steve ditko – Page 7 – Coke & Comics

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1, Story C

How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!

Featuring: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
3 pages

Wonderful opening page with the creators, particularly that first panel with Stan and all the characters.

This story is an interesting little artifact. It pokes fun at the two creators and their relationship. Ditko drew the story, seemingly in good humor. This suggests their relationship had not yet fully deteriorated.

Within 2 years, Ditko would leave Marvel over bitter conflict with Stan. He had been refusing to speak to Stan long before he left the series. There are many with more expertise who can give you the behind-the-scenes details, though plenty remain uncertain or debated.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1, Story B

The Secrets of Spider-Man!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
9ish pages

Confession time, here’s what I got. I haven’t decided the best way to break up issues with a lot of bonus content like this. My posts don’t cover entire issues, but stories within them. So what is a “story”?

This issue has 3 comic-sequence-like features: the main feature of 41 pages we just covered; a 9-numbered-page sequence we are covering now; and, a 3-page sequence I’ll cover in the subsequent post.

After the main feature, there is a 14-page gallery of all Spider-Man’s villains from the first 15 issues of the series: the Burglar, Chameleon, the Vulture, the terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Doctor Doom, the Lizard, the Living Brain, Electro, the Enforcers and the Big Man, Mysterio, the Green Goblin, and Kraven the Hunter. That’s quite the collection of villains for only 15 issues. All original except Dr. Doom. No other series can match.

That brings us to the featurette which is the main subject of this post: “The Secrets of Spider-Man!” This isn’t a narrative story, but it is told in standard comic panel format. We get a recap of the origin of Spider-Man followed by a detailed analysis of his powers and web shooters.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1

The Sinister Six!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
Lettered by: S. Rosen
41 pages

It’s 1964. You’re young. You don’t have a lot of money. But you know some math. Most comics cost 12 cents. This one costs 25. You could get two comics for that price! But wait… those two comics between them would only net you 42-46 story pages. This one promises 72 pages! 72 big pages, at that.

Indeed, this first story is 41 pages, enough to give you your money’s worth. But there’re over 30 pages of bonus features as well!

Plus, most of those comics will give you one super-villain, two at most. This cover promises a sinister six villains for your hard-earned quarter.

If you’re not yet sold to drop two bits, the first page should do it. Aunt May and Betty Brant have been captured by the Sinister Six, and Spider-Man has lost his powers! Now that’s a story!

Strange Tales #124, Story B

The Lady from Nowhere!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written inside a haunted house by: Stan Lee
Illustrated inside a gypsy’s tent by: Steve Ditko
Inked inside a hidden cave by: Geo. Bell
Lettered inside… because it was raining outside by: S. Rosen
9 pages

Dr. Strange gets more than his usual amount of cover real estate. Some 15% of the page devoted to his story. Enough to actually depict the story within. The second time that’s happened. Strange’s day will come.

For the second of three issues, we have to put up with George Roussos finishing Ditko’s art. There’s a payoff that makes it all worth it, though. When Ditko resumes the full art duties in two issues, he’ll give us 20 of the best comics ever made.

The first page asks, “Can you guess the identity of the Lady from Nowhere??” This puts me in a bind I’ve been in before. The issue reveals her identity on the final page. I’m not a fan of spoilers and don’t want to spoil things for you. That said, this comic is over 55 years old, so it’s not like you haven’t had ample time to read it.

Even if I don’t spoil the ending in my write-up, I do like to give a listing of all the characters in this issue afterward, which would reveal who the Lady is. Tell you what. I’ll give you some hints and see if you can guess before we reach the character listing below. This is her second Marvel Age appearance, after the Iron Man story in Tales of Suspense #44. (Clicking the link will probably give away the answer.)

We’d actually already met her in one of our PRELUDE posts, when we read Venus #1. It’s not absolutely clear how or if these three versions of the character are related.

Amazing Spider-Man #16

Duel with Daredevil

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, master of the spoken word
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko, dean of dramatic drawings
Lettered by: S. Rosen, sultan of sparkling spelling
22 pages

Let me start by wishing a happy birthday to Steve Ditko, who would have been 93 today had he not passed away in 2018.

Ditko has created a number of new villains for this series, while maintaining a generally pretty high quality (Green Goblin excepted). The team has only once borrowed a villain so far, when Spider-Man fought Dr. Doom in issue 5. This is the second time borrowing a villain, but they dig deeper, bringing back Ringmaster from Incredible Hulk #3 two years earlier. We’ve read over 200 comics since we last met Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime.

Aunt May still insists Peter accept a blind date with Mary Jane Watson. Peter makes the reasonable protestation that he has a girlfriend. May notes they are not engaged. Does May just not like Betty for some reason? On the other hand, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a date. Peter could just offer to hang out with Mrs. Watson’s niece as a favor to Aunt May. I feel like they could compromise here.

