Working With Ditko

© Jack Kirby Estate

PLEASE! Don’t STEAL this Digital Edition!

We made it; more than 25 years of publishing the industry’s favorite books and magazines about comics, LEGO®, and pop culture.

But a Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive!

If you didn’t pay for this Digital Edition,

STOP!

DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES, AND DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Do the right thing! Go buy an affordable, legal download at

www.twomorrows.com

And while you’re there, download a FREE DIGITAL CATALOG of all our available back issues and books!

In difficult times like these, we need your help to keep producing great publications like this one!

TwoMorrows Publishing

Working With

by

Working With

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina USA

Working with Ditko

by Jack C. Harris

Introduction by Mike Gold Design, Production, and Editorial Assist by Jon B. Cooke Proofread and Published by John Morrow Steve Ditko portrait by Drew Friedman Front and back cover art by Steve Ditko Special thanks: Cory Sedlmeier, Rob Imes, Kendall Whitehouse, Glenn Whitmore, and Andrew Pepoy Dedicated to Stephen J. Ditko

My idol, acquaintance, colleague, collaborator, friend & Master of the Comic Book Arts Batman, Black Canary, Block, Bouncing Boy, Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, The Creeper, Dial H for Hero, Green Arrow, The Hawk and the Dove, Hawkman, House of Mystery, The Legion of Super-Heroes, The Odd Man, Shade the Changing Man, Showcase, Stalker, Starman, Superboy, Superman, Time Warp, Wildfire, Wonder Woman, World’s Finest Comics, and all associated characters TM & © DC Comics.

Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Human Torch, Kraven the Hunter, Spider-Man: Web of Doom, Tales of Suspense, and all associated characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. The Adventures of the Fly, Fly Girl, Jaguar, and all associated characters TM & © Archie Comic Publications, Inc. The Fly created by Joe Simon, © The Estate of Joseph Simon.

Steve Ditko portrait © Drew Friedman. Originally appeared in Drew’s Heroes of the Comics: Portraits of the Pioneering Legends of Comic Books [2014], published by Fantagraphics Books.

Alter Ego TM & © Roy and Dann Thomas.

The Comics Journal TM & © Fantagraphic Books, Inc. Warp and associated characters TM & © the estate of Stuart Gordon and Lenny Kleinfeld.

Byron Simon (In the Lamp), Daughters of Time, Dr. Ato: The Man with the Atomic Eye, Fantasy Master, Felix Fax: The Infinity Flyer, Lelona, The Myth Master, Star Guider, 3-D Substance, and Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad, and all associated characters TM & © Jack C. Harris.

Revolver TM & © Robin Snyder.

The 3-D Zone TM & © the estate of Ray Zone.

Fantastic Giants, Gorgo, Konga TM & © the respective copyright holders.

First Printing: June 2023 • Printed in China • ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-122-6

Published by

TwoMorrows Publishing

10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 USA www.twomorrows.com

Table of Contents Introduction: “Art That Speaks for Itself” by Mike Gold........................................................... 7 Chapter 1: First Encounter..................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Meeting Steve Ditko............................................................................................. 14 Chapter 3: Steve, Shade, the Changing Man, and The Odd Man............................................. 19 Chapter 4: Steve: the World’s Finest Creeper, and The Batman............................................. 27 Chapter 5: Steve, the Mystery Stories, and Time Warp........................................................... 38 Chapter 6: Ditko and the Wonder Woman Spectacular........................................................... 47 Chapter 7: Steve Ditko’s DC Profile....................................................................................... 52 Chapter 8: Steve and The Legion of Super-Heroes.................................................................. 54 Chapter 9: Steve, First Comics, the Faceless Ones, and the Fantasy Master.......................... 59 Chapter 10: Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, and the Star Guider.................................... 75 Chapter 11: Steve and The Fly.............................................................................................. 88 Chapter 12: 3-D Ditko: Substance and the Daughters of Time.............................................. 95 Chapter 13: Steve, the Hulk, the Human Torch, and the Long Wait..................................... 107 Chapter 14: Unpublished Ditko.......................................................................................... 112 Chapter 15: My Last Letter to Steve.................................................................................... 124

6

Working with Ditko

Introduction by Mike Gold

Art that Speaks for Itself I

f I made a list of, say, the top ten coolest moments in my life — and in that respect, at least, I’ve led a charmed life — sitting in Steve Ditko’s studio gawking at hundreds of original concepts that he never took farther than the sketch stage would rank high on that list. To just sit there and gaze at all that amazing stuff arrested my sense of wonder in the same way that Steve’s published creations did. That small room was filled with more What Ifs than a comics shop retailer’s warehouse.

Steve was fond of saying he let his work speak for itself. Jack C. Harris, who later wrote this very book, once told me he thought Steve was simply shy, and I can see how that was likely so. But all those unrealized creations did not speak for themselves.

His creations did not speak at all. They screamed. Quite loudly.

There’s no aping Ditko’s work. When I did The Question with Denny O’Neil and Denys Cowan, we didn’t even try. We used Steve’s work, his characters and his concepts as our backstory, of course, and defined that as our starting point. We shifted the focus from crime fighter Vic Sage to the town of Hub City; it was Hub City that was the “star” of that series.

Which, I’m relieved to say, reminds me of a story.

Opposite page is Drew Friedman’s portrait of Steve Ditko, from Heroes of the Comics [2014].

I first met Steve Ditko at DC’s offices in 1976. A professional fanboy at 26 years old, I felt I had to say something to this great storyteller, so I asked him a question – about The Question.

“When you created The Question, were you inspired or influenced by Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy villain The Blank?”

Steve proceeded to tell me every detail of Gould’s 29 year-old story — and it was one of Chet’s longer stories. The Blank was really Frank Redrum, which is “murder” spelled backwards. Steve went on to his retelling, and upon completion, he paused and said with a straight face, “No, no influence at all. Why did you think there was?”

Only then did I catch that gleam in Steve Ditko’s eyes. I had been reading his work for almost 20 years and the last thing I ever expected to see was a truly mischievous look on his face.

I was later told by both Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin that, back in the Action Heroes days of Charlton Comics in Connecticut, Steve Ditko was quite the practical joker.

Not what a Ditko fan might imagine from reading his work. Clearly, he hadn’t lost his sense of timing.

During our shared tenure at DC Comics, Jack and I often had lunch with Steve; usually at the hamburger palace on the main floor of 75 Rockefeller Place where DC was housed at the time (DC’s assumption of midtown real

Introduction

7

Publicity director Mike Gold and editor Jack C. Harris in the DC Comics’ New York City offices, 1979.

estate challenged that of the Dutch). We even had a few dinners. Given his fundamentalist view of Objectivism, I was a bit surprised that Steve allowed “us” to pay for the meals, knowing full-well that we were putting it on the DC expense account. We never talked about those beliefs, nor did we discuss politics — surprisingly, keeping me from going down Politics Street was a feat lesser mortals than Steve Ditko often fail to pull off. We’d talk shop: storytelling, how to approach and execute the superhero myth, that sort of thing.

One time Steve noted the pointers connecting the word balloons to their speakers were too long. “All you need to do is indicate who is doing that talking,” Steve said (and I paraphrase). That made sense to me, but it didn’t overly change my approach to our work. Pointer-tails had evolved a bit during the thendiamond jubilee of comic art and, in most cases, they had shortened considerably as the volume of language increased. But I never forgot his comments and, occasionally, I would ask the letterer to... ah... keep the tail short.

At one point around 1990 I had the privilege of introducing Steve to artist/editor Ross Andru, a wonderful, kind-hearted and spiritual man who had long admired Steve’s work.

The feeling was mutual, and I was fortunate to be a fly on the wall to that conversation. This

8

Working with Ditko

was easy as it happened in my office. Ross asked why Steve drew such expressive hand gestures.

Ditko then physically launched into a series of his well-known hand gestures, although to this day I do not know if he did that consciously. When he finished, he told Ross, “I think it’s just more interesting that way.”

Artists like to have more space to do their stuff, and Steve Ditko was an artist. And a writer. And a philosopher. And, in his own way, an activist.

Ditko had very specific ideas about the heroic ideal, and he would not violate those abstractions. As an editor I respected that, even though I had no choice. Not if I wanted to work with him. Rather than compromise, he would walk. And, in fact, I tend to admire that.

But his rules were comparable with the firmament of heroic fantasy. Steve wasn’t “wrong,” but he was adamant. I know several gifted writers and editors who did not want to work with him because of that. Well, I admit that “control freak” is in our job description.

To track Ditko’s philosophy, we knew what the deal was when we picked up our cards.

However, I can’t help but think that those who passed on such opportunities suffered in that they did not get to know Steve Ditko for the entire man he was: a warm, humorous, and ingenious gift to the storytelling community.

You see, Steve Ditko’s work truly did speak for itself.

Former DC Comics group editor and director of editorial development and co-founder/editorial director of First Comics, Mike Gold enjoys a lengthy career as a writer, broadcaster, and annoying political activist. Currently babbling to the masses with Bob Harrison on the comics podcast at www.popculturesquad.com, Gold’s favorite hobby remains writing about himself in the third person.

Chapter 1.

First Encounter I

recall the exact moment I became aware of the comic book art of Steve Ditko. I was astride my bicycle, delivering newspapers very early in the morning, in late November of 1958. I dropped a folded copy of the Wilmington (Delaware) Morning News on the side porch doorstep of a house on Shipley Road.

Lying next to the step, scattered on the cement, was a small stack of comic books. On top was a copy of Tales of Suspense #2, dated March 1959. (Comic book publishers used to pre-date their comics to ensure longer newsstand life.) I had never seen a copy of Tales of Suspense before. I had only just begun to collect comic books, having “discovered” them at camp, a few months earlier. The ones that had my attention at the time were all published by DC Comics. The comic books I knew all had the corner “Superman DC National Comics” emblem and usually featured Superman and/ or Batman.

But this Tales of Suspense comic book was different; man, was it different! There was no identifying emblem on the corner. The cover scene was a futuristic city, obviously (to me at least) on a different planet, as a moon loomed in the sky much larger than I had ever seen it on Earth. The pale blue heavens above the city were filled with giant, twinkling stars.

Hovering in the air in the middle ground was the most fantastic, ultramodern floating car, the likes of which I had never seen. On the side of this orange and red transport were the letters “POLICE.” Inside this amazing vehicle were two green-uniformed policemen, one

piloting and the other pointing to the foreground.

And, oh, what a foreground! Through a huge window was a room filled with exotic green furniture and electronics. A curved green sofa sat behind a polished table on which sat a wine goblet and a handled pitcher.

Next to the table was a small sculpture of a

Tales of Suspense #2 [March 1959]. This cover illustration was my introduction to the comic book art of Steve Ditko.

First Encounter

9

unicorn! But the policeman in the floating car was not pointing to the room. He was pointing to the menacing figure standing in the room; facing the reader was an evil-looking, mustached man. But he was not a man! He was removing his shirt and underneath, clearly illustrated on his shiny metallic body, was a name plate riveted across his chest which read: ROBOT MODEL! The word balloons from the policeman read, “There he is! The assassin robot!” And the pilot responded, “What’ll we do? He’s the most dangerous creature alive!” The caption on the cover echoed the policemen’s fear by stating: “What is the dread secret of the…

‘Robot In Hiding’?”

I stood there transfixed for many minutes.

I put the comic book back down and pedaled off to finish my newspaper deliveries, vowing to look for a copy of that book to have for my own. It did not matter that it wasn’t a DC comic. I didn’t actually acquire an issue until years later, and it was only then that I discovered one more thing I had missed seeing on that mesmerizing cover: a signature on the sofa armrest right between the unicorn sculp-

ture and the wine goblet: “S. Ditko”.

This was my first encounter with the artwork of Steve Ditko. It certainly wouldn’t be my last. ***** I was a DC Comics fan. However, my first memories of comic books were issues of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories and Little Lulu, both published by Dell. When I discovered Action Comics featuring Superman, Tommy Tomorrow and Congo Bill, I switched my allegiance from the funny animal and humor comics to super-heroes and science-fiction. I encountered all the rest of my first issues of DC Comics at summer camp. Fortunately, back home, my paper route afforded me a pocket full of disposable income that I spent almost exclusively on comic books. All of my spending was on the DC Superman and Batman titles, and DC’s science-fiction books, Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures.

The discovery of that issue of Tales of Suspense, with the Ditko cover, made me aware of other comic book companies, but it still

The dramatic panels, by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, illustrating Bruce Banner’s exposure to gamma rays, that compelled me to buy Incredible Hulk #1 [May 1962].

10

Working with Ditko

The splash panel from Incredible Hulk #2 [June 1962], by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, that made me swear to never miss another issue!

didn’t inspire me to buy them. I would sneak read them occasionally at the newsstand, but would never spend money on them.

That all changed with the publication of The Incredible Hulk #1, in 1962. The Fantastic

Four was on its fourth issue when The Hulk debuted, but I had only seen Marvel’s “first family” on the stands and I had not been stirred to buy it. When The Incredible Hulk #1 came out, again, I only glanced at it. However,

First Encounter

11

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 [1963], by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the book that made me a Marvel Comics and Steve Ditko fan!

a close friend of mine raved about it, citing the artwork of a single panel: the image, by artists Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, of Bruce Banner getting engulfed by gamma rays. It was definitely this single illustration that made me put down my dime for that iconic issue.

At this point, I was still just a casual Marvel reader. However, it was the next issue of The Incredible Hulk that made me a Marvel fan. Issue #2 was once again penciled by Jack Kirby, but this time, the inking was handled

by Steve Ditko. The images of the Hulk in this comic, especially the splash panel, convinced me, from then on, never to miss an issue.

It wasn’t until the summer of 1964, when Marvel published Amazing Spider-Man Annual

12

Working with Ditko

#1, that I became a regular Marvel reader.

Marvel had a format for their annuals, built out of necessity, rather that any kind of brilliant marketing plan. DC Comics’ annuals (beginning with Superman Annual #1 [1960] ) had featured only reprints of previously published stories. Marvel, having a shorter history of modern stories, included a brand new story as the lead feature in all of its annuals. Key stories were reprinted in the back of the book, but the cover feature was always a brand new, never-before-published epic adventure of the lead character or characters. I always bought the Marvel annuals. Not only did they catch me up with stories I had missed, but the new story kept me up to date with the latest adventures, even though I had not been buying the titles’ regular run.

The book that pushed me over the edge, and made me a Marvel fan, as well as a DC fan, was Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. The classic lead story, “The Sinister Six”, was, of course, illustrated by Steve Ditko. Not only did the tale feature Spider-Man’s epic battles with all of his legendary foes, but there were brief guest appearances of the entire Marvel line-up at the time. In that single issue, Ditko got to draw Doctor Strange (his other regular Marvel feature), Thor, Giant Man and the Wasp, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man and the X-Men! The book included feature pages with everything a reader would ever have to know about the Web-Slinger, his origin, his powers, and his entire supporting cast, plus a behind-the-scenes, tongue-incheek story showing how Stan Lee and Steve created a Spider-Man story.

From that point on, I was a Ditko fan. I followed Spider-Man in his own book, and Doctor Strange in Strange Tales. I sought out back issues of Tales to Astonish, Journey into Mystery, Tales of Suspense, and other titles that featured Steve’s work. I followed his

career from his controversial departure from Marvel, to his work for Charlton Comics on Captain Atom, the Blue Beetle, and the Question. I loved his black-&-white ink work and ink wash stories for Warren’s Creepy and Eerie magazines. I was thrilled with his work on Tower Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

Many of his stories were inked by Wally Wood, and Ditko’s work on the Noman character was astounding. And of course, I loved his art back at DC where he created Beware the Creeper and The Hawk and the Dove.

As a comic book fan, I had many idols: people who wrote and drew stories that hurled me into other worlds and unexplored realms.

I met many of them at conventions and even corresponded with others who were kind enough to share insights and perceptions of the comic book medium with a young, impressionable kid. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine that events were occurring that would take me on my own incredible journey deeper into the world of comic books. I could never have predicted that I would, one day, end up working with so many of my boyhood idols, including the remarkable Steve Ditko.

Detail from the splash page of the “How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man” feature in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 [1963], by (you guessed it) Steve Ditko, who caricatured himself here.

add 1 Marvel

Of course, the other great Marvel character Steve created was the “Master of the Mystic Arts,” Doctor Strange.

First Encounter

13

Chapter 2.

Meeting Steve Ditko I

first met Steve Ditko in the halls of DC Comics in New York City. I began working at DC in 1974. I came there by way of the University of the Arts (formerly known as the Philadelphia College of Art) and the United State’s Army Signal Corps. My three years in the Army in North Carolina, Georgia, and Germany paid for my college, where I studied illustration. My original goal was to become a comic book artist.

Comic book fans in the late 1950s and early ’60s, such as me, were extremely fortunate.

Not only were we there for the blossoming of the Silver Age of Comics, but we also witnessed the birth of the Golden Age of Comic Book Fandom! The comic books of that time all had letter columns, packed with correspondence

from enthusiastic fans of all generations. Since many of the comics of the Silver Age were revivals of the super-stars of the ’40s, the letter columns featured letters from both the older fans, fondly remembering their childhood heroes, and the newer fans, enthralled by the flood of new (to them at least) super-heroes and super-teams. The letter columns, especially those appearing in DC books edited by Julius Schwartz, and the Marvel Comics pages overseen by Stan Lee, were the best. These pages published the full street addresses of the letter writers, allowing them to contact each other to further discuss, critique, and otherwise analyze the latest super-hero epics. Because of this communication, a fandom network arose with the publication of fanzines and organizing the

The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, my alma mater, where three friends and I taught the very first accredited student-taught course, “The History of the American Comic Book.”

14

Working with Ditko

Me in my DC Comics office at Rockefeller Plaza, in 1978. I’m holding the 3-D shadowbox of the cover of Showcase #101 [June 1978], the first issue of my Hawkman trilogy. The shadowbox was created by Todd Reis.

first comic book conventions.

I was the perfect audience. I was a proud member of Comic Book First Fandom. I wrote letters, subscribed to the fanzines, corresponded with other comic book fans (and even some comic book professionals) and attended the

comic book conventions. This continued after I enrolled in the Philadelphia College of Art, where I met a number of other comic book fans. We all became fast friends and spent many hours between our drawing and painting classes talking about comic books!

Meeting Steve Ditko

15

Above is reproduced from Parade Magazine, April 9, 1972, which included “Flash Gordon Goes to College,” an article about Michael Uslan’s comic book course. That novel Indiana University offering inspired my fellow Philadelphia College of Art students and me to create our own course.

One fateful day, one of my comic fan college classmates came to class with a newspaper clipping about Michael Uslan, a college student just like ourselves, who had managed to create and teach his own college course on comic books at Indiana University.

We were inspired! That very day, we skipped a class, sat around in the cafeteria, and outlined our own “History of American Comic Books” course for the Philadelphia College of Art.

16

Working with Ditko

In a remarkably short time, we presented our outline to the liberal arts department, and, the very next semester, we were teaching the first student-taught course in the college’s history. We taught it for two semesters. During that time, we had a few guest speakers come down from New York City. Writers Denny O’Neil and Len Wein spoke to our class, as did artist Dick Giordano. We had met these gentlemen at various New York comic book conventions and they were very generous with their time, and quite willing to share their knowledge and insights.

During this period, I had the opportunity to write an article about our course and comics books themselves for a teachers’ magazine.

Upon graduation, armed with my diploma, experience and contacts, I approached DC Comics regarding employment. To my delight, my timing was perfect, and DC was indeed looking for assistant editors. In November 1974, two months after my college graduation, I became an assistant editor at DC Comics, as one of the legendary “Woodchucks” that included Carl Gafford, Allan Asherman, Steve Mitchell, Guy H. Lillian III, E. Nelson Bridwell, Bob Rozakis, Paul Levitz, and Mike Uslan. (Yes, the same Michael Uslan who had inspired our comic book course in the first place, and who would go on to become an executive producer of all the Batman movies!) I was assigned as the assistant editor to Murray Boltinoff, one of DC’s best-selling editors at the time.

The experiences and friendships developed during my first year at DC could fill a whole other book. Suffice to say, in a year I was a DC editor in my own right, with my own office on the sixth floor of the Warner Communications building. My window looked directly down on the entrance to the famous 21 Club on 52nd Street. Early books I edited included Blackhawk, Secret Society of Super-Villains, Green Lantern, World’s Finest Comics, Warlord,

and others. I was writing Supergirl, Batgirl, Isis, and Wonder Woman stories. I got to meet and work with many of my Silver Age idols, including artists Carmine Infantino (who had been DC’s publisher back then), Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, Dick Ayers, Don Heck, José Delbo, and several others.

My workday was spent plotting stories with writers, checking finished art, approving color schemes, writing letter columns, etc. Much of my time was spent sitting and thinking. On one such day, I was thinking up storylines when I noticed a gentlemen pass by my door, heading down the hallway towards Joe Orlando’s (our managing editor) office. A few minutes later, I saw the same man walk by my door in the opposite direction. He seemed to be pacing back and forth. The DC offices, at the time, were small, taking up only half of the sixth floor of the Warner Communications Building in New York City. We shared the space and a reception desk with Warner Records. Down our north hallway were the editorial offices.

At the end were the offices of the president (Sol Harrison) and the publisher (Janette Kahn). On the south side was the production room and library. In the center, were the darkroom and the bullpen (with desks and drawing boards freelancers could use).

The pacing gentlemen was walking down the editorial hallway next to the bullpen. After he wandered by a third time, I stuck my head out of my office and asked, “Are you looking for someone?”

He replied, “I’m waiting to see Joe Orlando.”

“Well,” I said, “You don’t have to pace the halls.” And I invited him to have a seat in my office while waiting to see Joe. I knew he was an artist by the large, black portfolio he had in

his hand. He thanked me, took off the fedora he was wearing, and sat down.

I introduced myself and he replied, “I’m Steve Ditko.”

By this time, I had met a couple of dozen of my comic book creating idols, but I had never met anyone with the stature and reputation of Steve Ditko. I was flabbergasted. The fanboy inside me was jumping up and down and screaming. However, professional me was determined to maintain my composure.

“Oh, I’ve enjoyed your work,” I said.

And that was how I first met Steve Ditko.

I had no idea that, after the next few months and years, a reviewer would describe me (in reference to one of my stories with Steve) as a “frequent collaborator.” It was quite a leap from that first, informal meeting.

From my fanzine collection, Fantasy Illustrated #2 and Alter Ego #6 and #7, all from 1964, the Golden Age of Comic Book Fandom!

Meeting Steve Ditko

17

18

Working with Ditko

Chapter 3.

Steve, Shade, the Changing Man, & The Odd Man D uring the first half of the 1970s, most of Steve’s work had been for Charlton, which had always been his favorite publisher.

They didn’t pay that much, but they allowed him the most creative freedom. He’d also done some work for the newly formed Atlas/ Seaboard company. In late 1974, DC’s managing editor, Joe Orlando, had taken note of a sword-&-sorcery trend springing up in comics.

Marvel’s Conan and Kull had been doing well for a long time and Joe wanted DC to have a counterpart. DC had a Beowulf title, but Joe was looking for something more original. Paul Levitz, Joe’s assistant editor and general righthand man at the time, jumped at the chance and created the Stalker series. Joe immediately tapped Steve Ditko as the artist.

When I had first met Steve, that’s what he was doing. He had come in to drop off his latest penciled pages for Stalker. My office soon became a haven for Steve. He was not a recluse, but he was a very private, and perhaps shy, person. He really didn’t want to hang out in the DC bullpen with all the other freelancers while waiting to hand in art pages to Joe, so he used my office chair as his sanctuary. This is how we became friends. Whenever he came to DC, he would duck into my office and wait there until Joe was free to meet with him. He would show me his artwork for Stalker even before he showed it to Joe, who was the Stalker editor.

The Shade, The Changing Man house ad, designed and written by me, with Ditko’s illustration.

Recognizing what an asset Steve was, the upper echelon of DC wanted to keep him happy. While he was in the midst of doing Stalker, they also had him do a Creeper issue for First Issue Special, DC’s latest “try-out” magazine, in the tradition of Showcase from years earlier.

Steve, Shade, and The Odd Man

19

Steve was also assigned some short stories for titles such as House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Weird War Tales, and even Man-Bat. Paul Levitz confessed that while he came up with the Stalker storyline, it was Steve who designed the villains and monstrous beasts that inhabited Stalker’s world. Steve had also illustrated some sword-&-sorcery tales for Jim Warren’s back and white titles, Creepy and Eerie. I always thought Steve’s artistic strength lay in his science-fiction stories, especially the ones he’d done with Stan Lee on books such as Strange Tales, Journey into Mystery, Tales to Astonish, and others.

As my office had become Steve’s first stop whenever he was delivering art, no matter what the genre, I got to see Steve’s work for all of this material before anyone else. It was an exciting time and I felt we’d developed quite a professional rapport, as Steve appeared to respect my opinion of his art and storytelling.

I imagine Joe Orlando took note of the friendship Steve and I had, because one day, in late 1976, Joe scurried into my office, a stack of penciled art in his hand, and closed my door behind him. He laid the art on my desk and said, “I want you to look at this and tell me if you’d be interested in editing it.”

I turned the pages one by one. It was 18 pages of Steve Ditko art I had never seen before. Steve had not shown it to me, but had taken it in to Joe and pitched his idea for a new science-fiction series. Before I finished looking at the pages, and before Joe even had a chance to tell me what this new book was even about, I had already decided that I was going to edit it. I mean, how could I refuse? It was science-fiction… and it was the opportunity to actually work with Steve Ditko!

By the time Joe had scooped up the art again and left my office, I had been assigned the editing chores on Steve Ditko’s Shade, the Changing Man!

20

Working with Ditko

To say that there had never been anything like Shade, the Changing Man before, would be an understatement. Steve packed so many science-fiction concepts into the first issue, that it could have been its own mini-series.

Steve introduced his readers to the interdimensional world of Meta and the Zero-Zone separating it from Earth. Readers met Rac Shade, the hero, who had been falsely convicted of murder and treason, and had escaped imprisonment by an explosion of the “transmaterializer.” Hiding out on Earth (or the “Earth Zone”), he revealed that Meta had been secretly studying our realm for years, and had infiltrated our society in many different roles, both good and evil. Rac Shade had an “M-Vest,” which distorted his visage depending on the emotions of whoever was looking at him. The “N-Agent” from Meta sent to apprehend Rac Shade was Mellu, his former student, partner, and fiancée. At the same time, villains such as Zokag had also escaped to the Earth-Zone and Shade was determined to stop them. All this and more was crammed into the first issue.

Fellow Woodchuck Bob Rozakis commented that Shade’s super-power seemed to be “the power to turn ugly. What kind of super-power was that?” But I saw beyond the Shade’s M-Vest. I was intrigued by the world Steve was creating. For me, the concepts of Meta, the Zero Zone, and the multi-dimensional planes the characters would transverse was the most fascinating aspect of the series. No one could imagine and render such ethereal realms like Steve Ditko!

Joe Orlando was ready to green-light the series, but nervous about Ditko actually writing the dialogue. While he loved Steve’s concepts and art, he felt that Steve’s dialogue needed a little more punch. He assigned writer Michel Fleisher to dialogue the series. Michael had scripted dozens of mystery stories, and

some issues of The Phantom Stranger. Fleisher had also dialogued Steve’s Creeper story for First Issue Special [#7, Oct. 1975], so Joe felt Michael could match the mood of Steve’s new series. It was an odd pairing to say the least.

If left to their own devices, I doubted if Steve and Michael could ever see eye-to-eye on anything; they were that different. However, we made it work. Each month, Steve would come in with penciled Shade pages and an outline.

Michael and I would sit and listen as Steve told each issue’s story. Michael would take copious notes as I asked questions and made suggestions. Mike Gold, DC publicity director, would join us to oversee the operation.

Mike would often joke that I should receive “combat pay” for mediating plotting sessions between Fleisher and Ditko. To tell the truth, if Steve ever objected to anything Michael wrote for Shade, he never said a thing. Both of these creators handled themselves with complete professionalism at all times. And while I greatly respected Michael Fleisher and his writing, I never thought he added anything extra-special to the Shade series. His dialogue was solid and to the point, but never too edgy.

Perhaps he was holding back so as not to offend Ditko.

Shade, the Changing Man only ran eight issues. However, I still consider it a success because it has since achieved cult status.

Another version of Shade was published in the 1990s under DC’s Vertigo line and had a much longer run. To be honest, I never read it and considered it to be a completely different character, having nothing to do with Steve’s original concept.

Editing the original run of Shade was great fun for me. Each issue offered its own unique challenge. After the plotting, writing and editing, there were the covers. The covers were completely Steve’s ideas, but one of my editorial duties was to come up with dialogue

Writer Michael Fleisher.

for those covers. The first cover was merely a movie-poster-style illustration. Writing cover copy for the second issue of Shade was easy as Steve had incorporated the dialogue into the design. On the cover, Shade was being attacked by an enemy, a friend, and his fiancée.

Each one is condemning his as they say, “Die, Shade, my Enemy! Die, Shade, my Friend! Die Shade, my Lover!” I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to use the word “lover” on that cover, because of some objection from the Comics Code Authority, but it went through with ease.

The third cover depicted Shade’s battle with The Cloak, and there was really no room for dialogue. On this one, I got away with just a caption reading: “Seeing is believing--but THE CLOAK is INVISIBLE--UNBELIVEABLE-and DEADLY!” Issue #4’s cover depicted Shade charging into the laboratory of Gola Zae, a minion of Sude (the Supreme Decider, evil ruler of Meta), as she tries to destroy Mellu in a glass chamber. The cover was so stunning that I

Steve, Shade, and The Odd Man

21

From Shade, The Changing Man : the corrected hand.

convinced Joe Orlando that it didn’t need a single word of dialogue.

The fourth issue of Shade also provided me with an incident that forever established the great editor/creator relationship Steve Ditko and I enjoyed. On page 15, panel 5, Shade is throwing a punch, enhanced by the M-Vest. It’s a mighty right hook. However, Steve drew a left hand. In fact, he drew it twice: Shade’s normal hand and the enlarged one projected by the M-Vest. Examining his penciled art, I pointed this error out to him.

He held up the page, furrowed his brow and looked at his own hand. He held his fingers in the position he had made famous with Doctor Strange’s spell-casting and Spider-Man’s web slinging: the pinky and index finger pointed upwards, with the other two fingers touching

22

Working with Ditko

his palm. He realized his mistake. He smiled at me and said, “Well, that’s what editors are for!” He exited out to the bullpen and made the corrections.

In the fifth issue, Shade has fought his way into the secret inner citadel of Sude, and they face off in their first direct confrontation. It’s a pivotal moment for the series as the secret identity of Sude is finally revealed.

The cover scene is that battle, and the single caption blurb said it all: “Shade escapes his captors only to face DEATH at the monstrous hands of The Supreme Decider!”

If the battle scene on issue five was dramatic, Steve outdid himself on the cover of #6, with his illustration of Shade’s battle with Khaos. The caption read: “Beware of KHAOS—Lord of DESTRUCTION! For he can destroy your DEFENSE—your LIFE—and your WORLD!” I thought Steve’s art for each issue was better than the one before. Issue #5 was absolutely beautiful. It was the only time I gave him specific art directions. Steve was the master of the nine-panel page. His fight scenes in such Charlton comics as SpiderMan for Marvel and Blue Beatle often featured a punch-by-punch nine-panel slugfest that showcased Steve’s ability to draw flowing action that seemed to make the whole page move. However, I thought the character of Khaos was so dazzling that I believed he deserved some larger panels. The five-page fight sequence at the end of the issue featured huge panels, some taking up a full half-page.

Issue seven was “The Color Coma” and again, I got away with only a caption rather than word balloons. The last issue (although I didn’t know it at the time) was the first time we used standard word balloons. It was the largest drawing of Shade since the first issue as he was held helpless by the power of his own M-Vest.

The Odd Man’s final appearance was as a cameo in The Creeper story for Showcase #106, which wouldn’t see publication until Cancelled Comic Cavalcade [Fall 1978].

Issue #8 finally revealed the origin of the M-Vest and how Shade obtained it. Steve had his own theory about “origin stories.” First of all, he never called them “origin stories.” He called them “legends.” He also felt they were sacred. He believed creators shouldn’t “waste” a good legend on an unproven character. This is the reason that most Steve Ditko characters first appear full-blown. Their origins (or “legends”) were not usually revealed until three or four stories into the series. Steve once explained this to me in reference to Doctor Strange over at Marvel. Doctor Strange was introduced in Marvel’s Strange Tales #110 in July of 1963. There was no fanfare, no mention on the cover, no origin, no introduction of any sort. The first adventure pitted Doctor

Strange against Nightmare, who would later be developed into a major super-villain. Five months later, in Strange Tales #115, the origin of Doctor Strange was finally revealed, accompanied with the typical Stan Lee hype as to how “…It could only happen to the offbeat Marvel Comics Group…with three published stories of Doctor Strange…we forgot to give you his origin!” Of course, no one had “forgotten” anything. This was just an example of Stan Lee’s blustering hype.

Steve just wanted to wait and make certain the character would continue (he had already skipped a couple of issues) before producing a proper origin tale. This is why we had to wait so long to learn Rac Shade’s origin. Ironically, Shade did not continue.

Steve, Shade, and The Odd Man

23

Shade, The Changing Man #9, published in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade [Fall 1978].

***** The discontinuation of Shade was because of the “DC Explosion.” Much has been written about this period in DC Comics history and there are many theories and speculations about what exactly occurred. I am not going to add to it. To put it simply, in September of 1978, in an over-confidant burst of exuberance and creativity, DC Comics expanded the page count of their entire line. Some comics featured longer stories of the cover feature, but most had 8-page back-up stories added, many of them featuring brand new characters.

Unfortunately, three months later, disappointing sales figures for the previous month came in. Due to weather and other conditions,

24

Working with Ditko

the overall sales did not warrant expansion.

If fact, the entire line had to be cut, with the page-count reduced and whole titles being cancelled. The much-touted “DC Explosion” had become “The DC Implosion.”

For his contribution to the “Explosion,” I had asked Steve if he would like to expand the Shade adventures, or would he rather introduce a new character? I was hoping for the latter. I had remembered when he was doing Captain Atom for Charlton in the mid-1960s and had created a Blue Beetle back-up. Blue Beetle had been so popular that it was soon awarded its own title. Once again, Steve added an original and captivating back-up feature in the person of The Question. As for Shade, Steve did not disappoint. As a back-up for Shade, the Changing Man, Steve Ditko created The Odd Man! The eight-page story featured Clay Stoner, who fought crime in River City wearing a multi-colored/multi-textured business suit and a blank-eye head mask. The suit was filled with concealed gadgets such as a weighted tie that could be used as a weapon, and a pair of powder-and-smoke gloves used for concealment. He operated from a secret M.C. Escher-like citadel with distorted rooms and gravity. Stoner (a veiled drug reference perhaps?) had a confidant and informer named Judge Brass who knew Stoner’s identity as the Odd Man. The adventure pitted the Odd Man up against a villain known as The Pharaoh who was a jewel thief stealing gems for his girlfriend who fancied herself an Egyptian queen. The Pharaoh would kill his victims by encasing them in plastic using his “mummifier.”

The Odd Man story was to appear in Shade, The Changing Man #9, which had the lead Shade adventure entitled “The Deadly Ally.” This story featured Shade battling Zexie, ruler of the Zero Zone. During the battle,

the Odd Man, did not hit the stands, as it was a casualty of the “Implosion.” Instead, the issue, and all the other cancelled and unfinished material, was collected into a twovolume, uncolored photocopied set (run off in the copy room in the basement of the Warner Communications Building) entitled Cancelled Comic Cavalcade. Mike Gold had overseen the project to “protect copyrights,” or some other kind of legalese excuse, to make certain none of the material was lost. Copies went out to all the creative people involved in those discontinued stories and into the DC files. (I still have my copies.) Many of the stories finally

Oddly garbed villain calling oddly garbed hero “oddly garbed,” Detective Comics #487 [Dec. ’78/Jan. ’79].

Shade had to team up with Xexlo, the villain from the previous issue—hence the title of the tale. Steve had already plotted this story and Mike Fleisher had already turned in the script, when Steve dropped off the Odd Man pages. I guess Steve (and everyone else) assumed Fleisher was going to dialogue that story as well, but no one had ever talked about it. So, I turned to my office typewriter and I dialogued the Odd Man story myself. I didn’t submit a bill for it and neither Ditko nor Fleisher ever questioned who had scripted the dialogue, so I let it stand. As far as I know, no one ever got paid for scripting the Odd Man! The only discussion was a brief comment from Steve objecting to a bit of dialogue on page seven where I had the Pharaoh referred to the Odd Man as “the oddly garbed one…”.

Steve questioned why such an oddly garbed villain (dressed as a pharaoh) would make a comment about someone else being “oddly” dressed. I argued that he was a whacked out super-villain, so he’d use whacked-out logic.

Steve agreed and the dialogue remained.

But Shade, The Changing Man #9, featuring

saw print in surviving titles. For example, The Odd Man adventure was finally published, fully colored, in Detective Comics #487, cover dated December 1978/January 1979.

“Odd Man,” Detective Comics #487 [Dec. ’78/Jan. ’79].

Steve, Shade, and The Odd Man

25

This was not the only appearance of the Odd Man, however. In 1978, Steve did a Creeper story for Showcase #106 (see chapter four), which was eventually published in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2. In two panels of the story “Enter Dr. Storme,” Steve drew Odd Man sneaking around in the background. This cameo was the Odd Man’s final appearance. *****

And that was my first experience working with Steve Ditko. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Not only did I see the way Steve plotted a story around his art and his vision, but I also got to observe his creative process firsthand. Visuals were paramount, and his outlandish and eccentric designs had to be somehow plausibly functional. He was having fun, and wanted his readers to experience the enjoyment right alongside him!

Steve produced this art for the cover of The Comics Journal #33 [April 1977].

26

Working with Ditko

Chapter 4.

Steve, the World’s Finest Creeper, & The Batman I

n early 1977, I was assigned the editorial duties on World’s Finest Comics, one of DC’s longest running and most popular comics.

World’s Finest had begun in 1941 under the title of World’s Best Comics (for the first issue only), with a number of different features sandwiched between a Superman lead and a Batman & Robin story to finish it off. It was a larger comic, priced at 15¢ when the rest of the DC line was just a dime. Early issues sported cardboard covers. Superman and Batman & Robin shared the cover illustration, but were featured in their own, separate stories inside. This was a successful package for 13 straight years. The interior line-up would change from time to time, but Superman always held the lead, Batman & Robin ended each issue, and the trio shared the cover.

In 1954, it was decided to decrease the page count of World’s Finest Comics and charge a 10¢ cover price to match the rest of the DC lineup. The question arose as to which one of their super-stars would allow DC to hold onto the lead. A few years earlier—Superman #76 [May/June 1952]—the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader (along with Robin, the Boy Wonder) had teamed-up in their first actual dual comic book adventure after only being seen together on the covers of World’s Finest Comics. Since that Superman team-up had been such a success, it was decided, beginning with issue #71 [July/Aug. 1954],

The cover of World’s Finest Comics #250 [April/May 1979] with repositioned Creeper, an editorial decision I still regret. (See next page Aparo rough of this cover.)

that a dual Superman and Batman (with Robin) adventure would be the lead and cover feature for World’s Finest. The continuing exploits of Green Arrow and Tomahawk would round out each issue.

Steve, Shade, and The Odd Man

27

assistant editor of World’s Finest Comics. Under Murray’s editorship, I wrote many letter columns for the title. After becoming a full DC editor, the first Dollar Comics issue [#244, May 1977] marked my return to the title as the writer of the Black Canary story, illustrated by Mike Nasser. By then, Denny O’Neil was editor.

During my time at DC, there were many editorial shake-ups. Editors would leave. Editors would retire. Titles would be cancelled.

New books would be placed on the schedule.

Freelancers would come and go, sometimes without notice. It seemed as if we were always

Jim Aparo’s original color layout sketch for the cover of World’s Finest Comics #250 [April/May 1979].

I was thrilled to receive this editorial assignment. World’s Finest Comics had been one of the very first super-hero comic books I had ever read. In fact, I initially discovered Batman & Robin in their adventures with Superman before I discovered Batman in his own title or in his adventures in Detective Comics! When I began reading World’s Finest, it regularly featured the Superman, Batman & Robin lead (usually illustrated by Dick Sprang), Green Arrow by Jack Kirby, and Tomahawk by Bob Brown. When I took over the editing chores, some 20 years later, World’s Finest had been expanded to one of DC’s Dollar Comics titles.

At that time, it featured the Superman and Batman lead, with Black Canary, Green Arrow, Vigilante, and Wonder Woman back-ups. My association with the title actually began with my first assignment at DC. As Murray Boltinoff’s assistant editor, I automatically became the

28

Working with Ditko

in a state of flux. It was actually rare for an editor or creative team to hold onto a feature for any kind of long run. It was during one of these shake-ups that I acquired the editorial reins of World’s Finest Comics. Denny O’Neil was leaving his editorial post to concentrate on freelance writing, and his former editorial duties fell to me. I inherited much of Denny’s previously written and drawn material for the book, and we actually shared editorial credit in my first issue [#246, Aug./Sept. 1977].

My initial solo editing issue was the next one [#247, Oct./Nov. 1977]. It featured a Superman & Batman lead, written by Bob Haney and illustrated by Kurt Schaffenberger; Black Canary, by Gerry Conway and Sal Almendola; Green Arrow, also by Conway and Almendola; Vigilante by Bill Kunkel and Gray Morrow; and Wonder Woman by Conway and José Delbo. It was quite the line-up and it took my breath away, guiding the fate of so many DC super-stars and working with such an awesome assemblage of talent.

In the next issue, things began to change.

A couple of artists wanted to move on, so I assigned Trevor VonEeden to the Green Arrow and Black Canary stories. Gray Morrow had expressed a desire to leave Vigilante, giving me the opportunity to make my own changes.

While I was a huge fan of Gray, I wasn’t too

enamored with Vigilante. I felt his Western theme was a little old-fashioned compared to the rest of World’s Finest’s features. I wanted something different.

That’s when Mike Gold came up with a brilliant idea. At that time, Mike was DC’s publicity director, a position created by our new publisher, Jenette Kahn. Mike was on top of everything, always looking for something to bring positive attention to DC’s titles, old and new. I had been working with Ditko on Shade, The Changing Man for a few months, and Mike had been a close observer of my professional relationship with Steve. Mike popped into my office one day and sat down in the chair opposite my desk.

“Hey,” he said. “Why don’t you have Ditko do an eight-page Creeper story to fill Vigilante’s spot in World’s Finest?”

I later learned that the real reason Mike made this suggestion was that the Creeper was Mike’s favorite Ditko super-hero. “I always thought,” Mike explained, “that the Creeper was the most ‘Ditko-esque’ of all of Steve’s costumed super-heroes!”

Ditko had created the character of the Creeper for Showcase #73 [March/April 1968] and Beware the Creeper had a six-issue run in 1968 and ‘69. The character had appeared in an issue of Justice League of America [#70, March 1969] and a few issues of Detective Comics teamed with Batman, in 1975. Ditko himself had revived The Creeper in an issue of First Issue Special [#7, Oct. 1975].

After that appearance, the character had a brief three-issue run in Adventure Comics [#445–447 in 1976], written by Marty Pasko, with art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton. I had even used the character myself in a couple of issues of another title I was editing, Secret Society of Super-Villains [#9–10 in 1977]. I recalled talking with Steve regarding the Creeper appearances when his creation had

Ditko reclaims his character by killing off a Creeper supporting character he didn’t create in World’s Finest Comics #252 [Aug./Sept. 1979].

been handled by creative teams other than himself. He just shook his head and said, “They can’t leave him alone, can they?”

I completely understood Steve’s feelings.

At the time, just about all comic books were created under the work-for-hire concept; publishers owned the characters and the creators were only paid for their specific writing and art for individual stories. The next time Steve came in I asked him, “How would you like to do an eight-page Creeper feature for World’s Finest Comics? It would be completely yours.

You’d write it, you’d pencil it, and you’d ink it.

You can do anything you want.”

He nodded and said, “Sure, when would you need it?”

So, with World’s Finest #249 [Feb./March

Steve, The Creeper, and The Batman

29

30

Working with Ditko

1979], the Creeper became a regular feature.

