--Link-- PUBLIC SERVICE Kickstarter and Kicktraq page

The Kickstarter campaign for the new edition of THE DITKO PUBLIC SERVICE PACKAGE continues, doing quite well as it approaches half the goal in only two days, and as yet no notice from the mainstream on-line comic book "press".  They have important dead sidekick news to cover and press releases to re-format, you know. Can't say I'm really surprised, given the (lack of) coverage of Keiji Nakazawa's passing a few months back, but I guess I'm naive enough to continue to be disappointed. And it's also kind of funny, given some of the subject matter of PUBLIC SERVICE, which looks like it's going to do fine without them.

Anyway, check out the campaign if you want to order a copy of the book, and if you want to keep an eye on the progress see below, courtesy of this page on Kicktraq. Image above from the first page of the book.

--Link-- Ditko Kickstarter - PUBLIC SERVICE PACKAGE

Robin Snyder has just announced a Kickstarter project for a reprint of the long unavailable 1991 DITKO PUBLIC SERVICE PACKAGE. Check it out at the link.  I'll post more about the contents of the book over the next few weeks.

Here's the Ditko Fever entry for the original book, as a teaser...

--Link-- DITKOMANIA Kickstarter

Oops, almost missed this. DITKOMANIA editor Rob Imes has a Kickstarter project ending in a few days for DITKOMANIA #90, an extra-long issue with a lot on Ron Frantz and his 1980s publishing outfit ACE Comics, which had some Ditko work both published (What Is... The Face and Return Of The Skyman) and planned but unpublished (Ooky & Zooky with Jerry Siegel, Crypt Of The Claw with Mort Todd).

The project has already made its funding goal, and you have a choice of print or digital (PDF) or both, plus some available extras.

More on DITKOMANIA over here.

New Ditko - New and Reprint Essays (3 of 3)

The latest issue of Robin Snyder's newsletter THE COMICS, Vol. 23 No. 9, has a four page section with the title "The Four-Page Series", containing five essays by Steve Ditko, I'd estimate nearly 4000 words of Ditko in all.


First are reprints of "The Knowers & the Barkers" from #17: SEVENTEEN and "The Silent Self-Deceivers" from THE COMICS Vol. 23 No. 7 (July 2012), followed by three new essays.

Here's the opening of the third new essay.

From "Why Out Of Their Way?" by Steve Ditko, 2012

A 6-issue subscription to THE COMICS is available for $15 in US ($19 foreign), payable to Robin Snyder

Robin Snyder
3745 Canterbury Lane #81
Bellingham, WA
98225-1186 USA

SnyderandDitko @ icloud.com

Ditko books in print.

New Ditko - New and Reprint Essays (2 of 3)

The latest issue of Robin Snyder's newsletter THE COMICS, Vol. 23 No. 9, has a four page section with the title "The Four-Page Series", containing five essays by Steve Ditko, I'd estimate nearly 4000 words of Ditko in all.

First are reprints of "The Knowers & the Barkers" from #17: SEVENTEEN and "The Silent Self-Deceivers" from THE COMICS Vol. 23 No. 7 (July 2012), followed by three new essays.

Here's the opening of the second new essay. Third one, soon.

From "A Deadly Fantasy" by Steve Ditko, 2012

A 6-issue subscription to THE COMICS is available for $15 in US ($19 foreign), payable to Robin Snyder

Robin Snyder
3745 Canterbury Lane #81
Bellingham, WA
98225-1186 USA

SnyderandDitko @ icloud.com

Ditko books in print.

New Ditko - New and Reprint Essays (1 of 3)

The latest issue of Robin Snyder's newsletter THE COMICS, Vol. 23 No. 9, has a four page section with the title "The Four-Page Series", containing five essays by Steve Ditko, I'd estimate nearly 4000 words of Ditko in all.

First are reprints of "The Knowers & the Barkers" from #17: SEVENTEEN and "The Silent Self-Deceivers" from THE COMICS Vol. 23 No. 7 (July 2012), followed by three new essays.

And, just to be me, I'm only going to tell you the title of one of them today. More on the rest of them... soon. Maybe tomorrow.

