All right folks, time to steer away from the mildly esoteric and dig out a very mainstream Ditko cover. This one may not be seen as one of the true iconic Spidey covers, but I really do think it's my favourite Ditko cover from the title. The Scorpion was introduced in issue #20 and that one featured a solid cover, but it is a fairly static image when compared to this one. There is such a great fluidity of motion here, as the bodies bend in a very Ditkoesque manner. It's a very simple snapshot, but it tells the reader that a life or death struggle is within the pages. I really did the Scorpion's regulator - a bit of Ditko sci-fi thrown in for fun. Of course, a good dose of Ditko water is always a bonus. Too often I find that the captions on Marvel covers really detract from the art, but the tagline 'Never Step on a Scorpion' is a good one.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Steve Ditko Cover of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #29
All right folks, time to steer away from the mildly esoteric and dig out a very mainstream Ditko cover. This one may not be seen as one of the true iconic Spidey covers, but I really do think it's my favourite Ditko cover from the title. The Scorpion was introduced in issue #20 and that one featured a solid cover, but it is a fairly static image when compared to this one. There is such a great fluidity of motion here, as the bodies bend in a very Ditkoesque manner. It's a very simple snapshot, but it tells the reader that a life or death struggle is within the pages. I really did the Scorpion's regulator - a bit of Ditko sci-fi thrown in for fun. Of course, a good dose of Ditko water is always a bonus. Too often I find that the captions on Marvel covers really detract from the art, but the tagline 'Never Step on a Scorpion' is a good one.
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4 comments:
I too love this image Scott. It's among my favourite of the Ditko Spider-Man covers and I was very pleased to pick up a nice copy of it not long ago for a decent price. There are some exceptional fight scenes in the interior between Spidey and Scorpion as well, showcasing Ditko's signature contortionist poses and extraordinary figure work. More inexplicable though is my fascination for comic book covers fearuring split water/surface scenes. It's a sort of aquarium view of action that eludes us in real life save for for a trip to the marina or via the fishbowl. As one who very much appreciates unusual comic book cover themes and who is no doubt more familiar with the GCD than I, I'm sure you have noticed more than a few of these sorts of covers. Besides ASM#29, one other I am particularly fond of (which I also picked up a while back) is Jann of the Jungle #16. As always Scott I much appreciate your great blog posts. Craig.
Thanks for the comment and kind words, Craig. I've got to tell you that I think that Jann cover is one of the best covers of the 50s, and one of the two best 'jungle' covers of all-time (the other being Jungle #82). I've been looking for a copy of it for ages. Actually, I haven't really noted all of the split surface covers - but perhaps it's something I'll start to track (I know there's another Jann one). I'm sure it's a trick Ditko used again.
Neat! As I've mentioned a few times on CBR, this was the first comic I specifically remember owning as a kid ...
I think probably the best Ditko cover for Amazing Spider-Man was No. 25 (ensnared by the Spider Slayer bearing Jameson's face).
That's a key issue anyway, featuring some of Ditko's best moments (Peter leaving Liz Allan's after a study date; Flash and his gang chasing Peter through the streets; Betty 'accidently' unplugging the Spider Slayer remote control in Jameson's office; Mary-Jane introduced with her face conveniently covered by a very Van Goghesque flower; the look on Liz's and Betty's faces when they see May-Jane; etc.). Yeah, key issue.
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