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Is there much Ditko DC Cover art out there?

Started by clemso,

23 posts in this topic

Mister Trent

Mister Trent

Posted
Posted
Is that it? I thought the posts would be coming thick and fast.

 

Clem...

 

Ditko didn't illustrate a great deal of DC cover art. It's probable that the bulk (of the small amount of covers he actually produced) are locked away in permanent collections.

 

I know Mankuta was looking to buy the covers to SHADE #s 3 and 7 - so presumably he holds the remainder of the run?

 

In a non-DC vein, I own two Large Art 1966 Ditko superhero covers (CAPTAIN ATOM # 80 and NUKLA # 4). Not quite in the same league as the few known surviving ASM covers, but I'm not about to release those any time soon . . .

 

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

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Posted
I was told once that ALL of Ditko's late 1970s DC work — with the exception of what portion the inkers got — went back to him.

Mike B.

 

That being the case . . . it adds to the paucity of Ditko's DC cover art.

 

As far as I can ascertain, here's a checklist of all the cover art Ditko produced for DC:

 

Beware The Creeper : (DC) - [1968, 69]

#1 : Jun '68

#2 : Aug '68

#3 : Oct '68

#4 : Dec '68

#5 : Feb '69

 

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade : (DC) - [1978]

#2 : Fall '78 - Unpublished SHADE #9 cover.

 

Hawk And The Dove : (DC) - [1968]

#1 : Sep '68

#2 : Nov '68

 

House Of Mystery : (DC) - [1980]

#277 : Feb '80

 

Shade, The Changing Man : (DC) - [1977, 78]

#1 : Jul '77

#2 : Sep '77

#3 : Nov '77

#4 : Jan '78

#5 : Mar '78

#6 : May '78

#7 : Jul '78

#8 : Sep '78

 

Showcase : (DC) - [1968]

#73 : Apr '68

#75 : Jun '68

 

Stalker : (DC) - [1975, 76]

#1 : Jul '75 [Wood inks]

#2 : Sep '75 [Wood inks]

#3 : Nov '75 [Wood inks]

#4 : Jan '76 [Wood inks]

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clemso

clemso

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Wow! is that all the covers Ditko did for DC? I thought there were more. I was going to say i'd much rather buy a Ditko Hero DC cover rather than one single ASM page, I figured they would be the same price range, but I guess Ditko has them all locked away along with all the Dr Strange artwork.

 

Clem...

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

Posted
Posted
I was told once that ALL of Ditko's late 1970s DC work — with the exception of what portion the inkers got — went back to him.

Mike B.

 

I checked with Jon Mankuta, and he concurs with your contention that Ditko had his late 1970s artwork returned to him by DC.

 

Good observation on your behalf.

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

Posted
Posted
Wow! is that all the covers Ditko did for DC? I thought there were more. I was going to say i'd much rather buy a Ditko Hero DC cover rather than one single ASM page, I figured they would be the same price range, but I guess Ditko has them all locked away along with all the Dr Strange artwork.

 

Clem...

 

When you actually start looking at Ditko's cover output, he wasn't too prolific - in comparison to the amount of story pages he produced.

 

As soon as I have a little spare time, I'll distill a list of his Marvel cover artwork. Outside of SPIDER-MAN, there really isn't a great deal of Ditko cover work.

 

If you're looking for a Ditko cover, the only readily available (and affordable) covers are the Charlton (watered-down) Horror books from the late 1960s/early 1970s. Downside is a lot of that stuff looks very rushed and cartoony.

 

The super-hero stuff appears to be extremely scarce.

 

As I've no doubt mentioned before, I've had quite a few offers on my two 1966 covers - but I've no intention on releasing.

 

In another thread, it's discussed that Kirby covers are steadily increasing in value. It's perhaps worth bearing in mind, that Kirby was quite a prolific cover artist.

 

If you've got the required funds, it's not too difficult to acquire a decent Kirby cover.

