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Synopsis
A critical retrospective of the work of Spider-Man's reclusive co-creator traces the progression of his spatial designs from the hallucinatory landscapes of Dr. Strange to the plebeian earthiness of The Amazing Spider Man, in an account that covers such topics as his early work for Marvel and his creation of Mr. A.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Greywolf
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange.... Read more ›
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange.... Read more ›
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Ditko-Di
Format:Hardcover
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.
In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.
Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.
Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!
In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.
Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.
Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By Jed Raven
Format:Hardcover
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.
The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms.... Read more ›
The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Marine Boy
Format:Hardcover
An accessible and well researched overview of Ditko's career which covers his early years, his 1960's heyday and offers some insights into his artistic decline in later years. Not a hagiography by any means, it doesn't shrink from detailing the difficulties which his strong political views and his rigid refusal to compromise have caused him.
The illustrations are plentiful, well selected and well reproduced from both original artwork and printed comics, but some questionable design decisions (the propensity noted by another reviewer to bleed the artwork off the page and the intrusive pasting of captions over the artwork) and the lack of an index make it four-star rather than five.
The illustrations are plentiful, well selected and well reproduced from both original artwork and printed comics, but some questionable design decisions (the propensity noted by another reviewer to bleed the artwork off the page and the intrusive pasting of captions over the artwork) and the lack of an index make it four-star rather than five.
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