel career as a professional voice artist. His work earned him a local and national reputation in the realm of radio and television commercials, as well as film and radio productions. For a Central Arkansas Library System millage-increase campaign, Hames created a memorable Mark Twain who encouraged readers to vote. In a radio-play adaptation of the novel Frankenstein, he supplied the haunted narration of a sea captain who rescued the tortured hero in the Arctic. Hames once told me that he could have made more money with his voice if he hadn’t felt obliged to refuse projects that he found ethically compromised. His younger sister, Lynne Clifton, remembers him as the creator of “elaborate fantasy games for our brother Allan and me,” short plays, and even a “movie” made of “Polaroid stills viewed sequentially.” He practiced artist identification at an early age with his sister: “Sometimes, Hames would invite me to look through a stack of comicbooks (Classics Illustrated were my favorites) to try to find the artists’ signatures, which were often cleverly hidden. I realized later that he was pretending that he didn’t already know where they were. I think he was always very generous in that way, helping others feel they were achieving on their own.” I know exactly what she means. “You can spot these artists yourself now,” he told me when we reached the last Classics Illustrated title. But I knew better. It was the gift of Hames Ware to every person he taught.

“One For All—And Three For One!” Ware gave Bill Jones this torn-out (“working”) page from an issue of the first Classics Illustrated edition of The Three Musketeers, as drawn— according to the title page—by Malcolm Kildale. Hames’ handwritten notes at the bottom indicate that both Ken Battefield and Edd Ashe also drew parts of this page. [TM & © Frawley Corporation and its exclusive licensee First Classics, Inc.]

Hames introduced me to the history of the comicbook, the comic art shops of the 1940s and 1950s, and the styles that marked artists as different as Lillian Chestney, Matt Baker, and Reed Crandall. He taught me the elements of comicbook illustration as an art form long before I had heard of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. In a series of what amounted to master classes over a four-month period, Hames patiently went through issue after issue of Classics Illustrated with me, from #1 to #168, providing panel-bypanel analyses. I still have my working copy of The Three Musketeers, credited on the title page to Malcolm Kildale. It includes several notes by Hames. “This page has signs of other artists’ work,” he indicated in a bottom margin, and to illustrate the point he wrote the name “Ken Battefield” with an arrow pointing to a drawing of Bonacieux in the lower left panel and “Edd Ashe” attached to another arrow beneath Rochefort in the next panel. Always sympathetic to the underpaid artists of the Golden Age and never dismissive of lesser illustrators, Hames always placed their work in the context of the hurried pace of the comicbook industry in its heyday. He made artists live again in anecdotes gathered from his years of interviews, and he punctuated his stories with the voices of the subjects, capturing, for example, the exuberance of Robert H. Webb, illustrator of the CI editions of Two

An obituary of and tribute to Hames Ware is likewise featured on the website of comics historian Michael Barrier.

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ALSO:

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Celebrating & Collecting

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One of the greatest teamings of hero & writer/artist in the history of comics!

Timely’s Greatest: The Golden Age Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett – The Pre-War Years Omnibus, Vol. 1 (of 2) Nearly 900 pulsating pages— complete Namor coverage from 1939 to 1942— plus: The Fin! 7500-word introduction by Roy Thomas ISBN #978-1-302-90935-1 Price: $150 U.S. On sale in September 2019!

in memoriam

VINCE ARGONDEZZI (March 20, 1960-Dec. 14, 2018)

The Comico Book Man

By Stephan Friedt

incent “Vince” John Argondezzi was a talented artist whose work won numerous awards. He was a successful commercial publisher and designer during the 1980s and beyond, whose clients consisted of Time Warner, Comico, Pacific, Now, Marvel, and DC Comics. His father, Vincent, had written text pieces for George A. Pflaum’s Catholic Treasure Chest comicbook series in 1966. Vince himself was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and spent most of his life in Philadelphia. He attended Bishop Kenrick High School with future business partners Gerry Giovinco and Phil Lasorda. In 2008, in a tribute to the late Phil Lasorda, Gerry wrote: I first met Phil in 1977 at Bishop Kenrick High School. At the time I was aggressively developing my comic art and entrepreneurial skills by publishing a weekly 4 page comic developed around our school mascot entitled The Kenrick Knight, which I mimeographed and sold to fellow students for a nickel each. Phil, a senior at the time, was a year ahead of me in school and friends with another schoolmate, Vince Argondezzi, who was the finest Jack Kirby clone you would ever find. Though I was in a different art class than the two of them we shared the same art teacher, Sister Marie Patrice, who, noting our similar interests in comics, was quick to introduce us. Phil and Vince responded by creating a similar comic called Kaptain Kenrick, which I also mimeographed and sold around school, our profits going back to Sister to support the art department. This collaboration would plant the seed for what would eventually become Comico.

The Next Big Thing! (Above:) The Comico buddies. (Left to right, in back:) Andrew Murphy, Phil LaSorda, Gary Giovinco. (On bottom step:) Vince Argondezzi, Bill Cucinotta. Vince is seen, larger, in the inset circle. (Below:) Argondezzi’s wraparound cover for Comico’s Next Man #1 (Feb. 1985), inked by Bill Anderson. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Vince graduated in 1978. He “went on to sturdy art at the local community college. He was in the DC Young Talent Program, which had been launched by editor Dick Giordano. “Vince was frustrated that both Marvel and DC were turning away from the ‘Kirby style’ at the time which created an uphill battle for him. Together we decided that we would strike out on our own and publish our own material supported by the strength of his talent,” Gerry revealed. The newly formed partnership, with the addition of Phil Lasorda, would become the independent comic book company, Comico Comics. Vince’s first published comic artwork was “Mr. Justice” in Comico Primer #1 (Oct. 1982), though he had left the partnership prior to its actual publication. He provided the art for stories for Pacific Comics’ Vanguard Illustrated in 1983-1984. In 1985 Vince would return to Comico after it changed from black-&-white interiors to full color, to co-create and work on Next Man with writer Roger McKenzie for 5 issues. In 1986, he provided illustrations for Marvel’s Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. During 1987-1988, Vince took over the art chores on Infinity, Inc. for a good run from #38-50, working with writer/editor Roy Thomas, as well as providing illustrations for DC’s Who’s Who series. In 1988, he supplied the art for six issues of Racer X at Now Comics. After that, Vince went on to have a successful career as a medical illustrator. He is survived by his son, Steven. For a list of Vince’s comic work: https://www. comics.org/searchNew/?q=Vince Argondezzi&selected_ facets=facet_model_name_ exact:story&sort=chrono

re:

fascinating. The people who worked in comics those early years really accomplished something to be admired. I’m amazed at what was created that I was never aware of, and I realize that there’s still a lot more not covered. Bob Fujitani was a name I was trying to recall for a long time because he drew the HANGMAN and had a remarkable style. This is a book that will never be put on a shelf and forgotten. Many thanks for sending it to me. Regards, Steve Ditko Hadn’t heard a peep out of Steve for many years now with regard to anything in Alter Ego, so I’ll admit it’s quite bittersweet to have TwoMorrows receive this letter early this year, only a few months before he passed away. It brought back memories of the first-ever response I had from the esteemed Spider-Man artist, which consisted of a surreal comic strip written and drawn on a piece of typing paper, which I printed in A/E [Vol. 1], #8, in early 1965 (see p. 3 of this issue). I don’t think I ever understood Steve any better than most people did—but that never stopped me from admiring the best of his work, and respecting the strong feelings behind it even when I disagreed with them. Next up is a communication sent to both Michael T. and myself by sometime A/E contributor Yocitrus (as he signs himself) about both artist Frank Thomas—and daughter Nancy Thomas Bardeen. The “DCM” referred to in the missive is the Digital Comics Museum, which, along with Comic Book Plus, is one of the best sites on the web for viewing the contents of comicbooks that are in the public domain, and Yocitrus is associated with the former site: Hi Guys— I got to read A/E #151 this weekend and loved it!

