Saturday, August 21, 2010

Cheers to Ditkomania!

I recently began a subscription to the fanzine Ditkomania, dedicated to all things Steve Ditko. I've been a follower of fanzines, but being an immense fan of Ditko and interested in the most recent issue's subject matter, I finally took the plunge.

The latest issue, #80, features articles on Ditko's 1980s work at Marvel, an era I'm pretty interested in because Ditko turned out a lot of unusual material in odd places. His Machine Man & Speedball stories are well-remembered, but I wondered how tales like his Dragon Lord, Fantastic Four & Hulk stories came to be. Ditkomania held a few of the answers and even had a piece of Dragon Lord art I hadn't seen before! There was also a great article on Ditko's black & white Shroud story from Marvel Preview#21.

Ditkomania is for serious Ditko fans, not beginners (I recommend Blake Bell's Strange & Stranger for beginners). It looks to be a great resource for Ditko fans who want to know more about the less-acknowledged aspects of his career; it boasts some great fan art that attempts to mimic Ditko's distinctive looks, a terrific letters page and a good review of Ditko's most recent work. My subscription looks to be money well-spent!

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