My Two Favorite Comic Stories

As a kid, I loved superhero comics. As an adult...not so much. Except, of course, in the realm of nostalgia. I still adore those comic stories that inspired and fascinated me as a kid and enjoy looking at them through the lens of decades of history.

My two favorite superhero comic book yarns were written and illustrated by (of course) my two favorite creators of that period of my life: Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. I won't get too much into the history of the pair of stories that so influenced me, except to reiterate that Steve Ditko created, wrote, and illustrated The Amazing Spider-Man; and Jack Kirby created, wrote, and illustrated the Fantastic Four. Neither man had a "co-creator"--just an editor.

I've also covered both of these stories in past essays here in my blog. So I'll just list the stories and the issues in which they appeared and leave my earlier words to stand; and perhaps add some depth to those essays on another day.

The first of these great stories was the Master Planner story arc that ran for several issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. This is, as far as I'm concerned, the finest super-hero story ever done. Ditko outdid not only himself with this adventure, but all other super-hero comic creators before or since. A few have come close to capturing the depth and breadth of what he was achieving, but no one has surpassed the sheer power of this tale.

When he was allowed, Ditko could create some of the finest covers being done in comics.

Yeah, the fans had never seen Spider-Man done like this.

Despair was never portrayed quite like this. Someday I need to do a study of the way Ditko utilized the imagery of water in his comics.

Years later, after Ditko had left his employment at Marvel Comics and abandoned his amazing creations there, his former colleague was winding down his own tenure at that company. Jack Kirby pretty much created not only most of the characters at Marvel, but the company itself. No one else was as important to that company as Jack Kirby. I have studied his run on his most popular title there, FANTASTIC FOUR, and always noticed that he seemed to let up on the gas after the "Him" storyline in issues 66 & 67. Further research led me to the conclusion that his editor there had wrecked his story, almost completely nullifying its effectiveness and mucking up the dialog pretty much beyond belief. Thereafter, the explosion of creativity that Kirby had lavished on the book to that point ceased. The stories were still excellent and the art was still the most dynamic around, but there were almost no new characters coming out of the book. Kirby was, I am convinced, fed up with seeing the sweat of his brow being capitalized by his employers with nothing for him beyond his page rate. Further, not only was his intellectual property being robbed from him, his stories were often being mangled by the ego-mad idiot editor under whom he worked. Thus, the flow of new properties to his bosses slowed to a trickle.

Then, in issue #90 of the title, a new story arc appeared. The Skrull/Slave arc. It could be argued that the plot was partially based on the germ of an idea from the TV series Star Trek. But beyond that it was all classic Kirby. Kirby had always been fascinated by mob characters and science fiction. And so he plunged his comic book alter-ego, Ben Grimm, into a long story steeped in mob culture and a pure science-fiction, planet-spanning adventure. It was, I now know, Kirby's fond farewell to his character of Ben Grimm as he planned his move away from Marvel and to fields greener for his creative energies.

Symbolism. One of Kirby's earliest creations for Marvel was the alien race, the Skrulls, who were shape-shifters. Here, he is tricked and kidnapped by a Skrull posing as his friend, Reed Richards. Fooled again, sucker!

Ben Grimm, in chains!

One of the most effective and dramatic covers I've seen in superhero comics.

The finale. Torgo was the major character (I can't say "villain" because he truly was not such) that Kirby created for this story arc. However, for all the emotional power of Torgo, Kirby chose to give him a kind of generic android appearance similar to the kind of thing he'd been handing off to his employers since issue #68 of the title. Let them create their OWN unique images to exploit!

A Simple Kirby/Ditko Contrast.

My two favorite comic book artists of the Silver Age emerged from Marvel Comics. The creations and the stories that flowed from these men amazed me as a kid. Their work was like magic.

But they were very different. Kirby was all about inspiration, and Ditko was introspection. Kirby was power and solidity. Ditko was strangely frantic.

No more for today...for now I am extremely tired. Too tired to even muse further on the works of two of my childhood idols. I always had the impression that Kirby's work inspired and pushed Ditko to new heights. And that Ditko's work pushed Kirby to go places he might otherwise have never considered.

Ditko's style had been evolving for some time, and he was breaking out and pushing boundaries. His hero was front and center, always.

