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The Mocker
- GenresComics
110 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1990
10 people want to read
About the author
Steve Ditko
1,268 books142 followersStephen J. "Steve" Ditko was an American comic book artist and writer best known as the co-creator of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
He was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994.
He was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 6, 2021
I don't think I've read this since around 2000 or so when I first bought it. I didn't remember it being such a chore to get through.
It's a deceptively slim volume, but the story is very densely packed. Ditko uses a sixteen--sometimes even a twenty-five--panel grid as the basis for his pages, and no splash panels. And yet there's an impressive amount of dialogue on the page. He solves the word count problem by abbreviating names, omitting padding, using symbols for curse words, but keeping the strings short--# instead of #@$!. It's as if the dialogue is being communicated via telegram.
The Mocker is another of Ditko’s guy-in-a-suit heroes, with scribbly pen textures all over him to suggest … shadows, I guess? I know he can blend into shadows, effectively becoming invisible. Honestly, although it sounds lame when I describe it, it's actually a pretty cool visual.
The Mocker is really Tyler Rayne, fresh from a stint in prison for a crime he didn't commit. His former associates believe he was guilty and call him “Jailbird” and generally seem incensed that he's no longer locked up. He's confident that the truth will out and is seeking evidence to help clear his name. He has help from a gang boss still in prison who is trying to use Rayne for his own ends. It's fairly typical Ditko black and white, and I’m not talking about just the artwork.
I have always been more of a fan of Ditko as an artist than as a writer. His muse tends heavily toward Ayn Rand, but his visual imagination and storytelling abilities are such that I’m willing to put up with any deficiencies the writing may appear to have. Content-wise, Mocker is fairly typical 80's Ditko. It's impressive to me that it's essentially a self-published graphic novel, done in an era where such things weren't nearly as common as they are now.
I think I’d recommend this to Ditko fans only. It's interesting if you're a fan, but I think there are much better introductions to his work than this particular book.
It's a deceptively slim volume, but the story is very densely packed. Ditko uses a sixteen--sometimes even a twenty-five--panel grid as the basis for his pages, and no splash panels. And yet there's an impressive amount of dialogue on the page. He solves the word count problem by abbreviating names, omitting padding, using symbols for curse words, but keeping the strings short--# instead of #@$!. It's as if the dialogue is being communicated via telegram.
The Mocker is another of Ditko’s guy-in-a-suit heroes, with scribbly pen textures all over him to suggest … shadows, I guess? I know he can blend into shadows, effectively becoming invisible. Honestly, although it sounds lame when I describe it, it's actually a pretty cool visual.
The Mocker is really Tyler Rayne, fresh from a stint in prison for a crime he didn't commit. His former associates believe he was guilty and call him “Jailbird” and generally seem incensed that he's no longer locked up. He's confident that the truth will out and is seeking evidence to help clear his name. He has help from a gang boss still in prison who is trying to use Rayne for his own ends. It's fairly typical Ditko black and white, and I’m not talking about just the artwork.
I have always been more of a fan of Ditko as an artist than as a writer. His muse tends heavily toward Ayn Rand, but his visual imagination and storytelling abilities are such that I’m willing to put up with any deficiencies the writing may appear to have. Content-wise, Mocker is fairly typical 80's Ditko. It's impressive to me that it's essentially a self-published graphic novel, done in an era where such things weren't nearly as common as they are now.
I think I’d recommend this to Ditko fans only. It's interesting if you're a fan, but I think there are much better introductions to his work than this particular book.
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October 26, 2014THE MOCKER, DE STEVE DITKO: QUADRINHO UNDERGROUND OBJETIVISTA
Steve Ditko é um cara com admiradores ilustres. Em In Searchof Steve Ditko, o documentário televisivo que Jonathan Ross produziu para a DC, temos uma coleção deles: o próprio Ross, Mark Millar, Joe Quesada, Neil Gaiman e Alan Moore [que, aliás, usou os personagens criados por Ditko para a Charlton para escrever Watchmen]. Some Frank Miller, outro fã, à dupla final e perceba: os três quadrinistas mais importantes dos quadrinhos dos anos 80 recomendam o trabalho de um cara que... sumiu do mapa precisamente naquela década.
Continua...
Steve Ditko é um cara com admiradores ilustres. Em In Searchof Steve Ditko, o documentário televisivo que Jonathan Ross produziu para a DC, temos uma coleção deles: o próprio Ross, Mark Millar, Joe Quesada, Neil Gaiman e Alan Moore [que, aliás, usou os personagens criados por Ditko para a Charlton para escrever Watchmen]. Some Frank Miller, outro fã, à dupla final e perceba: os três quadrinistas mais importantes dos quadrinhos dos anos 80 recomendam o trabalho de um cara que... sumiu do mapa precisamente naquela década.
Continua...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews