Tag: steve ditko

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Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Volume One

  This is a review of Marvel Masterworks Doctor Strange Volume One. IMO, there are three classic Marvel titles to emerge from the early 1960’s. The first is Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four, the second is Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man, and the third is Mr. Ditko’s Doctor Strange. I suppose you can also include Jack Kirby’s Captain America and SHIELD runs, which I believe took place in the same time period. The rest of the Marvel output from the early 1960’s is uneven (Daredevil and The Avengers), and some of it is just plain bad – early Thor and Iron Man were wretched.

Anyway, Doctor Strange is a standout. The reason for this is Steve Ditko, whose art for this series is bizarre, distinctive, and surreal. Besides the artwork, it wouldn’t surprise me if Ditko did much of the plotting, leaving Stan Lee to write the dialogue. I believe Steve Ditko to deserve the lion’s share of the credit for the quality of this title, but YMMV. The stories here range from five to twenty pages. The shorter stories are marvels of efficiency. Not a panel is wasted.

Doctor Strange lives in a mansion in Greenwich Village. He is Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, a phrase that’s never really explained. The less said about his origin story – which is a take on a hoary old trope most people don’t use anymore – the better. Strange is written as an interesting mix of arrogance and humility – he will help anyone who asks, but there’s something that sets him apart from the rest of humanity. He’s not the type you’d like to have a drink with at a bar.

Doctor Strange’s foes include Baron Mordo, the Mindless Ones, and the Dread Dormammu. Strange has a cloak of levitation, and he can summon the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto and the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak. He’s a solitary figure, keeping to himself and not really fitting in with the rest of the Marvel Universe at that time. There’s an issue guest-starring Thor and also an issue where he shares the limelight with Spider-Man, but mostly the good doctor is a loner.

Highly recommended!

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Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume One

This is a review of Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Volume One. I am a Steve Ditko fan. I’ve always liked his art. I read an interview with Jack Kirby, and he spoke glowingly of Ditko, and Kirby’s wife Roz said that many of Kirby’s characters looked Polish, which I thought was funny. Ditko and Kirby were the architects of what is now a multibillion dollar company (Marvel Studios). Kirby’s fingerprints are all over Marvel – The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, SHIELD, The Avengers. Ditko contributed Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. His run on Spider-Man is one of the great superhero runs of the 20th century.

I’m not going to rehash Spider-Man’s origin – if you want that, just watch one of the many movies – but I will say that the reason Spider-Man is so great is that he’s the Every Man. Peter Parker is gifted with amazing powers. Since he needs money (who doesn’t?), he does what 99% of the human race would do and cashes in. Karmic payback comes when the burglar he could have stopped kills his Uncle Ben, and we’re off to the races.

The first volume introduces many of the members of Spider-Man’s rogue gallery, The Chameleon, The Vulture, The Sandman, The Lizard, Electro, and The Enforcers. Also present is Doctor Otto Octavius, aka Dr. Octopus, whom I’ve always viewed as Spider-Man’s greatest foe. I believe The Green Goblin makes an appearance in Volume Two.

What really makes Spider-Man great is the fact that Peter Parker is a loser. I don’t recall if he references the ole’ Parker luck, but it’s true. His luck stinks. Peter’s Aunt May has been in bad health for over sixty years. He’s broke and he can’t get a date. His peers mock him. In other words, he’s one of us, but when he puts on that Spider-Man costume with the underarm webbing, magic happens.

A must-read.