Steve would come in every other month with eight pages of pencils, usually just in layout form. Since he was going to ink it himself, he didn’t need to render tight, detailed pencils. He would walk me through the story and clarify any questions I might have. As for scripts, there weren’t any. Steve would neatly and legibly pencil in all the lettering and word balloons right on his art. From these pages, I would type out a script for the letterer to follow, editing anything I thought needed fixing along the way. It was a great arrangement, so the stories would be 100% Ditko!

Steve’s first installment was entitled “Moon Lady and the Monster,” and it put The Creeper’s alter ego, Jack Ryder, right back where he’d always been: as a troubleshooter for Cosmic Broadcasting Network in the fictional DC locale of Gotham City, stomping grounds of the Batman. Using the special implants under his skin, Ryder could assume the identity of the Creeper, which he purposely overplayed to create the awe and dread that put every adversary at a disadvantage. The persona, along with the enhanced physical prowess the implants provided, made for a unique and matchless super-hero.

The next adventure was the only time I actually directed Steve towards the kind of story I wanted him to produce. I considered World’s Finest #250 (April/May 1978) a landmark issue. I wanted to commemorate the fact that the title had been running, uninterrupted for 37 years and 250 consecutive issues. My plan was to have writer Gerry Conway script an adventure that teamed all the characters Previous page, clockwise from top left: Ditko’s editorially-requested Creeper origin recap for World’s Finest Comics #250 [April/May 1979]. My favorite Creeper villain, “Mr. Wrinkles,” from WFC #254 [Dec. ’79/Jan. ’80]. Another classic Ditko bad guy, “The Wrecker,” WFC #253, Oct./Nov. 1979]. And the Creeper battles “The Disruptor,” WFC #251 [June/July 1979].

currently featured in the book, plus cameos with as many former residents of the title as possible, in one, full-issue epic story.

Then I remembered my promise to Steve that no one else except he would be messing with the Creeper. So, the Creeper was not going to join the others in the lead story. Instead, I asked Steve to use the special 250th issue of World’s Finest Comics to recap the Creeper’s origin story (or his “legend,” as Steve would call it). Steve complied with enthusiasm, and he came up with “Return of the Past” as the eight-page back-up to Conway’s 56-page marathon, “The Reality War,” illustrated by George Tuska and Vince Colleta.

Packaged behind a cover by Jim Aparo, the issue was everything I wanted to be.

The only other instances of Steve not drawing the Creeper himself in World’s Finest, were on the covers and introduction pages.

For this special anniversary 250th issue, I had my regular cover artist, Jim Aparo, work out a cover with all the featured characters bursting out of a background made up of some of my personal favorite World’s Finest covers from years earlier. I made what I now consider a lapse of editorial judgment on that particular cover. In Aparo’s original layout, all the other featured characters (Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Wonder Woman) are leaping out together in the same direction. However, Aparo had the Creeper leaping in a different direction than the others. For the final cover, I asked Aparo to reposition the Creeper to match everyone else.

It was a mistake. If I had left the Creeper as Aparo had originally drawn him, it would have been a subtle, visual clue that Ditko’s creation was separate inside.

World’s Finest #251 [June/July 1978] featured Creeper’s battle with “The Disruptor,” a costumed criminal who was extorting Cosmic Broadcasting with a protection scheme. The

Steve, The Creeper, and The Batman

31

story further pushed the Creeper’s efforts to establish his identity as some sort of alien creature or supernatural entity. His maniacal laugher and his exaggerated body language terrified those who saw him, while his thoughts revealed to the readers that it was all an act.

While the stories often dealt with crimes as serious as murder, Steve kept his drawings whimsical and almost cartoony. I thought the contrast was working beautifully.

While World’s Finest #250 contained a Creeper story I wanted Steve to do, issue #252 contained a story Steve really wanted to do.

Back in Adventure Comics #445-447, Marty Pasko, Ric Estrada, and Joe Staton had presented a little three-part Creeper adventure that had introduced Dr. Joanne Russel as a possible romantic interest for Jack Ryder. At the end of the trio of tales, Dr. Russel had stumbled upon the Creeper’s secret identity!

Reading the stories, Steve took the circumstances as a personal affront to his character and creation. So, in World’s Finest #252 [Aug./Sept. 1978), in an adventure entitled “The Keeper of Secrets is Death,” Steve killed off Dr. Russel by the first panel of the second page. Of course, by the end of the story, the Creeper had captured Joanne’s murderer, but his secret identity was safe once more. Steve had wiped clean any previous Creeper continuity that wasn’t his.

“The Wrecker” battled the Creeper in World’s Finest #253 [Oct./Nov. 1978], employing a spherical robot named Rollo with spherical extensions. It was a pure Ditko creation, visually quirky, but still looking as if it could possibly work if someone in the real world took the time and effort to actually build it. The Wrecker was seeking revenge against a construction company he believed had wronged him.

Thanks to the intervention of the Creeper, his deadly threat was halted. In the end, Rollo the robot’s malfunction destroyed itself and

32

Working with Ditko

its creator.

For World’s Finest #254 [Dec. 1977/Jan. 1978], Steve came up with my favorite villain of his whole run. “Beware Mr. Wrinkles” introduced Mr. Wrinkles, who was an old man who had an age-changing device. He would use it on himself to transform into a little boy.

In this guise, he could sneak in and out of places and subject others to his device. He confronted a group of mobsters and prematurely aged them. He wouldn’t change them back unless they turned over control of their mob to him. Mr. Wrinkles’ secret was that the change would wear off automatically after a time. Mr. Wrinkles would pretend that only he could manifest the change so he could force the mobsters to obey him. The device even worked on the Creeper until he destroyed it and Mr. Wrinkles converted to his true old age and was captured.

At the time, I didn’t know that the next issue was going to be the end of the Creeper in World’s Finest Comics. The last World’s Finest appearance of Steve Ditko’s Creeper was in #255 [March 1979]. The story, “Furious Fran and the Dagger Lady,” involved a murderous blackmail plot around one of Cosmic Broadcasting’s on-air personalities. It gave Steve the opportunity to draw various expressive females; angry ones, screaming ones, and frustrated ones. I once asked Steve how he approached a story.

“For these Creeper stories,” he explained, “it comes with the drawing first. I sketch out a villain or character and go from there.”

During those first few months of editing World’s Finest, I had made a few changes.

As I mentioned, I had replaced the Vigilante feature in #249 with the Creeper. In #253, I had swapped the Wonder Woman feature for Shazam (the original Captain Marvel). This change was for a couple of reasons. At the time, DC had a policy that an editor couldn’t

edit his own stories. I was writing Wonder Woman in her own comic, so I couldn’t write her adventures in World’s Finest while editing it. Adventure Comics was adopting the Dollar Comics format, so that became the perfect spot for where I could script a shorter Wonder Woman feature outside of her own title.

DC felt it was important to keep their version of Captain Marvel alive, so, after the discontinuation of the regular Shazam! title, Captain Marvel, written by E. Nelson Bridwell and illustrated by Don Newton, found a new home in World’s Finest, replacing Wonder Woman.

I had also just finished writing a threeissue tryout run in Showcase for Hawkman.

Showcase #101–103 [1978] had featured a three-part teaming up of Hawkman with Adam Strange, illustrated by Al Milgrom and Murphy Anderson. The higher-ups told me that if I wanted to keep Hawkman alive, I could have someone else do it in the pages of World’s Finest. Steve was very busy at the time, so he didn’t object when I replaced the Creeper feature with Hawkman beginning with World’s Finest Comics #256.

But that was not the end of my association with the Creeper—nor was it Steve’s final effort. A few months earlier, after I had finished my Hawkman Showcase run, the word went out for the need of additional Showcase features. I was getting some positive feedback from the World’s Finest Creeper stories, so I went to publisher Jenette Kahn and proposed a Creeper issue of Showcase. It would be an interesting occurrence, since the Creeper had originally been introduced in an issue of Showcase [#73, March/April 1968] and had a second tryout, in First Issue Special [#7, Oct. 1975]. This would be the character’s third “tryout.”

The proposal was accepted, and the Creeper was slated for Showcase #106. Eventually, there were two problems. The first one

The Creeper’s final “tryout” appearance for Showcase #106, published in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade [Fall ’78].

was that, while I had successfully pitched a Creeper Showcase issue, I had neglected to even ask Steve Ditko if he wanted to do it! I’ll never forget that phone call!

“Hi, Steve, this is Jack Harris.”

“Hi, Jack, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to do a full length Creeper story for Showcase.”

“Yeah, I think I could do that. Do you need a proposal, an outline, and some sketches?”

“Uhh, no, it’s already approved. When can you have it? It’s 25 pages and a cover.”

Steve actually laughed and, in record time, I had “Enter Dr. Storme,” the first full-length solo Creeper story in three years. Then the second problem came along. Showcase became another casualty of the “DC Implosion”

Steve, The Creeper, and The Batman

33

and Showcase #106 was never released to the public, and only appeared in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 [Fall 1978].

It wasn’t the end for the Creeper and Steve Ditko! In the ’90s, a few stories of a Ditko creation called Shag appeared in some independently published books. Apparently, when Creeper was discontinued, Steve had already completed a story or two. Instead of junking the tales, Steve reworked the art and Shag was created from never-used Creeper tales! ***** Then there’s the story of Steve Ditko’s Batman! Steve had been a Batman fan from the beginning. He might have even bought the first issue of Batman right off the stands. Supposedly, he actually dressed as the Batman for Halloween as a child. Whatever the case, Steve was a well-known fan of the character.

Sometime during his Creeper run in World’s Finest Comics, it crossed my mind that it might be fun to have Steve illustrate a fill-in lead Superman & Batman story. Steve had previously drawn Batman in the first issue of Man-Bat, when DC had given the fearful bat-human hybrid ally of Batman his own two-issue run back in 1975. Steve had penciled that first issue [Man-Bat #1, Dec. 1974/ Jan. 1975] in a story written by Gerry Conway and inked by Allen Milgrom. Batman had made a guest-appearance in that issue. It was the only time Steve had officially drawn the hero he loved from boyhood.

When I proposed a Ditko fill-in for the World’s Finest lead, the higher-ups at DC expressed concern. At the time, they were still very protective of the images of Superman and Batman. A few years earlier, when Jack Kirby had included Superman in his Fourth World series of comics, DC had different artists re-pencil and re-ink many of Kirby’s

34

Working with Ditko

renderings of the Man of Steel. This caution was still in place when I suggested Ditko for the Superman/Batman lead, but they were willing to see what Steve had in mind for their super-stars. Oddly enough, they never asked me for any samples of how Steve might handle Superman, but they were very concerned about how a Ditko Batman might look. It was especially strange, since Steve had already presented his images of the Darknight Detective in those Man-Bat pages.

Whatever the case, I asked Steve if he could submit his idea of his version of Batman. I was quite excited as to what Steve had up his sleeve. I fondly remembered his reworking of Marvel’s Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #48 [Dec. 1963] and his modernization of Blue Beetle for Charlton, in 1966 and 1967. One of Ditko’s greatest talents was the ability to visualize incredible machines, devices, weapons, costumes, vehicles, etc., that someone with an astonishingly high level of mechanical aptitude, might actually be able to build. I called these designs Ditko’s “fantastically plausible.” He had created fantastically plausible costumes and equipment for Iron Man and Blue Beetle. Could he do it for Batman?

In a few days, Steve submitted seven pages of typing paper covered with ballpoint pen sketches depicting Ditko’s fantastically plausible Batman! The first four pages described how Batman’s cape would work, with hand straps on the inside allowing him to run close to the ground as his cape flowed up and down like huge, flapping bat-wings, casting a huge, ominous shadow. The fifth page illustrated the Batman’s frightening countenance as he would be depicted with his cowl-covered face in perpetual blackness. This is exactly how he had drawn the Batman in the first issue of Man-Bat. The last two pages showed an enhancement of the Batman’s gauntlets.

Steve made use of some Creeper tales he had produced before the series in World’s Finest was cancelled, repurposing the character as his creator-owned “Shag.”

Steve, The Creeper, and The Batman

35

Across this spread are the Steve Ditko drawing designs for his Batman revamp, which emphasize the character’s cape, and make him more menacing as well.

Center top this page is Steve’s re-imagining of the Caped Crusader’s gloves as slicing weapons, and that single drop of blood nixed the artist’s version, as DC higher-ups deemed the Ditko Batman simply too violent.

36

Working with Ditko

According to Steve, the bat-wing designs on the Batman’s gloves were actually razor-sharp and could be used as an intimidating weapon.

Steve’s drawing shows Batman slicing off a terrified thug’s tie with one downward swipe of his glove.

The drawings were spectacular in their simplicity; an excellent example of Steve’s fantastically plausible designs. However, when I showed them to those in charge, Steve’s concepts were rejected. The one tiny detail that had prompted this opinion was on the last page of Steve’s presentation. After Batman’s downward swipe with his glove, slicing the thug’s tie in two, a single drop of blood is seen dripping from the sharp, bat-wing protrusions from the hero’s glove, indicating the bad guy’s chest was scratched. This was why Steve’s version of the Batman was deemed “too violent,” which was very ironic considering how the Batman would be depicted in later years.

I filed Steve’s drawings away, hoping someday a Ditko Batman might be reconsidered.

Steve, The Creeper, and The Batman

37

Chapter 5.

Steve, the Mystery Stories & Time Warp W

orking at DC Comics in the ’70s and ’80s was a blast, especially if one was on the editorial staff. While we were not (usually) permitted to write stories for the books we edited, we were free to pitch ideas to the other editors whenever we wanted. This presented us with an abundance of freelancing opportunities. If an editor needed a story or a fill-in issue, it was easier to just ask someone down the hall rather than call a writer and have to schedule a plotting session. In the days before FedEx or the internet, artists were always dropping by to deliver work. We editors wanted to make sure these visiting artists would leave with another script in their hands to illustrate.

Many times I would hear, “Artist Soand-So is coming in tomorrow! Anyone have a script?” When this happened, one of two things would occur: we’d either grab a script we had in inventory, or we’d immediately volunteer to write one. If the artist in question was someone with whom we were anxious to work, the latter choice would prevail. This is exactly how I first got to write a story specifically for Steve Ditko.

House of Mystery had been a stalwart title for DC since its debut back with #1 [Dec./ Jan. 1951]. The book was first published right in the middle of a controversial time for comic books. Comics were under attack as a result of psychiatrist Fredric Wertham’s question-

38

Working with Ditko

able book, Seduction of the Innocent, which laid the blame for juvenile delinquency solely on the reading of said comic books.

Horror comics, especially the EC Comics titles such as Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, had been the target of Wertham and his followers. For the most part, DC editor Jack Schiff played it safe in the pages of early issues House of Mystery, running “supernatural” stories which usually turned out to have logical, scientific explanations, and happened because criminals were perpetrating some kind of hoax. With the 46th issue [Jan. 1956], the title began sporting the seal of approval from the Comics Code Authority on its covers.

Schiff held reign over the title until issue #126 [Sept. 1962], when George Kashdan took over. During all that time, science-fiction stories had begun to sneak into the pages, as that had become the more popular trend at the time. In a couple of years, Kashdan turned over the cover feature of the Martian Manhunter [House of Mystery #143, June 1964]. During an editorial shift, the Martian Manhunter (written by Jack Miller and drawn

by Joe Certa) had been disposed from his longtime home in Detective Comics in favor of Next page is my favorite cover of the half-dozen issues of House of Mystery issues I edited, Ditko’s illustration for #277 [Feb. 1980].

Steve, the Mystery Stories, & Time Warp

39

At left is the original art to “A Demon and His Boy,” my first collaboration with Steve Ditko which appeared in House of Mystery #258 [May/June 1978], with page as printed on right.

Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino’s Elongated Man [Detective #327, May 1964]. Later, by House of Mystery #156 [Jan. 1966], the whimsical Dial ‘H’ for Hero series, written by Dave Wood and drawn by Jim Mooney, was added.

For the next 18 issues, these two features dominated the title.

The big change for House of Mystery came with #174 [May/June 1968], when editor Joe Orlando came on board. Bringing his experience on the EC Comics line of horror comics with him, he changed House of Mystery. Keeping the guidelines of the Comics Code Authority in the forefront, the anthology returned to the supernatural realm. When Paul Levitz took over editing the title with #255 [Nov./ Dec. 1977], this format was still in place.

40

Working with Ditko

This was where I came in. It was one of those times when an artist was coming into the office and needed to leave with a script in hand. The artist was Steve Ditko. I saw my opportunity and immediately pitched a story to Paul with the knowledge that Steve was going to draw it. While Steve had been drawing The Demon for Detective Comics, Stalker and Shade, he’d also been Illustrating short stories across many of DC’s anthology mystery books.

Could DC capture some of the magic and awe of Ditko art that Steve produced for Marvel and Charlton? We didn’t know, but we were certainly going to try.

My story was “A Demon and His Boy” and it was slated for House of Mystery #258 [May/ June 1978]. The tale involved the demon

Dxyp attempting to summon himself from the demon realm to Earth. The spell backfires and, instead, draws a helpless young boy, Marcus McMann (I was thinking of the mark of Cain), into the realm of demons. The demon Dxyp uses the boy to plague and otherwise disrupt the spells of the other demons until Dxyp takes over the whole place. Relishing in all this mischief, Marcus slowly becomes more and more wicked until he turns the tables on Dxyp himself and takes charge of the demon’s realm.

Steve went all out on this story. Dxyp and his brother demons are both horrifying and amusing at the same time, their evil expressions filled with giant teeth and glowing eyes.

Marcus goes from being a frightened child to a nasty bully as he is corrupted by the power he can wield in the world of the demons. And what a world it is! Filled with twisted black trees, cragged boulders, ancient castles and hellacious flames; it is a realm in the best of the Ditko-esque tradition.

It wasn’t the only time I was able to work with Steve on House of Mystery. For a brief time, in the late ’80s, I got to edit a half-dozen issues [#276–281, Jan.–June 1980]. Most of this was just packaging completed stories that were already in inventory. I would select one previously finished story and work out a cover idea with an artist, or assign an artist to a script that was on file. I did little, if any, plotting with writers during this six-month run.

One of the scripts I came upon was a delightful Len Wein script (“Epode,” House of Mystery #276 [Jan. 1980]), that I thought would benefit from the Ditko touch. It was an atmospheric period piece with little dialogue, allowing Steve to draw some very dark and eerie panels. When he turned in the art for that job, I immediately offered him the opportunity to do the cover for House of Mystery #277 [Feb. 1980]. That cover was my favorite

of my brief run on the title, a screaming man surrounded by a montage of maniacally laughing faces, in the very best Ditko tradition.

It would have easily fit in with a collection of Ditko Charlton Comics covers.

Among the other DC mystery titles of the time was Ghosts. Ghosts had been a DC title since #1 [Sept./Oct. 1971], under the watchful editorial eye of Murray Boltinoff.

Originally, the book had featured ghost stories purported to be “true.” Murray had a mix of stories, some based on actual accounts of spiritual sightings, and others that sprang from the minds of his writers. Among my earliest duties at DC had been assistant editor for Ghosts. I had taken over the full editorship of the title myself with #73 [Feb. 1979].

An inventoried Len Wein script allowed me to have a Ditko-illustrated tale in my brief editorial run on House of Mystery. This appeared in #276 [Jan. 1980].

Steve, the Mystery Stories, & Time Warp

41

Editing the title also meant I inherited the inventory for the books: finished art and edited scripts ready to be assigned. Again, most of my editorial duties included packaging each issue from the inventory files and working out each issue’s cover with an artist. In the inventory, I found a script that I had written for Murray back when I was the assistant editor.

Normally, editors were not permitted to write for their own titles, but since this one had already been edited by Murray, an exception was made. When I re-read it, I immediately thought of Ditko as the artist. One of my favorite Spider-Man villains was Kraven the Hunter. Whenever Kraven battled Spider-Man, Ditko got to draw a hoard of jungle beasts. I also recalled Steve’s long run drawing Konga and Gorgo for Charlton, and another Spider-Man villain, the Lizard.

Ditko drew some of the DC mystery hosts in a few stories, but this Mike W. Barr intro page for Unexpected #190 [April 1979] was the only time he got to draw Madame Xanadu.

42

Working with Ditko

Ditko was great at drawing animals. My inventoried story, “Ghost, Where Do You Hide?” took place at a circus and featured a herd of tigers and lions and an eerie carnival setting. Steve’s art was very dynamic, and he even managed to fit in a weird gypsy fortune teller and a hunchback in the background.

He didn’t have time in his schedule to do the cover for this issue, but his art for the tale did inspire the Luis Dominguez cover for Ghosts #77 [June 1979].

With the January/February 1979 issue, Unexpected joined the roster of the other DC Dollar Comics. I was assigned the editorship, taking over from my mentor, editor Murray Boltinoff. I also inherited all of the inventoried stories from discontinued titles such as House of Secrets, Witching Hour, and Doorway to Nightmare. I was free to use any of these stories to fill the newly-expanded Unexpected page count. Creatively, it was somewhat limiting, since I was only able to commission one, or possibly two, stories per issue and a cover.

On the other hand, it saved quite a bit of time being able to fill 64 pages quickly out of the inventory files.

The first few issues of the Unexpected Dollar Comic were ad-free, so I was also able to order some introduction pages for the inside front cover. These were going to feature the various hosts of the DC mystery titles, humorously discussing the contents of each issue. I tapped writer Mike W. Barr to pen these for me.

Mystery hosts were a long-standing tradition dating back to the old radio shows where a mysterious entity would introduce and comment on the upcoming dramas. Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein continued this practice with the Crypt Keeper, the Vault Keeper and the Old Witch, who introduced each story in their EC titles Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear.

When artist/editor Joe Orlando oversaw mystery titles for DC, new hosts were introduced. Cain for the House of Mystery, Abel for House of Secrets, and the three witches for The Witching Hour. Later, Destiny and Lucien were used in various books, as well as Madame Xanadu for Doorway to Nightmare.

Sometimes the hosts were written into the beginning and end of each story, but with the inventoried tales, we merely tacked on a stat of whatever host we needed for any given story.

One time, I got Ditko to draw one of the Unexpected intro pages. Of course, Steve had lots of experience drawing mysterious hosts, from the Mysterious Traveler to Dr. Haunt for Charlton. Mike Barr’s intro page for Unexpected #190 [April 1979] featured Abel visiting Madame Xanadu in her mysterious dwelling filled with soul jars and occult artifacts. I was eager to see how Steve would handle the hostess of Doorway to Nightmare. Madame Xanadu was originally designed and drawn by Michael Kaluta, who did all the Doorway to Nightmare covers. Mike had used a model for her design.

