The Voord

Mike wanted to know if his cover paintings was actually printed . . . well, was it? Don't think he was looking to buy any back issues as he's an art dealer.

Saving up for a gold frame

Nah, don't have a problem in the world with artist preferences . . . I'm just against people making a pitiful attempt at trying to re-write history to give those who followed a bigger credit than those who created and lead the way. Romita, Snr was a brilliant artist, no argument from me there, but Ditko co-created the character and established pretty much everything that would follow. You don't have to like Ditko's art . . . just give him the respect he deserves for the big part he played in shaping the title. I guess that one' man's 'Very wise collector' is another man's deluded fool . . .

Up to 16 available originals with a few more additions to go . . . https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=1865

Don't really collect comic-books anymore and I'm also now leaning towards collecting Movie Poster paintings (the original artworks, not the cinema-circulated display prints). Of the OA I bought this past year, here are three highlights for me: 1. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 32 splash page by Steve Ditko (1966). 2. THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD movie poster OA painting by Brian Bysouth (1973). 3. THE NIGHT WALKER movie poster conceptual drawing by Reynold Brown (1964). My Comic Art Fans galleries at: https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=1865 . . . for other original artworks from my collection (including some For Sale stuff).

Sure, building and developing on all the structurally-sound groundwork laid by Ditko. By the time Ditko left the book, those characters, and their interaction with Spidey/Parker could pretty much write themselves. Osborne snr was always going to be revealed at some future point as being the Goblin. Ditko himself said as much. Learning Parker's ID may not have been Ditko's intent but to my mind, while giving the end-game a sensational storyline, it pretty much made it difficult to resurrect the baddie successfully ever again, imho. MJW was a running-joke in the Ditko books and became an on-going joke when finally revealed (with all her weird and dated post-hippy dialogue, Daddy-O, you dig?). Gwen was an ongoing Ditko character . . . who, like the Osborne, snr Goblin before her, eventually got killed-off. Depends what your idea of 'definitive' is, I suppose (killing-off major characters just to get a sensational storyline?). Ditko defined ASM . . . others built upon his legacy (in some cases, f***ing things up along the way).

Don't really do collecting goals. More fun waiting to see what turns-up that appeals to me.

In any case . . . prices for Ditko ASM pages tells me everything I need to know about the artist's popularity. I only wish the vast majority of OA collectors would hold Ditko in such low regard as Jonah. In a similar way to Mike Burkey, I'd love to be able to afford giving myself the moniker, 'Ditkoguy'! Problem with polls such as this one . . . it's a bit like seeing those '50 Greatest Albums of all time' polls that re-surface from time-to-time that need to be taken with a big pinch of salt

Yeah, and my response was geared-up towards the poll compiler's comment (you need to read the whole thread, Jonah) which read: . . . a very wise (but don't tell him that) collector once told me "most of the legendary mythology that we love about Spidey actually happened in the Romita issues, not the Ditko ones." . . . which I'm taking as a jokey comment and one that I'm merely playing along with. I'm not taking any of this too seriously; it's just a bit of fun as far as I'm concerned.. It was a jokey comment, Mr Sid, wasn't it . . ? .

Heck, everyone should know that Romita created the Spider-Man mythos, fer Christ-sake. Ditko was just the warm-up act . . .

Must be the same guy who once told me that Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos won the Second World War for the Allies!

First appearance of Harry Potter page? I'm thinking Donnelly school of selling . . .