Amazing Spider-Man #15

Kraven the Hunter!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (because we couldn’t afford Mickey Spillane)
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko (because Picasso was out of town)
Lettered by: Art Simek (because his name fits this space)
22 pages

I feel like the golden era of Ditko coming up with cool Spider-Man villains may be over. At least Kraven is more interesting than Green Goblin. Like Green Goblin, it’s generally agreed the best story for each is the one where they die.

I will give Green Goblin and Kraven credit for one thing… they’re different from the other villains. They’re both unique, for better or worse.

But, while one form of Goblin or another was the villain or a background threat for the first four Spider-Man films, we’re seven films in without so much as a hint of Kraven. Guy’s gotta be a little insulted.

Kraven’s motive is different from the other villains we’ve met. He’s not interested in money, power or revenge. His goal is sport. His namesake is not an animal like many of Spider-Man’s villains, but his outfit does suggest a lion motif.

The story begins with the return of Spider-Man’s first super-villain foe: the Chameleon, who we learn is an old friend of Kraven the Hunter.

While Chameleon’s mask has the same basic idea as before, it’s been cleaned up and altered. This new look will endure for 60 years.

Strange Tales #123, Story B

The Challenge of Loki!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan (Miracle Man) Lee
Illustrated by: Steve (Marvel Man) Ditko
Inked by: George (Mystical Man) Bell
Lettered by: Art (Magical Man) Simek
9 pages

This is the most cover real estate Dr. Strange has yet gotten. A full vertical half of the page. Really moving up in the world.

Stan’s “clever credits” aren’t entirely original this time. He refers to himself as Miracle Man… but that was already a name he himself gave to a Fantastic Four villain. Marvelman is the British superhero who is not actionably copied from Captain Marvel.

For the entirety of the series, as well as of Amazing Spider-Man, Ditko has done all his own art. For the best. For the next three issues, George Roussos will be inking Ditko on Dr. Strange. It is a sad sight to see.

Stan the narrator often speaks directly to the audience, and he often apologizes to them. I haven’t taken note of any apologies prior to this, but it almost seems like he’s trying to apologize that Thor looks different from normal. Because Ditko’s style isn’t Kirby’s.

Amazing Spider-Man #14

The Grotesque Adventure of the Green Goblin

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: April 9, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Writen by: Stan Lee (The poor man’s Shakespeare)
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko (The poor man’s Da Vinci)
Lettered by: Art Simek (The poor man’s rich man)
22 pages

There are things to like about this comic. The new villain is pretty goofy, perfect for a one-off issue of frivolity. Bring back the Enforcers and throw in the Hulk, and you have a recipe for a fun time.

But look to this first panel. It’s very interesting. A great panel, actually. You see the villain’s mask in the foreground and the shadowed villain in the background. Spider-Man has had a few unmasking scenes of late. Electro turned out to be someone he’d never heard of. Big Man turned out to be Peter’s colleague, Fred Foswell. This opening panel suggests we will get another dramatic unmasking… except we won’t.

They will save the unmasking for a later issue. Spider-Man actually fails to decisively defeat this goofy villain. Which suggests the Green Goblin will return. A bad idea. The character might be fun for one issue, but not as a recurring villain. Especially when Spider-Man aready has such a robust rogues gallery of far more interesting characters: Chameleon, Vulture, Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Living Brain, Electro, Big Man, Enforcers, and Mysterio.

The second panel is a line that’s rather amusing with the benefit of hindsight. “I made the controls simple enough that there’s no chance of fatal error.” If you’ve read further in Amazing Spider-Man, you know he will redesign his flying device and forget that particular design principle. I had suggested this panel to my friend Brian for his Past Was Close Behind series.

The Green Goblin refers to his device as a “flying broomstick”, keeping to a magic/fairy tale theme.

Strange Tales #122, Story B

The World Beyond

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: April 9, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written, with a touch of sorcery by: Stan Lee
Drawn, with a dash of necromancy by: Steve Ditko
Lettered, with a number 6 pen point by: Art Simek
9 pages

We finish up Strange Tales #122. A couple things to recall from last time. I actually own this comic. And Dr. Strange is now a corner box star.

Dr. Strange, exhausted from recent battles against supernatural evil, falls asleep without proper protective chants, which leaves him vulnerable to Nightmare. This is Dr. Strange’s third battle with Nightmare.

Strange Tales #121, Story B

Witchcraft in the Wax Museum!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: March 10, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, King of Suspense
Drawn by: Steve Ditko, Master of the Macabre
Lettered by: Art Simek, Prince of the Lettering Pen
9 pages

I’ll include the cover with this post, as this is the first time the Dr. Strange story is given a significant piece of cover real estate.

I confess to a little bit of Mordo-fatigue. A full half of the Dr. Strange stories have pitted him against Mordo. As I start the story, I do a bit of a “Mordo again” sigh/eye-roll. But it’s actually a pretty good comic, as they tend to be.