Creepy Presents Steve Ditko

Creepy Presents

by Archie Goodwin, Steve Ditko (Artist), Philip Simon (Editor)

Making a lasting mark on comics as the co creator of Spider-Man, Steve Ditko veered away from the mainstream and into darker territories at the end of the sixties. His work in Creepy and Eerie proved that this superhero maestro also excelled at short-form horror, collaborating with Archie Goodwin on fifteen tension and terror-filled stories. A must for fans of the enigmatic Ditko, his deluxe hardcover collection not only finds the artist at his pen-and-ink finest, but also showcases some rarely seen ink wash work from a storytelling maestro and features a new introduction from comics historian Mark Evanier. Warring wizards, paranoid goons, persistent heroes, and otherworldly domains dominate the sixteen diverse tales in this handsome hardcover collection!

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Anthologies, Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2013

About the author

Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titles Creepy and Eerie, and for Marvel he set up the creator-owned Epic Comics as well as adapting Star Wars into both comics and newspaper strips. He is regularly cited as the "best-loved comic book editor, ever."

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy Presents Steve Ditko collects the sixteen stories Steve Ditko illustrated for the Warren magazines, Creepy and Eerie.

After reading Creepy Presents Alex Toth last year, I kept my eye on this one. When the price dipped below my cheapness threshold, I finally pulled the trigger on it.

Drawn after Steve left Marvel in 1965, this collection of tales shows what Steve Ditko could do in the black and white format and without the restraints of the comics code. The stories are primarily horror but there are some sword and sorcery tales in the mix as well. Archie Goodwin wrote all but one of the stories.

News to no one, the real attraction of this volume is Steve Ditko's art. Steve takes advantage of the black and white medium in various ways in each story, from more intricate pencils to ink washes to various shading techniques. While Ditko knows his way around a sword fight or rotting corpse, the other worldly dimensions are what he does best and the ones presented here would not be out of place in a Doctor Strange story. I don't want to exaggerate the quality of the art here but it might be my favorite post-Doctor Strange Ditko work.

Creepy Presents Steve Ditko shows the master at his peak, without the shackles of Marvel or the comics code. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ditko delivers Some of the best horror comics ever printed. His artwork is so intense and painstakingly rendered, it really blows my mind. Also his eye for the surreal stands out, of course. Every story in here is also very well written, the exception being the only story not written by Archie Goodwin. It's amazing how unique these are considering how much he had to pump out a month. Really great snippet of comics history in this book.

[▫️Ron S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off - it's terribly unethical that Archie Goodwin's name isn't on the cover, as he wrote the entire book (except for the forward).
Secondly - a nice collection, but Ditko isn't quite the draw that other artists featured in this reprint series are. His having created Spider-Man and (more importantly, from the weird tales angle) Doctor Strange) are his biggest claims to fame. A lot of what he brought to those titles is here, especially the half a dozen "sucked into a weird limbo vortex of weirdness" stories.
I don't get how sword and sorcery found footing in Creepy and Eerie magazines, Robert Howard (of Conan - popular contemporary) was good at writing horror - and these offshoots aren't mere fairy tales - but they don't feel like they belong in a story framed by Uncle Creepy or Cousin Eerie.
The tonal work is the high point of the book - especially in the "most dangerous game" riff in Isle of the Beast.
At the end of the day - the magic of Creepy and Eerie is variety, and that aspect is lost in these collected editions. That said, it's a wonderful addition to your cheesy Halloween celebrations.

[MB Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this collection of Ditko's work for Warren as much as I thought I would. Partly, it was because I'd read it all fairly recently in the early volumes of the Creepy Archives (vols 2-4) and Eerie Archives (vold 1-2).

But there was more to it that just that.

I'm a big fan of Ditko's pre-superhero (and Dr. Strange) work at Marvel from the 50s and early 60s and I was really expecting similar work in this volume. Unfortunately very little of the art really grabbed me. Many of the stories have a panel or two but few have more than that.

On the last page of the first story, "The Spirit of the Thing" (from Creepy #9), one panel shows a collection of four faces reacting in horror. Almost every other panel in the story is dark, but this one is very white with almost no shadows, just the four faces, eyes open wide and staring, with mouths agape.