ur miraculous “maskot” artist Shane Foley sometimes finds it hard to choose between Captain Ego (who was created by Biljo White in 1964 for the Alter Ego, Vol. 1, #7, comics feature “Alter and Captain Ego”) and Alter Ego, the super-hero incarnation of this mag’s title whom I (Roy) made up in 1986, aided by the artistic vision of Ron Harris. So sometimes Shane draws them both, as in this issue’s “double-Ditko” helping above. (That’s Cap on the right, by the by.) And his buddy Randy Sargent is right there to help out with the calamitous coloring! Thanks again, guys! [Captain Ego TM & © Roy Thomas & Bill Schelly; created by Biljo White – Alter Ego hero TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas; costume designed by Ron Harris.] Did a bit of a hop, skip, and a jump this time around—because next issue is our special “Stan Lee Tribute” issue, so we wanted to save the letters and e-mails we received on A/E #150 (which celebrated Stan’s 95th—and as it turned out, final—birthday) till then… so this time around we’re looking at the missives we received on Alter Ego #151, whose two main features were a study by Michael T. Gilbert and Nancy Bardeen of the latter’s father, 1940s comicbook artist/writer Frank Thomas—plus Stuart Fischer’s overview of the super- and related heroes of Dell/Western, Gold Key, and Dell from the ’40s through the 1980s. So let’s get started—with a surprising letter sent some months back by, by sheer coincidence, the subject of this issue’s titanic tribute—the late and exceedingly great Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, The Question, Captain Atom, and several other enduring character concepts: Dear TwoMorrows: WOW! That ALTER EGO—WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BOOK! The information about the comic book’s early history is

Last night, I put up an updated version of the Frank Thomasthemed DCM banner with a plug for the latest A/E issue at the start. I’ve also updated the DCM Facebook page with a plug for the mag. I hope it helps bring some readers to IMO the best magazine going on our hobby. Great work on the Frank Thomas feature, Michael! The scrapbook and Nancy’s e-mails went a long way towards painting the picture of a loving family man surviving a rough childhood while trying to make a living in comics. Nancy would have made a good columnist if she had wanted. She’s very readable. She did an excellent job of covering so much about her dad, while Michael’s parts fleshed out what was going on comics-wise if Nancy didn’t cover it. Between you, we got to see a well-rounded picture of him. I did kind of wish Nancy had talked more about her mother, who I bet was an equally interesting character. But you did have only so much room. Her drawing of the two of them busy at work was a gem for the story! If she ever writes a full book on her parents, I’d love to read it! For a guy with no art training, Frank Thomas did some nice work! And thanks for plugging DCM and our Frank Thomas Archives at the end. Yocitrus Both while growing up and as a young (and even middle-aged) adult, Yo, I was frustrated by the difficulty of getting hold of old comics to read, not least because their prices kept going up. While nothing quite substitutes, in my mind, for the feel of an actual comicbook in one’s hands, being able to read hundreds, even thousands, of rare back issues online is the next best thing. Admittedly, back issues of DC and Marvel and certain other companies are not available in that format, but DCM and CBP are a helluva lot better than nothing!

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communication, what you leave out of a composition is as important as what you leave in. I am very grateful to Alter Ego and to Michael T. Gilbert for this whole enterprise and its successful conclusion. I particularly thank Michael for contacting me and for his patience in negotiating all those scans with my faithful, good-nature husband. Nancy Bardeen Yep, ’twas Michael T. who put it all together, Nancy—though he couldn’t have done it without you, as he cheerfully admits. As for that matter about “the Japanese and the bomb” about which she says her mother (but not her father) would have agreed with me—well, we’ll let you look it up in A/E #151. A comics-related magazine is hardly the place to get into that kind of super-charged discussion. To transition between the full-throated coverage of Frank Thomas and the heroes of Dell and Gold Key comics of the Golden and Silver Ages, here’s a communiqué from a real comics pro: Mike W. Barr, 1980s “Batman” writer and co-creator of the popular series Camelot 3000 and Batman and The Outsiders, among other things: Dear Roy: Some observations on A/E #151: I enjoyed Michael Gilbert’s article on Frank Thomas, who has long been a favorite of mine, but the details of whose career and life were unknown to me. Regarding Stuart Fischer’s otherwise swell article on the Dell and Gold Key super-heroes, he writes: “It was [Zorro creator Johnston] McCulley who first dreamed up [in 1919] the masked, dark-clad, rapier-wielding precursor of all the other secretidentity… costumed heroes.”

Owl Be Around! This page from the “Owl” story in Crackajack Funnies #2 (Sept. 1940) introduced the Owlplane. The Owl isn’t shown or mentioned on the issue’s cover, but his story, drawn and probably written by Frank Thomas, was the lead story inside. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Yocitrus wrote of Nancy Bardeen, whose reminiscences of her father and his work beautifully complemented Michael T.’s historical research… and here is a letter from the lady herself: Hello Roy and Michael, I couldn’t be more pleased with the way Alter Ego put Dad’s story together. There were so many disparate pieces of textual and visual material, but somehow you made it all work into a wonderfully satisfying read. Copies will go out in the mail tomorrow to Frank’s brother and some cousins and old family friends who I know will be as glad as I am to read and keep this memorial of Dad. I am so grateful to you for all the care you took with the story and for providing, after all these years, as complete a narrative as possible in print of my father’s life and accomplishments. Thank you, Roy, for the kind words about my writing. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to do it. Also, thank you for your compliments on my father. (My mother would have agreed with you about the Japanese and the bomb.) Re your comments about “The Owl” on page 16—I think you are justified in wondering what that is about. It doesn’t seem like Dad’s work. Too crudely cluttered. Even early on, he was developing a good comic artist’s understanding that, for successful

But in 1905 the Baroness Emmuska Orczy novelized her 1903 play The Scarlet Pimpernel about the first such character to hide his heroism behind a foppish alter ego. (More can be found on “The Scarlet Pimpernel” Wikipedia page.) Zorro is a great character, but he wasn’t “the granddaddy of them all.” Without The Scarlet Pimpernel there would be no Zorro. It’s easier for those who came later to refine a concept. But the trail-followers should not be allowed to supplant the trail-blazers. The obit for the late John Calnan makes no mention of one of his highest-profile assignments, as “Batman” penciler in the late ’70s. Calnan is not considered one of the “classic” Batman artists, but he did an admirable, professional job during his tenure, and was the last regular artist of editor Julius Schwartz’s run. Though the late Len Wein created a Human Target in the character of Christopher Chance, The Human Target—the concept of a man who disguises himself as potential murder victims—was created in the “Batman” story in Detective Comics #201 (11/53), “The Human Target” by scripter Edmond Hamilton. Looking forward to Part 2 of Mike Tiefenbacher’s “Captain Marvel and the ©opyright ©risis.” Part 1 was fascinating. Is it wrong that I find the history of comics more intriguing than the industry’s current actual output? Mike W. Barr No comment, Mike. Thanks for the other info your e-mail provides, including the paragraph on the “Human Target” concept, which was covered in more detail by Marv Wolfman in his in-depth interview back in A/E #113. As for Baroness Orczy’s play and novel The Scarlet Pimpernel, I suspect few would deny that concept’s probable influence on Zorro and all masked or otherwise secret-identitied heroes who’ve come after him. Even so, it was Johnston McCulley who added the notion of a mask and costume to protect a hero’s alter ego, as opposed to (in Sir Percy Blakeney’s

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

attempt at keeping them in the public eye, he failed to follow that item to the end. Yes, he makes note of Dark Horse’s admirable reprint volumes of those heroes’ books, but in each case he forgets to mention that Dark Horse also published, for a short and troubled time, new adventures of those selfsame heroes. I speak of six issues of Magnus, Robot Fighter; eight of Solar, Man of the Atom; at least two Turoks that I’m aware of; and at least two of Samson. All were scripted by Jim Shooter, who had also had a hand in reviving the characters at Valiant Comics. Magnus and Solar in particular were very well-written and were the last new comics I can recall being eager to buy as soon as they came out. Just sayin’. Pierre Comtois

Maybe He Should’ve Worn A Scarlet Letter? (Above left:) Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in the 1934 film version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was based on the 1903 play written by Baroness Orczy and Montagu Barstow, which had not been a conspicuous success—but the Baroness’ novel adaptation, two years later, was a strong seller, and probably influenced the creation of Zorro. (Above right:) Mike W. Barr has a point, of sorts: While The Scarlet Pimpernel didn’t wear a mask or costume in play, novel, or 1934 movie, this lobby card associated with the latter does give him at least the appearance of wearing both—and this is several years before the comicbook debuts of Superman and Batman! [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

case) simply leaving a calling card and cutting out before the Reign of Terror gendarmes arrived. Both (along with Edgar Rice Burroughs and Philip Wylie’s 1930 novel Gladiator) were milestones along the long and tortuous road to Superman and beyond. Next up, all the way from Italy, is Alberto Becattini, who’s contributed a major piece or two to Alter Ego in the past and has more lined up for the future (amid his own publications), and who now suggests a few corrections to the article on Dell and Gold Key heroes: Roy: Re Stuart Fischer’s “Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes of Dell and Gold Key” in A/E #151 (which I very much appreciated, being a Dell/Gold Key fan and collector myself), there are a couple of things I noticed: In Buck Rogers, mentioned on p. 35, the original artist’s name is Dick Calkins, with a final “s”—and the 1979-82 Gold Key/Whitman series was written by Paul S. Newman, Jean-Marc DeMatteis, Michael Teitelbaum, and B.S. Watson, and drawn by Frank Bolle, Mike Roy, José Delbo, and Al McWilliams. Re The Green Hornet, on p. 3: Dan Spiegle drew issues #1-3 of the 1967 Green Hornet series. As for Mandrake the Magician, referred to on p. 49, the comicbook version’s writers were Paul S. Newman and Marshall McClintock. Alberto Becattini Thanks, Alberto. If anyone has a bone to pick with you over any of the above amendations, I’m sure we’ll hear from him/her. Meanwhile, congrats on your newest tome, American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century from Theme Park Press—which deals with precisely what the title says. Oh yeah—and it’s also just “Volume One” of a series!

You’ve earned our gratitude as well, Pierre. Perhaps it’s been a bit hard to keep track of a few of those Western Publishing heroes, who pop up at one company or another ever since their Valiant Comics days. Not to be badgering Stuart Fischer, who put so much good work into his piece for A/E #151—or us for not being able to backstop him in every area—but correspondent John Fishel found a couple more points that he felt needed addressing. And that’s just for openers…. Dear Roy: I have a few corrections and clarifications to the fine article “Those Unforgettable Super-Heroes of Dell & Gold Key,” authored by Stuart Fischer for Alter Ego #151. The statement on page 35 that Gold Key’s Buck Rogers series resumed with issue #5 after the initial #1, which had been published in 1965, is incorrect. The first 1979 issue was #2, dated August 1979. Next, the characterization on page 43 of Dan Reid (Britt “Green Hornet” Reid’s progenitor) as “a youth who palled around with the [Lone] Ranger” is misleading and leaves out an important fact (fact of this fictional story, that is). Dan Reid was in actuality, according to the story, supposed to be the son of The Lone Ranger’s slain brother, a fellow Texas Ranger, making Dan The Lone Ranger’s nephew. Therefore, The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger are blood relatives. Lastly, the Gold Key title Spine-tingling Tales, hosted by Doctor Spektor, did not succeed the title The Occult Files of Doctor Spector, as is claimed on page 55. Actually, both series ran concurrently in 1975-76. I also have some further information regarding “R.S. Callender,” who is assigned the copyright on “The Owl” stories published by Dell and which the caption-writer on page 15 states is assumed to be the scripter. Robert Stevens Callender was an executive and supervising editor for Western Printing & Lithographing Company (which supplied material to Dell), based in Poughkeepsie, NY (the location of Western’s then-state-of-the-art printing plant) at the time when “The Owl” stories appeared in the early 1940s. Later in the ’40s, Callender was based at Western’s West Coast office in Beverly Hills, California.

Roy,

From 1937 on, Callender was also the son-in-law of Edward H. Wadewitz, the founder and owner of Western Printing & Lithographing. Callender was also one of the three co-owners of K.K. Publications, Inc., which published Mickey Mouse Magazine and its successor, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories, among other titles. K.K. was a Western/Whitman subsidiary company.

I read Stuart Fischer’s article on the Gold Key/Western heroes with interest, particularly those entries for arguably the lines’ most well-known heroes, i.e., Magnus, Robot Fighter, Dr. Solar, and Turok. And though Fischer makes a noble attempt to bring their publishing history up to date, even noting Dark Horse’s last

This R.S. Callender information comes from the fabulous book titled Funnybooks, written by Michael Barrier, who also explains therein his theory as to why such features as “The Owl” were copyrighted by Callender (and in other instances, in other Dell-published features, the copyright was registered in the name

And here’s another author of articles and books on comics, Pierre Comtois, with a few updatings of his own:

re:

of Callender’s fellow Western executive, Oskar Lebeck), and why the copyright was not in the name of Western/Whitman.

such. I may be in the minority, but perhaps you ought to poll your readers.

Barrier states that “this odd procedure may have grown out of a misapplication of patent law, where the applicant was supposed to be the ‘actual inventor’ to copyright.” Therefore, this does not necessarily mean that Callender wrote the features that bear his copyright, just that he was responsible for its creation (perhaps by helping assign writing and artwork duties to others).

The publishers, of course, by my observation, always seem to refer to them as “comic magazines,” actually a better descriptive term.

Also mentioned by Barrier is that such copyrights were always reassigned to Western/Whitman a few weeks after their initial registry. I hope this offer some clarity. In the same edition of Alter Ego, there appeared an article written by Mike Tiefenbacher, “Captain Marvel & the ©opyright ©risis!,” which I must say I enjoyed immensely. It’s good to see Mike back in action; I long wondered whatever became of him. As a longtime fan of his writing dating back to the days of The Comic Reader and The Menomonee Falls Gazette and Guardian, I say, “Welcome back!” Let me close by offering one small criticism. I am finding your new policy of referring to “comicbooks” (all one word) to be extremely irritating. I always knew them as “comic books” (two words) and would like to see them continued to be referred to as

John Fishel Thanks for filling us in about R.S. Callender, John. If you hadn’t written, we’d have been quoting Michael Barrier’s fine Funnybooks volume ourselves, since we recently read it. It’s basically a superb history of Western Publishing and its lines of comics over the years, by one of the recognized experts on the subject. Incidentally, your fellow reader Jake Oster likewise pointed out to us some of the facts about Callender. And we were glad to welcome Mike Tiefenbacher back as well. However, you might as well stick a note in a bottle and drop it out to sea as suggest that we go back to writing “comicbooks” as two words. That (with or without a hyphen) is the way I’ve always felt it should be written—there’s even a mention of that particular preference of mine in a May 1965 article on me in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, pre-dating my first staff work in the field, so it’s hardly a new obsession. That’s the way Stan Lee insisted it be spelled in the Taschen book I wrote about him under his aegis, and, as you doubtless know, I announced as his 95th-birthday present that henceforth it would be spelled that way in A/E. So, while we read and appreciate your comments, John, the answer is probably a permanent “no.” Hope you can get past it and enjoy the other 99.999% of Alter Ego. Oh, and speaking of Mike Tiefenbacher as we were above, the author of the four-part FCA feature “Captain Marvel and the ©opyright ©risis” that began in A/E #151 sent us no fewer than two e-mails making small but significant corrections to Part I. Here’s the first one: Dear Roy, I’m quite happy with how Chapter One of my Captain Marvel Copyright article in #151 turned out, with one exception (at least so far). It really doesn’t seem to matter how many read-throughs I make for anything I write, the rule of thumb seems to be that I will miss noticing an obvious error until it actually appears in print. In this case, it was in my list of Fawcett titles that became Charltons [in the mid-1950s]. All I can figure is that I got confused because “Golden Arrow” later appeared there, but Cowboy Western was never a Fawcett title. Charlton changed its Jack in the Box title to Cowboy Western with #17 in 1948, and by 1955 was using it as the vehicle for their “Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles” TV adaptation. I believe I conflated it with Fawcett’s Western Hero—but Charlton didn’t continue that, either, so I don’t even have any excuse but sloppiness. In any case, I decided I’d be the first to mention it, just to get any claim of perfection out of the way. (I skipped right over the misspelling of my name in the first paragraph, which a friend pointed out, so I guess my narcissism isn’t as advanced as it could be.) Mike Tiefenbacher Got to admit, anything and everything about the title “Cowboy Western” has always struck Ye Editor as nothing short of hilarious. Talking about the Dept. of Redundancy Dept.! Still, thanks for owning up to the above, and for the far lengthier explanation that follows: Dear Roy,

A Hornet’s Nest Back in A/E #156, we showed you the splash page from this story in Western/Gold Key’s The Green Hornet #1 (Feb. 1967)—so here are more panels from that tale, drawn by Dan Spiegle. Scripter unknown. Thanks to Jim Kealy. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