Just to avoid any further confusion, as per my exchanges with Glen Gold (with whom I think we were talking at odds with one another) . . . Ditko's photocopied artwork for ASM # 31 is pencils only (no inks) . . . with a mixture of pages with and without lettering in place. That suggested to me that whoever at the time made the copies of Ditko's pencilled art wanted to make a visual record of pencils 'before and after' lettering was in place (over the course of the whole book). Someone recently posted (possibly on this forum . . . I can't quite remember) that he was of the impression that Ditko was handing-in fully-inked pages of art prior to lettering. My point was that the existence of these copies dictates otherwise. Ditko was inking his art after lettering had been applied I wasn't even talking about the 'Marvel Method'. I know what the Marvel Method entailed (trust me, I've been doing the OA bit a long time).. In any case, did the 'Marvel Method' actually apply to Steve Ditko at the point in time of ASM #31? My understanding was that Ditko wasn't even talking much to Lee, if at all? As such, perhaps Lee was following the 'Ditko Method' . . . where Stevie-boy did his own storytelling and handed-over his pages to a 'smiley one' editor who was tasked with coming up with, "Some snazzy dialog (as was his 'thing') . . . "

It's big, heavy and beautiful! I only heard about this book last week and now that it's in my hands can't recommend it highly enough. Heck, you even get scanned pages of Spidey's complete AF # 15 artwork . . . which has got to be worth the price of admission alone.

Great price! I thought I was getting a bargain at £68 . . . though that did include shipping . . .

Yeah, to be voted for under 'Other'. Don Heck's not on the list of nominated artists either, and I think Marie Severin had a hand in some of the cover designs. Problem with compiling a list of artists to vote for, it's all too easy to forget a few names. In any case, I just regard this topic as just a bit of fun. If we wanted to talk about artists who made the BIGGEST contribution to the title, there's only one name . . . and it's that of Spidey's co-creator. Without Ditko, we might not even be having this conversation.

Not quite sure I'm following you, Glen (call me Confused-Dot-Com)? With Ditko plotting, Stan added the dialogue after Ditko handed-in his pencilled pages (joining the dots, if you like). With other artists, you see a lot of margin notes on OA pages describing the action, which I take was after having a story conference with Lee talking through his ideas for the issue (Marvel Method). A lot of the Ditko ASM pages I've seen or owned don't seem to have those detailed descriptions outside of the panels? The Marvel Method seemed to have stopped working for Lee and Ditko sometime before Ditko started getting Plotter credits. The point I was trying to make was that Ditko didn't hand-in pencilled and inked artwork (just pencils). I mention this as I seem to recall reading somewhere that someone was of the belief Ditko was handing-in fully-inked artwork PRIOR to the letterer doing his job.

I'd guess that the hand-written blurbs on the cover and splash page are Ditko's. The interesting thing about the complete book of pencil art is that the interior pages (less cover and splash) are a mixture of pages without dialogue added and those with all lettering and panel borders inked-in (it's as if whoever was making a visual record of the book was doing so of the two stages of production). The interesting thing, for me, is that (if this one book is anything to go by) Ditko did his inking AFTER the letterer had done HIS job . . .

Other than direct credits to Ditko as illustrator, co-creator, etc., I see no mention of the Steve Ditko Estate or representative.

Will check later on, I'm off out in a few minutes . . .

Well, an early Christmas present to myself arrived in the post this morning. Large-format hardback book containing a great selection of Ditko ASM stories that is also choc-full of extras! The big surprise to me was seeing good quality copies of Ditko's pencils for the cover and complete interiors to ASM # 31 which I'd never even heard existed prior to turning the pages of this great collection. Just, Wow! A selection of representative photos to follow (excuse my lousy photography). To give you an idea of size, I've photographed my recently acquired ASM # 32 (large-art) splash alongside the printed page from the book. Highly recommended . . .

Maybe they're using there hands for other things besides typing comments? Sorry . . . lousy English sense of humour.

1. Steve Ditko. 2. John Romita, Snr. 3. Mike Zeck 4. Other . . . probably Jack Kirby (who did a back-up story in # 8, plus had a hand in a few early covers).

Checked in on a British Comic Art FB group I frequent where there are Judge Dredd/2000 AD art collectors. No positive ID for your painting as yet, though folks there suggested it might be unpublished. I don't collect this stuff myself, so have no personal knowledge/experience. Good luck with the hunt! Attached is a scan of the only known published cover I can locate. If you bought (or have on consignment) from a British collector, you would be as well to ask him for proof of publishing? Terry Doyle