 

But Ditko covers . . ?

 

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

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Posted

Okay, here's the first part of Ditko's Marvel cover art checklist. I'm not including reprints, or covers (e.g. STRANGE TALES), where they reprinted interior panels - or covers not directly penciled by Ditko himself (e.g. AMAZING FANTASY # 15 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 1):

 

Amazing Adult Fantasy :

#7 : Dec

#8 : Jan '62

#9 : Feb '62

#10 : Mar '62

#11 : Apr '62

#12 : May '62

#13 : Jun '62

#14 : Jul '62

 

Amazing Adventures :

#5 : Oct '61 [Ditko partially pencils cover]

 

Amazing Spider-Man :

#2 : May '63

#3 : Jul

#4 : Sep '63

#5 : Oct '63

#6 : Nov '63

#7 : Dec '63

#8 : Jan '64

#9 : Feb '64

#11 : Apr '64 - Cover : Ditko art but Dr. Ock's face and Spidey's legs are redrawn by Kirby pencils.

#12 : May '64

#13 : Jun '64

#14 : Jul '64

#15 : Aug '64

#16 : Sep '64

#17 : Oct '64

#18 : Nov '64

#19 : Dec '64

#20 : Jan '65

#21 : Feb '65

#22 : Mar '65

#23 : Apr '65

#24 : May '65

#25 : Jun '65

#26 : Jul '65

#27 : Aug '65

#28 : Sep '65

#29 : Oct '65

#30 : Nov '65

#31 : Dec '65

#32 : Jan '66

#33 : Feb '66

#34 : Mar '66

#35 : Apr '66

#36 : May '66

#37 : Jun '66

#38 : Jul '66

 

Amazing Spiderman Annual :

#1 : 1964

#2 : 1965

 

Avengers Annual :

#13 : 1984

 

Curse Of The Weird :

#1 : Dec '93

 

Daredevil :

#162 : Jan '80

 

Fantastic Four Annual :

#16 : 1981

 

Incredible Hulk :

#6 : Mar

#235 : May '79

#249 : Jul '80

 

Incredible Hulk Annual :

#9 : 1980

 

Journey Into Mystery :

#67 : Apr '61

#71 : Aug '61

 

I'll conclude the listing tomorrow . . .

 

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

Posted
Posted
Didn't Ditko also draw the Enforcers on the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #10, with only the Spider-Man figure drawn by someone else (Kirby presumably)?.

 

Primarily Kirby, so doesn't quite fit the bill as a Ditko penciled cover, in my opinion.

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

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Okay, here's the second part of the Ditko checklist - of the covers he illustrated for Marvel.

 

I've distilled this info from a larger listing, so it's possible I may have overlooked a few covers as I scrolled down through pages and pages of text.

 

A few surprises along the way - e.g. I hadn't previously considered the covers for STRANGE TALES # s 115 and 116 to be Ditkos.

 

Also, the Ditko cover to STRANGE TALES # 146 is undoubtedly a montage of images taken from the inside "Dr Strange" story (although there is unlikely to be any OA on the cover, I'm including this in the checklist for the benefit of anyone who is unaware of how the cover image was concocted).

 

These checklists are purely to provide a rough estimate as to how many (or should that be, "how few") Ditko covers there actually are.

 

I've totalled the Marvel covers at 88 (and at a rough estimate, I'd reckon less than 40 are likely to exist - with most of the surviving originals coming from the post-1960s work).

 

When you take into consideration the fact that many early cover originals are unlikely to have survived, together with the observation that work returned directly to Ditko himself is not readily available to collectors - it helps re-inforce the belief that Ditko cover art is extremely scarce in the marketplace . . .

 

Machine Man :

#10 : Aug '79

#11 : Oct '79

#12 : Dec '79

#13 : Feb '80

#14 : Apr '80 [byrne inks]

#15 : Jun '80

#16 : Aug '80

 

Marvelmania : (Fanz.)

