Staff Pick (May12): The Creativity of Steve Ditko

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Item Code: MAY120464
SRP: $39.99
PREVIEWS Page #182
In Shops: 07/25/12

I have to admit, I wasn’t the biggest Steve Ditko fan back in the sixties. I remember gladly trading a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #2 for an issue of Adventure Comics featuring the Legion that I was missing for my collection. I soon learned the error of my ways and even though I’m still a big Legion fan, through reboots both good and bad, I became a big fan of Steve Ditko, and I cannot convey the excitement I felt the day I received a letter from Ditko, forwarded to me by Bill Pearson, in which the artist discussed Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and the then-current mindset of high school students.

The previous book from IDW, The Art of Steve Ditko, was just the beginning of showing the range of Ditko’s work. Now with The Creativity of Steve Ditko,Craig Yoe and IDW have provided more art and information about this reclusive comic book legend. The art selected by editor Craig Yoe conveys the range and expression associated with Ditko's work.  A real bonus  to this collection is seeing unpublished art and sketches and photos of the elusive Steve Ditko.

With a Foreword by former DC publisher and Ditko’s co-creator on Stalker, Paul Levitz, and essays by former editors Mike Gold and Jack Harris, we get to see how others saw this superstar.

I’ll be looking forward to this book almost as much as I did years ago when I marveled at the styling of his work on Spider-Man, the structure of the realms of Doctor Strange, his work on Konga, Charlton’s Captain Atom, and even Nukla. Creative, opinionated, and fascinating, Ditko is a true artistic talent deserving of the recognition of IDW's The Creativity of Steve Ditko.

~ Steve Leaf