The thrust of Kirby's work seemed to be about gravity, drama, danger.

Ditko showed action. It was as if you were not seeing a snapshot, but witnessing animation and had merely opened your eyes in the middle of a melee.

Kirby's symbolism was simpler than Ditko's. A sledgehammer as opposed to a scalpel.

There had not been comic art quite like this since Jack Cole had taken his leave of the industry (and this mortal coil).

Kirby, too was always pushing boundaries of the form and experimenting with the medium in which he'd found such a powerful place.

There was always something frenetic even in the most weighted of Ditko's graphics.

Tension and drama without even the slightest hint of action.

Perspectives comic fans had never (or rarely) seen from a creator.

Power and brilliance combined. A frozen moment.

Ditko's crowning philosophical statement, artwork that has no equal in superhero comics.

Kirby drama, again. His stab at dissecting a familiar (and poisonous) philosophy.

The Final Issues (Amazing Spider-Man #36-#38, Annual #1 and #2.

And here they are, the last of my copies of The Amazing Spider-Man, by Steve Ditko. Although the character as here seen was created by Steve Ditko, written by Steve Ditko, Penciled by Steve Ditko, and inked by Steve Ditko, ownership of this property was stolen by his publisher. Today, it generates--quite literally--billions of dollars in profits. Of that, the character's creator receives virtually nothing. Most people who read the modern comics and see the films starring the character are unaware of who Steve Ditko is, much less that he was the man who created the character they so adore.

Yes, I know that there are greater crimes committed in this world. But this is a crime, and the fact that it goes not only unpunished, but is rewarded only increases the injustice of it.

Continued from #30-#35.

I'm not sure what was going on with the issues directly after the Master Planner storyline. However, it seems relatively clear to me that Ditko was going out of his way not to create much in the way of new characters for Marvel Comics. I will assume that he had decided to take his leave of Goodman and Lee, but may have been hedging his bets and hoping that they would do the right thing. (No chance.) In this story we are yet again greeted by a cookie-cutter villain, the Meteor Man. This guy gets super strength due to his exposure to a pocket of mysterious gas trapped inside a meteor that he is examining in a museum (where he works). He does have an added gadget of a helium balloon in a backpack that he can activate and escape from the scene of a crime. Spider-Man kicks his ass and turns him over to the cops.

Recall what I said about Ditko hedging his bets? Well, with this one he was turning his hand to deepening the mystery of the Green Goblin and was hinting at future developments and giving us more clues as to who he might really be. And the Goblin's genius henchman here has developed some advanced robotics that he uses to try to defeat Spider-Man, including an amoeba-like robot that has to be one of the coolest ever created for comics. But apparently between this issue and the next, the proverbial shit hit the fan and Ditko was ready to walk.

Ditko didn't even deliver a cover for this, his final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Or if he did, perhaps Lee rejected it and it was never used. However, I've always thought that this was a pretty darned cool cover and it attracted me like crazy when I saw it on the newsstand at the local drugstore in my neighborhood in Decatur, Georgia. So much so that I bought it instead of waiting to get it for free from my dad's bookstore. They created the cover by taking images and panels from interior Ditko illustrations and putting them on the cover. It works. I did an essay on this book once before, but I may do another one.

 

This book is pure fun. And it was a really HUGE comic book. The heft of it is impressive when compared to annuals from later years. They really packed it with great material, most of it new. Ditko delivers lots of pinups and various inside information about Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Plus the new story wherein Spider-Man battles six of his most dangerous foes.

Although a brief story, the new one in this annual is one of my favorite Spider-Man yarns. It guest stars Dr. Strange, Ditko's other major creation for Marvel Comics. Even the thief who helped to steal all of Ditko's work at Marvel admits that he had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of Dr. Strange. And, yet, somehow, his name is all over the character as "co-creator". If you're not disgusted, you're either a moron or without a sense of right and wrong.

The Amazing Spider-Man #31-#35.

We're approaching the home stretch for Ditko's final months on the comic book character he created for Marvel Comics and which was stolen from him by the publisher and the editor. From all accounts, Ditko was getting fed up with the way he was being treated. The personal philosophy that he followed to the letter precluded him from putting up much of a fight for his creator rights, but he was coming close to the only option allowed him by the dogma that controlled his outlook: walking away.