From "A Newspaper Article, A Reporter's Report" by Steve Ditko, 2012

A 6-issue subscription to THE COMICS is available for $15 in US ($19 foreign), payable to Robin Snyder

Robin Snyder
3745 Canterbury Lane #81
Bellingham, WA
98225-1186 USA

SnyderandDitko @ icloud.com

Ditko books in print.

Ditko in 2012 wrapup

Fairly light year for the Ditko fan out there. Only two issues of his on-going series of one-shots co-published with Robin Snyder.

#16 Sixteen [Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko]

#17 Seventeen [Robin Snyder and Steve Ditko]

The latter contained the first in a new series of essays by Ditko.  The second appears in Robin Snyder's newsletter (with more perhaps on the way, it's running a bit behind schedule).

The Comics v23 #7 [Robin Snyder]

Rob Imes got out three issues of his fanzine devoted to Mr. D.

Ditkomania #87-89 [Rob Imes]

Et si vous parlez français, il y a une nouvelle biographie de Ditko par Tristan Lapoussière.

Steve Ditko - L'artiste Aux Masques [Les Moutons Électriques]

The only really notable reprint of classic Ditko came from DC, with a book reprinting his work on The Hawk  And The Dove and Starman, plus other DC characters that he didn't create or design. This means DC has a nearly complete set of Ditko work they published in three matching hardcover volumes.

The Steve Ditko Omnibus #2 [DC]

Other than that there was the usual assortment of public domain reprints and some minor stuff from other publishers.

A List of Ditko Articles and Essays

The recent announcement of Steve Ditko's new essays seems to have generated some attention, including some from people who weren't aware of Ditko's extensive history of such essays.  Robin Snyder has helpfully provided the following list of those he's published (including both text and illustrated form) in his quarter century of publishing Ditko. I've added the location of the most recent printing of each entry (as Ditko often revised essays when they were reprinted, I recommend the most recent printing).

The most up-to-date version of this list will be hosted here.
---

SNYDER AND DITKO

mark 25 years of publishing

Here is a list of the many articles and essays by Ditko. Did we list them all? How many have you read?

“At Some Point” [AW]

“Creator’s Rights & Wrongs” [AW]

“Tools of the Trade” [AW]
“History Of The Mocker” [Mocker]

An Insider’s Piece of History: “Jack Kirby’s Spider-Man” [AW]

“ART!?” [AW]

“Identity, Identification” [AW]

“ART—the Panel” [AW]

“First Choice” [Charlton]

“Laszlo’s Hammer” [AW]

“The Sore Spot Cause and Crusade” [AW]

Tsk! Tsk!: “Whatever Happened to Common Sense?” [32Page]

Tsk! Tsk!: “Why Do Some People Seek the Unearned...” [32Page]

Tsk! Tsk!: “Comic Fans Keep Blowing Meaningless Sound Waves” [32Page]

Tsk! Tsk!: “Public ‘Debates’” [32Page]

Tsk! Tsk!: “The Fallacy of the Half and Half Men” [32Page]

Tsk! Tsk!: “The Unearned” [32Page]

Tsk! Tsk!: “Stolen Art Pages” [32Page]
Additional Tsk! Tsk! pages [32Page, see notes]

Tsk! Tsk!: “Has the Age of the Anti-Hero Become the Age of the Anti-Self?” [THE COMICS V11 #4 2000]

“The Self-Proclaimed” [THE COMICS V11 #5 2000]

“The ‘Stolen Art Page’ Problem and the Error of Non-Principled Thinking” [AW]

“A Mini-History” [The Comics, serialized, see notes]

“Who Owns Original Art?” [AW]

Tsk! Tsk! Examining a “Creator”/”Creation” Claim” [AW]
“Violence, the Phoney Issue” [AW]

The Tsk! Tsk! Forum: “…On An Unresolved Issue” [THE COMICS V13 #11 2002]

“The Avenging Mind” [The Comics, serialized, see notes]

“An Issue, Question” [The Comics, serialized, see notes]

“Toyland” [AM]

“Roislecxe” [AM]

“Creator or Co-Creator?” [AM]

“Creative Crediting” [AM]

“He Giveth and He Taketh Away” [AM]

