{"id":28778,"date":"2023-10-20T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28778"},"modified":"2023-10-19T17:51:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T17:51:22","slug":"creepy-presents-steve-ditko-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/10\/20\/creepy-presents-steve-ditko-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Creepy Presents Steve Ditko"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Steve Ditko<\/strong>, with Archie Goodwin<\/strong>, Clark Dimond & Terry Bisson<\/strong> dddf Ben Oda<\/strong>, Bill Yoshida<\/strong> & various (Dark Horse Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-61655-216-9 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Once upon a time the short complete tale was the sole staple of the comic book profession, where the intent was to deliver as much variety and entertainment fulfilment as possible to the reader. Sadly that particular discipline is all but lost to us today\u2026<\/p>\n

Steve Ditko was one of our industry\u2019s greatest talents and one of America\u2019s least lauded. His fervent desire to just get on with his job and to tell stories the best way he can, whilst the noblest of aspirations, was always a minor consideration and stumbling block for the commercial interests which for so long monopolised comics production and which still exert an overwhelming influence upon the mainstream bulk of Funnybook output.<\/p>\n

Before his time at Marvel, Ditko pursued perfection, creating immaculately paced, staged and rendered short stories for a variety of companies; tirelessly honing his craft with genre tales for whichever publisher would have him, free from the interference of over-intrusive editors.<\/p>\n

Even after hitting the big time at Marvel and DC, it\u2019s a creative arena he stayed active in, and this collection gathers some of his rarest yet most accomplished examples, produced at a time when a hidebound industry was just starting to open up to new publishers and fresh themes.<\/p>\n

After Ditko\u2019s legendary disagreements with Stan Lee led to his leaving Marvel – where his groundbreaking work made the reclusive genius (at least in comic book terms) a household name – he resumed a long association with Charlton Comics, but also found work at Warren Publications under whiz-kid writer\/Editor Archie Goodwin.<\/p>\n

The details are fully recounted in Mark Evanier\u2019s biographically informative Foreword<\/em>, as are hints of the artist\u2019s later spells of creative brilliance at DC, the growing underground movement and nascent independent comics scene\u2026<\/p>\n

Erudite and economical, Evanier even finds room to describe and critique the differing art techniques Ditko experimented with during this brief tenure. Whilst working for Warren – between 1966 and 1967 – Ditko enjoyed great editorial freedom and cooperation. He crafted 16 moody monochrome masterpieces – most written by Goodwin – all without interference from the Comics Code Authority\u2019s draconian and nonsensical rules. They ranged from baroque and bizarre fantasy to spooky suspense and science fiction yarns, limited only by the bounds of good taste – or at least as far as horror tales ever can be\u2026<\/p>\n

And whilst we\u2019re name-checking unsung heroes, it\u2019s only fair to reveal that all were lettered by Ben Oda or Bill Yoshida.<\/p>\n

The uncanny yarns appeared in monochrome magazine anthologies Creepy<\/strong> and Eerie<\/strong>, affording Ditko time and room to experiment with not only a larger page, differing styles and media, but also to dabble in then-unknown comics genres. Those lost stories are gathered into a spectacular oversized (284 x 218 mm) hardback compendium – part of a series of all-star artist compilations which includes Rich Corben and Bernie Wrightson amongst others – and begins here with the short shockers from Creepy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Culled from #9 and delivered in beguiling wash-tones, \u2018The Spirit of the Thing!\u2019<\/em> starts with shadows and screams, moves on to a dying man and reveals how teacher and student battle in a mind-bending phantasmagorical other-realm for possession of one healthy body, before #10\u2019s \u2018Collector\u2019s Edition!\u2019<\/em> returns to crisp line art to detail an obsessive bibliophile\u2019s hunt for a mystic tome\u2026 and the reason he should have left well enough alone.<\/p>\n

Gripping grey-tones reveal how a gullible prize-fighter is manipulated into becoming a bludgeoning \u2018Beast Man!\u2019<\/em>, after which Creepy <\/strong>#12 sees a disturbed man turn to a psychoanalyst to cure his delusions in \u2018Blood of the Werewolf!\u2019<\/em> Of all the headshrinkers in all the world\u2026<\/p>\n