In the first chapter of my ongoing adventures dealing with Captain Marvel’s circuitous publication life and copyright history, I made an egregious error concerning the name of the 1976 Copyright Act. In my haste to condense information assembled for an unpublished Ned Pines timeline I’d written in 2009, I conflated that landmark 1976 legislation (which markedly changed the basics

[correspondence, comments, & corrections]

Slap Leather—From Left To Right! The final issue of Fawcett’s Western Hero was #112 (March 1952), about a year before the company gave up the comics-publishing ghost—behind a photo cover spotlighting Monte Hale (who, incidentally, was the last of the various B-Western movie heroes of that era to pass away, only a few years ago). The cover of Charlton’s Cowboy Western Heroes (#47, Dec. ’53—the one-and-only issue with that title) was drawn by Stan Campbell. A long run of Charlton’s Cowboy Western began with issue #48 (Spring ’54), sporting a cover penciled by Dick Giordano and inked by Vince Alascia. Golden Arrow, the erstwhile Fawcett hero from Whiz Comics, was featured therein, although his shirt is colored blue instead of golden on the cover. Hey, close enough for Charlton! [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

of copyright law including length of copyright, how to qualify for copyright, and, perhaps accidentally, the philosophy behind copyright) with the 1998 Copyright Extension Act (which extended the term of copyright specifically for copyrights expiring as of 1998 and then on another twenty years, from 75 to 95). The latter law was introduced to Congress by Sonny Bono, and thus was dubbed the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act (or The Mickey Mouse Act, since it was evidently lobbied for by the Disney Company, specifically to protect their ownership of a certain famous rodent). The Sonny Bono name was never affixed to the earlier [1976] law, as I stated in Part One of my series. At that time Sonny was far too busy going through a divorce, performing, producing, and musicdirecting on 1974-75’s The Sonny Show and then the revived Sonny & Cher Show (with his ex-wife Cher) in 1976 to have had anything to do with copyright law. In 1997, he was serving in his third year in Congress as a representative from California (after having been mayor of Pasadena from 1988-92) and thus was in a much better position to introduce the Act which bore his name (passed nine months after his death in a skiing accident on January 5, 1998). My apologies. To top that, some chapters later (as I discovered recently), I made another error, this one of omission. While what I reported concerning who might have actually owned the renewed copyrights for the Pines comics line was certainly true enough in 2009, when I originally did the research for that Ned Pines timeline, it turns out that I really should have re-examined how things had changed since then. Somewhere between the last time I looked and last week, online sources (okay, Wikipedia) updated the situation and I missed it. To recap: Fawcett acquired Popular Library (the Ned Pines company) from Cadence Industries (formerly Curtis Magazines and then Perfect Film and Chemical, then owner of Marvel Comics) in 1971. In 1977, Fawcett was purchased by CBS

Publications. In 1987, CBS Senior Executive Peter G. Diamandis acquired CBS in a leveraged buyout. During the years 1967-87, all of these companies renewed copyrights for Pine-published magazines, though the comics themselves ceased being renewed when Fawcett bought Pines’ company, probably because they weren’t renewing their own comics at the time. In 1998, Diamandis Communications sold out to what eventually became known as Hachette Filapacchi Media, U.S., which is where I left things in my article. Unbeknownst to me, subsequently Hachette sold five of its surviving magazines (all of which had been acquired in the ’80s by CBS from Ziff-Davis Publications) to the Bonnier Group in 2009—and then sold the balance of their U.S. magazine line to Hearst Magazines in 2011. (Hearst had published comics on its own in the 1960s-’70s under the King Comics imprint, and still owns King Features Syndicate.) These include the sole magazine formerly owned by Fawcett still being published, Woman’s Day. No former Pines publications survive. Since the direct line from Pines through Fawcett to Diamandis to Hachette leads to Hearst, one must conclude that if anybody owns the copyrights renewed in the ’60s through the ’80s for the Pine publications, it must be Hearst. Again, whether they know it or not is something I can’t determine. At least I didn’t confuse Peter G. Diamandis of Diamandis Communications with the far more famous Peter H. Diamandis of Space-X fame! Mike Tiefenbacher Sounds to us like these errors, mistakes though they were, were little more than minor hiccups in the overall piece, Mike. But Ye Ed knows what you mean when you talk about how errors can plague you. The first, limited, ultra-expensive edition of The Stan Lee Story, the big Taschen tome that was released last November and quickly went out of print,

re:

contained a handful of mistakes that I or someone else spotted and took pains to get corrected in the “general” edition of the book, which came out in June. But sometime in March, when it was much too late to make any additional changes, I happened to be checking something in my copy of the first edition and turned to the page on the Marvel comic strips. Thereon, I mentioned that the late 1970s saw the debut of four newspaper strips— Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, Conan the Barbarian, and Howard the Duck—but that only the first of these was written by Stan. This time—but somehow other proofreaders and I had missed it before through several phases—my blunder jumped out at me. I knew, as well as any man, that Stan had indeed scripted the Hulk strip—but now that mistake is going to be forever enshrined in cold, hard print in one of the major works about Stan Lee’s career. Compared to that, your errors pale! In addition: Reader and Edgar Rice Burroughs authority Robert Barrett, on seeing Ye Ed’s statement in A/E #151 that Dell/Western cover painter Moe Gollub was a producer on the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove, pointed out that must have been a goof on my part. And yes, I quickly realized that, while prepping that letters section, I had

momentarily confused Gollub with the similarly named Fred Mogubgub, who had been, according to longtime “Batman” artist Lew Sayre Schwartz’s interview in A/E #51, one-third of an early-1960s “boutique animation company” called Ferro, Mogubgub, & Schwartz. Pablo Ferro and Lew Schwartz apparently did have meetings with Kubrick over handling that classic film’s credits, and Schwartz reports arranging for Steve Canyon writer/artist Milton Caniff to help Kubrick get permission from the U.S. Air Force to use its stock footage (after the USAF had decided—surprise, surprise—that Dr. Strangelove was likely to be an “anti-military” film)—but there’s no mention by Lew that Mogubgub (later alone Gollub!) was involved as producer or in any other capacity with that movie. Mea culpa. Found more mistakes—or maybe even something we did right? Drop a line to: Roy Thomas e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com 32 Bluebird Trail St. Matthews, SC 29135 Ye Editor’s buddy John Cimino operates The Roy Thomas Appreciation Boards on Facebook. It discusses all things (well, lots of them, anyway) related to RT, including upcoming con appearances, smatterings of information, new photos or film footage, etc. It’s fully interactive—as is John himself. In addition our e-mail discussion list, Alter-Ego-Fans, is still going great guns with news and views at http:/groups.yahoo.com/ group/alter-ego-fans. Moderator Chet Cox informs us that Yahoo no longer has an “Add Member” tool, so you might experience a slight problem getting in—in which case, he asks that you contact him at mormonyoyoman@gmail.com and he’ll walk you speedily through the process.

Terror Firma Some of the finest art ever to appear in a Pines/Nedor/Standard comic was that of Jerry Robinson & Mort Meskin—the latter probably doing most of the penciling, with Robinson inking—in late editions of The Black Terror. The Chinatown-centered story in issue #27 (June 1949), the final issue, was fairly good, too—or at least so Ye Future Editor thought at the age of eight. The yellow faces for Asians were pretty much de rigueur at that time, and generally no disrespect was intended; comics just had a very limited palette. Alex Schomburg’s cover had a Western theme, as cowboy images were endemic in Pines comics at that time. Thanks to Jim Ludwig for the interior page (the splash was seen in A/E #111), and to the Grand Comics Database for the cover image. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

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One Life, Furnished In Early DITKO

An Imaginary Story Featuring Charlton Comics, Ibis The Invincible, Doctor Strange, & The Great Connecticut Flood Of 1955 by Brian Cremins for Harlan

hese are the facts as I know and understand them: The late Steve Ditko, legendary co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, never worked for Fawcett Publications.

