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Our Twelve Days of Christmas: Artist Edition countdown continues with our pick for number 11!
While most of the artists on this list depict superheroes in the tradition of idealized Greco-Roman gods, Steve Ditko’s work is more concerned with capturing the inner life, spirit and psyche of heroes. Specifically Steve Ditko’s art for the characters of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange (in Strange Tales) stands radically apart from the rest of the Marvel Comics line.
In Spider-Man, Ditko’s tangled figures live in a rendered world far removed from Jack Kirby’s utopian futurescapes. Ditko places the tense form of the hero in dense panel compositions, heavy shadow and deliberate, line work to suggest and express the anxiety and pathos of Peter Parker. These techniques are also employed in his work for Doctor Strange. Harnessing an even more exaggerated, yet tightly controlled vision, he creates psychedelic landscapes and mind-bending, impossible dimensions that made the comic a favourite among college students.
In the panel and cover below, both characters are placed them among the controlled chaos that the artist is best known for.
Recommended Reading:
Amazing Spider-man Omnibus #1
Doctor Strange Omnibus Volume 1
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