In the fourth story in the collection, "Blood of the Werewolf" (from Creepy #12) there are two half panels that are outstanding: In the first panel on page 2, the left half of the panel is boring and cluttered with the word balloons, but the right half is filled with the face of another frightened man eyes wide and staring. I really enjoy it when Ditko focuses on close-ups people's eyes. There's something vey riveting about them. Then in the center panel of the third page, Ditko does a close up of a doctor pulling on a rubber glove. Somehow Ditko makes it look very menacing.

The ninth story (of 16) in the collection has my favorite art. Interestingly, Mark Evanier, in the foreword, says its the first work Ditko did for Warren. The last panel is particularly dramatic.

If you have the Eerie and Creepy Archive volumes, I wouldn't bother picking this up; you don't get much except the Evanier foreword, which is mildly interesting. But if you don't have those, this is a nice, although not spectacular, collection of Ditko's post Marvel work.

[Robert Adam Gilmour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of four Warren/Creepy artist focused compilations released by Dark Horse, the others being devoted to Bernie Wrightson, Richard Corben and Alex Toth. Unfortunately Dynamite owns the Warren era Vampirella comics so some of these artist collections are annoyingly incomplete. I think this might be why Dark Horse didn't release any more of these and it's a great pity, because if they owned all the rights, they could have produced so many amazing artist collections.
Hardly anyone is going to buy all those Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella Archives to get all the Alex Nino, Reed Crandall, Alfredo Alcala, Russ Heath etc, because that would cost a fortune. I realise that Dynamite is probably holding onto Vampirella with an iron grip because of the licensing and movie potential but comic fans are losing out enormously for this.

But this Ditko compilation is complete because he was only at Warren for a short time and only worked on their two main titles.

I cant fully remember how well these stories read, most of them were probably quite routine for old horror comics but I do know that Ditko's art elevates them considerably and it was even some of the best art he'd ever produced. He taken some of the Dr Strange otherworldly visual ideas further and played with shadows better than ever. The best stories are very beautifully visualized horror.

I recommend this very highly. Go get the (slightly less complete) Wrightson and Corben collections too.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Steve Ditko and Stan Lee had a falling out over Spider-Man, Steve spent time illustrating stories at Creepy written by Archie Goodwin. In a great introduction by Mark Evanier, he explains that the magazine didn't pay all that great, but they attracted some top talent because the artists wanted to work alongside Archie. I think that's pretty high praise.

All 14 of Steve Ditko's illustrated stories are here. Since the magazine was black and white, that's how these were drawn. Some with pencil, most with a watercolor wash over them.

And the art is pretty cool. Most of it leans toward the macabre, with ghoulish faces and odd angles showing the poor saps that dare mess with the unknown. There are also some barbarian stories here, with strong heroes and swords and armor. I remember a few stories from when I was younger, but honestly had no idea that Ditko was the artist. It's great to see these in print again and paying a nice tribute to a great artist.

[Roy DeRousse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Ditko's artwork on Spider-man and Doctor Strange (or anything else) was not the best thing that he ever did. His work for Creepy and Eerie is astonishing. I've never seen him do anything else like it. He uses a wide array of techniques and styles. I am really happy that this work has been collected into a handsome, affordable volume. I would give this book 5 stars based on the art, but the stories are just typical Warren horror stories. They are well done (mostly by Archie Goodwin) but nothing to get too excited about.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, duh. Ditko could draw. The black and white is a wonderful constraint for his psychedelic tendenciies. Yes, these stories are a bit heavy on the "sucked into a vortex" trope that we see so often in Ditko's Marvel work. But, that doesn't really matter. By the end, I found myself wondering aloud if black and white comics are actually my favorite use of the medium. I like that the sword and sorcery stories are included. SnS and Horror are proper bedfellows!

Read on a library hardcover.

[James King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent art, dumb stories

Archie Goodwin's stories are so cookie-cutter and boring. Warren was trying to re-create EC. Epic fail. Better off buying what Warren emulated. That's good story-telling.