I don’t recall her name, but one day, I looked up from my desk at the DC offices and Madame Xanadu herself (Mike’s model), in full costume, was striking a pose in my doorway.

As she posed, I heard artist Kaluta giggling in the hallway.

Ditko’s rendering of Madame Xanadu was masterful, with the slightest hint of a wry smile crossing her face. It was the only time he would ever draw her.

The last mystery story Steve and I did together for DC was “House at Devil’s Tail,” for Secrets of Haunted House #41 [Oct. 1981]. I have a real fondness for this story as it caused quite a bit of internal controversy. The story was for editor Dave Manak. The tale involved an escaped murderer who hides in a deserted mansion at the end of a twisted road in the woods called “Devil’s Tail.” The criminal

The final page of“House At Devil’s Tail,” drawn by Steve Ditko, from Secrets of Haunted House #41 [Oct. 1981], with the first two “offending” panels, which managing editor Joe Orlando called “too phallic.”

Colored by Jerry Serpe.

holds a young woman captive and they are surprised when they discover that the ancient house is actually one gigantic room with a spiral staircase in the middle, curled around a large column. Ascending the stairs, the murderer sees that the top of the column ends in a point. The point is hot to the touch. The criminal is horrified to learn that the column is, in fact, the Devil’s tail, reaching up from Hell to wrap around him and drag him to his deserved fate.

When Steve had finished the story, he gave it to me to deliver to Manak, as Dave was out of the office that day. I was blown away by the art. The murderer’s look was demonic. A flashback of the house showed swirling Ditkoesque ghosts coming out of its windows. The poor captive girl looks terrified throughout. I rushed down the hall to show the art to managing editor Joe Orlando.

Joe hit the ceiling. He hated the art. It was all because of the two panels on the top of page six, showing the Devil’s tail capturing the hapless murderer. Joe thought it looked “Way too phallic!” He was livid. He thought Steve was trying to sneak a hidden lurid image into

Steve, the Mystery Stories, & Time Warp

43

the story. Joe had experienced such accusations back in his EC days from Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent. When Joe got mad, everyone knew it. No one could get quite as angry as Joe Orlando.

Fortunately for Steve, he had already left, so it was up to me to calm Joe down and run defense for both Steve and editor Dave Manak.

Luckily, I was able to convince Joe of two things: First of all, Steve Ditko would never try to “hide” such as image in a book scrutinized by the Comics Code Authority; he wasn’t that sort of guy. Secondly, the offending panels, if colored properly, would not appear as graphic as Joe feared. Colorist Jerry Serpe came through and rendered the Devil and his tail in shades of deep burgundy and red. Joe approved, and the story ran unchanged.

We never received any reader complaints. ***** While everyone at DC remembered Steve Ditko’s mind bending art on early mystery titles for Marvel and Charlton, they were even more impressed by his work on the sciencefiction comics, especially Captain Atom. DC had plenty of mystery titles where Steve could shine, but, at the time, precious few of sciencefiction.

In the 1950s and ’60s, DC published two of the greatest science-fiction comic books of all time: Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space, both edited by the legendary Julius Schwartz. I was a huge fan of this pair of books. In fact, if my funds were low, and I could only afford to buy one comic book, I would forego buying a super-hero title in favor of Strange Adventures or Mystery In Space!

For a brief moment, one of my fondest dreams almost came true. I had convinced the upper echelon of DC to revive Strange Adventures under my editorship. My plan was to

44

Working with Ditko

cover-feature brand new Adam Strange adventures and fill the rest of the title with new science-fiction short stories. These ambitious plans were shot down after the DC Implosion.

But all was not lost. Joe Orlando fondly remembered his EC Comics days, working on Weird Science and Weird Fantasy. Joe loved science-fiction, too. We both wanted to do a science-fiction title, even though we realized that such comic books usually enjoyed popularity among the creators, more than the buying public.

Nevertheless, we successfully pitched the idea of Time Warp, a science-fiction anthology in DC’s Dollar Comics format. As it turned out, Time Warp became somewhat of a creative irritant to me. Having read all the Julius Schwartz’s Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures stories, I was looking for tales with a solid, scientific basis underneath. Joe Orlando, coming from the ironic, twist-ending style of the EC Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, wanted something different. He insisted the line “Doomsday Tales and Other Things” be inserted beneath the Time Warp logo for each issue’s cover. When we were ready to begin, I solicited all the stories from the writers. I edited the scripts and wrote the letter columns.

I worked out all the covers with cover artist Mike Kaluta. After all this work, everything had to pass through Joe Orland’s hands for his approval. Even though I felt as if I was completely in control of this title, I never got any more than the “assistant editor” credit on the book.

In the beginning, I had been promised A-list artists for Time Warp, but scheduling problems quickly made that impossible. Nevertheless, I was determined to have a Steve Ditko science-fiction story in every issue of Time Warp.

It started off well. One of the perks of not being Time Warp’s official editor, was that I

was able to write stories for the book. In the first issue, I wrote “Forecast” especially for Steve Ditko to draw. It was my attempt to emulate the kind of story Steve and Stan Lee created for Amazing Fantasy before the debut of Spider-Man. Since it was only three pages long, I was able to assign a second story to Steve for that first issue. The six-page Michael Fleisher story “Mating Game” was Mike’s try at an EC-style story with an ironic (and horrific) twist-ending. Both of these tales, along with six other stories, made up the contents of Time Warp #1 [Oct./Nov. 1979].

For Steve’s story in Time Warp #2 [Dec. 1979/Jan. 1980], Paul Levitz penned “The Last Journey.” The story provided Steve the chance to draw classic space ships, aliens and robots and had the sort of “doomsday” ending Joe Orlando was looking for.

Since many of the stories were so short, with Time Warp #3 [Feb./March 1980], I was again able to squeeze two Ditko stories into the issue. The second one had special significance. Writer J. M. De Matteis offered “The Dimensions of Greed,” a tale of criminals on Mars who get trapped in a (dare I say it?) time warp while robbing a hotel. Steve dazzled with drawings of inter-dimensional space and gooey green monsters with four eyes.

The second Ditko story in this issue was a three-pager by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn entitled “On the Day of His Return,” a whimsical tale of a lost spaceman’s encounter on an asteroid with an elf! The significance of this story is that it was the first professional comic book sale from the Mishkin/Cohn writing team. They were thrilled when I bought their first script, but were totally floored when they learned that their very first published comic book story was being drawn by the legendary Steve Ditko.

I had assigned it to Steve only because I wanted to see him draw an elf!

“Forecast,” from Time Warp #1 [Oct./Nov. 1979], my attempt to write a story for Steve to draw that would remind readers of an ironic Stan Lee tale.

Time Warp #4 [April/May 1980] featured the last Time Warp Ditko story, “A Switch In Time,” written by David Allikas. This story captured both the feel of a Stan Lee/Ditko story as well as an ironic horrific EC-style ending, allowing Steve to draw a time machine, a futuristic laboratory, and even some American Indians. It was Steve’s last Time Warp story because Time Warp #5 [June/July 1980] was the last issue. I didn’t get to have a Ditko story in every issue of Time Warp, but in the first four issues, I did manage to run a total of six Ditko tales.

As we feared, the modern comic book readership of 1980 was embracing the future for real, not leaving us enough science-fiction fans to maintain Time Warp’s run.

Steve, the Mystery Stories, & Time Warp

45

However, we weren’t finished yet. Later that steals the machine. In the attempt to learn the same year, DC decided to revive Mystery in origins of fairy tales, he inadvertently makes the Space, in one more attempt to have a success- stories come true. He ends up trapped back in ful science-fiction title on the roster. Mystery ancient times after battling a sorceress who In Space had debuted with its first issue coverchanges the time machine into a pumpkin! dated April/May 1951. It had run uninterHe lives his life back there under a shortened rupted for just over 15 years, with the last version of his name: Merlin. issue (#110) cover-dated September 1966.

While editing Mike’s script, it occurred to The revival, edited by Len Wein, began me it would be fun to have a time-travel story where the other run left off, with #111 [Sept. entirely told in the third person. Mike loved 1980], exactly 14 years later. Len had inheritthe way the script turned out and insisted I ed all of the Time Warp inventory to use up in credit myself as co-plotter. We titled the story the new Mystery in Space, including a number “Once Upon a Time Machine.” I was saddened of Steve Ditko stories. The most notable one that I didn’t get to run it in the pages of Time had a very interesting creative history.

Warp as intended, but delighted when Len ran One of the writers I always enjoyed working it in his first revived issue of Mystery in Space. with was Mike W. Barr, who came up ***** from the ranks of comic book fandom Whenever Steve to become one of the brought any of these industry’s finest writcompleted short stoers. Many months ries in, he’d always earlier, Mike had stop by my office pitched a time-travel first. When they story idea to me for were stories I had Time Warp. I had just assigned him, that assigned a timewas expected, but travel story to Ditko, even when I was just but the more Mike the writer, he would and I plotted out let me see what he’d the story, the more done with my script I thought it should before he ever Splash panel from Mystery In Space #111 [Sept. 1980]. also be a Ditko story. showed it to the ediA week or so later, Mike handed in his tor. I was honored by that. He always seemed script, and I began editing it. It was an to be interested in my opinion of his work. interesting tale about a shy and introverted I always wanted to write or assign him technical assistant, Merrill Lynfield, worksomething that he would enjoy drawing. I ing for a company devising a time machine. asked him once what kind of story he liked He wants to use the machine to go back and the most. research the origins of fairy tales. The company Steve replied, “I have no preference. Everybelieves this to be a frivolous waste of time thing provides its own unique challenge.” and rejects his proposal. Determined, Merrill Steve Ditko always rose to the challenge.

46

Working with Ditko

Chapter 6.

Ditko & the Wonder Woman Spectacular I

n late 1977, I became the writer for Wonder Woman. This came about for several reasons. I had been writing Isis, DC’s adaptation of The Secrets of Isis, a CBS Saturday morning children’s television series produced by Filmation. I had been writing the Supergirl stories

appearing in Superman Family, some Black Canary stories for World’s Finest Comics, and I was editing the Starfire series by Dave Micheline and Mike Vosburg. I had inadvertently become DC’s “heroine” writer. That, and because I was one of the only two married DC

At left is José Luis García-López’s original color cover layout sketch for DC Special Series #9 [1978], the “Wonder Woman Spectacular,” and the printed version, penciled by García-López and inked by Dick Giordano, right.

Ditko & the Wonder Woman Spectacular

47

This spread features various stages of Steve’s awesome Wonder Woman Spectacular double-page spread, from rough pencils to printed page.

Woodchucks (Bob Rozakis being the other), DC felt I “understood women.” (This, of course wasn’t at all true, but I was going to run with the opportunity).

My first Wonder Woman writing assignment was to be for DC Special Series #9, the Wonder Woman Spectacular. DC Special Series was a catch-all title with a rotating editorship. Instead of publishing separate “annuals” for any given title, extra-length tales and collections would appear under this blanket title. I had already edited DC Special Series #6, which featured a Secret Society of Super-Villains special. Later issues of the DC Special Series title would include some DC Digest Comics and various super-sized special publications.

The Wonder Woman Spectacular was to

48

Working with Ditko

be a 64-page epic, featuring the Earth-2 Wonder Woman in a World War II blockbuster adventure, since that was what was currently running in the regular monthly Wonder Woman title. Larry Hama would be the editor. I do not recall if it was for a deadline or creative purposes, but it was decided that my first Wonder Woman story would be illustrated by four different pencil artists. The pages featuring the heroine would be drawn by José Delbo, the regular series artist. The villain pages would be created by veteran comics legend Dick Ayers, who had been drawing my Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth stories. Russ Heath would be lending his considerable talents to the pages featuring the Amazons. The mythological gods pages would be drawn by

Ditko & the Wonder Woman Spectacular

49

none other than Steve Ditko! The whole book (except for Steve’s pages) would be inked by Vince Colletta. Ditko was to ink his pages.

Writing the script may have been a logistical nightmare, except for a brilliant idea by editor Hama. In those days before word processors or computers, all comic book scripts were written on electric typewriters. Larry suggested I type my script on different colored paper; a specific color for each artist. So, my multicolor manuscript was typed on four different shades of paper: white for the Wonder Woman pages, green for the villains, pink for the Amazons, and yellow for the gods. On average, I usually typed two pages of manuscript to describe and dialogue one page of art. This meant I had to create a 128-page manuscript with pages of four different colors. It was quite a project, but I must admit that the final script was, physically, the most beautiful I’d ever written.

(I did manage to have the entire manuscript returned to me, even though it had been divided up among four artists and two letterers: Ben Oda and Milt Snappin. However, I no longer have it, as I donated it to the Smithsonian Institution as part of their 1982 “Wonder Woman: Symbol of the ’80s” exhibit.)

The yellow pages of this multi-colored manuscript went to Steve Ditko.

The gods depicted in Wonder Woman were a mix of Greek and Roman mythology, often interchanged and combined, with no real consistency. We gave Steve complete carte blanche in designing characters on his eleven pages, with one exception: Hercules. Earlier in 1976 and 1977, DC had published a 12-issue run of Hercules Unbound, a series written by a few different writers, but always illustrated by Walter Simonson (with various inkers). With a tip of the continuity hat, I added references of Hercules Unbound to Steve, so he could match the look of the demigod from the Simonson issues on his Wonder Woman Spectacular

50

Working with Ditko

pages. The rest of the designs of the gods and goddesses were left completely up to Steve.

Along with Hercules, I threw in a few Norse gods as well. While most of Steve’s god characters were depicted in Greek and Roman style gowns and armor, he adored Aphrodite’s (the goddess of love) robes with heart shapes.

For the entire run of my regular series Wonder Woman issues [#242–254), I always gave artist José Delbo reference to the Ditko’s versions when depicting the gods.

Larry Hama assigned the cover of DC Special Series #9, the Wonder Woman Spectacular, to artists José Luis García-López and Dick Giordano, and the book went on sale December 13th, 1977. For the most part, I was happy with the results, except for Vinnie Colletta’s rather lackluster inking, especially on Russ Heath’s Amazon pages. It made me grateful that Steve Ditko had inked his own work on the book. Steve’s 11 pages included two double-page spreads. The first two-page spread was the introduction of the “Home of the Gods.” I alluded to the fact that Olympus, Valhalla, Asgard, and even Heaven were all the same place, just named differently depending on your heritage. (I thought I might get some negative feedback for including Heaven with all the other mythological realms, but I never did.)

Ditko’s depiction of the grand hall of the gods was spectacular as Aphrodite and Athena enter and observe, with disdain, a duel between Mars and Thor. Hercules, Odin, and others are cheering them on. The only thing that spoiled the scene for me was that colorist Jerry Serpe colored a couple of the majestic statues adoring the hall as human beings instead of stone.

Steve’s second double-page spread was one showing the gods observing the Amazons in battle. At first, I wasn’t certain if these two pages should be Gods or Amazon pages,

yellow or pink paper, or drawn by Heath or Ditko.

I chose Gods, yellow, and Ditko. Considering how Heath’s Amazon pages came out under Colletta’s uninspired inking, I’m glad I did. Steve’s depiction of the attacking Amazon’s was breathtaking.

On the last panel of one of Steve’s pages, Mars, the God of War, is moving chest-like pieces of Hitler and Wonder Woman across his chessboard of the world as he plans his strategy of conquest. As far as I can tell,

this was the only time Steve Ditko ever drew Wonder Woman.

When the book was completed, Steve gifted me the original art to the Gods’ realm double-page spread.

The Wonder Woman Spectacular was a very exciting and satisfying beginning to my year-long tenure as the scripter on Wonder Woman and on the Wonder Woman stories in Adventure Comics. Getting Steve Ditko to participate was the highlight of the whole experience.

Top: Is this the only time Ditko drew Wonder Woman? Above: More penciled pages by Ditko for his work on the Wonder Woman Spectacular.

Ditko & the Wonder Woman Spectacular

51

Chapter 7.

Steve Ditko’s DC Profile M

ike Gold, as publicity director of DC Comics, was not only busy promoting all of DC’s comic publications at the time, but he was also hard at work promoting all the talent. Mike had created a series of “DC Profiles,” which would appear across the line as third-page biographies of editors, writers, artists, letterers, and colorists, so readers would get to know the creative talents behind their favorite comics.

These profiles were produced in a number of ways. Most of the time, Mike (and sometimes others) would do a quick interview and then type up a few paragraphs about the background of whomever was featured. Some

52

Working with Ditko

writers actually wrote their own profiles. Some were done by the individual editors, who would quickly interview creators whenever they were in the office handing in or picking up assignments. Some mini-interviews were done over the phone.

Mike came down to my office one day and asked, “Do you think you could convince Ditko to do a DC Profile?”

My first reaction was a solid “No.” Mike and I both knew of Steve’s desire for privacy outside his work. Steve felt that all fans needed to know of Ditko was the work he produced. With that thought in mind, I told Mike I would see what I could do.

The next time Steve came in, I told him about the Profiles and I also let him know that I understood and respected his stand on sharing personal information. Nevertheless, I had an idea. Steve listened to my suggestion and agreed.

A week later, Steve came in with a thirdpage size montage drawing of all the characters he’d created for DC. Cavorting together were The Creeper; The Hawk and the Dove; Stalker; The Odd Man; Shade, The Changing Man; and the new Starman! It was wonderful.

I ran down to submit it to Mike Gold. This became Steve’s official DC Profile. DC Profile #58 featured Steve’s drawing in full color with the line I wrote, “Steve Ditko says we should let his work speak for him, so…”

Steve’s Profile ran in Batman #322, Secrets of Haunted House #23, and Legion of Super-Heroes #262.

Before he left that day, I asked Steve if I could keep the original art of this great montage. He told me that I could. Unfortunately, the original art never got back to me. I figure it made its way into someone else’s collection; someone who did not know that Steve had promised it to me. If that was the case, I hope it’s framed somewhere and is being taken care of because, after all, that original art is mine!

Opposite page is DC Profiles #58, drawn by Ditko and appearing in Batman #322, Secrets of Haunted House #23, and Legion of Super-Heroes #262, all cover-dated April 1980. Above is the artist in a photo taken in the 1980s.

Steve Ditko’s DC Profile

53

Chapter 8.

Steve & The Legion of Super-Heroes

The Legion of Super-Heroes #281 [Nov. 1981] may have been Ditko’s last Legion adventure, but its splash sported his magnificent rendition of the Boy of Steel!

I

n 1978, I was assigned the editorship of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.

This was not my initial encounter with the Legion; far from it! My first assignment at DC was as assistant editor to editor Murray Boltinoff, and one of the many books Murray edited was Superboy and the Legion of SuperHeroes. I even dialogued one of Paul Levitz’s Legion stories in #240 [June 1978], drawn by

54

Working with Ditko

Howard Chaykin and Bob Wiacek.

My familiarity with the Legion went all the way back to its very beginning. I had begun collecting comics not long before Adventure Comics #247 was published. This was the Legion’s first appearance, in a story called, unsurprisingly, “The Legion of Super-Heroes,” written by Otto Binder and illustrated by Al Plastino.

In the story, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Boy (yes, Boy, not Lad) come from the future to ask Superboy to join their “SuperHero Club.” The future trio wore costumes almost totally different from those worn in their next appearance. Their full super-hero names were printed on the fronts of their costumes. The story was quite typical, wherein Superboy is eventually rejected from the club, but learns that his rejection was just the final test to see how he handled failure. This was a common plot device in Mort Weisinger-edited Superman titles.

I always believed that the Legion of SuperHeroes was an “accidental” series. They were never intended to be anything more than supporting characters. However, with every subsequent appearance, their popularity grew. After appearances and even their own series in Adventure Comics, the Legion took over Superboy’s title. Superboy was changed to become Superboy and the Legion of SuperHeroes with #197 [Sept. 1973].

My first issue as editor was Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #247 [March 1979]. I had inherited two scripts by Len Wein and Paul Levitz for that issue, but as of the next issue, Gerry Conway became my regular writer, and Joe Staton became my regular artist (with a few fill-ins by others).

Gerry had a heavy, contracted workload of scripting chores. To ease things up a bit for him and for Joe, and to get ahead of deadlines myself, I commissioned a few fill-in back-up short stories. I planned to have these written and drawn by others so my regular creative team could catch up. Giving Staton a break from doing another full issue, Conway wrote a seven-page back-up for #257 titled, “Once a Legionnaire…” featuring Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel.

Bouncing Boy was always my favorite Legionnaire. There were many reasons for this: One, he didn’t look like a super-hero.

Two, he had a very visual power, unlike many of the other Legionnaires who just pointed to use their super-abilities. Three, he had a hot girlfriend (later his wife) in the person(s) of Duo Damsel.

I decided to assign the art for this story to Steve Ditko!

Steve Ditko’s personal philosophy is quite well known. Steve believed in a black-&-white world. Everything was either good or bad, wonderful or terrible, benevolent or evil. You had to accept either one totally. You could never compromise. If you claimed to be a good person and compromised, this meant, according to Steve, you would have to accept some aspect of evil! This was best reflected in his ruthless crime fighting character Mr. A, whose fearful calling card was simply a business card, half-white, half-black.

Ironically, this back-&-white attitude was reflected in Steve’s work on the Legion of Super-Heroes; fans loved it or they hated it,

Ditko’s first Legion assignment: Gerry Conway’s story “Once a Legionnaire...” in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #257, inked by Dan Adkins.

no in-between. I had selected Steve for a number of reasons. First of all, I thought Ditko’s figure work was similar to that of George Papp’s, who had drawn many of the Legion’s early appearances after their debut. Secondly, Steve was fast and could turn around a sevenpage story in a very short amount of time.

When I asked Steve if he could do the story, he was pretty busy. He was doing a few Time Warp stories for me, and was drawing Machine Man and Micronauts for Marvel, but he agreed.

After he accepted the assignment he asked, “Do you have reference for the characters? Because I really don’t know them.”

This was immediately a concern because one of the most common complaints from

Steve & the Legion of Super-Heroes

55

Writer Mark DeMatteis, Ditko, and inker Bob Wiacek created the wackiest Legion villain of all time with Dr. Mayavale, in “Life After Life After Life,” Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #268 [Oct. 1980].

artists doing the Legion of Super-Heroes was that there were just too many characters! I assured Steve that his story had only two Legion characters (well, three, since one of them was Duo Damsel) and that I would supply all the reference he would need. As expected, he turned in the job in record time and never complained. I was lucky enough to get Dan Adkins to ink the tale for me.

