Marvel Masters Of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1

Marvel Masters of Suspense Omnibus #1

by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko (Illustrations)

Before Steve Ditko revolutionized comic book super-heroes with the Amazing Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, he applied his incomparable storytelling mastery to taught suspense-thrillers. These chilling stories were cast with nervous-eyed dreamers and sweaty-palmed schemers, none of whom make it out with getting theirs. They were parables of wrenching psychological tension, expressed by one of comic book's most unique creative minds, and they will leave you curled up and screaming for more-whether you like it or not! Marvel is honored to collect Ditko's complete stories of suspense in two beautifully restored Omnibus volumes. From his very fi rst Marvel work in 1956 through to his last five-page masterpiece, every iconic Silver Age Ditko short is collected in these incomparable Omnibus editions. COLLECTING: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (1952) 33, 38, 50-73, STRANGE TALES (1951) 46, 50, 67-91, TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) 1-26, TALES OF SUSPENSE (1959) 1-15, 17-24, STRANGE WORLDS (1958) 1-5, WORLD OF FANTASY(1956) 16-19, AMAZING ADVENTURES (1961) 1-6, JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS (1950) 45, 51, MYSTERY TALES (1950) 40, 45, 47, TWO-GUN WESTERN (1956) 4, WORLD OF SUSPENSE (1956) 2, MARVEL TALES (1949) 147, SPELLBOUND (1952) 29, STRANGE TALES OF THE UNUSUAL (1955) 5, ASTONISHING (1951) 53, WORLD OF MYSTERY (1956) 3, 6, BATTLE (1951) 63, GUNSMOKE WESTERN (1955) 66

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Horror, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Short Stories, Comics Manga

688 pages, Hardcover

Published August 13, 2019

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Bill Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvel isn't really on my radar anymore as a publisher of new comics but I have a deep love for the books I read in early childhood. Before Marvel got into the superhero business, they published "science fiction" titles like Strange Tales and Journey into Mystery. By the late 50s, the spaceships were slowly being replaced by monsters, safely within the bounds of the Comics Code that had been implemented a few years earlier to stem the excesses of EC and other publishers. Marvel's monsters rarely hurt anyone, even when they devastated cities. The best of these epics were drawn by Jack Kirby and they have been collected in two volumes a couple of years ago. To my 7 and 8-year old eyes though the best stories in Strange Tales and its sister titles were the five-pagers in the back, drawn by an artist I would come to recognize by his distinctive style and by Marvel eventually giving him credit as the graphic genius behind the title Amazing Adult Fantasy (the "Adult" caused problems for kids my age and was dropped from the masthead in the final issue) and the character it birthed, the Amazing Spider-Man. Ditko's famous style defies comparisons and imitations and it is showcased spectacularly in this massive collection of short, often twisted tales, the best of which are little surrealist masterpieces. Comic fans can debate endlessly how much of the early Marvel magic should be credited between Stan Lee and his talented staff of artists, but there is no question that many of Ditko's works display a unique, identifiable tone that only appears in his stories, an alien viewpoint that endlessly delights me. I'm not a huge fan of the Omnibus format -- the books are hard to handle and their size will almost certainly lead to structural failure over time -- but it's terrific to have all of these stories between two covers, so much wonderful weirdness in one place.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steve Ditko, at his most motivated, drew like someone at home in an opium den. Many of the panels in this collection reflect that singular gift.

The stories, however, are something else altogether. Written/drawn in the early 1950's, most read like rejects for proposed episodes of "The Twilight Zone," "Thriller" or "The Outer Limits." Claimed to be for adults, they seem aimed at introverted fourteen year olds.

Ditko's brilliance usually rises above this drek, so the book is worth buying for the art; but reading all of it was more than I could bear.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars.
A collection of comics from 1956-1961, this is a stellar batch (almost 700 pages!) of classic stories by Stan Lee/Steve Ditko and the silver-age Marvel Comics team. The stories are quite short, often 4-5 pages. It is just like you would expect: aliens, time-travel, monsters, and more. This is the last era before superheroes took over Marvel comics.

I couldn’t help comparing this to the other omnibus Marvel collection I have - Amazing Fantasy - which is very similar content. Even though it is shorter, I would give the edge to Amazing Fantasy, partly because Jack Kirby illustrates a lot of it, and partly because the stuff that comes later (early ‘60s) is better.

[Andrew Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing art work

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what the doctor ordered.