CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: DITKO'S DOOM: SPIDER-MAN POCKET BOOK #8...

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

DITKO'S DOOM: SPIDER-MAN POCKET BOOK #8...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Since my posts on MARVEL U.K.'s Pocket Books from the early '80s, I've acquired a few more on eBay. I'll be adding the above cover to the relevant post, but I thought it deserved one of its own, so impressed am I with the illustration since first seeing it on an issue of POW! back in the '60s. I just love this cover, and although I don't have the original U.S. issue of The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5, I do have the reprint (cover and all) in an '80s issue of MARVEL TALES.

However, I thought I'd use this issue to demonstrate how inconsistent these PBs could be when it came to reproduction. Take a gander at the page below, which is perfectly adequate given the reduced 'Digest Size'.

Now look at the following page and note that the top tier is fine, but the bottom (third) tier has huge chunks of detail missing from STEVE DITKO's art.

Same again with the page below. Look at the last panel - the detail is almost non-existent and FLASH THOMSON and his admiring crowd are practically invisible.

Having said that, however, these mags were great value for money for readers who wanted to catch up on the early tales of their favourite Marvel heroes without having to fork out a fortune on original issues. As for the cover, I've actually got a DOCTOR DOOM figure that's clearly based on Ditko's interpretation of the character. I may have shown it before a while ago, but here it is again in a pair of pics for those who haven't seen it. Cracking, isn't it (Gromit)?

2 comments:

John Pitt said...: The further you go down each page , there's a gradual reduction of ink on the paper. Poor photostats perhaps?; 28 January 2015 at 22:08
Kid said...: Either poor source material or poor printing, JP. You'd expect Marvel to be using something other than a dodgy corner office photocopier 'though. Some of the pages are like that all over - and there's quite a lot of them.; 28 January 2015 at 22:37

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.