|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Apr 9, 2023 15:58:18 GMT -5
^ Probably the only time Kirby illustrated a good Spider-Man, and his cover gave the then-new character a kind of strength and air of mystery the Ditko cover lacked entirely. He did a backup in an issue where he meets the Torch that I liked. It was inked by Ditko. |
|
|
|
Post by kirby101 on Apr 9, 2023 16:36:40 GMT -5
^ Probably the only time Kirby illustrated a good Spider-Man, and his cover gave the then-new character a kind of strength and air of mystery the Ditko cover lacked entirely. He did a backup in an issue where he meets the Torch that I liked. It was inked by Ditko. Issue #8. And Spider-Man looked good, but I think Ditko helped take the edge off.
|
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Apr 9, 2023 19:08:32 GMT -5
Reading my Taschen Spider-Man book, Ralph Macchio has a good overview of the beginnings of the book, including what both Ditko and Lee brought to it (for those that think I hate Stan Lee, I don't, I fully acknowledge how much his scripting and characterization lead to Spider-Man popularity) Anyway, one of the things mentioned was how Stan rejected Ditko's original cover for AF #15 and had Kirby redraw it for the cover we all know. So here are the two covers (I found a version of Ditko's that was colored). I see the plus and minuses of both and in the end give Kirby the edge because it's more dynamic. What say you all?   As iconic as the actual cover to Amazing Fantasy #15 is, I feel like Ditko's version adds an element of mystery to what you're about to read, kind of a more macabre feel (which, while not a fan of spidey, I do appreciate in the early iterations)
Kirby's version just feels reeks of the usual trappings of a Marvel book at the time
|
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Apr 9, 2023 20:50:03 GMT -5
I'm with kirby101 here. The Ditko cover is cluttered, claustrophobic and difficult to make sense of. It looks as if he is going to crash right into that guy looking out the window. Plus the perspective looks all wrong. Kirby's is clean, clear and draws us immediately to a graceful, powerful Spider-Man in flight. |
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Apr 9, 2023 20:57:15 GMT -5
The Ditko cover is cluttered, claustrophobic and difficult to make sense of. It looks as if he is going to crash right into that guy looking out the window. Plus the perspective looks all wrong. I think that's kind of what I like about it actually |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 9, 2023 23:18:11 GMT -5
I like them both, but the Ditko one looks more like a splash from an interior page than a cover. As a cover, I think the Kirby works better.
But this is an academic issue to me: Spider-Man is so closely associated with Ditko's work and style in my mind that it's more or less irrelevant to me how much, if anything, Kirby had to do with the character's creation or conception. Ditko made it his and that's the important thing.
|
|
|
|
Post by kirby101 on Apr 10, 2023 6:59:15 GMT -5
I like them both, but the Ditko one looks more like a splash from an interior page than a cover. As a cover, I think the Kirby works better. But this is an academic issue to me: Spider-Man is so closely associated with Ditko's work and style in my mind that it's more or less irrelevant to me how much, if anything, Kirby had to do with the character's creation or conception. Ditko made it his and that's the important thing. The Kirby cover is a reworking of the Ditko one because Stan didn't like what Steve had done. But Ditko had already done AF #15. While Kirby was in on the early ideas about Spider-Man, even drew a few pages, that character was very different from the one Ditko designed. Ditko did not "make it his" it was his from the beginning. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2023 7:56:48 GMT -5
I'm really on the fence between the two. I like the colorful fun of the Ditko one (and he's my favorite artist overall), but Kirby really nailed a nice looking Spidey and the backdrop is cool. I can't call it one way or the other.
|
|
|
|
Post by foxley on Apr 10, 2023 8:06:14 GMT -5
I still don't think he should be announcing his secret identity to the hoodlum he's carrying under his arm.
|
|
|
|
Post by MDG on Apr 10, 2023 12:14:46 GMT -5
^^^ Ditko's version seems a bit too busy, but that might've been solved with different coloring. (One thing i never noticed about Kirby's cover: What's the deal with so many folks in NYC just hanging out on rooftops?)
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2023 12:17:48 GMT -5
^^^ Ditko's version seems a bit too busy, but that might've been solved with different coloring. (One thing i never noticed about Kirby's cover: What's the deal with so many folks in NYC just hanging out on rooftops?) Not sure, but in the late 80s in Boston during summer, I liked on a 4 story walk up brownstone, and we didn't have AC, so the rooftop was where people congregated and socialized. There were several grills and hibachi's up there as people went up to cook to avoid adding extra heat to apartments, etc. So it wouldn't surprise me if, in the 60s, when AC was even less prevalent, that similar things happened on rooftops in the city in the warmer months. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 10, 2023 12:22:50 GMT -5
^^^ Ditko's version seems a bit too busy, but that might've been solved with different coloring. (One thing i never noticed about Kirby's cover: What's the deal with so many folks in NYC just hanging out on rooftops?) |
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 10, 2023 14:17:04 GMT -5
Reading through a book of Frazetta comics about which I'll probably write a bit more in a few days, but I just thought this was worth posting here. Just some set-up: this book includes a bunch of short pieces, often just one page, that Frazetta did for a series called Heroic Comics, which featured 'true life' stories of heroism. Most of the Frazetta bits are either brief accounts of acts of heroism by soldiers who won Purple Hearts of Bronze Stars, or PSAs about the dangers of drugs or how to render first aid. But then there was this one that made me chuckle, but also say, 'wha- huh?'  |
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Apr 10, 2023 14:39:59 GMT -5
I'm with kirby101 here. The Ditko cover is cluttered, claustrophobic and difficult to make sense of. It looks as if he is going to crash right into that guy looking out the window. Plus the perspective looks all wrong. Some of the reasons I was never a fan of his Spider-Man work, but he was fine working on Doctor Strange. Yes--the selling point; a new hero has to make a visual statement that he's arrived and you cannot avoid paying attention (similar to Kirby's cover of the revived Cap from Avengers #4), and come off like a random page within an action sequence. |
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,202 
|
Post by Confessor on Apr 10, 2023 17:23:28 GMT -5
I'm a much bigger fan of Steve Ditko's artwork than Jack Kirby's generally speaking, but Kirby's cover for Amazing Fantasy #15 blows Ditko's one into the weeds. There's simply no competition.
|
|