But until that point, he was creating some of the finest superhero comics of his day and actually did concoct what--to me--is the single finest superhero story ever to grace the pages of a periodical. I've already written one essay on the Master Planner story arc, but it's such a fine work that I may be forced to revisit it with a critical eye and do yet another essay.

Continued from #26-30.

This is yet another brilliant cover from Ditko. When the folk in the office allowed him, he could come up with stuff that was just purely brilliant--like nothing else in comics in those days. Here he was incorporating some themes and ideas that must have been percolating through the culture via spy movies (such as the Bond films). With this issue, he began the Master Planner story. Once more Spider-Man is faced with a criminal force that is being directed by a foe he cannot name or recognize and which is also a mystery to the otherwise omniscient reader. It didn't get any better than this in superhero comics, and it still hasn't been matched.

This was Spider-Man! Because he often battled villains who were not much more than regular guys with guns or hyped up weaponry, the fans sometimes forgot just how physically powerful and overwhelming Spider-Man could be. In this issue, with Aunt May's life on the line, Spider-Man has had all he can stand from the criminal element and by Jove he's not going to take it anymore. Here he roams around the city hitting at the criminal underbelly, terrorizing the thugs to get the information that he needs to save his aunt.

The best single superhero comic book ever done. Created by Ditko. Written by Ditko. Penciled AND inked by Steve Ditko. Possibly spurred by Wally Wood's inability to be bullied and taken advantage of by Stan Lee and Martin Goodman, Ditko had finally demanded that he--at the very least--receive plotting credits for the book. Since Lee was altering the dialog and acting as editor, Ditko obviously relented and allowed Lee to keep stealing the "writer" credits. But at the very least he was letting fandom know who was really concocting the stories: STEVE DITKO!

Ditko brings back Kraven the Hunter for the last time during his tenure. After the emotionally exhausting work of #31-33, Ditko returns to a typical superhero slug-fest with this one. The story is fun, but nothing like the intellectual yarn he had told in the previous three issues.

And another return engagement from Ditko's the Molten Man. In many ways, this story is similar to the previous issue. Not much going on here other than a big superhero/supervilain fight. However, Ditko was beginning to plant more seeds that hinted at another great story arc that would feature a final confrontation with the Green Goblin. Alas, we never got to see that, since Ditko would leave the company before he could complete that tale. This issue is also interesting because it's another example of Lee interfering with the cover art because he didn't like seeing Spider-Man's butt cheeks. He had someone in the bullpen alter the Spider-Man figure to erase the offending anatomy.

Here is the cover generally conceded to be the version that Lee killed.

Amazing Spider-Man #25 through #30.

The next five issues from my collection are on display here. Ditko was becoming more and more ambitious in his storytelling. He was not only expanding what had been the limitations of the classic comic book panel, he was also pushing the limitations of what had been the formulaic superhero script. Much has been written about the angst of the Ditko Spider-Man stories (credit going to someone other than Ditko on that). This was heartfelt material from the artist/writer--material so powerful that not even a pushy editor could screw up the emotional power of Ditko's storytelling.

(Continued from: 21-25.)

I've mentioned this issue in other essays. Here we have the Crime Master, another of Ditko's villains whose secret identity is even secret from the reader. We find the Crime Master and the Green Goblin at odds over which of them is going to rule the underworld turf. With Spider-Man caught in the middle.

Spider-Man at the mercy of the villains and their henchmen! But this is the old Spider-Man who was one of the most physically powerful characters in the old Marvel Universe. Back then, only a handful of super-powered dudes were stronger than Spidey--Hulk, Thing, Thor...that was about it. Battleship chain? That would slow him down, but ultimately...something he could break!

Good grief this is a brilliant cover. And not just a brilliant cover, but an inspired super-villain. The Molten Man was a fellow given super powers by accidentally getting drenched in a metallic alloy that was liquid at room temperature. The stuff is absorbed by the guy's body turning him the same golden hue as the metal, and giving him both super-strength and a measure of physical invulnerability. As with the Scorpion, it's stated that he's probably even stronger than Spider-Man, so the hero has to really use his wits to defeat him. Because of the black cover, this issue is almost impossible to find in the highest grades (even the slightest crease or blemish is spotlit against that ebony background). Thus, it's in very high demand as a collectible comic in grades higher than fine. I settled--as I generally always do--for a lesser condition copy. As I like to say, I actually read my old comics.

