Marvel Visionaries: Steve Ditko
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Marvel Visionaries: Steve Ditko Details
From Booklist Ditko, a Marvel Comics' mainstay in the early 1960s, helped create a line of superheroes that endures to this day. Not the slickest or most dynamic artist, he was indisputably the most individualistic. Whereas Jack Kirby's characters were handsome and larger-than-life, Ditko's awkward, angular figures were decidedly antiheroic. This deluxe, full-color collection showcases Ditko's Marvel work in 27 well-chosen stories. His most famous creation, Spider-Man, dominates in six selections that laid the groundwork for the dozens of artists who have subsequently depicted his exploits. Other tales feature Ditko's next-best-known Marvel creations: Dr. Strange, whose sorcerous exploits gave the swinging sixties their most psychedelic comic-book moments, and the Incredible Hulk. Ditko abruptly left Marvel in 1966, three years after creating Spidey, but later returned to work there intermittently; the volume contains four stories from the 1980s and 1990s. By then the magic was largely gone, yet Ditko's distinctive style remained. Much admired by today's comics artists, Ditko is seldom recognizable as an influence because his approach can't easily be copied or assimilated. Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more
Reviews
This book is an excellent overview of Ditko's Marvel years. Ditko is an acquired taste and to get the full effect of his storytelling craft a reader will need to see more than one or two issues of a title. The editors of this volume have done a good job by picking two and three issue story arcs of Ditko's signature Marvel titles, Dr. Strange and The Amazing Spider-Man, to illustrate Ditko's nuances as a comic chronicler. They have also included a strong sampling of his and Stan Lee's collaborations on "twilight zone" horror shorts that ran in Atlas and Marvel horror titles. Steve also had short but important runs on the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man and two of these full issue tales have also been included here for historical veracity. Most reviewers of this volume have had bad things to say about the later selections in the volume. There are two issues that were part of Marvel editor Jim Shooter's program to have a bank of fill-in stories in the event of a creator missing their deadline. The Daredevil story ran in the middle of Frank Miller's legendary run on the title and I think helps tie Miller's vision of the character to the Stan Lee-Bill Everett/Wally Wood take on the Man without Fear. The other Hulk story is interesting in comparison to the earlier "Marvel Age" story. The two 1990's selections are interesting experiments. I think they highlight Steve's unique vision versus the modern comic era. I think this is a great volume for Steve Ditko fans and I feel it can be a good way to introduce his work to new readers.