He was a few months too late. By the time he began drawing covers and stories for This Magazine Is Haunted, a title introduced by the Fawcett comics line in 1951, Charlton Comics from Derby, Connecticut, had taken over the title. In 1954, Ditko drew five covers for the series, along with four stories. Then, by early 1955, This Magazine Is Haunted ceased publication. Sort of. It carried on as a comic called Danger and Adventure, which, as the Grand Comics Database points out, picked up where This Magazine Is Haunted left off with issue #22. On the cover of that issue of the series is none other than Fawcett’s Ibis the Invincible. Unlike the members of the Marvel Family—which Fawcett, as part of its settlement with National, had promised never to publish (or allow to be published) again—Ibis

still had some life left in him, even if the story Charlton published had first appeared in Whiz Comics #45 a decade earlier. (And, just for the record, This Magazine Is Haunted returned to the Charlton lineup in 1957-58 for five more issues, though sporting a butchered numbering system that can confuse the unwary reader—and Ditko contributed heavily to the revised series’ covers and interior artwork.) Those are the facts. But we’re all friends and comicbook fans here. We love our What Ifs? and our Imaginary Stories (many of which Otto Binder himself wrote for DC’s Superman comics after Fawcett’s settlement with that company). When I began working on this article, P.C. Hamerlinck urged me to explore one of these alternate histories: What if Charlton had hired Steve Ditko to draw “Ibis the Invincible” for Danger and Adventure? What if Ditko had gotten a head start on ideas he later introduced with Stan Lee at

Steve Ditko in his studio in the 1960s, flanked by his cover for This Magazine Is Haunted #21 (Nov. 1954), that comic’s final issue in its initial Charlton, pre-Comics Code incarnation—and the cover of Danger and Adventure #22 (Feb. ’55), which continued the TMIH numbering but cover-featured Ibis the Invincible, a sorcerer-hero, in an Alex Blum-penciled story reprinted from Fawcett’s Whiz Comics. Charlton had recently purchased many of Fawcett’s effects after the latter publisher left the comicbook business in 1953. Alas, this was far too early for Ditko get the opportunity to work his own particular brand of magic with the potent Ibistick! [Ibis the Invincible TM & © DC Comics; other cover TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

One Life, Furnished In Early Ditko

ready” to publish. When Fawcett passed, Moldoff turned to publisher Bill Gaines at EC Comics. Eventually, the writer and artist found himself “back again [at] Fawcett, who finally,” he explained, “bought it after they saw the horror trend starting to grow” [59]. With a cover by Moldoff featuring the book’s eerie host Doctor Death, the first issue of This Magazine Is Haunted appeared with an October 1951 cover date. A year earlier, as Qiana Whitted points out in her groundbreaking new book on the “shock comics” of the early 1950s, Gaines and editor/writer Al Feldstein “experimented” with the genre “by placing their own original horror stories in two of EC’s crime comics,” which resulted in “a subsequent bump in sales” [Whitted 12–13]. The stories proved so successful, Whitted adds, that Gaines decided “to transform War against Crime and Crime Patrol into” what would become “The Vault of Horror and The Crypt of Terror (which later became Tales from the Crypt),” the company’s flagship horror titles [Whitted 13].

Sheldon Moldoff during the Golden Age of Comics—juxtaposed between covers for Fawcett’s Captain Midnight #37 (Feb. 1946) and the same company’s This Magazine Is Haunted #1 (Oct. 1951). He had brought the latter concept to Fawcett Publications. The first issue of Haunted was illustrated by Moldoff. Besides TMIH, the artist sold other horror titles to Fawcett. Even late in life, Moldoff claimed that EC publisher Bill Gaines lifted some of his horror-comics concepts after Moldoff had presented his ideas to him… and he had some paperwork (and published stories) to strengthen his claims. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Marvel? What if his version of Ibis’ companion Princess Taia had looked just like Clea from Doctor Strange? Never happened, of course. Then again, we’re talking about magic and the supernatural here, right? We’ve got plenty of ghosts and tall tales in the Naugatuck River Valley, where Charlton was located. So why not daydream a little? But, before we try to answer these questions, let’s look at the history of This Magazine Is Haunted, first by turning to P.C. Hamerlinck’s interview with Sheldon Moldoff from FCA #178 [Alter Ego #119, pp. 57–60]. A few years after World War II, Shelly Moldoff had an idea for a new comicbook series. Back in New York, he tried to find work with DC, but found himself instead at Fawcett, where editor Will Lieberson offered him “plenty of ‘Captain Midnight’ stories, as well as a few for ‘Don Winslow of the Navy’” [qtd. in Hamerlinck 58]. Like other freelancers of the era, Moldoff shared with PCH his fond memories of Fawcett and its editors. The company, he recalled, “was less big business and more like one big happy family,” with great folks like “Ginny Provisiero, Roy Ald, Dick Kraus, Stanley Kauffman, Wendell Crowley,” all of whom were part of what Moldoff described as “a tight ship” with Lieberson as their tireless captain. Despite this strong working relationship with Fawcett and his friendship with Lieberson, however, Moldoff’s idea for a horror comic was something that the company’s editors “weren’t quite

For his part, Moldoff claimed in his FCA interview that Gaines’ company “ended up stealing some of my concepts after I had presented my ideas to them.” Nonetheless, as PCH notes in the FCA interview, Moldoff’s other horror titles for Fawcett, including Worlds of Fear and Strange Suspense Stories (1952–1953) “weren’t as gruesome as what EC and some other publishers were dishing up back then.” Moldoff agreed, noting that as Fawcett “test[ed] the waters with [these comics], Will Lieberson was always very careful not to go too far with anything” [58]. Like Gaines at EC, Lieberson and Fawcett could not afford to ignore the changing tastes of their readers who, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, shifted their affection from superheroes to crime, horror, and romance comics. As EC ushered in what Whitted and other scholars have described as “The Atomic Age of Comics” [13], Fawcett, with Beck, Binder, and Costanza’s mighty Captain Marvel still their most popular hero, struggled to remain relevant as the company defended itself in the copyright infringement battle with National/ DC. Coupled with the Senate hearings about the alleged links between comics and juvenile delinquency, Moldoff remarked that the lawsuit “was another fiasco!” [59]. In his opinion, not only did “Superman and Captain Marvel have a lot more differences than they do similarities,” but, as all good Captain Marvel Club members know, “‘Captain Marvel’ was by far the better strip of the two” [60]. Billy and the rest of the Marvel Family hung in there as best they could, but it appeared unlikely that the heady days of the 1940s, when Captain Marvel first captivated readers, would return anytime soon. The house ad that appears on the inner front cover of This Magazine Is Haunted #1, in both its horror and simplicity, sums up these sudden changes in the marketplace while offering a sense of the desperation Fawcett must have felt. Under a black-&-white banner that reads “Adventure for the Atomic Age!” is a mushroom cloud surrounded by the names of Fawcett titles ranging from Whiz Comics and Bob Swift, Boy Sportsman to Captain Video and Tom Mix. Each one, the ad reminds us, costs only 10 cents “on newsstands across the nation.” The image suggests the explosive entertainment packed into these pages, but it also hints at the very real and frightening landscape of the early 1950s: the splitting of the atom brought with it abundant new resources along with the possibility of Doomsday itself. Meanwhile, soldiers and their

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

“The Atomic Age Of Comics” (Left:) A Fawcett house ad for October 1951—either hawking the power of the company’s comicbook titles, or else a prophecy of Doomsday! (Right:) The cover of Qiana Whitted’s EC Comics: Race, Shock & Social Protest, being published by Rutgers University Press in 2019, which refers to the comics of that era, especially EC’s, as “The Atomic Age of Comics.” [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

families continued adjusting to post-war life, as the trauma of the war, as Samuel R. Delany once put it, “circulated as an unstated and inarticulate horror” [186], a phantom presence in the movies, the comics, and the literature of the period. Take a look again at Arthur Miller’s All My Sons (1947) or at the nightmare sequences in Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955) for a sense of the anxiety that floated beneath the placid surface of suburbia. Even Beck and Binder tried to get in on the act with stories like “Captain Marvel and the Creeping Horror” from Captain Marvel Adventures #126 (April 1951) and The “Creeping Horror” several later stories there, in Whiz Comics, and in The Genre Marvel Family. In a memorandum he wrote in 1952, Otto Fawcett’s Captain Marvel Binder even noted his desire to “[k]eep abreast of times Adventures #126 (Nov. and present [the] market with Korean war and horror ’51); cover by C.C. Beck. Chief writer Otto Binder stories” (for more details, see Alter Ego #123 / FCA #182, assimilated the horror trend March 2014). But it was all just too little, too late. By early into “Captain Marvel” 1954, the Marvel Family was gone, along with Fawcett’s stories, with what many other comics, victims of the seemingly endless fight with consider less than satisfying National. Meanwhile, Moldoff’s This Magazine Is Haunted, like so many of the undead ghouls and vampires who stalked its pages, returned from the grave thanks to Charlton. Significant in the history of horror comics in the U.S., the comic is probably best remembered for including some of Ditko’s earliest and most striking work. With his passing in the summer of 2018, interest in his work has only increased. Soon, for example, the University Press of Mississippi will publish Zack Kruse’s study of Ditko as part of Tom Inge’s Great

results. Of course, as the cover reveals, this story was also being played partly for laughs; others were scripted in a deadserious manner, although the cartoon-style art by Beck or Kurt Schaffenberger was considerably less horrific than that of Graham Ingels! [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

