A "CREEPY" END TO THE WEEK, BUT NOT AN END TO "A CREEPY WEEK"

He should by now, need no introduction, but I'll go ahead with one, anyway. Doug and I have been best of friends for a loooong time now. Remember me showing you the very first issue of my homemade 'zine called MONSTERS MAGAZINE? He was part of the monster "music group" that was profiled in that issue. You may recall that I mentioned him as "very good at being the Wolf Man" (!). His mag was called HALL OF FLAME, and Doug's guest posts here at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD are entitled DOUG'S HALL OF FLAME in honor of his great labor of love, and very esoteric entry into the world of monster fanzines, I might add. Doug's been a long time monster lover and fellow Monsterologist. Like me, he's also a huge fan of  comics artist, Steve Ditko. Read on, and you'll see why . . .

THE CURE FOR "A CREEPY WEEK" WITHDRAWAL

I have been a bit depressed since the end of MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD'S most recent A CREEPY WEEK. CREEPY was always one of my favorite magazines and holds a special place in my (Tell-Tale) heart. It was one of the first magazines I bought off the newsstand as a boy and it was the first magazine that I ever subscribed to. So, it is no surprise that I enjoy MMW’s weeks devoted to Uncle Creepy, Loathsome Lore, the fantastic artwork, and all aspects of Jim Warren’s great comic magazine. An antidote to my post-Creepy week funk showed up in my mail box last week in the form of DITKOMANIA #85.

DITKOMANIA is Rob Imes’s outstanding fanzine devoted to the legendary comic artist Steve Ditko. The theme of the new issue is black and white magazines, focusing primarily on the artist’s work for Warren Publications. Mr. Ditko drew sixteen stories for Warren between 1966 and 1968, appearing in CREEPY 9 through 16 and EERIE 3 through 10. In “Steve Ditko at Warren” Jason Sacks summarizes and comments on each of these stories. He points out Ditko’s art style for each piece (most often an ink wash, used to great effect). Sacks mentions some of the artist’s signature themes and images, such as “fear-filled eyes” or fantastic mystical realms. Ditko’s depictions of other dimensions or internal torment are without equal in comics! As evidence, check out the opening page from “Second Chance,” published in CREEPY #13. Ditko excels at illustrating emotions on character’s faces, especially the emotion of terror, exhibited frequently in the stories done for Warren. Sacks’s article is well-written and superbly illustrated. It inspired me to revisit the early CREEPYs and EERIEs to read these wonderful stories again!

In addition to his work for Warren, Ditko also drew stories for the Mort Todd-edited MONSTERS ATTACK, published by CRACKED publisher Globe Communications from 1989-1990. Though less well-known than the Warren magazines, MONSTERS ATTACK featured work by several outstanding artists, notably John Severin, Gray Morrow, Alex Toth, and Gene Colan. Ditko contributed one story to each of the five issues and this body of work is described in “Ditko’s Little Monsters” by Bob Heer. The illustrations in the article highlight Ditko’s attention to mystic detail, as an illusionist morphs into a demon and his fingers turn into snakes. This article was a revelation to me, as I have not read any issues of MONSTERS ATTACK. I hope to rectify this omission soon!

In addition to the articles on horror comics, there are reviews of Ditko’s latest self-published work and a “lost” Human Torch/Hulk story recently published by Marvel. This is an excellent fanzine for comic fans and issue 85 is especially recommended to all of Uncle Creepy’s followers! For information, contact Rob Imes at robimes@yahoo.com. Please tell him you heard about his ‘zine at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD!



From "Collector's Edition" CREEPY #10, with very
Reed Crandall-esque inking.

  

From "Deep Ruby" EERIE #6


[Not enough creeps for you? Want to read the complete story of "Collector's Edition" from CREEPY #10? How can you do this? Just click on the READ MONSTER COMICS title under the MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD heading at the top of this blog!]

DITKOMANIA 83

GORGO first menaced the world in 1961. One of the magazines commemorating this golden anniversary is a gem of a fanzine, DITKOMANIA #83. While not a monster magazine, this publication may be of interest to readers of MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD who enjoy monsters in the comic books as well as on the silver screen.

DITKOMANIA is a digest-sized fanzine devoted to the work of comic book artist Steve Ditko, best known for his efforts at Marvel Comics in the 1960s, where he co-created Spider-Man and created Dr. Strange. It is edited and published by Rob Imes. The current issue is dedicated to Mr. Ditko’s work for Charlton Comics, where he drew numerous horror, mystery, and science-fiction stories, including GORGO.

In true fanzine fashion, Martin Hirchak not only writes but illustrates a brief article on the history of Gorgo at Charlton. He speculates on the timeline involved in the comic book’s creation and Ditko’s source material from the studio. Hirchak mentions that Charlton’s winning the rights to publish a major movie tie-in book was a coup d’etat in the comic industry. DC Comics would have been the logical choice. I would love to read an article that answers the question of how this happened. But, as Hirchak writes, Ditko did a great job on GORGO and it is a faithful adaptation of the movie.

The horror/science-fiction theme of DITKOMANIA 83 is carried out by an interesting speculative article, “Ditko at E.C.?” Michael Tuz points out similarities between certain stories in the fabled E.C. Comics and in Ditko’s work in STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES and THE THING. The illustrations drawn from the various comics show that artists and writers liked to “borrow” from one another! Another story details Charlton’s HAUNTED #1, published in 1971, which featured three supernatural stories by Ditko. Rob Imes also contributes a piece on supernatural themes in the artist’s new work.

The magazine also contains reviews of newly-published collections of the artist’s early work, as well as his brand-new comic books. (Although in his eighties, Mr. Ditko continues to create and publish new stories!)

Rob Imes publishes this labor of love several times a year. For those of you interested in comic books in general, or Steve Ditko in particular, I recommend this fanzine. Many issues have themes, but not all. The October issue, for example, usually focuses on horror stories. Rob is planning issues featuring Ditko’s robots and monsters, which may be of special interest to MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD readers. It is not a high-budget, glossy magazine, but it packs a lot of fun and entertainment in a small package.

If you are interested, check out Rob’s web site http://groups.yahoo.com/ditkomania or email him directly at robimes[at]yahoo.com.