Another issue I've written about. Once more Spider-Man has to face off against a villain who is stronger than he. And once more Parker has to use his wits to find something that gives him an edge. The Scorpion costume is one of the best villain uniforms Ditko ever created. He took the basic segmented appearance of the arachnid animal and incorporated it brilliantly into the costume. No one was better at this kind of iconic thing than Ditko.

This is actually not one of my favorite Spider-Man covers. It's almost ineffective in many ways. I'm not quite sure what Ditko was after with this one, but it made it past the editor. Ditko was constantly trying to pit Spider-Man against foes who were human. The Cat was one of the most human of his early villains. No super powers whatsoever. Just a highly trained burglar with some weapons at his disposal. Of course some explosives can cause a lot of trouble for even a guy who can pick up 12 tons and cling to walls.

The Amazing Spider-Man #16 through #20.

Today, it's issues 16 through 20. Evolution of writer/artist Steve Ditko on his creation, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

Continued from 11-15.

It was company policy to have stories from time to time that were crossovers. That is, a character from one title would guest-star in another hero's book. When Ditko got the suggestion to do such a story he generally handled it with unique imagination. Since Daredevil and Spider-Man are very similar characters this issue seemed almost natural. Whenever I see this cover, I laugh. One of the stories about the early days of Marvel is that Stan Lee had a thing about illustrations that showed the heroes' asses. He didn't care for it and would demand such illustrations be redrawn so that no one could see the superhero butt cheeks. This one, however, made it past Lee. How? Why? We'll never know.

Ah, the return of the Green Goblin. This story also featured the Human Torch. It seemed that Goodman and Lee had a hard-on trying to turn the Human Torch into a fan favorite. To that end they tried everything; but the fans were having no part of it. Ditko did seem to have a good feel for creating a working chemistry between the two super-powered teenagers, but the public was not impressed enough to make the Human Torch a bankable solo star.

I love this story. Spider-Man seems to "run" from a confrontation with one of his more powerful villains in this story (the Sandman). And he really does high-tail it. But not out of cowardice. It's because he has a personal reason for avoiding the confrontation until a later date. Ditko has Spider-Man acting in a mildly selfish way here, perhaps in a kind of reflection of the influence of the insane writings of the Queen of Selfishness, Ayn Rand.

More Human Torch guest-star stuff. The Enforcers return--they were an early and reliable foil for Spider-Man. And, of course, Spider-Man kicks Sandman's ass to even the score of his apparently cowardly run from the previous issue. On a side note, this is the book that got me back into collecting. For some damned reason I bought this copy at a comic convention and enjoying the reading of it I decided: Fuck it. I'm going to collect all of the Ditko issues.

I've always liked the villain the Scorpion as created and portrayed by Ditko. Gargan/Scorpion is a brutal thug given superpowers for the sole reason to capture Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the process that turns him into a super-villain also drives him mad with power (and insane, too). He has most of Spider-Man's powers and is actually physically stronger. But Spider-Man defeats him by using his wits rather than relying merely on brute strength. He gets his ass all but kicked in the process. The result, later in the book, is that Parker appears in public looking as if he's had his butt whooped (which he of course has). It was Ditko showing that there were consequences to what the character did, just as in reality there are consequences for anyone's actions.

Amazing Spider-Man Collection...

Next five issues of my collection of Steve Ditko's THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN:

Continued from 6-10.

Ditko brings back Dr. Octopus. Everyone thinks of the Green Goblin as Spider-Man's arch-enemy. But in fact it was Otto Octavius. He appeared most often as Spider-Man's foe and came the closest most often to defeating him. Octopus was, in fact, a really scary cat with the power and intellect to put Spidey away permanently.