One Life, Furnished In Early Ditko

Comics Artists Series, and Andrei Molotiu is writing a book on Lee and Ditko’s Spider-Man for Rutgers. With Spidey and Doctor Strange now playing central roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ditko’s comics remain vital and inspiring, not just to comics fans and scholars, but also for innovative young cartoonists like Austin English, who finds Ditko’s problematic later work visually fascinating. In a recent e-mail to me, Austin added, “I’d, of course, assume that Ditko would find the lack of clarity in my work vexing,” to which he added a smiley face. I asked Austin to share some of his insights with me about Ditko’s continued relevance. In our e-mail exchange, he writes eloquently about the challenges that the cartoonist faced over the course of his long career: My friend Dylan Williams, a historian of the Golden and Silver Age in addition to being deeply engaged with contemporary avant-garde comics, had this great observation about Ditko: “People say so much about Ditko, that he’s crazy, that he’s eccentric, that he’s this or that. What they never ask themselves is, what is it like to be him, to go through everything he went through. How would they act if they had his life?” I used to associate Dylan’s observation as being about what it would mean to make a character like Spider-Man become this world-recognized symbol that didn’t represent your values and was out of your control. Now, I interpret it more as being a sharp statement on how Ditko had intellectual intentions for his work, he thought about things (i.e. the word THINK above his desk), and he had to work in an industry that was hostile to thought in many ways. The impact of Ditko’s sometimes grotesque but always controlled and compelling style is clearly on display in Austin’s 2016 collection Gulag Casual. The muted colors, the heavy black lines, the density of the compositions— read a story like “The Disgusting Room” from that book and I think you’ll discover what Ditko’s art might have looked like had he studied with Robert Rauschenberg

Ditko Lives!? The impact of Ditko’s spellbinding style is found in Austin English’s 2016 collection Gulag Casual. [TM & © Austin English.]

Ditko’s Dreaded Debut! Ditko’s first cover for This Magazine Is Haunted—#17 (May ’54)—and the splash page of a Ditko-drawn story from that issue, “3-D Disaster Doom Death!,” a tale that helped set the stage for his later work at Marvel. Script probably by Joe Gill. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

or with photographer/performance artist Jack Smith. Like those two artists, Austin English ignores what most of us consider to be the limits of the comics form, while also, like Dylan Williams, celebrating the more obscure corners of its history. After kindly sharing these insights with me, Austin also urged me to read Joe McCulloch’s “The Avenging Page (In Excelsis Ditko),” published on the website Comics Comics in 2011, for other insights into the cartoonist’s complex body of work. McCulloch, Austin assured me, “has done the intellectual work on Steve” by analyzing everything from these early Charlton stories through the justly celebrated Marvel and DC books of the 1960s to the zine-like pamphlets published by Robin Snyder beginning in the late 1980s (see McCulloch). The roots of Ditko’s work on Spider-Man, McCulloch argues, lie in stories like “3-D Disaster Doom Death!,” “Triple-Header!,” “The Night People,” and “Bridegroom, Come Back!,” each one probably (according to the Grand Comics Database) written by Joe Gill and drawn by Ditko for This Magazine Is Haunted in 1954 (see issues #17 and 18). In addition to drawing those stories, Ditko also provided the covers for issues #16, 17, 18, 19, and 21. A few years later, Ditko would be strongly represented in the 1957-58 incarnation of the title. I’ll leave those later issues for you to explore on your own, dear reader, either in the lovely hardcover facsimile editions published by PS Artbooks in 2016 (of the Fawcett and both Charlton incarnations) or online at the Digital Comic Museum. In the stories published in 1954, you’ll find Ditko experimenting

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

with page layouts, with light and shadow, with the geometric compositions that became a significant part of his work on “Doctor Strange” in the 1960s. In his analysis, McCulloch suggests that these innovations at Marvel can be traced to Ditko’s work on the revenge fantasies in these violent comics. “The crux of the Marvel revolution, you’ll recall,” McCulloch writes, was its revitalization of the super-hero concept through modification, and occasional generic cross-breeding. Ditko had worked primarily in pre-Comics Code horror comics and post-Code sci-fi and suspense shorts; as luck would have it, “Spider-Man” was not so much a product of the

super-hero tradition, as it had developed following WWII into the Silver Age, but “a child of the EC tradition, the cruel-twist aesthetic that presided over the pre-Code horror scene and informed much of the trajectory of Amazing [Adult] Fantasy [emphasis in the original].” To support his argument, McCulloch includes a panel from Spider-Man’s origin story in which Peter Parker, his face now exposed, weeps as he realizes that he could have stopped the thief who murdered his Uncle Ben. “The ol’ Parker luck, in its earliest incarnation” in the closing panels of Amazing Fantasy #15, McCulloch explains, “is distinctly moral,” another ghostly echo of those Charlton tales published a decade earlier. Take, for example, “Bridegroom, Come Back!,” the most chilling of the stories Ditko brought to ghastly life in 1954. Not only does it include the “cruel twist” ending so common in EC and other horror comics of the early 1950s, but it also includes numerous examples of what McCulloch, later in his essay, describes as one of the hallmarks of Ditko’s later style. In the comics published by Robin Snyder, the artist, McCulloch points out, makes “[use] of the revelatory iconographic values” that Ditko, nearing the end of his life, “[attributed] to the fundamental elements of his craft—lines, Here Comes The “Bridegroom!”

Ditko’s cover for This Magazine Is Haunted #18 (July ’54), and two pages from its otherworldly Ditko-drawn tale, “Bridegroom, Come Back!,” as probably scripted by Joe Gill. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

One Life, Furnished In Early Ditko

dots, marks—so that meaning is readily ascertainable apart from the usage of text or the sequential build of meaning across series of panels, or even the positioning of characters in-panel.” The “marks” themselves, McCulloch suggests, take on a life and a meaning of their own, one often more significant than the figures or the captions. With those persuasive points in mind, let’s consider two of the panels on the third page of “Bridegroom, Come Back!” that anticipate the melancholy closing images of abandoned streets in Antonioni’s 1962 film Le E’Clisse. While the story’s human protagonist, having been murdered by her husband, no longer has a voice (at least for now!), her wedding dress does, and, hanging in a closet, it speaks for her. It begins with the first panel on this page. Now discarded, the dress describes “the soundless closet” where it feels “oppressed by the darkness,” alone save for a few boxes and a white, frilly dressing gown beside it. Like the woman who once wore it, this dress expresses its desire for touch, “for her return” and the feel of “her soft hands….” The bridal gown, nostalgic for the light and good humor of its wedding day, does not trust the bridegroom, who, we soon learn, has murdered his young wife! To make matters worse, the killer returns, and pawns the gown for a mere “twenty dollars” at the shop Ditko includes in the second-to-last

panel of the page. Two word balloons convey the conversation between the shop’s owner and the murderer. The panel itself, with its triangles, circles, and squares, might be the doorway to one of Doctor Strange’s occult landscapes—or, for that matter, the geometric shapes adorning the panels in Austin English’s “Freddy’s Dead.” The thick, black, diagonal lines that shadow the sidewalk are early examples of those “elements of his craft” that Ditko, as McCulloch reminds us, would foreground to such unnerving effect in his late work.

A Watershed Event The destruction caused by the 1955 Connecticut River flood was documented later that year in a booklet published by the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. The communities of Connecticut’s Naugatuck River Valley, in which Charlton Comics was located, experienced one of the worst disasters in the region’s history. See Jon B. Cooke & TwoMorrows’ Comic Book Artist #9 for full coverage and several photos of that natural disaster. [© the respective copyright holders.]