The backlash of fan mail for that issue floored me. Some letters were filled with praise, saying they loved Steve’s take on these Legion characters. But the detractors…! They didn’t like it. They hated it! I had never received such mail. Some of the missives bordered on

56

Working with Ditko

death threats!

I have to say something about Legion fans.

In 1967, I attended the World Science Fiction Convention in New York City—Nycon III. This was the first con held after the debut of NBC’s Star Trek. The con had a large contingent of Star Trek fan attendees who were looked down upon by the mainstream science-fiction fans.

The older fans felt that these new “Trekies” had no appreciation of the long history of “real” sci-fi. They were just tagging along because of a television show.

When I attended one of Phil Seuling’s July Fourth comic book conventions, the Legion of Super-Hero fans were treated almost the same way as “Trekkies” had been at the World Science Fiction Convention. The long-time Golden Age comic book fans attending Seuling’s convention felt that the Legion fans had no respect for the long history of the comic book medium.

But Legion fans were unique. They were extremely opinionated, loudly vocal, highly knowledgeable and fiercely loyal! Paul Levitz pointed out, “Legion fans always hated new artists. They hated John Forte, they hated Dave Cockrum, and they hated Mike Grell.

It was almost guaranteed they’d hate Steve Ditko as well.”

I was so pleased with Steve’s work and the quick turnaround, that I went with the praise and ignored the detractors. I planned to give him future Legion work.

I wanted to delve into a little of the background of the Legion. In the early stories, it was emphasized that each Legion member only had one power. None of them had the power of flight. In their first adventure, they flew around thanks to clunky jet packs. Later, they used equally clunky flight belts that really took away from their distinctive costumes.

It was finally decided that they all had the now-famous Legion Flight Rings. I had writer

Paul Kupperberg pen a little eight-page backup detailing not only the origin of the rings, but lots of technical information on how they worked.

“The Grounded Legionnaires,” printed in Legion of Super-Heroes #267 [Sept. 1980], was a perfect script for another Ditko outing.

It had a good grouping of Legionnaires, and the plausibly fantastic aspect of the rings was just Steve’s sort of thing. Dave Hunt inked the story.

The next issue, #268 [Oct. 1980], was a fill-in issue by writer J. Mark DeMatteis entitled “Life After Life After Life.” To say the story was insane would be an understatement.

The Legionnaires meet an alien named Dr. Mayavale, who had lived 50,000 previous lives and remembered every detail of all of them.

This means, of course, that he was totally out of his mind. His weird look, wearing a cowboy hat and possessing multiple arms, immediately made me think of Ditko and the mad worlds he’d drawn. This was Steve’s first full-length Legion tale. Inker Bob Wiacek put a classy “shine” to the Ditko-drawn faces that reminded me of Wally Wood’s ink work. Ditko fans loved it; the detractors spewed hatred.

Back in Legion of Super-Heroes #253 [July 1979], Gerry Conway had pitted the Legion against “The Super Assassins.” One of the members had been an animated rock creature called Blok. I wanted to add a completely non-human-looking alien to the team, so a reformed Blok seemed like an excellent candidate. Ditko was very good at drawing rocks, so I tapped him for Conway’s 25-page story “The Secret Origin of Blok” that appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes #272 [Nov. 1980]. Frank Chiaramonte, another inker with a “shine” to his work, finished up the tale. The opening page of Wildfire blasting Blok was stunning!

There was going to be another editorial shift, so I wanted my final editorial task on

Ditko and Frank Chiaramonte’s dramatic splash page featuring Wildfire illustrating Gerry Conway’s tale “The Secret Origin of Blok,” in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #272 [Nov. 1980].

The Legion of Super-Heroes to be the story of Reflecto, a Legion member only seen as a Legionnaire who had died in the line of duty in a future Legion story. Fans kept demanding that we tell his story, so I thought I would comply.

Legion of Super-Heroes #274 [April 1981] was the beginning of this saga, in Conway’s story entitled “The Exaggerated Death of Ultra Boy.” This full-length story was also inked

by Chiaramonte. The story involved Ultra Boy (another one of my favorite Legionnaires) getting lost in space and losing his memory.

He falls in with a group of alien space pirates.

I couldn’t wait to see what Steve could do with alien space pirates! He did not disappoint.

I knew that #276 [June 1981] was going to be the last issue I was going to edit, so I wanted to give a final “gift” to Steve’s fans and

Steve & the Legion of Super-Heroes

57

“a fond farewell” to the Ditko detractors. I was going to leave them with another full-length Ditko Legion adventure. “Lord Romdur’s Castle” by Conway placed a whole company of Legionnaires on an alien planet with a medieval-like society surrounded by castles and horses. There was wizardry and even the return of an old Legion villain. With Chiaramonte inking again, I was proud of my Legion swan song, thanks to all the members of the creative team, but special thanks to Ditko.

Steve, however, was not done with the Legion of Super-Heroes!

Five issues later, new Legion Editor Mike W. Barr tapped Steve once again for a full issue! Legion of Super-Heroes #281 [Nov. 1981] had Ditko illustrating “Madness Is the

Molecule Master,” which was plotted by Roy Thomas and marked the return of Paul Levitz as Legion scripter. Inker Bruce D. Patterson finished the art, which included many pages of solo Superboy action. Steve’s version of Superboy was amazing, in my very humble opinion.

I was always glad I was able to get Steve to work on some mainstream DC heroes. I believed his wide range of experience and his wild imagination could enhance any character. Not only could he create outrageously original characters, but his professionalism allowed him to draw established characters with his own unique vision. Steve’s work on The Legion of Super-Heroes illustrated exactly how true that was!

Splash page from The Legion of Super-Heroes #267 [Sept. 1980]. Pencils: Ditko. Inks: Dave Hunt.

58

Working with Ditko

Chapter 9.

Steve, First, the Faceless Ones, & the Fantasy Master A

fter the disastrous “DC Explosion,” Mike Gold left his publicity director post at DC Comics. He went on to establish First Comics with Ken F. Levin. First was based in Mike’s hometown of Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and the publisher launched its initial run of books in 1983, with such titles as American Flagg by Howard Chaykin, Grimjack

by John Ostrander and Tim Truman, Dreadstar by Jim Starlin, and Sable by Mike Grell.

Also on their roster was Warp, a title based on a play!

The original production of Warp was performed by Chicago’s Organic Theater Company, opening there in 1971. Warp was actually a series of three full-length, interconnected plays, intended to be staged over three consecutive nights. To enjoy the full effect of the saga, theater-goers would have to attend all three productions, much like seeing all the chapters of a 1940s movie serial.

Co-authors Bury St. Edmund (Lenny Kleinfeld) and Stuart Gordon admitted that their entire science-fiction play was inspired

by Marvel Comics, specifically the adventures

of Thor and Doctor Strange.

But, unable to obtain the licensing rights for any of the Marvel characters, they created their own.

The trilogy was promoted as “the world’s first science-fiction epic-adventure play in

The Warp poster art by Neal Adams, when the first segment of the Stuart Gordon and Bury St. Edmund (Lenny Kleinfeld) theatrical trilogy briefly appeared on Broadway in February 1973.

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

59

Ditko’s pencils and printed page for “The Perils of Paragwen,” The Faceless Ones chapter one, from Warp #2 [April 1983].

serial form.” It ran in Chicago for more than a year before its unsuccessful move to Broadway. Not only was it comic book-inspired, but the costumes and art direction were even designed by comic book great Neal Adams.

First Comics’ initial spin-off comic book of Warp #1, cover-dated March 1983, was scripted by Peter Gillis with art by Frank Brunner and Bob Smith. In the second issue, it was decided to run an original back-up series. Mike Gold recalled the choice.

“It was an easy decision,” he remembered in 2022, “since the original Warp play was inspired by the art of Steve Ditko. When we had the opportunity to work with Ditko himself on the Warp comic book, it was a no-brainer. It was as if we were closing a circle.”

“The Faceless Ones” was to run for three

60

Working with Ditko

issues, Warp #2–4 [April–May 1983]. Since Mike knew of my working relationship with Steve, he asked me to write the series. I had seen the first segment of Warp performed during a Chicago Comic-Con, but I hadn’t seen the entire trilogy. Mike sent copies of all three Warp scripts and I read them furiously.

It was an epic comic-book adventure and I visualized the whole thing being drawn by Steve, but the play itself was already being produced as the lead feature in the book. I was tasked with coming up with an original story based on the characters of the trilogy.

Knowing that Steve was going to draw it made my task all the easier. I was planning to write to Steve’s strengths.

I first decided on a female protagonist.

Some have said in print that Steve drew “ugly

Ditko pencils and printed page, “A Masque in Hand,” Faceless Ones chapter two, from Warp #3 [May 1983].

women.” I couldn’t disagree more. I thought Steve’s depictions of women were striking and exotic. I fondly recalled Clea from the Doctor Strange series and wanted such a character as my star. I came up with Paragwen (I was thinking of “parallel” worlds and Gwen Stacy).

I wanted to send her on a quest, one of my favorite literary forms. Since the Warp world of Fen-Ra was said to be in another dimension, I though Paragwen’s quest should be across the dimensional realms!

I needed something for Paragwen to quest after, so I created the “Masque of Mottagamma,” named after my ex-wife’s maiden name. Not only did the Masque have magical properties but, as a twist, it existed as a completely different object in each alternate dimension!

I figured this could make the quest a little more difficult. Of course, it also gave me the

opportunity to describe all sorts of extradimensional realms and alien worlds, which no comic artist anywhere could handle better than Ditko.

Mike Gold also requested that we handle the series “Marvel Style,” rather than by a full script. Writing a plot for Steve to “break down,” rather than page-by-page, panel-bypanel descriptions, was also a more familiar format for Steve.

Then Mike suggested one more incentive to make sure Steve would be happy to work on the series. In the early days of comic books, the artwork was drawn “twice-up,” meaning that the original art was created on Bristol board sheets of approximately 14" x 21½", or twice the size of the printed comic book page. In the modern age, the size of originals had been reduced to approximately

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

61

Three stages of a page from “The Perils of Paragwen,” chapter one of The Faceless Ones, from Warp #2 [April 1983.]

17" x 11½". It was more economical that way as twice as many pages could fit under the cameras used for reproduction. The drawback was that the artists had less space in which to draw.

Mike offered to let Steve work “twice-up” on the “Faceless Ones,” providing him a larger drawing area. Steve was on board.

So began our “Faceless Ones” Warp series for First Comics.

The first 10-page installment was entitled “The Perils of Paragwen,” and introduced the protagonist, Paragwen and her boyfriend, the arrogant and boastful Farr. Paragwen is a princess of a minor kingdom in Fen-Ra that is in the grip of the tyrannical Tybald. The young pair begins by battling demons who were guarding the magical Masque of Mottagamma.

Paragwen believes the power of the Masque might free her people. She tries to fight past the guardian demons with her magic sword,

62

Working with Ditko

the Starhook. Unfortunately, Farr is disintegrated in the battle and the Masque falls into the Swirling Blackness, a dimensional portal.

Paragwen fears all is lost until the wizard Lugulbanda (from the Warp play) offers to help her. For reasons of his own, Lugulbanda has taken interest in Paragwen’s plight. He arms her with a squadron of golden robots with no faces (“The Faceless Ones”) and sends her on through the Swirling Blackness to seek the Masque. He warns her that the Masque might appear as different objects in different worlds.

Along with science-fiction, I love fantasy novels. Oddly enough, my favorite fantasy worlds are those with a comprehensible connection to Earth. For instance, I enjoyed Conan stories more than I did the Lord of the Rings novels. Conan existed in the “Hyborian Age,” clearly described by Robert E. Howard as an era in Earth’s past (“Between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of recorded

history”). As far as I know, J.R.R. Tolkien never told us where Middle Earth was in relation to our own reality. I liked the former. For that reason, the first world Paragwen and the Faceless Ones reach is modern-day Earth. On Earth, the Masque of Mottagamma existed as a weird-looking handgun.

The weapon falls into the hands of a hired killer who guns down a New York City policeman. Teaming up with the policeman’s surviving partner, Paragwen and the Faceless Ones track down the killer. With the aid of Starhook, Paragwen slices off the killer’s hand, but the Masque falls into the Swirling Blackness once again. The weapon’s blast has temporarily blinded Paragwen and she thinks she has failed. Then, miraculously, one of the Faceless Ones grows eyes! When Paragwen’s eyesight returns, she leads the Faceless Ones,

once again, into the Swirling Blackness.

There was lots of story crammed into those first 10 pages, but I knew Steve was up to it. Ditko was the master of the 12-panel comic book page, letting the characters tumble across the page with the skill of the most professional choreographer! In this story, Steve penciled one-, six-, eight-, nine-, and 12-panel pages, everything to make the story work. He went back and forth from fantastic fantasy worlds to gritty, realistic New York City and back again, with ease. We were well on our way.

The second chapter, “A Masque in the Hand,” begins with the readers meeting the sinister Tybald and Paralox, the former ruler of the kingdom the evil despot had conquered.

The readers learned that Paralox, Paragwen’s father, holds out hope that his heroic daughter

Ditko pencils and printed page, “Faces Before the Masque,” Faceless Ones chapter three, from Warp #4 [June 1983].

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

63

for a flashback recap of the previous story.

At the conclusion, the wizard Lugulbanda, merely an observer so far, decides to become directly involved.

The final chapter, “Faces Before the Masque,” finds Paragwen and the Faceless Ones in a deserted world filled with craggy, rocky mountains. Here, the Masque exists as a mountain! Paragwen feels defeated, not knowing how she can possibly carry a mountain back to her people.

Meanwhile, the wizard Lugulbanda has traveled to Paragwen’s home to see for himself how all this will play out. Paragwen relies on

Ditko’s original art for page eight of “A Masque in the Hand,” chapter two of The Faceless Ones, from Warp #3 [May 1983].

will find the Masque and free their people.

Meanwhile, Paragwen and her Faceless Ones have entered a fairy tale type world where the Masque appeared as a falconer’s gauntlet. An evil falconer uses the Masqueglove to empower his birds with a deafening sonic screech, allowing him to attempt to conquer the royal realm. Magically, the Faceless One with eyes acquires a mouth as well, and his screech can destroy the screaming bird.

But before Paragwen can retrieve the gauntlet, it falls into the Swirling Blackness towards a different dimensional world!

Wizards, castles, birds, and more; this installment included more imagery designed specifically for the Ditko touch. He pulled it off masterfully, even including a montage page

64

Working with Ditko

her magic sword, the Starhook, to get herself and Masque back home. With the help of the Faceless Ones, she climbs the mountain, and holds her sword to the sky. When lightning strikes the Starhook, the magical blast sends her, the Masque and the Faceless Ones back home at the exact moment Lugulbanda arrives!

Paragwen attacks Tybald, but he defeats her and dons the Masque. While wearing the mask, anyone who gazes upon the wearer must obey him. Lugulbanda falls under the spell first. Grabbing Paragwen’s enchanted sword, Tybald advances to kill her since he considered her too rebellious, even under the spell of the Masque. However, the true enchantment of the Starhook is then revealed.

The magic sword will slay anyone who uses its power for evil. The blade elongates and runs Tybald through. But, with his dying breath, Tybald places the Masque on one of the other Faceless Ones who rebels against Lugulbanda.

However, the Faceless One who has grown a face defends the wizard and destroys the corrupted robot and the Masque. It is then revealed that the remaining Faceless One is, in reality, Farr, Paragwen’s boyfriend, whom she thought was lost. Lugulbanda had changed him into Paragwen’s slave to teach him some

Ditko’s completed cover for the never-published Fantasy Master gaming comic book.

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

65

humility. Farr is restored to his original, human form.

The series received mixed reviews, but was a success on many levels. Unfamiliar with the “Marvel Method,” as I was, the stories came out a little copy-heavy. Editor Mike Gold trimmed them down a bit and letterers Bill Spicer and Bruce Patterson did a masterful job making it all fit. In the end, we were all very pleased with the outcome.

I thought the folks at First Comics were then primed for my next collaboration with Steve Ditko. I thought they were ready for… the Fantasy Master! ***** Back in the ’80s, we were just beginning to feel the impact of the coming computer age. “Pong” was the first animated computer game, but role-playing adventure games were rapidly beginning to develop. The early games were merely text fantasy games. The players were given a situation through which they had to play with their keyboard. As the story progressed, players had to make important decisions at pivotal points. Would they go left or right? Would they go up or down? Should they travel north, east, south, or west? The arrow keys or space bar would reveal the player’s choice, propelling them through the story’s action.

Paralleling these games were the Choose Your Own Adventure paperback books. These were usually fantasy adventures written in a similar format as the developing computer games. Readers would come to a moment in the story and have to make a decision for the protagonist. Would he go left or right? Should he go through the door or down the path?

Depending on the what the reader decided, they would be directed to turn to a different page: Go west, turn to page 40; go north,

66

Working with Ditko

turn to page 50, etc. Each path would lead to different adventurous situations. This genre of books became extremely popular for awhile and featured a wide variety of scenarios.

I asked myself, “Could this format be adapted to comic books?”

Since I had just come off “The Faceless Ones” series, I pitched the idea to First Comics, with the promise that Steve Ditko would be the artist. Mike Gold told me they were interested and wanted a presentation.

All I had to do then was to get Steve to agree to do it.

My basic story was a quest. My hero, Kalakus (the reader), had taken on the task of rescuing the Princess Belinda (named after a former girlfriend of mine) and her Jewels of Joy. They had been abducted by an evil monster, the Drood, and taken to Mountain Dark. Without the Jewels of Joy, the village of Manatal, the home of Belinda, and Kalakus, would fall into despair. The local wizard, Azdunn, gave Kalakus a map of the interior of Mountain Dark and sent him on his way. (If this premise sounds familiar, it was inspired

by Walt Disney’s Mickey and the Beanstalk.)

My script was constructed exactly like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. At certain junctures, the reader (a.k.a. Kalakus) would have to make a choice as to which page to turn to. I wanted to present two different methods of making a decision. In some instances, Kalakus would be presented with multiple choices, each illustrated by a different panel. When this happened, whatever panel appealed to Kalakus would determine which page the reader would turn too.

Other occurrences would be totally by chance. When these events happened, six numbered panels would be illustrated and a single die would have to be rolled. Whatever number came up would send Kalakus to the next path.

After the introduction, there was a two-page spread illustrating a map of the interior of Mountain Dark, which Azdunn gave to Kalakus to aid him in deciding which paths to take.

I gave the story three possible outcomes: The first one is where Kalakus cowardly fails and is banished in disgrace. The second one, Kalakus dies heroically and ends up in a Vahalla-like afterlife. The third one was the winner; Kalakus rescues the Princess, recovers the Jewels of Joy, and wins the girl. While there were only three possible conclusions, the paths to get there were almost endless.

The story would be hosted and introduced by… The Fantasy Master, a mysterious, enigmatic games master dwelling in a lair filled with games and weapons; just the sort of character who could easily be described as a “Ditko character”!

I sat in Steve’s studio and explained the whole idea to him. He was very interested, but questioned the amount of possible paths. I explained the idea with an old math problem my father (a chemist, mathematician and statistician) had asked me: “How many ways can ten books be arranged on a bookshelf?” The answer is 10 factorial, or well over 3,000,000 possible combinations.

Steve absolutely refused to believe this. He could not wrap his brain around this abstract mathematical concept. His brilliant artist’s mind could draw anything, but this idea of almost limitless pathways didn’t sit well with him at all.

Nevertheless, he was very excited about the overall idea. I thought the only way this idea could possibly be convincingly presented was to do the whole book from a full script. Steve agreed and I got to work on the manuscript. Again, I was writing to Steve’s strengths.

The adventure was entitled “The Quest in the Curs’d Cavern.” I had to draw up an

Steve’s original pencils for page 24 of Fantasy Master, with Ditko’s unique reader’s-eye-view of the RPG action.

entire diagram of the story before I even began typing. It took me nearly a month, but I included it all in a final 55-page manuscript for a 32-page story. Since the actions and scenes were so specific, I had to lay out the panel arrangements for the entire book.

Steve wouldn’t be able to play around with the layout or the multiple-path story wouldn’t work. I made certain I populated the story with a whole menagerie of mythical beasts.

Besides the Drood himself, there was a giant spider, a hairy monster called the Bukalok, a mammoth snake, a slime creature known as the Sliguth, and more! I play-tested the story myself over 20 times before I finally felt comfortable giving the script to Steve.

About a month later, Steve asked me to

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

67

Ditko’s pencils for the first page of Fantasy Master. Opposite page is the version inked by Andrew Pepoy.

68

Working with Ditko

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

69

The manuscript pages of my original Fantasy Master typewritten manuscript describing page 17, depicting the hero’s battle with a giant serpent. Ditko’s penciled interpretation is on the opposite page.

come to his studio to take a look at what he’d produced. I was blown away! I was astounded at the amount of work he’d produced for a project that was, for all intents and purposes, done on spec. I felt that if someone with Ditko’s stature in the comics industry was willing to pencil an entire 32-page book with-

70

Working with Ditko

out the promise of payment, he must really believe in it.

Steve went above and beyond with Fantasy Master. The host himself was incredible, decked out in a costume that was both futuristic and ancient at the same time. The Fantasy Master could stand proudly next to other Ditko hosts such as Dr. Haunt or the Mysterious Traveler.

But that wasn’t the greatest thing about Steve’s work on Fantasy Master. Steve explained it to me this way: “The readers are directly playing the role of the hero in this adventure. I thought they should see some of the story straight through the hero’s eyes, his point of view. If he’s upside down, then I drew the panel upside down.

If he is fighting a monster, the readers should see the monster and the hero’s arms holding his weapon so they can feel that they’re right there in the middle of the action!”

Looking at many of today’s video games, players can see the same thing! As they run though their virtual world, they can see their virtual hands holding and firing their virtual weapons. Comic book artist Steve Ditko, who never owned or used a computer, saw how virtual fantasy computer games should look almost 40 years ago!

We sent the pencil art and script off to First Comics. They loved it and ordered it up.

Steve penciled and inked a cover and sent that along as well.

But Fantasy Master was never published.