#2 : 1970 - Unused cover to AMAZING FANTASY #15, 1962.

 

Marvel Spotlight :

#4 : Jan '80

#9 : Nov '80

#10 : Jan '81

 

Marvel Triple Action :

#47 : Apr '80.

 

Micronauts Annual :

#1 : 1979 -

#2 : 1980 -

 

Monster Menace :

#2 : Jan '94

#3 : Feb '94

 

Speedball :

#3 : Nov '88 [Adkins inks]

#4 : Dec '88 [Adkins inks]

#5 : Jan '89 [Patterson inks]

#6 : Feb '89 [Patterson inks]

#7 : Mar '89 [Patterson inks]

#8 : Apr '89 [Patterson inks]

#9 : May '89 [Patterson inks]

#10 : Jun '89 [Dan Day inks]

 

Strange Tales :

#93 : Feb '62

#115 : Dec '63 [Ayers inks]

#117 : Feb '64

#146 : Jul '66 [montage of pg. 4, panel 1, & part of pg. 5]

 

Strange Worlds :

#2 : Feb '59

 

Tales Of Suspense :

#2 : Mar '59

 

Tales To Astonish :

#2 : Mar '59

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Mister Trent

Mister Trent

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To round off my little (!) survey, here's a lsiting (barring errors and/or omissions) of Ditko's (all new material) Charlton covers. Taking publication dates into consideration, I think it's doubtful that much (if any) of the pre-1966 cover art exists (unless anyone can prove me wrong?).

 

Ditko's superhero work for Charlton is very thin on the ground - with only a handful of CAPTAIN ATOM and BLUE BEETLE covers know to exist in collector circles (I have the CAPTAIN ATOM # 80 cover).

 

Of his cover art, the 'Ghost'/'Horror' work is frequently available (which happens to represent the bulk of Ditko's Charlton cover output):

 

Also interesting to note that CAPTAIN ATOM was Ditko's first supehero title - pre-dating SPIDER-MAN (and the Marvel Silver Age superhero stuff) by a few years . . .

 

Beyond The Grave :

#2 : Sep ‘75

#3 : Dec '75

#6 : Jun '76.

 

Blue Beetle :

#1 : Jun '67

#2 : Aug '67

#3 : Oct '67

#4 : Dec '67

#5 : Nov '68

 

Captain Atom :

#78 : Dec '65

#79 : Mar '66

67fr0jt.jpg

#80 : May '66

#81 : Jul '66

#82 : Sep '66

#83 : Nov '66

#84 : Jan '67

#85 : Mar '67

#86 : Jun '67

#87 : Aug '67

#88 : Oct '67

#89 : Dec '67

 

Charlton Action Featuring Static :

#11 : Oct '85

#12 : Dec '85

 

Cheyenne Kid :

#10 : Dec '57

 

Fantastic Giants :

#24 : Sep '66

 

From Here To Insanity

#10 : Jun '55

 

Ghostly Haunts :

#22 : Jan '72

#23 : Mar '72

#24 : Apr '72

#25 : Jun '72

#26 : Aug '72

#27 : Nov '72 .

#29 : Jan '73

#30 : Mar '73

#34 : Aug '73

#36 : Nov '73

#47 : Dec '75

#54 : Sep '77

#56 : Jan '78

 

Ghostly Tales :

#73 : May '69 [One-Third Cover]

#77 : Dec '69 [Half Cover]

#78 : Feb '70 [Half Cover]

#84 : Feb '71]

#86 : Jun '71

#87 : Aug '71

#90 : Nov '71.

#92 : Feb '72

#93 : Mar '72 .

#94 : Apr '72

#95 : Jun '72

#96 : Jul '72

#97 : Aug '72

#99 : Nov '72

#102 : Feb '73

#103 : Apr '73

#111 : Sep '74

#118 : Nov '75 .

