CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: STEVE DITKO'S CREEPY AND EERIE...

Friday, 16 May 2014

STEVE DITKO'S CREEPY AND EERIE...

So what's with the title? Don't distress yourselves, STEVE DITKO fans, I'm referring only to his artwork and not the actual man himself. Amongst several companies that Ditko drew for after leaving MARVEL was WARREN, who produced black and white 'horror' mags like CREEPY and EERIE. This fantastic collected edition, which I purchased from a local comicbook store today (though it came out last year), contains all 16 of Sturdy Steve's stories that he did for the two mags.

Ditko really pulled out all the stops on these tales, applying a grey wash on some, and extra detail on others, and one can only wonder what SPIDER-MAN might've looked like given the same treatment. If you're a serious follower of Ditko, this is definitely one book you should have in your personal library. Priced at a very reasonable £14.99, nip down to your local comics shop right away and grace your bookshelf with this handsome hardback volume.

In the meantime, here's a taster of the delights waiting within its paranormal pages.

3 comments:

Nick Caputo said...: Hi Kid,

Say the name Ditko and I'll always pop up! Ditko did some absolutely stunning work in black and white, and his stories for Warren are something to behold.

Hmmnnn...Steve Ditko drawing the black and white Spectacular Spider-Man in 1968? It boggles the mind!; 16 May 2014 at 06:43
Unknown said...: Diko's work for Warren was exceptional in places. I picked this book up last year and can confirm that its great value and is probably the best of all the recent Ditko reprint books (unlike the recent Corben Warren collection which was a bit disappointing to me) I'm just waiting for the reprint books of Alex Toths, Neal Adams and John Severin's Warren work - fingers crossed.; 16 May 2014 at 11:36
Kid said...: That's the mag I was thinking of, Nick - the first ish anyway, because, as you know, the second one was in colour. But what a 'What If...?', eh?

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As you say, McScotty, it's an exceptional book, although there are one or two pages which are slightly murky, so I'm assuming that they were scanned from published issues. Overall, however, it's stunning. And Archie Goodwin writing 15 of the 16 stories - what more could a comics fan want?!

(Originally published 16 May 2014); 6 July 2025 at 22:48

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the Internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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Please also note that this blog is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or connected to, any organisation, business, or group, and is wholly independent.