[Marcos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last two stories were a taaaad racist but oh my was the art splendid.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Showcases the brilliance of Ditko. Highly recommend. Better writing that other collaborations, i.e. Stan Lee.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this for the Ditko art, which is indeed nicely reproduced and includes some good examples of his characteristic flourishes. However, I doubt I'll remember any of the stories (most written by Archie Goodwin) for very long. They're competent enough generic horror and fantasy yarns, but there's little to distinguish them from the bulk of such stuff. They have the requisite (usually predictable) twist endings but rarely offer anything novel or clever to the basic gambits they explore. Their derivativeness is actually explicitly acknowledged in one that is a pretty overt "borrowing" from the story "The Most Dangerous Game"; the villain in that one cites that story as his inspiration for his own game of "hunt the human." If you like Ditko and want to see what he could do in black and white (mostly grey wash in these stories, actually), give this one a try. Just don't expect a lot from the stories themselves.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

O nome de Steve Ditko na capa promete. Este lendário ilustrador que trouxe o psicadelismo surreal aos comics tem uma iconografia inconfundível e enche as vinhetas com uma imagética onírica que ultrapassa largamente os limites do género. Mas não esperem ver muito disso neste livro. Coligindo histórias ilustradas para as clássicas revistas de horror Creepy e Eerie, mostram o trabalho de um na altura jovem ilustrador que estava a desenvolver o seu estilo individual no meio dos constrangimentos editoriais. Não há aqui os voos visuais de imaginação da sua obra mais tardia. O traço é muito convencional e fiel aos ditames do realismos. Nalgumas vinhetas nota-se a sua evolução estilística em direcção ao surreal, mas no global o estilo fica-se pelo convencional. Mas é Ditko, e isso atrai leitores, que deve ser precisamente aquilo que a Dark Horse pensou ao editar esta colectânea que reimprime excertos das revistas de terror gráfico.

[George Isaacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used to love Creepy and Eerie magazines back in the day, especially when I came across a story featuring artists I knew from more mainstream comics, stretching their abilities and doing things they couldn't or wouldn't do at the Big Two. Steve Dikto's work was a highlight where ever I came across it, and it's nice to have these volumes focusing on him, Bernie Wrightson, and Alex Toth. The writing on these stories have not stood up to the test of time (there are exceptions on the Wrightson volume, and maybe the Toth book, which I haven't finished). The writing, which is just generic Twilight Zone/Tales from The Crypt twist-ending stuff (a couple with a sword and sorcery angle), ranges from bad to mediocre, so the artwork is the star of the show and I'm glad to have this in my library.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember comics such as House of Mystery and Tales from the Crypt fondly. I am sure I had read an Eerie at some point and time. And this took me back to my childhood and reminded me why I liked them - 6-8 page reads of almost horror, if you thought about it, but mainly kitsch and camp and snark. The same delicious feeling as telling ghost stories that you know aren't true around a campfire. Some times, one ignites your imagination and stick with you long afterwards.

So, I'm letting my kids read them...

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve never been a big fan of Steve Ditko and this didn’t do much to change that. There’s a good sense of layout and storytelling but the actual art style itself doesn’t do anything for me. The stories themselves are pretty much what you’d expect. There is one about an artist bringing a monster to life through his drawing that’s actually pretty clever, but the rest are just quick horror tales with shocking twists that are usually really predictable

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ditko's tense, paranoid art style works perfectly for these stories, most of which were written expressly for him to illustrate by Archie Goodwin, another of my very favorite comics pros. They don't deviate too much from the EC-style twist ending template, but they're good fun - and absolutely gorgeous.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small collection of stories from Creepy. I've read all these stories elsewhere within the last few years so I was pretty disappointed with this book. There was nothing new for me to discover. Still there are some terrific tales in a beautiful edition.

[Shawn Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant old school horror comics. The real value here is seeing Ditko do his stuff without any Comic Code restrictions, all in glorious B&W. If you only know his superhero work, you really need to scope this one out.

[Linsay Powell]

As a story book it's a bit derivative and generic but as a ditko art book it's pretty hard to beat. Especially if you enjoy the colour grey.

[brian annan · Rating 4 out of 5]

spectacular. great collection of Mr Ditko's post Marvel work. so wonderfully strange and CREEPY.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. Never saw this variety in his color work. Beautiful shading and use of grays.

[Bart Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice collection of all of Ditko's stories that appeared in the black and white issues of Creepy and Eerie magazines.

[Kim]

creepy: 4 stars
eerie: 2 stars