#120 : Mar '76

#121 : Jun '76

#122 : Aug '76

#125 : Sep '77

 

Ghost Manor :

#15 : Nov '70

#19 : Jul '71

 

Ghost Manor : [v2]

#2 : Dec '71

#3 : Feb '72

#4 : Apr '72

#5 : Jun '72

#6 : Aug '72

#7 : Oct '72

#9 : Feb '73

#10 : Mar '73

#11 : Apr '73

#14 : Sep '73

#15 : Oct '73

#16 : Dec '73

#25 : Sep '75

#28 : Mar '76

#31 : Oct '76

#37 : May '78

 

Gorgo :

#2 : Aug '61

#3 : Sep '61

#4 : Nov '61

#15 : Oct '63

.

Haunted :

#1 : Sep '71

#2 : Nov '71

#3 : Jan '72

#4 : Feb '72

#5 : Apr '72

#6 : Jun '72

#7 : Aug

#11 : Feb '73

#13 : Jul '73

#14 : Sep '73

#16 : Jun '74 .

#30 : Nov '76

 

Konga :

#4 : Dec '61

#5 : Mar ‘62

#9 : Nov '62

 

Konga's Revenge :

#2 : Sum '63

 

Mad Monsters :

#1 : 1963

 

Many Ghosts Of Dr. Graves :

#16 : Oct '69

#22 : Oct '70

#24 : Feb '71

#26 : Jun '71

#28 : Oct '71

#29 : Dec ‘71

#30 : Feb '72

#31 : Apr '72

#32 : Jun '72

#33 : Aug '72

#34 : Oct '72

#35 : Dec '72

#38 : May '73

#39 : Jun’ 73

#40 : Jul '73

#55 : Feb '76

#62 : Oct '77

 

Mysteries Of Unexplored Worlds :

#3 : Apr '57

#4 : Jul '57

#5 : Oct '57

#6 : Dec ‘57

#7 : Feb '58

#10 : Nov '58

#11 : Jan '59

#24 : May '61

 

Mysterious Suspense :

#1 : Oct '68

 

Outer Space :

#21 : Mar '59

 

Out Of This World :

#3 : Mar '57

#4 : Jun '57

#5 : Sep '57

#6 : Nov '57

#7 : Feb '58

#11 : Jan '59

#12 : Mar '59

 

Racket Squad In Action :

#11 : May '54

#12 : Aug '54

 

Scary Tales :

#5 : Apr '76

#11 : Jan '78

.

Shadows From Beyond :

#50 : Oct '66

 

Space Adventures :

#10 : Spr '54

#11 : May '54

#12 : Aug '54

#32 : Jan '60

 

Space War :

#10 : Apr '61

 

Strange Suspense Stories :

#18 :

#22 : Nov '54

#31 : Feb '57

#33 : Aug '57

#34 : Nov '57

#35 : Dec '57

#37 : Jul '58

#40 : Feb '59

 

Tales Of The Mysterious Traveler :

#3 : May '57

#4 : Aug '57

#5 : Nov '57 [Cover - 4 panels]

#6 : Dec '57

#10 : Nov '58

#11 : Feb '59

 

The Thing!:

#12 : Feb '54

#13 : Apr '54

#14 : Jun '54

#15 : Jul '54

#17 : Nov '54

 

This Magazine Is Haunted :

#16 : Mar '54

#17 : May '54

#18 : Jul '54

#19 : Aug '54

#21 : Dec '54

 

This Magazine Is Haunted : [v2]

#12 : Jul '57

#13 : Oct '57

#14 : Dec '57

 

Ususual Tales :

#6 : Feb '57

#7 : May '57

#8 : Aug '57

#9 : Nov '57

#10 : Jan '58

#15 : Feb '59

#31 : Oct '61 - One-Third Cover

 

 

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Artemaria

Artemaria

Posted
Posted
Wow! is that all the covers Ditko did for DC? I thought there were more. I was going to say i'd much rather buy a Ditko Hero DC cover rather than one single ASM page, I figured they would be the same price range, but I guess Ditko has them all locked away along with all the Dr Strange artwork.