The cover is not misleading, either. Doc Ock really did unmask Parker here. This was the first time that I can recall of any writer on the title using the idea that the flu virus had some kind of ability to cancel out Spider-Man's powers. Thus, when the suffering hero attempts to battle Octopus and is easily beaten and unmasked, everyone assumes that it was just a stupid kid trying to be a hero. Spider-Man's powers return as soon as his immune system fights off the viral infection. (But everyone ends up thinking Peter Parker is an idiot.)

Ditko cutting loose with a really twisted story. In this one, Ditko tackles psychiatry. (Maybe someone had appropriately suggested that he see one.) Scientologists would probably love this issue of the book.

Considered by many to be the most important issue of Ditko's run of his creation. Here we are introduced to The Green Goblin. This villain has no super powers, instead relying on brilliant contraptions and super-science weaponry. This would be the second time Ditko would use the idea of a continuing villain whose identity was secret not only from other characters within the story, but also from the reader! A stroke of brilliance. His character The Chameleon (from the first issue) was also unknown to the reader, but he turned out to be a minor experiment for Ditko and was rarely used again in the book while Ditko was around. This began an underlying story for the book that would continue throughout Ditko's time at Marvel. He never even got to complete the long-running Goblin story arc, walking away from his creations at the company before he could complete the task. (I was able to land this copy because it has tape on the spine, but is otherwise in decent condition. These days this is one of the hardest issues of the book to find and purchase.) Also of note here is the inclusion of The Incredible Hulk. Ditko was handed the character, created wholly by Jack Kirby, when Kirby got angry over interference from his editor (Stan Lee) on the direction Kirby was taking with the Hulk. Kirby walked away from it (it's not like he was stuck for other ideas) and they handed it off to Ditko who wrote and illustrated the character for a while in Tales to Astonish.

Another classic Ditko villain, Kraven the Hunter. Kraven was a dirty Russian, apparently. Obsessed with hunting wild animals, he was based on the character of the crazed Cossack General Zaroff from the 1924 Richard Connell story, "The Most Dangerous Game". Kraven does have super-powers--enhanced strength and heightened senses created by the consumption of a special potion he discovered in his travels. In addition, he keeps a few weapons hidden within his animal-skin costume that he uses against Spider-Man, whom he has chosen to be his ultimate prey. Ditko ended up using Kraven in three stories during his time writing Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man #6-10

Returning to the posting of scans of my run of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book. As stated before, since the character here was created by Steve Ditko, I never wanted to collect any issues that he didn't also write and illustrate. Thus, I collected only the first thirty-eight issues and the two annuals. The book that continued without its creator wasn't worth collecting for me. The later writers, most notably John Romita, just had no feel for the character and you folk in the rest of the world are welcome to those issues.

(Continued from 1-5.)

This issue is, by far, the worst condition copy in my collection. I picked it up because the price was right, but it's one of the few issues that I'm actually going to upgrade. I try to keep copies in lower grade...but not this low. The Lizard was one of Ditko's more interesting villains. Knowing Ditko's penchant for black/white characters--this one is rather odd. He's the only gray area villain that I can recall coming from Ditko. He's a bad buy but with a good heart. Ditko used Dr. Connor again, but not as the Lizard. It was only after Ditko walked away from Marvel Comics that the evil Mr. Hyde aspect of his personality was used again.

Thanks to Steve Adelman selling his copy of Amazing Spider-Man #7 I have this one in my collection.

The cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #8 remains one of my favorites. Ditko was really cutting loose, and this is a particularly dynamic cover. He was also beginning to do some cool stuff with his scripts, creating some real tension among the characters and putting Peter Parker into some really dangerous situations.

Electro is another cool villian, but in the classic Ditko mode. He's an asshole with no redeeming values whatsoever. He's just a thug and a criminal who was lucky enough to become a super-villain.

Occasionally Stan Lee, in his role as managing editor, would overrule his artists on covers. The cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #10 was such an instance. He did not care for the one that Ditko turned in, and so had the bullpen cobble this one together. The villains are obviously Ditko art, but the main form of Spider-Man is not. It may have been Kirby who produced the figure, but I've also read that it was Dick Ayers.

Fortunately, somehow the original cover art survived, and we can see what Ditko wanted to do. This was the first time Ditko used a masked villain whose true identity was kept even from the reader. Later, he would go back to this plot device with the Master Planner, the Crime Master, and the Green Goblin.