Throughout his time at Marvel – and especially on Doctor Strange<\/strong> – Ditko was applauded for astounding other-dimensional scenes and depictions. In \u2018Second Chance!\u2019<\/em>, that facility is especially exercised when a wise guy regrets his earlier deal with the devil before \u2018Where Sorcery Lives!\u2019<\/em> pre-empts and anticipates the 1970s Sword-&-Sorcery boom (and Ditko\u2019s own Stalker<\/strong> at DC) as quintessential barbarian hero Garth<\/em> battles the ghastly legions of vile necromancer Salamand the Sorcerer<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Creepy<\/strong> #<\/strong>15 introduced another sword-swinging proto-Conan in \u2018Thane: City of Doom!\u2019<\/em>, wherein our unwashed warrior titanically thrashes thaumic terrors but nearly succumbs to the hidden threats of a comely queen\u2026<\/p>\n

Goodwin didn\u2019t script the last Creepy<\/strong> yarn for Ditko in #16. \u2018The Sands that Change!\u2019<\/em> was devised by Clark Dimond & Terry Bisson who produced a self-referential tale of a comics artist and his wife falling victim to macabre forces on a desert vacation. Although the story is pedestrian, Ditko\u2019s choice of illustrative materials elevates it to one of the most memorable in his uncanny canon\u2026<\/p>\n

The rest of this titanic terror-tome re-presents the Ditko\/Goodwin Eerie<\/strong> oeuvre, starting with \u2018Room with a View!\u2019<\/em> from #3. Rendered in claustrophobic line art, it details how a tired, obnoxious traveller insists on occupying a cheap suite his hotelier would do anything not to rent\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Shrieking Man!\u2019<\/em> from #4 reveals how an incurable maniac is brought back from agonising insanity by a new doctor, much to the regret of the asylum chief who caused this condition, after which \u2018Black Magic\u2019<\/em> rolls back the years to mediaeval Europe and a final battle between sorcerer and apprentice\u2026<\/p>\n

An affluent and greedy jeweller learns to forever regret taking the \u2018Deep Ruby!\u2019<\/em> from a desperate hobo in Eerie <\/strong>#6, whilst an underworld plastic surgeon can\u2019t save his latest patient from the depredations of \u2018Fly!\u2019<\/em> in issue #7. \u2018Demon Sword!\u2019<\/em> then explores the darkest recesses of psychological transformation and temptation before \u2018Isle of the Beast!\u2019<\/em> (#9) revisits the hoary Man-hunting-Men plot, but proves that you can never be too careful about who you pick as victim\u2026<\/p>\n

The scary sessions conclude with fantasy feast \u2018Warrior of Death!\u2019<\/em>, wherein a barbarian warlord makes a deal with Death and learns that Higher Beings just cannot be trusted\u2026<\/p>\n

This voluminous volume has episodes which terrify, amaze, amuse and enthral: utter delights of fantasy fiction with lean, stripped down plots and a dark wit allowing art to set the tone, push the emotions and tell the tale, from a time when a story could end sadly as well as happily and only wonderment was on the agenda, hidden or otherwise.<\/p>\n

These stories display the sharp wit and dark comedic energy which epitomised both Goodwin and Warren, channelled through Ditko\u2019s astounding versatility and storytelling acumen: another cracking collection of his works not only superb in its own right but also a telling affirmation of the gifts of one of the art-form\u2019s greatest stylists. This is a book serious comics fans would happily kill, die or be lost in a devil-dimension for\u2026
\nCreepy, the Creepy logo and all contents \u00a9 1966, 1967, 2013 by New Comic Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steve Ditko, with Archie Goodwin, Clark Dimond & Terry Bisson dddf Ben Oda, Bill Yoshida & various (Dark Horse Comics) ISBN: 978-1-61655-216-9 (HB\/Digital edition) Once upon a time the short complete tale was the sole staple of the comic book profession, where the intent was to deliver as much variety and entertainment fulfilment as … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Creepy Presents Steve Ditko”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[66,125,127,107,144,256],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-horror-stories","category-humour","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction","category-steve-ditko","category-sword-sorcery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7ua","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28780,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28778\/revisions\/28780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}