 

Clem...

 

Clem -

 

From what I've read, Steve Ditko was quite unlike any other comics creator before or since.

 

If the various sources that I've read are accurate, and there seems to be some concurrence on this, Steve Ditko did not keep his comic book artwork in neat little mylars and portfolios.

 

Instead, he used it. . . . . .

 

as cutting boards.

 

In one article I read, and I don't quite remember the source, but the author related a story about someone who visited Ditko in his home and saw piles of Ditko artwork in his home and Ditko just used it underneath whatever he was cutting. At the time, the artwork would have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (easily millions in today's market), and the visitor pleaded with Ditko to stop destroying the artwork. Ditko refused.

 

Although no one is sure about Ditko's motivations, speculations abound, which range from intense dislike for the comic companies (mostly Marvel), to some kind of cathartic action in which he raged against the past because he sought recognition for the new work he was doing against the time. Of course, no one really knows why someone does what they do at a given time.

 

I don't know if it is still on CAF, but one CAF member posted a letter that he received from Ditko in response to a request that Ditko sign some artwork. In the response, Ditko says, "I do not autograph any written materials. (signed) Steve Ditko" which I thought was hysterical.

 

Ditko's contributions to comics cannot be understated as he created one of the three most recognizable heroes on the planet (in my estimation the other two being Superman and Batman).

 

But the fact that he walked away from that at the height of his popularity and his subsequent actions seem to show that there was a lot more to this individual than a person who could draw (really) pretty pictures.

 

Best regards.

 

- A

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clemso

clemso

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Wow! is that all the covers Ditko did for DC? I thought there were more. I was going to say i'd much rather buy a Ditko Hero DC cover rather than one single ASM page, I figured they would be the same price range, but I guess Ditko has them all locked away along with all the Dr Strange artwork.

 

Clem...

 

Clem -

 

From what I've read, Steve Ditko was quite unlike any other comics creator before or since.

 

If the various sources that I've read are accurate, and there seems to be some concurrence on this, Steve Ditko did not keep his comic book artwork in neat little mylars and portfolios.

 

Instead, he used it. . . . . .

 

as cutting boards.

 

In one article I read, and I don't quite remember the source, but the author related a story about someone who visited Ditko in his home and saw piles of Ditko artwork in his home and Ditko just used it underneath whatever he was cutting. At the time, the artwork would have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (easily millions in today's market), and the visitor pleaded with Ditko to stop destroying the artwork. Ditko refused.

 

Although no one is sure about Ditko's motivations, speculations abound, which range from intense dislike for the comic companies (mostly Marvel), to some kind of cathartic action in which he raged against the past because he sought recognition for the new work he was doing against the time. Of course, no one really knows why someone does what they do at a given time.

 

I don't know if it is still on CAF, but one CAF member posted a letter that he received from Ditko in response to a request that Ditko sign some artwork. In the response, Ditko says, "I do not autograph any written materials. (signed) Steve Ditko" which I thought was hysterical.

 

Ditko's contributions to comics cannot be understated as he created one of the three most recognizable heroes on the planet (in my estimation the other two being Superman and Batman).

 

But the fact that he walked away from that at the height of his popularity and his subsequent actions seem to show that there was a lot more to this individual than a person who could draw (really) pretty pictures.

 

Best regards.

 

- A

 

Great post A, I have heard that story about ditko and the cutting board. I think it was told by Greg Theakston? But who knows Ditko may have flushed all his work down the toilet by now.

 

Clem..

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Artemaria

Artemaria

Posted
Posted

Clem -

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Don't exactly remember who told the story, but it may have been Theakston.

 

Perhaps the unintended side effect (from Mr. Ditko's point of view), is that his art is more rare, more collectible and more valuable (particularly ASM) than if all known examples still existed.

 

Best regards.

 

- A

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