“Lifting and the Lifter” [AM]

“Revealing Styles” [AM]

“Martin Goodman/Stan Lee” [AM]

“They Are the…” [AM]

“The Mark and the Stain” [AM]

“The Ever Unwilling” [THE COMICS V20 #3 2009]

“The Ever Unreachable” [Online]

“The Knowers & the Barkers” [#17]

“The Silent Self-Deceivers” [THE COMICS V23 #7 2012]

To be continued

---

[AW] AVENGING WORLD [2002]
[32Page] STEVE DITKO'S 32-PAGE PACKAGE TSK! TSK! [2000]
[Mocker] THE MOCKER, 2nd Edition [2000]
[AM] THE AVENGING MIND [2008]
[#17] #17: SEVENTEEN [2012]
[Charlton] STEVE DITKO'S 160-PAGE PACKAGE FROM CHARLTON PRESS [1999]
[Online] Online only, link no long active
[The Comics] THE COMICS newsletter by Robin Snyder

The first six of those are readily available, see here as usual. Contact Robin Snyder for availability on specific back issues of THE COMICS or to subscribe, address at the same link.

Included on Snyder's list are two earlier essays published in fanzines, "Violence, The Phoney Issue" (GUTS #5 [1969]) and "Who Owns Original Art?" (INSIDE COMICS #2 [1974]). Both were revised and reprinted in AVENGING WORLD [2002].

These essays were serialized in THE COMICS and not, as yet, collected elsewhere:

“A Mini-History”

THE COMICS V12 #5 2001
THE COMICS V12 #7 2001
THE COMICS V12 #10 2001
THE COMICS V12 #11 2001
THE COMICS V13 #1 2002
THE COMICS V13 #4 2002
THE COMICS V13 #5 2002
THE COMICS V13 #8 2002
THE COMICS V14 #2 2003
THE COMICS V14 #4 2003
THE COMICS V14 #5 2003
THE COMICS V14 #6 2003
THE COMICS V14 #7 2003
THE COMICS V14 #8 2003
THE COMICS V14 #9 2003
THE COMICS V14 #11 2003

“The Avenging Mind”

THE COMICS V15 #4 2004
THE COMICS V15 #5 2004
THE COMICS V15 #6 2004
THE COMICS V15 #7 2004
THE COMICS V15 #8 2004
THE COMICS V15 #9 2004

“An Issue, Question”

THE COMICS V17 #11 2006

THE COMICS V17 #12 2006

THE COMICS V18 #2 2007

THE COMICS V18 #3 2007

THE COMICS V18 #4 2007

THE COMICS V18 #5 2007

THE COMICS V18 #6 2007

THE COMICS V18 #7 2007

STEVE DITKO'S 32-PAGE PACKAGE TSK! TSK! [2000] contained 7 illustrated 1-page features reprinted from THE COMICS, as well as the following 24 original pages

Tsk! Tsk! “The Blah, Blahmill”
Tsk! Tsk! “What is…”
Tsk! Tsk! “A Con Mind, A Con Game and the Gullible”
Tsk! Tsk! “Some Facts Can Sustain a Lot of Illusion”
Tsk! Tsk! “Toleration”
Tsk! Tsk! “The Shielders”
Tsk! Tsk! “Property”
Tsk! Tsk! “The Communicators” C1
Tsk! Tsk! “The Communicators” C2
Tsk! Tsk! “The Communicators” C3
Tsk! Tsk! “I’m Indifferent”
Tsk! Tsk! “By Choice”
Tsk! Tsk! “Step Forward”
Tsk! Tsk! “The Trial”
Tsk! Tsk! “Its Judge…and Be Prepared to Be Judged”
Tsk! Tsk! “Who Has the Burden of Proof?”
Tsk! Tsk! “What?”
Tsk! Tsk! “Is There a Need to Outweigh Arbitrary Claims with Facts and Truth?”
Tsk! Tsk! “Why Me?
Tsk! Tsk! “The Envious”
Tsk! Tsk! “I Resent It”
Tsk! Tsk! “Parasites”
Tsk! Tsk! “Choice: Real Achievement”
Tsk! Tsk! “!?!?!?”