These strange shapes give way in the last panel of this sample page to more familiar ones—a cistern, picture frames, a blood red curtain. “So now I hang in the gloom and dust of the pawnshop,” the caption reads. “The smells are sour here… and no bride ever enters.” The “gloom and [the] dust” are the remnants of this once promising marriage, now left to decay because of the bloodthirsty villainy of the bridegroom’s greed. Just as haunting as what comes next—as the bride returns from the dead to claim her dress and to fetch her husband—these two panels, I think, provide additional evidence for McCulloch’s already persuasive thesis. In his work for Charlton, Ditko conjured up the kinds of landscapes that would bring to The Amazing Spider-Man and to “Doctor Strange” the fragile, lonely, disembodied quality that distinguishes those books. In his brief profile of Ditko published in The Great Comic Book Artists (1986), Ron Goulart includes a passage from writer Will Murray that I think best sums up the haunting quality that continued to pervade Ditko’s work in the 1960s. Describing his memory of Marvel titles like Tales of Suspense and Journey Into Mystery, Murray praises Ditko as his “favorite of the Marvel crew” in part because of the “creepy, crepuscular style” of his inks [qtd. in Goulart 32].

But let’s put this history lesson aside for a moment. The facts are good enough, but limited. What good is comics history without a little imagination? What if Charlton had hired Ditko to draw “Ibis the Invincible” stories for Danger and Adventure? What would they have looked like? And how would that experience have shaped his career, and perhaps even his work at Marvel?

Face To (No-)Face! A page from “The Faceless Ones,” drawn by Ditko in the Comics Codeapproved This Magazine Is Haunted, Vol. 2, #12 (Oct. 1957). Probably scripted by Joe Gill. Perhaps a precursor to Ditko’s “The Question,” who was seen on earlier pages of this issue. [Page at left TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

Maybe Ditko drew a few sample pages as a try-out for Charlton. What if those pages were lost or destroyed in the flood? You do know about the flood, don’t you? Let me explain: In August 1955, the cities and towns in Connecticut’s Naugatuck River Valley experienced one of the

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

He Had Charlton Covered! The artist whom Stan Lee would later dub “Sturdy Steve” drew the pre-Code (from left to right) covers of This Magazine Is Haunted #14 (Dec. 1953), #16 (March 1954), & #19 (Aug. 1954). [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

This Magazine Is Haunted—Again! Steve Ditko drew—and signed—the covers of two issues of the second, Code-approved volume of This Magazine Is Haunted: #12 (July 1957) & #14 (Dec. ’57). At this point, he was definitely ready for not only “Captain Atom” and “The Question,” but for “Dr. Strange” and “SpiderMan”! Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

One Life, Furnished In Early Ditko

worst disasters in living memory. In a booklet published by the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper later that year, the editors claim that “[n]ot even the hurricane of 1938 nor the Connecticut River’s record crests of 1936 or 1938 compared” with the destruction caused by the flooding. “From Winsted down to Ansonia, Derby, and Shelton there developed a maelstrom of malevolence,” they write. “Nothing was too sacred—parochial properties in Torrington, a church in Union City, two cemeteries in Seymour were devastated; nothing was too modern—a drive-in theater in Watertown evaporated before the floods.” In issue #9 of Comic Book Artist, published by TwoMorrows for August of 2000, Jon B. Cooke and Christopher Irving describe the terrible impact Hurricane Diane had on Charlton: “The 129 acres of building and land housing The Capital Distributing Company and its associate publisher, Charlton Press, were submerged in 18 feet of water” [16]. In their article on the history of the company, Cooke and Irving include accounts from Charlton employees, including Joe Gill, who remembered that “[t]he press was entirely underwater, the building was underwater” [15].

In New England, we tend to put our faith in stories like this. Saddened over the destruction of his work, and shaken by the senseless loss of so many lives in the flood, Ditko might have written notes of what he could remember from his thumbnail sketches: the magic wand known as the Ibistick, the lovely and ethereal Taia. A few years later, working for Marvel, maybe his imagination and his memory transformed Ibis’ weapon into the Wand of Watoomb, or Taia into Doctor Strange’s Clea. Maybe “The Wondrous World of Dr. Strange,” the story that first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 (Sept. 1965), is in fact a version of that earlier, destroyed “Ibis” story. Xandu, the villain in that issue, after all, is trying to piece together the fragments of the mysterious Wand of Watoomb. None of this is true, of course. Except for the flood. Then again, why tether ourselves to mere facts? As we celebrate Steve Ditko’s life and his achievements, why not leave a little room for the magical, the strange, and the impossible? We owe that to Ditko’s memory, and to the legacy he’s left for us.

Imagine, then, in the midst of this destruction, Ditko’s “Ibis” pages being washed away, never to be seen again. After all, as Cooke and Irving point out, the flood damaged about “$300,000 [worth of] paper inventory, mats, comics art work, and plates,” all of it “destroyed by the flood in minutes” [15]. If those pages had existed, what would they have looked like? What stories did they tell? Maybe a Charlton employee, sensing their value, hid them away in the attic of her three-family house. Those pages might remain there, even today, waiting to be discovered, like Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter in the desk of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Custom House.

Wondrous—And Waterlogged (Left:) A Ditko tour de force: “The Wondrous World of Dr. Strange” from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 (Sept. 1965), with script by Stan Lee. This tale brought together two of Ditko’s (and Lee’s) co-creations for the first time. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] (Above:) Found floating on the Connecticut River during the great Naugatuck River Valley flood of ’55 was this snippet of “Ibis the Invincible” original art drawn by Steve Ditko. (Okay—just kidding! But Eric Jansen, channeling his inner Ditko, shows us what such a page might have looked like!) [Ibis the Invincible TM & © DC Comics; other art TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Works Cited:

This Magazine Is Haunted, four volumes. PS Artbooks, 2016.

Cooke, Jon B. and Christopher Irving. “The Charlton Empire: A Brief History of the Derby, Connecticut, Publisher.” Comic Book Artist no. 9 (August 2000): 14–21.

Western Connecticut’s Great Flood Disaster. Published by the Waterbury, Connecticut, Republican-American, 1955.

Cremins, Brian. “Otto Binder’s Magic Words: The Writer’s Plan to Save Captain Marvel Adventures.” Alter Ego no. 123/Fawcett Collectors of America no. 182 (March 2014): 77–80. Delany, Samuel R. Times Square Red, Times Square Blue. New York University Press, 1999. English, Austin. “Re: Alter Ego Essay on Ditko.” E-mail to the author. March 10, 2019. English, Austin. “Re: Alter Ego Essay on Ditko.” E-mail to the author. March 16, 2019. Goulart, Ron. The Great Comic Book Artists. St. Martin’s Press, 1986. Hamerlinck, P. C. “‘A Job Is a Job’: Sheldon Moldoff’s Final FCA Interview.” Alter Ego no. 119/Fawcett Collectors of America no. 178 (August 2013): 57–60. McCulloch, Joe. “The Avenging Page (In Excelsis Ditko).” Comics Comics February 14, 2011. http://comicscomicsmag.com/?p=8320. Accessed 15 March 2019.

Whitted, Qiana. EC Comics: Race, Shock & Social Protest. Rutgers University Press, 2019. Thanks to P.C. Hamerlinck, Austin English, Allison Felus, and Scott Roberts for their help and advice on this essay. And thanks to Harlan Ellison for writing “One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty,” and for calling all those years ago.

Further Reading: If you’d like to read Steve Ditko’s work on This Magazine Is Haunted yourself, be sure to visit the Grand Comics Database, which will clue you in on the work he did for the series. The Database also includes information on where these stories have been reprinted. If you can’t get your hands on the originals or on those reprints (such as the four PS Artbooks volumes), visit the Digital Comic Museum or Comic Book Plus, which include scans of all of these comics, which are now, along with the original Fawcett series, in the public domain. According to the Database, Ditko provided the covers for This Magazine Is Haunted #16 (March 1954); #17 (May 1954); #18 (July 1954); #19 (August 1954); and #21 (November 1954). In 1957, Charlton discontinued a title called Za Za the Mystic. As the Database points out, what would have been Za Za’s 12th issue appeared on newsstands as This Magazine Is Haunted #12. Ditko did the covers for #12 (July 1957), #13 (October 1957), and #14 (December 1957). Ditko drew the following stories for the series. According to the GCD, Joe Gill most likely wrote most of these, with letters provided by Charlotte Jetter or by Jon D’Agostino (see the Database for full credits): #17 (May 1954) “3-D Disaster Doom Death!” “Triple-Header! “The Night People” #18 (July 1954) “Bridegroom, Come Back!” #12 (July 1957) “The Faceless Ones” “The Messages”

“The Thing on the Beach” “His Fate” “The Last One” #13 (Oct. 1957) “He Shall Have Vengeance” “The Drums” “Menace of the Invisibles” “ The Man Who Changed Bodies”

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Dr. Death—Meet Dr. Haunt! Ditko’s cover for This Magazine Is Haunted, Vol. 2, #13 (Oct. 1957). By the time Charlton rolled out the second volume of the title, the book’s host, Dr. Death, had had his name (and face) changed by the editors to those of the less menacing “Dr. Haunt”—undoubtedly to appease the recently-formed Comics Code Authority. [TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

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#14 (Dec. 1957) “ From Out of the Depths” “The Green Man” “The Second Self” “ The Man Who Disappeared” #16 (May 1958) “The Man from Time” “The Green Peace” “ The Night Was Strange” “Impossible, But…”

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SUPERHEROES VS. MONSTERS! Monsters in Metropolis, Batman and the Horror Genre, DOUG MOENCH and KELLEY JONES’ Batman: Vampire, Marvel Scream-Up, Dracula and Godzilla vs. Marvel, DC/Dark Horse Hero/Monster crossovers, and a Baron Blood villain history. With CLAREMONT, CONWAY, DIXON, GIBBONS, GRELL, GULACY, JURGENS, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN.

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Featuring a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and visit the Guinness World Records’ largest Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: an exclusive interview with funnyman LARRY STORCH, The Lone Ranger in Hollywood, The Dick Van Dyke Show, a vintage interview with Jonny Quest creator DOUG WILDEY, a visit to the Land of Oz, the ultra-rare Marvel World superhero playset, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Ships Dec. 2019

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STAR WARSTM THEMED BUILDERS! Travel to a galaxy far, far away with JACOB NEIL CARPENTER’S DEATH STAR, the work of MIRI DUDAS, and the LEGO® photography of JAMES PHILIPPART! Plus “AFOLs” by GREG HYLAND, “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art with TOMMY WILLIAMSON, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

Full-issue STAN LEE TRIBUTE! ROY THOMAS writes on his more than 50-year relationship with Stan—and shares 21stcentury e-mails from Stan (with his permission, of course)! Art by KIRBY, DITKO, MANEELY, EVERETT, SEVERIN, ROMITA, plus tributes from pros and fans alike, and special sections on Stan by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, BILL SCHELLY, and even the FCA! Vintage cover by KIRBY and COLLETTA!

WILL MURRAY presents an amazing array of possible prototypes of Batman (by artist FRANK FOSTER—in 1932!)—Wonder Woman (by Star-Spangled Kid artist HAL SHERMAN)—Tarantula (by Air Wave artist LEE HARRIS), and others! Plus a rare Hal Sherman interview—MICHAEL T. GILBERT with more on artist PETE MORISI—FCA— BILL SCHELLY—JOHN BROOME—and more! Cover homage by SHANE FOLEY!

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Year-by-year account of the decade when X-MEN #1 sold 8.1 million copies, IMAGE COMICS was formed, Superman died, Batman had his back broken, and Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN led to the VERTIGO line of adult comic books. Go behind-thescenes in that era of gimmicky covers, skimpy costumes, and mega-crossovers. By KEITH DALLAS and JASON SACKS.

sary of the “DC Implosion”, one of the most notorious events in comics (which left stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished and spawned Cancelled Comics Cavalcade). Featuring JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and others, plus detailed analysis of how it changed the landscape of comics!

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NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOES! Interview with JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER (CRY FOR DAWN, VAMPIRELLA), a chat with JOE SINNOTT about his Marvel years inking Jack Kirby and work at TREASURE CHEST, JOE JUSKO discusses the Marvel Age of Comics and his fabulous “Corner Box Collection,” plus the artists behind the Topps bubble gum BAZOOKA JOE comic strips, CRAIG YOE, and more!

ERIC POWELL celebrates 20 years of THE GOON! with a career-spanning interview and a gallery of rare artwork. Plus CBC editor and author JON B. COOKE on his new retrospective THE BOOK OF WEIRDO, a new interview with R. CRUMB about his work on that legendary humor comics anthology, a look at DAVE COCKRUM’s design work for Aurora Models, JOHN ROMITA SR. on his admiration for the work of MILTON CANIFF, and more!

MONSTERS & BUGS! Jack’s monster-movie influences in The Demon, Forever People, Black Magic, Fantastic Four, Jimmy Olsen, and Atlas monster stories; Kirby’s work with “B” horror film producer CHARLES BAND; interview with “The Goon” creator ERIC POWELL; Kirby’s use of insect characters (especially as villains); MARK EVANIER and our other regular columnists, Golden Age Kirby story, and a Kirby pencil art gallery!

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SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! How Kirby kickstarted the Silver Age and revamped Golden Age characters for the 1960s, the Silver Surfer’s influence, pivotal decisions (good and bad) Jack made throughout his comics career, Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, a classic 1950s story, KIRBY/STEVE RUDE cover (and deluxe silver sleeve) and more! (100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (DELUXE EDITION w/ silver sleeve) $12.95 (Digital Edition) $5.95 • Ships Dec. 2019

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Relive The Pop Culture You Grew Up With!

Remember when Saturday morning television was our domain, and ours alone? When tattoos came from bubble gum packs, Slurpees came in superhero cups, and TV heroes taught us to be nice to each other? Those were the happy days of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties— our childhood—and that is the era of TwoMorrows’ new magazine RETROFAN!

#5: Interviews with MARK HAMILL and Greatest American Hero’s WILLIAM KATT! Blast off with JASON OF STAR COMMAND! Stop by the MUSEUM OF POPULAR CULTURE! Poke fun at a campy BATMAN COMIC BOOK! Plus: “The First Time I Met Tarzan,” MAJOR MATT MASON, Moon Landing Mania, SNUFFY SMITH at 100 with cartoonist JOHN ROSE, TV Dinners, Celebrity Crushes, and more fun, fab features! NOW SHIPPING! #6: Interviews with crazy creepster SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original Saturday Morning Ghost Busters, with BOB BURNS! Uncover the nutty Naugas! Plus: “My Life in the Twilight Zone,” “I Was a Teenage James Bond,” “My Letters to Famous People,” the ARCHIEDOBIE GILLIS connection, the PINBALL Hall of Fame, Super Collector DAVID MANDEL’s comic art collection, Alien action figures, the RUBIK’S CUBE fad, and more fun, fab features! SHIPS SEPTEMBER 2019!

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THE CRAZY, COOL CULTURE WE GREW UP WITH! LOU FERRIGNO interview, The Phantom in Hollywood, Filmation’s Star Trek cartoon, “How I Met Lon Chaney, Jr.”, goofy comic Zody the Mod Rob, Mego’s rare Elastic Hulk toy, RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC (the real-life Mayberry), interview with BETTY LYNN (“Thelma Lou” of The Andy Griffith Show), TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles, and Mr. Microphone!

HALLOWEEN! Horror-hosts ZACHERLEY, VAMPIRA, SEYMOUR, MARVIN, and an interview with our cover-featured ELVIRA! THE GROOVIE GOOLIES, BEWITCHED, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and THE MUNSTERS! The long-buried Dinosaur Land amusement park! History of BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, character lunchboxes, superhero VIEW-MASTERS, SINDY (the British Barbie), and more!

40th Anniversary interview with SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE director RICHARD DONNER, IRWIN ALLEN’s sci-fi universe, Saturday morning’s undersea adventures of Aquaman, horror and sci-fi zines of the Sixties and Seventies, Spider-Man and Hulk toilet paper, RetroTravel to METROPOLIS, IL (home of the Superman Celebration), SEAMONKEYS®, FUNNY FACE beverages, Superman and Batman memorabilia, & more!

Interviews with the SHAZAM! TV show’s JOHN (Captain Marvel) DAVEY and MICHAEL (Billy Batson) Gray, the GREEN HORNET in Hollywood, remembering monster maker RAY HARRYHAUSEN, the wayout Santa Monica Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, a Star Trek Set Tour, SAM J. JONES on the Spirit movie pilot, British sci-fi TV classic THUNDERBIRDS, Casper & Richie Rich museum, the KING TUT fad, and more!

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