Years later, I asked former First Comics editor Mike Gold, “Why not?”

He shook his head. “I can’t tell you. All I can remember is that, at any given time, we had lots of projects in the works, lots of irons in the fire. Some of them were forged into something, others went cold. The exact circumstances surrounding Fantasy Master are lost to time.”

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

71

Two more pages of Fantasy Master, both penciled by Steve Ditko and inked by Andrew Pepoy.

72

Working with Ditko

Steve, First, the Faceless One, & the Fantasy Master

73

Ditko’s pencils for the two finished pages seen on the previous spread. Below is Craig Yoe’s The Creativity of Ditko.

Steve told me to hold onto the penciled pages in the hopes that, some day, someone else might express some interest in publishing Fantasy Master. As far as I ever got was a sampling of the pages being printed in Craig

74

Working with Ditko

Yoe’s book, The Creativity of Ditko, published

by Yoe Books in 2012.

I still have the all the penciled pages.

Perhaps the possibility of Fantasy Master being published someday still exists.

Chapter 10.

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider I

don’t recall exactly when I started reading comic books. I do, however, fondly remember two of my favorites before I discovered super-hero comics: Little Lulu and Donald Duck. Both of these titles were published by Dell Comics. Most of the early comic books my older brother and I read were published

by Dell. Besides these two, the rest of what we bought were books based on television shows we watched, most notably the Westerns such as The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.

When I started buying Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Batman, and Detective Comics, to follow the adventures of Superman and Batman, my childhood budget just could not keep up with continuing to buy the Dell titles. I justified this switch by convincing myself that such humor comics were “just for kids,” while the DC super-heroes were much more sophisticated.

So while the Dell Comics was still sharing the spinner racks with DC, I pretty much ignored them. Then, one day, in 1962, Dell Comics disappeared and were replaced by Gold Key Comics. At first, I just thought Dell had changed their name and their look. This was not the case.

What I learned later was that Western Publishing Company, in an attempt to make their comic books resemble established children’s books, switched to their own in-house

Ditko’s original penciled presentation page for Star Guider, originally prepared for Gold Key’s Astral Frontier science-fiction multiple-story title edited by Robin Snyder.

publishing. Previously, they had been merely packaging content for distribution by Dell Comics, their business partner. Now, Western Publishing was printing its own comic books under the Gold Key banner.

In the 1970s, Gold Key struggled during

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

75

From left: Lelona, Star Guider’s rival and friendly enemy; another exotic Ditko female. The artist’s brilliant design for Star Guider’s space space, the Ellipical Orbiter. Ditko designed a unique hair style for Star Guider so the character would be recognized even in silhouette.

the entire comics industry’s downward trend.

They seemingly made no attempt to alter their editorial policies to keep up with DC or Marvel, or even the industry as a whole. By the late ’70s, most of Gold Key’s surviving titles featured reprinted material. They did manage to hold onto some of their television licensed material such as NBC’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century between 1979 and 1981.

Gold Key was also busy during this time, experimenting with digest comics featuring classic stories of the Disney and Warner Brothers characters such as Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny. They also reprinted some of their Star Trek books in digests.

Comic book distribution during that period held on to traditional avenues at pharmacies and grocery stores, but Western Publishing also sold plastic bags, containing three comics each, to toy stores, department stores, gas stations, airports, bus stations, train depots, and other unconventional retail outlets where one would never expect to see comic racks.

When Mattel Inc. purchased Western Publishing in 1979, Western ceased to be an independent company. The new owners discontinued selling comics at newsstands altogether, and switched to selling exclusively

76

Working with Ditko

the bagged comic packages at toy stores. They held onto the belief that comics could be marketed exactly like their line of coloring books and puzzles.

Near the end, Gold Key was still attempting to create new comic book titles for inclusion in this kind of marketing. Finally, In December 1983, Mattel sold Western Publishing to real-estate investor Richard A. Bernstein. In less than a year, Bernstein closed Western’s comic-book publishing division and, by 1984, Gold Key Comics was gone.

Robin Snyder was one of the last (if not the last) editor of Gold Key Comics. I knew Robin from his writing at DC and from his editing over at Archie. We had a good working relationship. And, if Steve Ditko had a “greatest fan,” it was Robin Snyder!

Robin knew of my collaborations with Steve and approached us to work on two new titles he was preparing for Gold Key. None of us realized at the time, that Gold Key was on Next page is the splash to the first Star Guider adventure.

Star Guider, Steve and my strip, was to headline the Gold Key science-fiction series edited by Robin Snyder, Astral Frontier, which was to also include the Wyatt Early series

by George Kashdan and Fred Carrillo, and Marshall of the Zodiac, drawn by Tom Mandrake.

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

77

Splash page to the Star Guider story intended for Astral Frontier #2.

78

Working with Ditko

its last legs. Blindly and with great enthusiasm, we were working on a brand new mystery title and a brand new science-fiction title. Steve and I started by writing and drawing a number of supernatural tales for the new Gold Key mystery book. The title of this purposed book has been lost to time and memory. All I recall is one story we did entitled “The Wizard’s Way Up.” The only reason I recall it at all is because Steve’s cover, based on the story, has mysteriously popped up online now and again.

On the other hand, I clearly remember the planned science-fiction title. It was to be called Astral Frontier and the cover feature was going to be… Star Guider!

Of all the original characters Steve Ditko and I ever worked on, Star Guider was the most thought-out and developed. I was so excited about this character that I wrote a complete background for him and the universe in which he was to exist. I had everything worked out far in advance; enough material to run storylines for years.

Steve and I sat in his studio for many hours discussing the background and possible adventures for this new space hero.

Picking up on the Astral Frontier title, I thought our hero should be a guide through some kind of outer space frontier. Since he was going to be a guide, I had to come up with someplace to guide to or to guide through. I imagined a place called “The Stellar Wilderness.” The Stellar Wilderness was a realm found just beyond the farthest regions of explored space. It consisted of countless planets spinning in erratic orbits that passed in and out of other dimensions, making it seemingly impossible to track. However, the Star Guider (his only known name) had the uncanny and unexplained ability to find his way through this impossible cosmological territory. He was aided by his space ship, the Elliptical Orbiter

The Elliptical Orbiter in action.

(or the E.O. for short).

I was, once again, thinking of the kinds of images only Steve Ditko could produce. I envisioned the Stellar Wilderness rivaling even the most fantastic of Doctor Strange’s dimensional worlds. I saw the Elliptical Orbiter right alongside the Blue Beetle’s flying Bug vehicle.

Then there was Star Guider himself. My original concept was that Star Guider is similar to an Indian guide in the Old West; a man with a long pony tail or braids. I wanted his uniform to be chain mail, fondly remembering Captain Atom’s original uniform.

I created Lelona as a rival and friendly enemy (and possible future love interest) for Star Guider. Although she was also a talented guide through the Stellar Wilderness, she was always at a loss as to how Star Guider managed to track his way through the regions without the use of a navigational computer.

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

79

She both admired and hated him, since he would steal clients right out from under her.

She also wanted to be his partner, knowing that such an arrangement would be profitable. I was envisioning an exotic Ditko beauty.

Star Guider’s “home” was the “49 Moons” which all orbited an artificial star called Center Star. Uniformed Center Star agents patrolled the 49 Moons and kept law and order. Star Guider worked with the agents to make sure the Moons remain safe for law-abiding citizens, which is an attitude I knew would appeal to Steve’s sense of justice.

Steve approached my whole concept with an unparalleled enthusiasm and passion. He really believed in the project. His first sketch of the character was everything I hoped it would be, with Star Guider bedecked in an absolutely beautiful chain mail space suit with shoulder vest, utility belt and holstered ray gun. The only thing different from my descriptions was his hair. There was no ponytail; there were no braids.

Steve explained his design this way: “I gave him a unique hairline,” he said, “with two symmetrical tuffs of hair on his forehead, and two horn-like cowlicks on top; readers will immediately recognize him, no matter how small I draw him, or even if he’s in complete silhouette.”

I couldn’t argue with him. The look was perfect.

Then there was the Elliptical Orbiter! I misspelled it in the script with only one “l,” but Steve knew what I wanted. I described it so I could get an example of that wonderful plausibly functional mechanical design. Steve hit this one out of the proverbial ball park!

The E.O. was to be a multi-functional spaceship, with detaching sections, each specially designed for whatever planetary environment Star Guider would encounter. He could lower himself down onto the surface of

80

Working with Ditko

planets with a cable attached to a disk called The Descender. I wanted something more primitive looking instead of some high-tech Star Trek transporter system.

Steve designed the E.O. based on one of those 3-D spherical wooden puzzles. Each section had a completely different look. The shapes alone could have inspired endless possible storylines!

Taking my lead from Steve, I was determined not to reveal too much in the early Star Guider stories, but we had everything worked out in advance. For example, why were planets orbiting a star called “Moons” instead of planets? (There was a reason.) Why were there 49 Moons? (There used to be 50, but we weren’t going to tell the readers why until later). We created the alien Phaz Brothers, who would eventually be revealed as a race of clones. Dr. Phaz created a clone of himself who wanted to create a clone of him and on and on, until they populated a planet.

We plunged right in to storytelling. The first six-page story was simply called “The Map,” wherein we introduced the setting, Lelona, and Star Guider himself. We established Lelona and Star Guider’s rivalry, and the alien nature of the 49 Moons. The aliens, Mr. Zark and Xed, showed contrasting personalities of villain and helpless victim. We hinted at Star Guider’s power as he leads Xed to a lost planet within the Wilderness Worlds aboard the Elliptical Orbiter. Mr. Zark pursues in search of treasure only to find that Xed just wanted to return to his dead, deserted homeworld to die.

“Seek Not the Idol of Death” was our second effort, an eight-page adventure slated for Astral Frontier #2. In this tale, Star Guider rescues an alien named Sket-9 who had uncovered an ancient idol. The alien wants to hire Star Guider to find the idol’s planet of origin. Aliens calls the Slith (years before the

Above, splash page to the Star Guider story intended for Astral Frontier #3, instead appearing in Revolver #2 [Dec. 1985].

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

81

Sith from Star Wars were introduced) were trying to jump Sket-9’s claim. When Center Star Agents question Star Guider as to why he bothers helping wretched creatures such as Sket-9, Star Guider explains himself with a speech that I always believed put Steve Ditko solidly on my side. Star Guider tells the Agents, “Survival, officer… the wilderness must be safe for one such as I to ply our trade… I abhor those who wish domination and power over others! I will seek them out, challenge them—and crush them! Whenever the opportunity arises!” Corny and over the top? Yes, but it established just the sort of character I knew Steve would like to draw.

We also hinted in this story that Star Guider himself is not quite certain of the origins of his own tracking power. In the end, when it is revealed that Xed-9’s idol is the key to a source of evil power, Star Guider simply abandons him on the planet.

Star Guider’s third adventure was a 10page story where we first began to hint at some of the background of our characters.

In the tale “Multitrek Means Mass Murder,” Lelona is headed into the Stellar Wilderness in search of her late father’s abandoned space ship. The ship obits out of another dimension at regular intervals. She seeks an invention of her father’s called the Multitrek, a tracking computer which could possibly mimic Star Guider’s power. The Phaz Brothers try to steal the prize from her, but she successfully fights them off. However, the battle delays her departure and she is about to fall into another dimension forever. At the last possible second, Star Guider appears and rescues her.

As he does, she remembers that, as a child, she was rescued from this same danger years ago—also by Star Guider. She then realizes

that Star Guider might not be as human as he appears.

Steve and I were about to begin the fourth episode when we got word that Astral Frontier was cancelled before its first issue. Not only that, but so was the mystery title we’d worked on. If fact, the whole line was cancelled. Gold Key Comics were gone. Western Publishing was out of the comic book business.

But Star Guider did not die! Since the three stories had never actually been published, the rights to the character reverted back to us. A very enterprising Robin Snyder approached independent publisher Renegade Press and proposed the comic book Revolver, where the Star Guider stories could finally appear!

The trio of Star Guider tales appeared in Revolver #1–3 in 1985. Steve drew up a beautiful cover for the first issue illustrating “The Map.” It was the only time readers would see the metallic blue-&-gold colors of his chain mail costume. The most mysterious thing about this first appearance was the first page. Somewhere between the editorial offices of Gold Key Comics and Renegade Press, the first page of “The Map” disappeared! Robin had to use Steve’s presentation page, with an explanatory caption, to begin the first story.

Oddly enough, years later, the missing page appeared online for sale. I quickly downloaded a copy for my own records!

Star Guider received a few positive reviews when Revolver came out, but by that time, both Steve and I had moved on to other projects. I still own the character so, who knows?

Star Guider might still have another chance to delve deep into his own mysteries and those of the vast, Stellar Wilderness!

Next five pages are Star Guider art by Ditko, including the cover of Revolver #1 [Nov. 1985]. Star Guider was a strip originally intended for Astral Frontier, a Western Publishing title that never came to be.

82

Working with Ditko

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

83

84

Working with Ditko

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

85

86

Working with Ditko

Steve, the End of Gold Key Comics, & the Star Guider

87

Chapter 11.

Steve & The Fly I

n the Spring of 1959, I discovered The Adventures of the Fly. It was an unusual discovery, noticing the comic book on a spinner rack in a pharmacy my family visited periodically. For the previous year or so, I had been reading all the comic books I could get my hands on. However, most of what I read was published by DC, regularly buying and reading virtually every title that featured Superman or Batman. This meant that I was also being enthralled by the adventures of the super-heroes in the back-up features as well, such as Green Arrow, Aquaman, Supergirl, and the Martian Manhunter. I would also, at least, take a peek at any titles that had the “Superman DC National Comics” logo on the corner of the covers. The Adventures of the Fly #1 [Aug. 1959] was different. The logo on its cover said “Archie Adventure Series.” I picked it up and flipped through the pages, but since it wasn’t a DC book, I didn’t buy it.

A few days later, I was back in the store again and the book was still on the rack.

I paged through it again. I was intrigued enough by the Jack Kirby and Joe Simon artwork to hand my dime over to the pharmacist and buy the comic. I actually felt guilty for purchasing a non-DC comic.

The awesome comic melted that guilt away quickly and I became a fan. The tales of young orphan Tommy Troy and his magic ring that granted him the powers of the Fly really grabbed my imagination. It was unlike anything I was used to in the pages of the DC comics.

88

Working with Ditko

Opening splash panel drawn by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, The Fly #1 [Aug. 1959]. The Fly created by Joe Simon, © The Estate of Joseph Simon.

I didn’t know at the time that the character of the Fly was actually a re-working of a different character called the Silver Spider and the script had gone through quite a few hands before landing on Simon & Kirby’s drawing boards. The first four issues of The Adventures of the Fly had art by Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Dick Ayers, Paul Reinman, Al Williamson, Angelo Tores, Jack Davis, Bob Powell, Ted Giundo, Chic Stone, and Sol Brodsky.

Although this dazzling array of Golden Age artists contributed to the book, my enthusiasm waned quickly. By the fifth issue, Archie changed the character. Tommy had suddenly grown up and become a lawyer. The art was bland and the character rapidly became a

weak and boring imitation of the worst of Superman. Even though the title ran until issue #30 [Oct. 1964], I never bought another one after issue #4.

During the “camp” craze generated by the Batman television show in the ’60s, the character of the Fly returned for another brief run under the title of Fly Man [#31, May 1965–#29, Sept. 1968]. I didn’t buy any of these either. I still missed the original Simon & Kirby version.

In the ’80s, Archie Comics tried the Fly once again. Archie tapped some modern talent to revive not only The Fly, but their Mighty Crusaders title as well, which included more of their other super-heroes from the past such as The Shield, The Jaguar, Black Hood, the Web and Fly Girl. Artist Rich Buckler came on board to oversee this possible revival.

Buckler and I had worked together for many years. When I first became an assistant editor at DC, Rich was there doing covers and illustrating stories for many of DC’s mystery titles as a pencil artist as well as an inker.

When I was editing World’s Finest Comics, Rich drew a couple of Hawkman stories for me. We had a good working relationship.

When I heard of the revival of The Fly, I contacted Rich. I wanted to write for The Fly, in an effort to bring back some of the magic I remembered when I first discovered the Simon & Kirby version of the character. Rich invited me over to the Archie Comics offices.

The first Fly story I wrote was entitled “Ring Quest,” wherein someone steals the Fly’s ring while he’s unconscious as the Fly. I wanted to examine the modern nature of his powers. I remembered from his first incarnation that bright lights were a weakness. The Fly is felled by some security arc lights and his ring is stolen. He has to find it or he can Right: Steve Ditko and Rich Buckler’s dynamic panel from my story, “The Mugging,” in The Fly #2 [July 1983.]

Next page is also from that story.

Steve & The Fly

89

90

Working with Ditko

never return to his real identity. The story appeared in Blue Ribbon Comics #4 [Jan. 1984] under Archie’s Red Circle logo. This was an anthology comic book that featured stories of The Fly in one issue, the Shield in the next, and other Archie super-heroes in subsequent issues. When I wrote it, I had no idea who was going to draw it. The art on my first Fly effort was by Deryl Skelton and Buckler.

While Richard Goldwater is credited as the editor-in-chief, I dealt exclusively with Rich Buckler on all my Archie Fly projects.

Rich Buckler’s early take on the Archie characters was one of social conscience. The first story Rich wanted me to do was inspired by his reading of a book called The Mugging,

by Morton M. Hunt. At the same time, I wanted to recap the Fly’s origin with a flashback

to when he was adopted by the strange old March couple in whose attic Tommy Troy had discovered his Fly ring. There was a gap in Tommy’s story. He’d grown up between issues #4 and 5, and I thought some of that missing timeline was story-worthy. Rich agreed. So I read “The Mugging” that had inspired Rich, I re-read my first four issues of The Adventures of the Fly that had inspired me, and I wrote “The Mugging,” a 17-page script that was slated for The Fly #2 [July 1983]. I had no idea who was going to draw it.

Unlike all the other Ditko-Harris collaborations, the Fly stories I did for Archie were the only ones wherein we did not discuss the project beforehand. Since I did not know the identity of whoever was going to draw my script, I didn’t write specifically for Steve, and

A spectacular double-page spread for my story “Who is the Monster?” from The Fly #3 [Aug. 1983,] with art by Ditko and Bill Draut.

Steve & The Fly

91

I didn’t get to see any of the art until the actual book was published.

When I finally saw that the finished story had been penciled by Ditko and inked by Buckler, I was thrilled! The Fly #2 sported a magnificent cover by Steranko. My story involved the Fly, in his civilian identity of attorney Tom Troy, getting mugged on the streets of New York. As the Fly, he pursues the mugger (known as Diamond Jack because of the diamond shape of his mask’s eye-holes) and tries to stop a second mugging. The second victim is a little old lady who reminds the Fly of Mrs. March, the foster mother of his youth.

It turns out that the little old lady is a real witch with a parrot familiar known as Lovecraft. With her magic and the Fly’s power, they overcome a mugger, not realizing that this unmasked villain is actually Diamond Jack.

Originally, the story revealed that the witch was indeed Mrs. March, Tom’s foster mother from his youth, but Rich edited out the reveal and left the witch’s identity ambiguous.

Steve did a magnificent job on the story, with moody shadows amid the dark streets, and Rich’s inking enhanced all the heroic poses and fight scenes of the Fly. The Fly #3 [Oct. 1983] featured my second Fly adventure drawn by Ditko. As was true with the first one, I had no idea who was going to draw it when I wrote it. This one was also inspired by Rich Buckler’s research of prominent social issues. The story concerned domestic violence and was entitled “Who is the Monster?” Even though I was following Buckler’s lead on these tales, the editor was actually Robin Snyder. I had known Robin back at DC when we were both freelance writers for various DC mystery and supernatural titles. We’d known each other for a long time.

In “Who is the Monster?,” I also got to add Fly Girl to the story, teaming her up with the Fly as they rescue a battered wife from a

92

Working with Ditko

Social issues such as domestic violence were addressed in my story, “Who is the Monster?” from The Fly #3 [Aug. 1983], with Ditko and Bill Draut art. Opposite are The Fly covers by Ditko and inker Rudy Nebres.

traffic accident. The victim refuses to press charges on her husband, which triggers Fly Girl’s determination to help the poor woman.

The Fly (speaking from his Tom Troy lawyer experience) tells her she is helpless to offer aid as long as the woman refuses to report her husband.

The story was a bit complex and revolved around a movie that actress Kim Brand (secretly Fly Girl) is filming. The film is about Pascal, “The Monster,” an old foe of the Mighty Crusaders, the team-up comic featuring all the Archie Comics super-heroes. As it turns out, the stunt man on this film is actually the husband of the battered woman who the heroic pair encounter at the beginning of the 18-page story.

Fly and Fly Girl manage to capture the real Pascal, and we were able to include some real world information about help and aid to battered women, as Fly Girl manages to get the poor victim to a women’s shelter. I was proud of the story, and even happier when I saw it when The Fly #3 was published. The credits on the interior art read “A Jack C. Harris-Steve Ditko (with an assist from Bill Durant)-Rod Ollenshaw-Ken Feduniewicz Production.” Looking over the art, it’s difficult to see any Durant influence unless, perhaps, he helped with the inking. The action sequences in this story were some of Ditko’s best. Since I didn’t know he was going to draw it, I didn’t include any nine-panel fight scene pages where Ditko could really shine. But he handled the larger panels with a dynamic flare almost unmatched by anyone working at the

time! With a Rudy Nebres cover, I thought The Fly #3 looked even better than The Fly #2.

These stories were another instance wherein Steve Ditko illustrated a character originally drawn by Jack Kirby. Steve began his career working with Jack, and picked up quite a few Kirby characters along the way, including the Hulk and Iron Man. The Fly was just one more.

Only two of the three Fly stories I did for Archie were drawn by Ditko, but Steve virtually took over the book for the rest of its short nine-issue run. He not only did many of the remaining the Fly stories, but also the Jaguar back-up tales. He did the inking on Dick Ayers’ work and penciled the covers. I like to think he got those future assignments because of the initial work we did together on the title.

Steve & The Fly

93

Above is a Ditko page from the Jaguar story in The Fly #8 [August 1984].

94

Working with Ditko

Chapter 12.

3-D Ditko: Substance & The Daughters of Time I

n 1989, I attended the San Diego ComicCon. At that time, I was working for a trade magazine publisher and writing comic books and children’s books as a freelancer. One of the publications I was editing for the trade company was a magazine devoted to the licensing industry. It featured sections on both gaming and comic books. For these reasons, my publisher sent me off to Southern California as a representative for the company.

While there, I thought I would pitch an idea Steve Ditko and I had been developing.

I had spent a lot of time in Steve’s studio.

He had set up his working space in a building about a half-block off Times Square. It was up on the fifth or sixth floor, near the back of the building. When I first visited, the structure was showing its age, but not too long after I had started to drop by, the whole place was renovated and ended up looking quite nice.

What I remember of Steve’s studio is that it was simple, but functional for what he needed. There was a single window overlooking the city where one could easily spot a few of the water towers Steve used to draw in just about every one of his Spider-Man stories.

There were shelves lining the walls of the studio stuffed with movie stills from every genre, which Steve used for reference. There was a little black-&-white, rabbit-eared portable television set and a draftsman table. Whenever I saw Steve drawing, he’d have a drawing board

The published cover of 3-D Substance [1990], colored (poorly) by me.

on his lap, with the top edge resting on the draftsman table. It was on this lap-supported drawing board that all of Steve’s penciled art was created. I never actually saw him use the draftsman table for drawing. Perhaps he only used it when he was inking.

3-D Ditko: Substance & the Daughters of Time

95

criminals. I wanted to create a very “Ditko” character that he’d be happy to illustrate.

Substance was Justin Smith, an assistant district attorney in Arc City. (Steve liked short names for his characters and locations. He figured shorter names would take up less space in word balloons and would never have to be hyphenated.) Justin (derived from the word “justice”) was the son of the late David Smith and his wife, Mary (named after my brother and sister-in-law). David Smith had been a scientist, but the victim of corporate greed, as his employer had stolen some of his most fantastic inventions and wanted to weaponize them. The senior Smith had gone into hiding and become a stage magician, disguising his mechanical creations as mere magic show

Ditko’s original art to the cover of 3-D Substance #1, published by the 3-D Zone, in 1990.

Tacked on the studio walls around the table were various sketches and renderings.

I always got the impression that, even if he didn’t have a specific assignment to work on, Steve was still hard at work drawing something. I recall seeing one page that was nothing but drawings of rocks with different lighting effects. When I asked him why he’d drawn such a page, he replied, “Practice.”

It was in this studio that Steve and I discussed everything. We talked about comic books, movies, history, philosophy, the law, and every other subject under the sun. Steve read extensively and was particularly interested in the criminal mind.

I created the character of Substance directly because of our discussions on law and

96

Working with Ditko

Above is Ditko’s first presentation page for 3-D Substance. On page opposite is Jack’s account of his collaborations with Ditko, from the inside front cover of 3-D Substance #1 [1990].)

3-D Ditko: Substance & the Daughters of Time

97

Pencils and finished page of Ditko art for the inside front cover of 3-D Substance #2 [1991].

98

Working with Ditko

props, as they were, legally, the creative property of his corrupt former employer.

Upon David Smith’s death, his son Justin, now an assistant district attorney, inherited his father’s inventions and discovered their true potential. The younger Smith decided to use his father’s equipment (including a device which rendered its user invisible) to battle injustice in the guise of Substance—the Spirit of Justice; Substance, the antithesis of shadow.

Armed with this character concept, and two pages of Ditko art, I headed out to the San Diego Comic-Con to pitch the idea to various independent publishers. Back then, the San Diego Comic-Con was still primarily focused on comic books. I got as far as the booth and display of Ray Zone. Ray was a film historian, artist, author, and publisher with a particular interest in stereoscopic images. He was quite a character himself, with a head of white hair, often adorned in a Hawaiian shirt, and a pair of red/blue 3-D glasses!

Long before holograms, the red/blue stereoscopic system was the method used to produce 3-D comic books. Black-&-white rendered images would be printed on either red or blue printing plates. Wearing glasses with red and blue cellophane lenses (red on the left, blue on the right), a reader viewing the pages would see the images recede or advance depending on the registration of the plates; the farther apart the red and blue images were, the deeper the images would appear. Ray Zone was the absolute master of this early 3-D technique.

Back in the early 1950s, 3-D comics had enjoyed a brief craze, with just about every comic book publisher printing at least a few red/blue 3-D books. This was when young Ray Zone had discovered them and it had become his life’s mission to revive the technique. As a publisher, he had given a number of reprinted publications a brand new look using his own red/blue 3-D technique. In

later years, he did 3-D work for DC Comics and other major comic book publishers.

When I showed Ray Steve’s two-page presentation drawings of Substance, Spirit of Justice, we said simultaneously, “An invisible man in 3-D! What a concept!”

Right then and there, we struck up a relationship with the goal of publishing 3-D Substance, billed as “The First 3-D Hero of the ’90s”! As soon as I returned home, I worked on a 10-page script, introducing Justin Smith and Substance to the world. I put a whole supporting cast together including Arc City Detective Allison Cobb (a potential romantic interest), reporter Phil Trap (a potential rival), Detective Alan Evan (an ally), Commissioner Aldon (a tribute to Will Eisner’s Spirit character Commissioner Dolan), and Middeton Rhoad (a very Ditko-inspired critic).

Steve really embraced Substance and added a few great ideas to the overall concept. One of Steve’s ideas was that, along with the character’s invisibility, Justin Smith also had a device that misdirected his voice, projecting it away from where he was actually standing. Steve played around with the word balloon placement to get this point across. Ken Feduniewicz, a graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning Art, who lived near me, lettered the story, and followed Steve’s balloon placement (dare I say it?) to the letter.

Meanwhile, Ray Zone was hard at work acquiring the rights to some vintage Ditko stories from the 50s, which he was going to run as backups, re-rendered in his brand new red/green 3-D technique. Steve drew a cover (which I, myself colored, badly) and one of his original presentation drawings became the inside back cover. The other original presentation page became a onepage wrap-up of the lead story. Steve’s cover was reproduced as a 3-D centerspread. The back cover Ditko’s original pencil art and printed 3-D for page five of 3-D Substance #1 [1990.

3-D Ditko: Substance & the Daughters of Time

99

was a 3-D panel blow-up from the interior story. I wrote a brief history of the character’s creation for the inside front cover. This was the first issue of 3-D Substance, dated 1990.

It hit the stands with a $2.95 cover price and did well enough for Ray to order up a second issue.

In a press release, Ray said, “At last I get to convert Ditko art to dimension. I’ve been a fan of his work for years and it is a thrill and an honor for me to announce 3-D Substance.”

The second issue of 3-D Substance came out later the next year. It was distinctly different and unique when compared to the first issue. I don’t recall if it was Ray’s idea or Steve’s, but the 3-D technique for 3-D Substance #2 was going to be completely unlike than the first issue, offering an artistic challenge for Steve. Firstly, this was going to be a totally new comic, no reprints. It was going

Steve Ditko’s cover of 3-D Substance #2 [1991].

Ray Zone’s 3-D Zone Deluxe Catalogue announcing the publication of 3-D Substance in 1990.

100

Working with Ditko

to contain two brand new stories, a 12-pager and 10-pager. “I Saw the Invisible Man” was a continuation of the first issue’s storyline and “Through the Eyes of Capt. Gaze” pitted Substance against a crazed military man with a device that allowed him to see Justin when the hero was invisible to the rest of the world.

However, this time around, the artwork had to be created in an entirely different manner. The art for the first issue was penciled, lettered and inked in the traditional way. Once Ray had Steve’s completed art, it was photographed and various portions of each page were masked out. Some images were printed on the blue plate, some on the red, helping to create the 3-D illusion. But this time, we wanted to try something never before attempted in a 3-D comic. It was a technique that suited

the concept of the character perfectly. In this issue, the figure of Substance would only appear on the blue plate. This meant, when the reader closed his left eye, the image of Substance would disappear completely from the page. The reader would see the scene exactly as the characters would, with Substance totally unseen! To accommodate the look, Ray suggested I write pages with larger panels.

The stories contain full page panels as well as many pages with only two or three panels.

In order to make this easier for Ray to produce, Steve inked all of the images of Substance on a separate acetate overlay for every page where the character was invisible.

Steve was intrigued by the new process. His unique perception allowed him to immediately envision how each page would look and what needed to be done to make it happen.

I don’t know if the readers realized the difference, but if they were aware of it, reading 3-D Substance #2 became a unique 3-D comic

reading experience.

With a new cover by Steve, an explanation of the character and his abilities written by me and drawn by Steve as the inside cover, lettering by Feduniewicz, a 3-D rendering of the cover as the centerspread, a panel blowup for the back cover, and a $3.95 cover price, 3-D Substance #2 went on sale and was met with critical acclaim. It wasn’t the runaway hit we’d hoped for, but it was well-received and the two-issue run was respectable.

However, Steve was not done with Ray Zone and 3-D as yet.

The next year, I was preparing another project with Ray Zone. Years earlier, on my very first day working at DC Comics, I had the honor of meeting artist Kurt Schaffenbeger.

I had been a fan of Kurt’s since my earliest days of reading DC’s various Superman titles.

Kurt had been the regular artist on the Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane comics and I loved his work. His clean, crisp inking line gave

Three stages of Ditko’s art for page seven of 3-D Substance #2 [1991].

3-D Ditko: Substance & the Daughters of Time

101

The published front and back cover of Daughters of Time #1 [1991], drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger and Steve Ditko.

the Superman cast a polished, neat look in contrast to the gritty work of such artists as Wayne Boring and Al Plastino.

As an editor, I worked with Schaffenberger on Shazam!, and Superman and Batman stories for World’s Finest Comics. As writer, I was fortunate enough for Kurt to have drawn some of my Robin stories that appeared in Detective Comics. We even did a page for Heavy Metal magazine that was adapted for a film short that was shown on HBO. When Kurt was in semi-retirement, he and his lovely wife, Dorothy, moved to a retirement village only six miles from my home in New Jersey.

We lived near the Jersey Shore and, at the time, it had been plagued with pollution and medical waste washing up on our beaches from New York. I had written a 24-page

102

Working with Ditko

science-fiction 3-D adventure for Ray Zone telling the story of a trio of women who had traveled back in time to prevent an ecological disaster, thus changing their timeline. I got Kurt Schaffenberger to draw it.

In 1991, The Daughters of Time was published. It was the actually the last full-length comic book Schaffenberger would ever draw.

I always loved Kurt’s neat, slick inking style and often wondered what it would look like if he were to ink Steve Ditko’s work. I had my opportunity to find out with The Daughters of Time. I sent a copy of Kurt’s pencils to Steve, and with Ray Zone’s blessing, I asked Steve if The original art of Daughters of Time #1, 1991 by Steve Ditko and Kurt Schaffenberger. This was the only time these two renowned comics creators ever teamed up.

3-D Ditko: Substance & the Daughters of Time

103

he could draw the cover. He did a wonderful job, with a dramatic shot of the three timetraveling women falling out of a time warp. I immediately took the penciled cover over the Kurt’s house and he inked it. Not only was it the cover, but Ray rendered it in 3-D for the centerspread and back cover. The cover of the one-and-only issue of The Daughters of Time is the one-and-only time Steve Ditko and Kurt

104

Working with Ditko

Schaffenberger ever collaborated. A few weeks later, Steve sent me the original cover art, which remains one of my prized possessions to this day.

Below and page 106: 3-D Substance #1 Ditko art.

Opposite: The stunning second page of Ditko’s Substance presentation (which became the inside back cover of 3-D Substance #1 [1990]).

3-D Ditko: Substance & the Daughters of Time

105

106

Working with Ditko

Chapter 13.

Steve, The Hulk, the Human Torch, and the Long Wait A

s a freelancer, I created and wrote The Ray mini-series for DC Comics [#1–6, Feb.–July 1992] in 1991. This run came to the attention of Marvel editor Danny Fingeroth, and he invited me to lunch and wanted me to pitch a new character idea for that year’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual. That summer, Marvel’s plan was to introduce a new character in all of their summer annuals.

I came up with Annex, who appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #27 [1993], drawn by Tom Lyle and Scott Hanna. Annex was the only new hero of that summer who had a chance to continue. He appeared in a solo tale in Spider-Man Unlimited #3 [Nov. 1993] and earned his own mini-series [#1–4, Aug.–Nov. 1994]). Simultaneously, I successfully pitched a three-issue Spider-Man mini-series, Spider-Man: Web of Doom [#1–3, Aug.–Oct. 1994], drawn by Scott Kollins in the first issue, and then Anthony Williams in the remaining two, all inked by Sam DelaRosa.

There were two memorable incidents involving this mini-series. The first was that right after I had written the first issue, editor Mark Powers called to inform me that I had to change the villain! I had originally pitted Spider-Man against the Vulture, but he was being used in a different title during the same month. So I had to go with the Beetle instead.

With Marvel’s tight crossover continuity, such last-minute changes were common.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #27 [1993], my first Spider-Man story for Marvel, where I created Annex.

Art by Tom Lyle and Scott Hanna.

The second incident happened one Thursday morning during my weekly trek into New York City to teach my classes at the School of Visual Arts. I was going to go by Marvel’s offices that morning to drop off my dialogue

Steve, The Hulk, the Human Torch, and the Long Wait

107

Spider-Man: Web of Doom #2 [Sept. 1994], the second issue of my Spider-Man mini-series, drawn by Anthony Williams and Sam Delarosa.

script. I decided to stop for breakfast at the McDonald’s on Time’s Square. Lo and behold, sitting at a corner table having his breakfast was none other than Steve Ditko! He invited me to join him and asked about my current activities. I couldn’t wait to show him my copies of Scott Kollins’ art for the first issue of my Spider-Man mini-series. I recall sitting there with bated breath to see what the co-creator of Spider-Man would think of our current efforts on his creation.

Steve loved it. He loved Scott’s interpretation of the Web-Slinger and even liked my story. It was a wonderful encounter.

After the success of the mini-series, Marvel editor Tom DeFalco asked me to write

108

Working with Ditko

a fill-in issue of Marvel Team-Up. Tom told me that it was for Steve Ditko to draw. I was very excited and I pitched a Human Torch/ Hulk team-up. Since I knew Steve was going to draw it, I selected two of my favorite Marvel characters Ditko had drawn (excluding Spider-Man). In the early issues of Amazing Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch had been a frequent guest star and had become well-established as a friendly enemy and rival to Spider-Man. Steve drew a great Human Torch!

I’ve always said I loved Steve’s inking on Kirby for Incredible Hulk #2, and his full art on Incredible Hulk #6. Also, Steve had a long run penciling the Hulk in Tales to Astonish. A Human Torch and the Hulk team-up by Ditko seemed like a logical pairing to me.

I hadn’t discussed, with Steve, his working with Marvel again. It was a subject I never approached. I remembered an incident shortly after I first met Steve. Back in 1977, Marvel had produced a paperback reprint edition of Spider-Man containing the first six issues of Amazing Spider-Man. It was a neat little package, in full color, containing all the pages and the covers of those issues. I remembered reading an account of the time Steve drew the second appearance of Spider-Man. He drew the character of Aunt May differently than he had in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Spider-Man’s first appearance), because he did not have any copies of the debut appearance of Spider-Man. I figured he probably didn’t have copies of many of those early Marvel comic books either.

So, when I bought a copy of the SpiderMan reprint paperback, I picked up a second copy to give to Steve.

The next time I saw him, I offered to him.

He smiled and said, “No, thanks.”

And that was the one and only time I even came close to discussing his years on Spider-Man at Marvel with Steve Ditko. So I

down” the story into the paneled pages.

Copies of the finished penciled pages would then go back to the writer for dialogue.

I wasn’t really that used to this method, but I knew Steve was, so I was comfortable typing out the page-by-page plot. In record time, Steve handed in his finished 21 pages of pencil art, and copies were transferred back to me.

It actually took me a couple of tries before the editor accepted my dialogue script, as my first efforts were a bit too timid for the “Marvel style” of the time A few weeks later, I received a check from Marvel for my efforts. That was the last I heard of the story… for over seventeen years!

The 1977 Amazing-Spider Man reprint paperback I bought for Steve Ditko. He politely refused it.

didn’t directly discuss this upcoming team-up story with Steve.

For my fill-in team-up issue, I wanted to use the Wizard as the villain, since he’d started out as a Human Torch villain in Johnny Storm’s solo outings in Strange Tales. The editor okayed the match and I got to work on the plot.

I wrote this story “Marvel style.” At DC, all my writing had been full scripts, describing all the action and dialogue for each page, panel by panel. Marvel handled the scripting process differently, in that the writer would submit a plot outline which would be given to the artist. From this, the artist would “break

An example of Steve’s 1960s penciling, from Amazing Spider-Man #31 [Dec. 1965], which Steve would ink himself. By this stage, Steve was doing his own plotting, and Stan Lee would fill in the dialogue after the penciling.

Steve, The Hulk, the Human Torch, and the Long Wait

109

For whatever the reason, the story was shelved somewhere in Marvel’s storage and seemingly forgotten about. Some theories emerged as to why it wasn’t used, the most prominent one being that the events of other comic books at the time did not match the characterization of the Human Torch and Hulk in my fill-in. As I mentioned, such was the tight Marvel continuity between titles.

Every so often, over the years, I asked Steve about this story to see if he had any idea what happened to it. He just smiled and Ditko’s pencils for page 12 of our Marvel Team-Up fill-in issue which sat in Marvel’s files for 17 years, and the same page finished by Karl Kesel as Incredible Hulk & Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault #1 [Aug. 2011].

110

Working with Ditko

said, “Marvel has dozens of my stories they never published!”

Then, in 2011, it was announced that our “lost” story was finally going to see print under the title Incredible Hulk & the Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault #1 [Aug. 2011]!

The story was going to be inked and re-dialogued by Karl Kesel, who had done a large body of inking and writing work for both DC and Marvel since the ’80s.

On the book’s intro page, Kesel said, “Working on the story itself was always fun,

Ditko’s pencils for page 13 of our Marvel Team-Up fill-in issue and Karl Kesel’s finished page 13 in the now-renamed Incredible Hulk & Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault #1 [Aug. 2011].

and at times challenging. Ditko usually drew seven or more panels on each of these pages, so by today’s standards this would be a 40+ page story. This probably has something to do with Jack C. Harris’ storyline—which is very dense—and Ditko’s natural sense of pacing, which often leans towards more panels and smaller moments. The original dialogue was fine for mid-’80s, but needed to be stripped down and simplified for today’s audience.”

I enjoyed Kesel’s inking and dialogue, and was happy to see him recognize the working

relationship I had with Steve. I was a little concerned about the “simplified for today’s audience” comment, but as Karl had been working for that audience longer than I had, I couldn’t disagree with his point of view.

The book came out in the summer of 2011 with a fabulous cover by Mark Bagley and Danny Miki depicting one of the best Hulk/ Torch battle scenes I have ever seen. Both Steve and I received additional checks from Marvel, so the 17-year wait seemed almost worthwhile!

Steve, The Hulk, the Human Torch, and the Long Wait

111

Chapter 14.

Unpublished Ditko S

teve Ditko’s creativity never took a break. He was constantly creating and even re-creating characters and concepts, both his own characters and other established ones. For every Ditko character that was published, there were a dozen others that never saw the light of day beyond his studio.

I wanted to tap some of that Ditko creative energy. In the early 1980s, after spending many hours talking with Steve in his studio, I created a quintet of features I thought would

be just perfect for Steve to illustrate. We worked so well together and I felt I understood exactly what sort of characters and heroes he’d like to draw. He agreed to take a look at what I had up my sleeve.

I loved Steve’s early Marvel work in the pre-hero days, in titles such as Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Journey Into Mystery.

Some of my favorites were those involving children. I loved the way Steve drew children.

Ditko kids looks like something out of the old

At left is Ditko’s design for Felix Fax—the Infinity Flyer!

Above is The Infinity Flyer’s secret sub-basement, with a Ditko-designed electric light elevator!

112

Working with Ditko

Our Gang comedies of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s; a tumbled, tattered and threadbare collection of wide-eyed innocents who fit perfectly into any fantasy realm Ditko created. Steve had an affinity for children even though he never married and had no offspring his own. He was still a devoted family man. Every year, he would tell me, he would board a train and head for Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with his sibling’s family. *****

Felix Fax—The Infinity Flyer So the first pair of characters Steve and I created was going to be children. Not ordinary children, or course, but children-to-hero characters, in the vein of boy broadcaster Billy

A 1959 Smokey the Bear promotional comic book that inspired Teddy Bear, a member of Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad! Upper right is my childhood Smokey teddy bear.

[Smokey the Bear is a Congressional trademark, and the statutory property of the USDA Forest Service.]

Batson becoming Captain Marvel or orphan Tommy Troy transforming into the Fly. The first one I came up with was Felix Fax—the Infinity Flyer! The story of the Infinity Flyer was one to which we felt comics fans could certainly relate. Felix’s father was an aspiring inventor, always puttering in his basement on one kind of device to another. His wife, Felix’s mother, was totally against these pursuits and did not want her son following in his father’s nerdish footsteps.

Of course, that’s exactly what Felix wanted to do, until the terrible night a basement explosion took father from son. With his father gone, Felix’s mother did her best to instill an interest in sports and other outdoor activities into her son. Felix wanted none of this and spent his time in the rubble of his father’s basement lab…until he discovered another basement beneath his father’s lab! Here is where his father kept his real inventions which became his legacy to his son. There

Unpublished Ditko

113

At left, Tommy Todd’’s Ditko-designed Squad Leader, the commander of Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad. At right is Ditko’s version of Toy Soldier, Teddy Bear, and Rag Doll, the incredible members of Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad.

were powerful devices: the Mach-Wings, the Vision Visor, the Grip Gauntlets and other gadgets that allowed Felix to become—The Infinity Flyer, his own super-powered secret identity, armed with Ditko-designed fantastically plausible devices. Not only did Steve come up with visual concepts for all the devices, but he even sketched out Felix’s father’s sub-basement and an amazing teleporting light allowing Felix to descend to the secret lab. This was completely Steve’s idea.

Whatever concept I presented to Ditko, he could easily and immediately expand upon it!

The gimmick in this series was to illustrate just how difficult it would be if one actually attempted to be a “super-hero.” Felix flies out to “fight crime,” but can’t find any in his suburban community! Finally, in desperation, he captures a drunk driver, but when he

114

Working with Ditko

tries to turn him over to the police, too many questions ensue. The police want to know who Felix is and how he can fly—and what right does he have to “arrest” somebody?

