Ditko Is Amazing

Steve Ditko is one of the most infl uential creative minds in popular culture. Steve Ditko is a one-of-a-kind visionary. Steve Ditko is the co-creator of Marvel icons including Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Steve Ditko is...amazing! Marvel proudly presents the incomparable Amazing Spider-Man work of Steve Ditko in our massive King-Size format. From Spidey's Amazing Fantasy #15 debut to the fi rst appearances of villains like Mysterio and Doctor Octopus, it's like experiencing these classics for the very fi rst time. Ditko's Spider-Man adventures, including the Master Planner saga - an epic considered by many to be the greatest Spider-Man story - defined the spirit of a hero that has inspired millions. Also featuring a host of bonus material, including Ditko's original Amazing Fantasy #15 artwork! COLLECTING: AMAZING FANTASY (1962) 15, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) 3, 11-13, 24, 31-33 AND ANNUAL (1964) 1-2

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko is an art book tracing Ditko's life and career, his unparalleled stylistic innovations, his strict adherence to his own (and Randian) principles, with lush displays of obscure and popular art from the thousands of pages of comics he's drawn over the last 55 years.

Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #3, 11-13, 24, 31-33, Annual (1964) #1-2 and material from Amazing Fantasy (1962) #15. Steve Ditko is one of the most influential creative minds in popular culture. Steve Ditko is a one-of-a-kind visionary. Steve Ditko is the co-creator of Marvel icons including Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Steve Ditko is…amazing! Now, Marvel proudly presents Ditko’s incomparable AMAZING SPIDER-MAN work in our massive King-Size format. From Spidey’s debut to the first appearances of villains such as Mysterio and Doctor Octopus, it’s like experiencing these classics for the very first time! Ditko’s Spider-Man adventures — including the Master Planner saga, an epic considered by many to be the greatest Spidey story — defined the spirit of a hero who has inspired millions. Also featuring a host of bonus material, including Ditko’s original AMAZING FANTASY #15 artwork!

Steve Ditko's most creative comics are lovingly reproduced in a beautiful large format hardback book, The Creativity of Steve Ditko, a companion to Craig Yoe's previous The Art of Ditko. Featuring a Foreword by Paul Levitz with revealing essays by Mike Gold, Jack Harris, Mikal Banta, and Amber Stanton, The Creativity of Steve Ditko showcases a plethora of unpublished art, sketches, and many never previously printed photos of Ditko.

In August 1961, FANTASTIC FOUR #1 hit newsstands, heralding a new take on super hero stories and the birth of the Silver Age Marvel Universe! But Marvel Comics had been around for years before that, publishing Western, romance, comedy, monster and science fiction titles...and in August 1961, FANTASTIC FOUR was just one of over a dozen very different Marvel books! Now, sixty years later, experience the excitement of being a comic book fan in that momentous month -- with a complete collection of every issue that shared the shelves with FF #1, many never before reprinted! COLLECTING: Journey Into Mystery (1952) 73-74; Kathy (1959) 13; Life with Millie (1960) 13; Patsy Walker (1945) 97; Amazing Adventures (1961) 6; Fantastic Four (1961) 1; Kid Colt, Outlaw (1949) 101; Linda Carter, Student Nurse (1961) 2; Millie the Model (1945) 105; Strange Tales (1951) 90; Tales of Suspense (1959) 23; Tales to Astonish (1959) 25; Gunsmoke Western (1955) 67; Love Romances (1949) 96; Teen-Age Romance (1960) 84; Amazing Adult Fantasy (1961) 7; Patsy and Hedy (1952) 79; Rawhide Kid (1960) 25

Carmine Infantino. Steve Ditko. Jack Kirby. Gil Kane. Joe Kubert. Gene Colan. Jim Steranko. Neal Adams. Some of the greatest comic book artists of their generation, who created some of their greatest work during The Silver Age of Comics (circa1956-1970). They not only drew definitive versions of the medium’s greatest characters including The Flash, Batman, Captain America, Superman, Thor, Green Lantern, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Green Arrow and more— but set trends in the art of comic book storytelling. Now this popular and influential body of work, along with each artist’s thoughts, ideas and commentary, is presented in The Silver Age of Comic Book Art, a coffee table comic book art history book written and designed in a daringly different format by comic book historian and illustrator Arlen Schumer, and published in hardcover and digital/e-book editions by Archway Publishing (from Simon & Schuster). Dynamic spreads of the actual printed comic art, graphically enlarged, are integrated with comic-styled text, often by the artists themselves, that replaces the original comic book copy with more personalized prose that places the art firmly in the period it was created: the turbulent 1960s. By creating a comic book history book that reads like a comic book, Schumer succeeds spectacularly in making you see, as if for the first time, the comics you’ve been reading your whole life. “Arlen Schumer documents an important period in comic book history, told with an explosive format and stunning design. It reflects the kinetic rhythm of the era.” — Will Eisner (1917-2005), creator of The Spirit and the graphic novel A Contract with God "Through the years, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many books that pay tribute to the art of comics, but Arlen Schumer has created an entirely new format in presenting the art and words of the artists. It's the most comprehensive and personal way a fan or colleague can learn what lies beneath the art. Arlen has found the perfect way to inform and entertain. It’s simply awesome —and the best representation of my work ever!” —Gene Colan (1926-2011), legendary comic book artist “A lovingly crafted tribute to the superhero comic of the 1960s, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art recaptures the four-color visionary surge of the era, its jet-age psychedelic rush of imagination and the titanic, luminous figures, both real and imaginary, that glittered in its firmament. For a brief moment in the late 20th century, it seemed as if the spirit of the age wore a vivid leotard, a chest emblem, and traveled in a strobing blur of speed lines. For anyone with any interest in or affection for that moment, this beautiful volume is indispensible.” — Alan Moore, author of Swamp Thing and Watchmen For more on The Silver Age of Comic Book Book Art, join Arlen’s Facebook group of the same name, and visit Arlen’s website: www.arlenschumer.com

Steve Ditko's astounding career is presented here from the early 1950s to the present. Examples of his work for Charlton, Warren, Marvel and DC are shown, both as printed pages and scans from Ditko's beautiful original art! This is a Museum catalogue that will accompany a massive exhibition of this hugely influential artist's work (Ditko co-created Spider-Man and Dr. Strange) in Palma de Mallorca Spain in the Fall of 2016. By the same Eisner Award-nominated team who have created the gold-standard for museum catalogues and exhibits of classic comic artists, previous books in the series include: Woodwork: Wallace Wood 1927-1981, Flesh & Steel: The Art of Russ Heath, and Big John Buscema: Comics & Drawings.