It would have been a fun series, but no one picked it up. The best feedback we got was from Marvel’s Archie Goodwin who said, “I like the title.” *****

Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad was inspired by a couple of things. The first was my teddy bear! When my mother was young she was very jealous of a classmate who had received a teddy bear for Christmas. She vowed her children would always have teddy bears. And I did. My favorite was my Smokey the Bear

teddy bear. I had an early 1959 comic book detailing the true story of the real Smokey, so I had been a fan of the forest ranger bear for a long time. One night, I set my Smokey on my window sill. However, during the night, the headlights of passing cars projected a huge shadow of Smokey’s head on my wall, scaring me half to death. From then on, Smokey lived in my toy box.

The other inspiration was a story that appeared in Strange Tales #88, September 1961, entitled “The Lifeless Man”, written

by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko. In this whimsical tale, a group of children bully another boy because of his love of an ancient wooden toy soldier. When a bear threatens the group, it is frightened away by a gunshot. Did it come from the toy soldier? They don’t know, but they invite the boy into their group and

never again play outside unless the toy soldier is with them.

In my feature, Tommy Todd was a young boy of about seven or eight years of age. A modern kid, he loved modern toys, but he had a special affection for three ancient toys that had been passed down from his great grandfather: A worn old teddy bear, a battered wooden soldier, and a ragged rag doll. There might have been a magic spell placed on these old toys, or maybe Tommy himself had some kind of mutant power. Whatever it was, whenever young Tommy became aware of a problem or crime in the real world, his dream self would become… the Squad Leader, an older youth accompanied by three remarkable assistants: Toy Soldier, now a high tech robot; Rag Doll, an entity with stretching powers similar to Mr. Fantastic or Plastic Man; and

At left is Ditko’s little kid from “The Lifeless Man,” Strange Tales #86 [Sept. 1961] that inspired Toy Soldier of Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad. At right, inspirations for Byron Simon (In the Lamp) include Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #42 [Jan. 1960], and the movies, The Thief of Baghdad [1940] and Ray Harryhausen’s epic, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad [1957].

Unpublished Ditko

115

Teddy Bear, a furry monster who looked like a cross between the Abominable Snowman and Big Foot. This quartet would appear in the real world and confront whatever the problem was. Their ally was a police detective who welcomed their unexplained and mysterious appearances. The Dream Squad agreed to help him as long as he asked no questions about their origins.

After each adventure, when Tommy would awake, his toys were once again normal, and he’d only have vague memories of what had happened—and believe he had just had a bad dream.

Steve left me hanging with this one. While he designed a futuristic uniform and helmet for Squad Leader, he only gave me images of the toys as they appeared on Tommy’s toy

shelf. He was holding back on what Toy Soldier, Rag Doll and Teddy Bear would look like in their heroic dream forms.

We got a little further with this presentation, because one of the independent editors who met with us told us that Steve’s rendition of Rag Doll resembled a doll she had owned as a little girl. Unfortunately, it went no farther and Tommy Todd’s Dream Squad went to sleep. *****

Byron Simon (In the Lamp) I was always fascinated with genies! The very first movie I ever saw broadcast on television was the 1940 version of The Thief of Baghdad starring Sabu. Even on the tiny black-&-white

Above left is Ditko’s design of Byron Simon was both ancient and modern. At right is the realm within Byron Simon’s lamp—as envisioned by Ditko!

116

Working with Ditko

screen, Rex Ingram’s portrayal of the giant, sinister genie blew my mind. Years later, I saw the movie again during one of Phil Seuling’s Fourth of July New York comic book convention movie nights. The movie stood up well to my memory. I even used to show it to my “Writing for Comics” class at the School of Visual Arts as an illustration of over-the-top, but consistent dialogue.

Ray Harryhausen’s 1958 epic, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, was another influential film, with young Richard Eyer’s excellent performance as the boy genie, Baroni. In this film, there was one incredible scene where the Princess, who had been shrunken by an evil wizard, entered the magic lamp to visit the imprisoned genie. She was in awe of the wondrous realm within.

Finally, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #42

[Jan. 1960] featured the cover story “Jimmy the Genie,” written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Curt Swan and Creig Flessel. In this tale, Jimmy Olsen is tricked by an evil genie into switching places, becoming a genie himself.

Those two films and that comic book story directly inspired our next character, Byron Simon (In the Lamp). In this tale, an ordinary man, Byron Simon, was tricked into becoming a genie. Trapped in the lamp, he must grant three wishes to whoever discovers the ancient lamp and rubs it. However, when his obligation is met, he goes back into the lamp. Inside the lamp is a whole mystical world filled with endless wonders. Exploring this realm, Byron hopes to find something or someone that will help to end his servitude. The name “Byron Simon” was derived from two different signs

The Myth Master concept drawings by Steve Ditko. The artist’s mythical beasts include some, such as the Centaur and the Minotaur are recognizable; others are not. According to Steve, “We can do anything we want!”

Unpublished Ditko

117

I saw while walking in Manhattan: the first name from one sign, the last name from another. I thought the names just rolled off the tongue together.

Steve tackled this concept with a mix of ancient and modern. He went with a traditional “Aladdin’s Lamp” look for the lamp, but Byron himself was decked out in what looked like a futuristic turban. A high-collared vest, striped sleeves and tights, and a pair of bulky boots finished the look of what, according to Ditko, a modern-day genie would look like.

I thought the sinister face Steve gave him reflected the frustration he must feel in the impossible situation he found himself in.

This was viewed with interest from a number of independent publishers, but no one rubbed the lamp. *****

The Myth Master Above: Ditko’s drawings of such mythical beasts as Konga and Gorgo inspired the creation of the Myth Master!

Below: The animals Ditko drew surrounding Spider-Man foe Kraven the Hunter made me want to see what sort of beasts Ditko could create.

118

Working with Ditko

The Myth Master came about because, as I have mentioned before, I loved the way Steve Ditko drew animals. I was a big fan of everything he did for Charlton, from Konga to Gorgo. The jungle animals that surrounded Kraven the Hunter as he battled Spider-Man

fascinated me; these beasts came to life under Steve’s pencil and pen. I also was fascinated by mythological beasts such as the Minotaur, Medusa, centaurs, Harpies, etc. I had first learned about such creatures in school, and Ray Harryhausen brought them to life in his Sinbad films.

I really wanted to see what Steve could do drawing such monsters on a regular basis.

This was how the Myth Master first came into being in my mind. I named him John Stevens (a signature name for me and Steve), a modern day archaeologist studying Greek ruins.

Amid the remnants of a temple of Artemis, the Greek goddess of wild animals, Stevens discovers two magical weapons: a bullwhip (that doubles as a lasso) and a sword. He discovers that by cracking the whip, he can open a portal to a dimension of mythical beasts, and when they emerge into our world, as long as he wields the magic sword, he can control them.

Steve really took off with this one. He gave Stevens a futuristic costume and mask and sketched a page of beasts: The Minotaur, a centaur, a serpent-like humanoid, and a horned individual astride some unidentifiable four-legged beast. I recognized the Ditkodesigned Minotaur and the centaur, but I questioned him about the other two; they were creatures I’d never seen or heard of before.

“Right,” answered Steve. “We can make up anything we want!”

I then realized that Steve had just expanded upon my idea. Now only was the whole wealth of mythology opened to us, but our boundless imaginations would supply us with endless visuals and possible adventures. We thought this was a huge selling point, but the Myth Master when no further than our collective imaginations. *****

Ditko illustrates Dr. Ato’s lab, including his Dimensional Chamber which will take him to the outer realms of the unknown!

Dr. Ato, the Man with the Atomic Eye I did not create Dr. Ato, the Man with the Atomic Eye, with Steve Ditko in mind. In fact, Dr. Ato was created many years before any of my creations with Steve. Dr. Ato was created even before I worked for DC Comics. Dr. Ato was created in 1960 when I was in middle school!

On the first day of school in 1960, I sat down at the lunch table of Springer Junior High in Wilmington, Delaware and met Jeff Gerow, who would become one of my lifelong friends. We immediately hit it off as we discovered our mutual love of comic books, model trains, and monster movies. I was thrilled to discover that Jeff’s father owned an 8mm movie camera that he would allow Jeff to use! As we were both huge fans of Forest J. Ackerman’s

Unpublished Ditko

119

Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, moviemaking was our shared dream.

We began using every weekend experimenting with Jeff’s father’s camera. In the vacant lot in front of Jeff’s house, in our basements and in the nearby woods, we began filming and experimenting with crude special effects.

Then, one day, I went with my father to look at an old house a real estate agent friend of his was trying to sell. The house was fantastic: a four-story ancient mansion complete with a basement lab, vault room and secret panels! The vault room was locked with a combination lock. No one knew the combination, but a series of numbers had been written on the underside of an end table drawer. It was suspected that this was the missing combination, but no one could figure out the proper sequence to open the vault room. My father, a chemist, mathematician and statistician, tried his luck and succeeded.

The vault room was empty, but my father’s realtor friend was grateful it was opened and wanted to reward my father.

My mind had been racing as I had explored this amazing dwelling. I told my dad that this would be an amazing place to film a movie. As a reward to my father, I was given permission by the realtor to have my friends and I use the old house as our next movie location.

I hurried home, called Jeff to tell him of my find. The next week we were back at the house with the 8mm camera, the make-up kit I’d ordered from the back pages of Famous Monsters, lights, a dummy, a slew of friends, and lots of ideas. By the end of the day, we had filmed the first adventure of Dr. Ato: “Terror of the Atomic Eye.” Jeff manned the camera, lighting, and direction and I portrayed Dr. Ato. In the adventure, Dr. Ato (short for Dr. Elliot Atorius), a college science professor

120

Working with Ditko

blinded in one eye, had traveled to this mysterious dwelling to get its owner, the equally mysterious Dr. Morbis (a name stolen and altered from Forbidden Planet) to give him an artificial eye. Dr. Ato threatened to reveal who Dr. Morbis really was if he did not perform this operation. Morbis complies, but then sends his pet zombie after Ato, who flees to the very top of the mansion. There, Dr. Ato realizes the artificial eye has amazing powers, and he destroys the zombie, and later, Dr. Morbis himself.

We considered the 10-minute film a huge success, crude and silly as it was. Jeff, a technical expert, gave Dr. Ato his optical powers by scratching the film so it appeared electrical bolts were being projected (a trick we’d learned from the pages of Famous Monsters).

Two other 10-minute films quickly followed: “The Forbidden Experiment of Dr. Carthan” (a name stolen from an issue of Justice League of America) and “The Monster and the Atomic Eye”. The first of this pair of films revealed Dr. Ato’s origin. He’d lost his eye as a college student working with Dr. Carthan who had discovered the secret of a lost civilization called Gorlondia, which had been populated by two rival factions, the Scientists and the Wizards. They were ruled by the Doctors of Occult Science who kept the peace until they were hurled into the Fourth Dimension, allowing the Scientists and Wizards to finally have their war to see who would dominate. They ended up destroying the civilization in a single night (an idea swiped from the first issue of Archie Comic’s Adventures of the Fly by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon). It was revealed that Dr. Morbis (from our first Dr. Ato film) was one of the Doctors of Occult Science who had gone rogue.

“The Monster and the Atomic Eye” pitted Dr. Ato against a mad scientist who had changed his brother into a rampaging monster.

From left, director/cameraman Jeff Gerow directs Lagarus of the Doctors of Occult Science (Duncan Grant), Dr. Ato (Jack C. Harris), and Kathy Dayton (Kathy Lloyd) in a scene from “Journey to the Fourth Dimension,” the third installment in the Adventures of Dr. Ato, the Man with the Atomic Eye series.

The last Dr. Ato movie we produced was our masterpiece. Our goal was to create a 30-minute movie starring Dr. Ato. “Journey to the Fourth Dimension” was just that. In this adventure, Dr. Ato creates the Dimensional Chamber to travel to the Fourth Dimension to free the Doctors of Occult Science from an evil magician who holds them prisoner. An earthly criminal discovers the Chamber and releases the magician. Dr. Ato and the freed Doctors of Occult Science embark on an interdimensional race against time to recapture the magician and prevent the criminal from revealing all their secrets.

The films were a huge success. We showed

them at our school and even entered them into the annual Wilmington Hobby Show. We received lots of local press, with write-ups and photos in the newspapers and in our school paper as well.

Years later, when working with Steve, I thought “What could Ditko do with my old Dr. Ato character from back in my school days?”

So I included a synopsis of Dr. Ato along with the other three I had given to Steve.

The thrill of seeing Dr. Ato come to life under the Ditko ballpoint pen was almost indescribable. But there he was in all his glory: his black eye patch, covering his Atomic Eye; the eye itself, depicted with an eerie “Dikto-esque”

Unpublished Ditko

121

glow; the beam of power emanating wavy distortions as it was projected from his eye; his mystic Gorlondian amulet around his neck over a Ditko-designed ascot. The best part was his hair, half-combed neatly while the other half was wildly tussled like Two-Face himself.

And then there was Dr. Ato’s lab as envisioned by Ditko! There were strange statues on display; arcane volumes of mystic lore on a shelf; and his crystal ball supported by a bent column like a giant question mark. In the background was the Dimensional Chamber, simplistic and wondrous all at the same time, just waiting to be activated and send The Man with the Atomic Eye on adventures into the outer realms of the unknown!

I sent copies of Steve’s rendering of Dr. Ato

122

Working with Ditko

off to my high school film collaborator Jeff Gerow.

“It was awesome that Steve Ditko imagined Dr. Ato, including Two-Face touches— and the ‘electric’ eye!” said Jeff.

“The wide establishing image included a Budda-like statue (hinting at past of the Doctors of Occult Science), as well as a futurist environment implying Dr. Ato’s broad connections to time and space…and again, Dr. Ato seemed to be channeling Two-Face and Dr. Strange in Steve’s interpretation.

“Sorry there wasn’t a comic book to follow.”

The adventures of Dr. Ato never made it to any comic book pages, but my 14-year-old self will always be thrilled that the character he created back in middle school eventually got to be drawn by the legendary Steve Ditko!

Dr. Ato—the Man with the Atomic Eye, brought to life by Ditko!

Unpublished Ditko

123

Chapter 15.

My Last Letter to Ditko I

n May of 2018, when going through my files, I came upon a folder holding the seven pages of Steve Ditko’s fantastically plausible re-design of Batman (see Chapter 4). They had been buried in my records for almost four decades! I had actually completely forgotten I had them. The moment I discovered them, I knew I had to send copies out to Steve.

I hadn’t spoken to Steve for almost a year. While I was still working at the School of Visual Arts in New York, I would usually spend my mornings in mid-town since all my classes were in the afternoon or evening. My classes were always on a Thursday, so I would spend Thursday mornings visiting and having lunch with friends from DC Comics (still located in New York City at the time) and Steve (if he wasn’t busy).

The last time I had visited Steve, it was in the hallway outside his studio.

He was very protective of his studio space and didn’t invite anyone inside any more. He told me he was wary of “secret” photography. I don’t know if it was paranoia or just his shyness, but we spent an hour or more talking in the hall in front of his studio door with a placard that read: “S.

124

Working with Ditko

Ditko.” I don’t recall everything we talked about back then, but our conversations usually covered comic book history and who the most innovative influential artists had been. He did tell me he was doing the bulk of his work for our former Gold Key editor (and now independent publisher) Robin Snyder and that it was “…keeping me out of trouble.” So I called Steve to make sure his current address was the same so I could send him copies of these Batman sketches. Steve did not own a computer. He did not email or text. One communicated with Steve Ditko through the mail or the phone.

He didn’t answer his phone, so I wrote a short note and sent copies of the Batman pages off to him. In the past, every single time I wrote to Steve, I got a response, usually by phone.

This time, nothing.

I forgot about it until a few weeks later, when I got a call from DC Comics, now located out in California. I don’t remember who called, but they were trying to get in touch with Steve. I don’t know why they were trying to reach him, but they were well aware of Steve’s and my working relationship, so they had called

me to see if I had any updated contact information for him.

They had been calling his number with no response.

Their contact number was the same as mine.

That’s when I began to worry. My worry was justified. A few days later, I heard that Steve had been found unresponsive in his New York City apartment on June 29, 2018. Police said he had probably died within the previous two days. Steve Ditko passed away at the age of 90, as a result of a cardiovascular disease. A heart attack had taken away Steve Ditko.

I have had the honor of working with many of my former idols: editors, writers and artists who opened up endless worlds for my imagination to explore. Not a single one of them had the influence, impact, or the unique vision of Steve Ditko. My collaborations with Steve are some of my most creative and proudest achievements.

They will stand as my humble contributions to the body of work of a Master of Comic Book Arts.

— Jack C. Harris October 2022

A last look at Steve’s studio door, with its placard that simply read: “S. Ditko.” Door photos by Kendall Whitehouse.

My Last Letter to Ditko

125

My self-portrait caricature I drew to introduce myself as the latest DC “Woodchuck” in DC’s internal fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics #4, Jan. [1975].

Me in a photo taken at the 2022 Baltimore Comic-Con. Photo by Kendall Whitehouse.

TWO-FISTED COMIC BOOK ARTIST

OUR ARTISTS AT WAR

A spirited biography of EC Comics mainstay (with HARVEY KURTZMAN on Mad and Two-Fisted Tales) and co-creator of Western strip American Eagle. Covers his 40+ year association with Cracked magazine, his pivotal Marvel Comics work inking HERB TRIMPE on The Hulk & teaming with sister MARIE SEVERIN on King Kull, and more!

By GREG BIGA and JON B. COOKE.

Examines US War comics: EC COMICS (Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat), DC COMICS (Enemy Ace, All American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces, Our Army at War, Star-Spangled War Stories), WARREN PUBLISHING (Blazing Combat), CHARLTON (Willy Schultz and the Iron Corporal) and more! Featuring KURTZMAN, SEVERIN, DAVIS, WOOD, KUBERT, GLANZMAN, KIRBY, and others!

By RICHARD ARNDT and STEVEN FEARS, with an introduction by ROY THOMAS.

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-108-0

AMERICAN TV COMIC BOOKS

REED CRANDALL ILLUSTRATOR OF THE COMICS

MAC RABOY

MASTER OF THE COMICS

PETER BOSCH’s history of over 300 TV shows and 2000+ comic book adaptations from the 1940s–1980s, from STAR TREK & THE MUNSTERS to CAPTAIN GALLANT & PINKY LEE. With artist profiles of COLAN, TOTH, SPIEGLE, MANNING, BUSCEMA, HEATH, and more!

ROGER HILL’s history of Crandall’s life and career, from Golden Age Quality Comics, to Warren war and horror, Flash Gordon, and beyond. With never-seen photos and unpublished artwork! SECOND PRINTING—NOW IN SOFTCOVER!

ROGER HILL documents the life and career of the artist of BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR., with never-before-seen photos, a wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first definitive biography of Raboy!

(192-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-107-3

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 (256-page Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-102-8

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

IT CREPT FROM THE TOMB

CHARLTON COMPANION

DAVE COCKRUM

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES The AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES is an ambitious series of FULL-COLOR HARDCOVERS, where TwoMorrows’ top authors document every decade of comic book history from the 1940s to today! Don’t miss all the other riveting, informative volumes, all edited by KEITH DALLAS.

Volumes: 1940-44 • 1950s • 1960-64 1965-69 • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s & 1945-49 (new volume, shipping Spring 2024)

BEST OF S&K’s MAINLINE COMICS

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID (2nd Edition)

THE LIFE & ART OF

Digs up the best of FROM THE TOMB, the acclaimed horror comics history magazine!

Cold War atomic comics, censored British horror comics, early CORBEN art & more!

An all-new definitive history from the 1940s Golden Age to the Bronze Age of the ’70s, with CAPTAIN ATOM, BLUE BEETLE, and more. By JON B. COOKE.

GLEN CADIGAN’s bio of the artist who redesigned the Legion of Super-Heroes and introduced X-Men characters Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Logan!

(192-page softcover) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-081-6

(272-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-111-0

(160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $27.95 HC: $36.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-113-4

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

OLD GODS & NEW:

THE TEAM-UP COMPANION

Collects the best of JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY’S 1954-1956 Mainline Comics titles: BULLSEYE, FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE. With fully restored art, these are their final stories produced in the Western, War, Crime, and Romance genres, before the anti-comics backlash of the 1950s forced Mainline to shut down.

WITH 16 EXTRA PAGES OF “STUF’ SAID”!

Examines the complicated relationship of Marvel Universe creators JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE through their own words (and Ditko’s, Wood’s, Romita Sr.’s and others), in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and TV interviews! By TwoMorrows publisher JOHN MORROW.

The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time, in cooperation with DC Comics! Two unused 1970s DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE, and SOUL LOVE (the unseen black romance magazine)! With historical essays by JOHN MORROW.

(262-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-118-9

(176-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

(176-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

A FOURTH WORLD COMPANION

Looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to show how Kirby’s epic came about, where it was going, and how he would’ve ended it before it was cancelled by DC Comics! By JOHN MORROW with JON B. COOKE. (160-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4

Examines team-up comic books of the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics: Brave and the Bold, DC Comics Presents, Marvel Team-Up and Two-in-One, plus other team-up titles, treasuries, and treats—in a lushly illustrated selection of informative essays, special features, and trivia-loaded issue-by-issue indexes! By MICHAEL EURY. (256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-112-7

TwoMorrows Publishing • www.twomorrows.com • 919-449-0344 Download our Free Catalog: https://www.twomorrows.com/media/TwoMorrowsCatalog.pdf

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

JOHN SEVERIN

PRINTED IN CHINA

Substance TM & © the Steve Ditko estate and Jack C. Harris.

Star Guider TM & © Jack C. Harris.

A Fascinating Account of Collaborating with the Enigmatic Comic Book Master “I first met Steve Ditko in the halls of DC Comics in New York City. I began working at DC in 1974...”

So begins the saga of an eager young comic book writer/editor’s fruitful years in creative collaboration with one of the greatest comics creators of all time, Steve Ditko, co-creator of the Amazing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. As a team, Jack C. Harris and Ditko worked on numerous projects, including Shade, the Changing Man; the Legion of Super-Heroes; the Hulk; and much more. This heartfelt memoir includes never-before-seen Ditko artwork and an insider’s view of working with comics’ most mysterious practitioner.

24.95 in the U.S.

$

ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-122-6

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina