The Virtue of Ditko-ness, 12 Nov 2008
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.

The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms. We learn of his artistic influences (mainly Jerry Robinson, Will Eisner and Mort Meskin), and his time at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York, which segues quite nicely into his earliest days as a comic book artist (Ditko's first pro job, a macabre 'Plastic Man'-like horror tale, is presented in full). From there it's a journey from his formative, low paying days drawing stories for Charlton Comics, onto his career-defining work at Marvel, to his time at Warren drawing horror tales (which he would eventually decide conflicted with his belief system). He returned to Charlton and went to DC Comics, where his attempts to meld superheroics with his right-wing worldview, with characters like the Question and the Hawk and the Dove, were ultimately doomed to failure. He even made a return to Marvel in the late 70s, though his second tenure was only moderately successful. Most disheartening is the time in the early 80s when, with his somewhat dated art having fallen out of favour, he was reduced to drawing a 'Transformers' colouring book just to make ends meet. If he'd only considered drawing Spider-Man or Doctor Strange again, even just in the form of commissions, he could have ensured himself a better standard of living. But that would mean compromising his iron-rigid principles and like his most extreme creation, the white-suited vigilante Mr. A, there is no chance of him doing that.

It would be very easy to view Ditko as cutting off his nose to spite his face much of the time. Bell, to his credit, doesn't sneer at Ditko's choices or philosophy, but the penultimate chapter is openly critical of what he sees as Ditko's failings, both as a businessman and as an artist. The common complaint with Ditko is that he long since sacrificed such storytelling staples as plot, credible dialogue and rounded characters in favour of browbeating the reader with his Objectivist ideas. His comics are described as 'didactic', and they are, unquestionably. But they're never not interesting, and Ditko, at the very least, has a point to make.

STRANGE AND STRANGER is a very handsome volume, lushly illustrated in colour and black and white. You occasionally wonder why panels from his groundbreaking Marvel work, for example, have been reproduced in monochrome, especially as they were drawn for colour reproduction and the Spidey rogue's gallery is the most colourful in comics. It pays special attention to some of Ditko's stylistic idiosyncrasies; his habit of shading eyeballs is touched upon, though his unmistakeable way of drawing hands, even in mundane settings, with fingers splayed out as if shooting a web or casting a spell, is inexplicably skirted over. The design of the book falls prey to the modern phenomenon of letting the art bleed off the page. This is slightly irksome in that we sometimes don't see the art in full, but is a minor gripe.

Overall, Blake Bell has managed a very satisfactory overview of Ditko's career, a somewhat less satisfactory overview of Ditko's life. That book is still waiting to be written. But, with Ditko determined to let his art speak for itself, this is the best we might hope for. In the end, if you want a real glimpse of the real Ditko, you might want to crack open those Spider-Man reprints and have another look at 'Midtown High's only professional wallflower'. The bespectacled, bookish and lonely figure of Peter Parker is very likely who you're after.


Ditko: the Doctor of Strange, 16 Oct 2008
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange. He never achieved anything like their commercial success with any of his other work, and Blake Bell's admirably researched, well-written book points to many of the reasons why. Ditko's adherence to the strange philosophy of Ayn Rand seems to account for a lot of his troubles. As Bell's title indicates, he does seem a strange man. But the art remains amazing, and there's a lot of the best of it on display in this book, much of it rarely seen.
For those of us who've wondered for years about the many mysteries surrounding this notoriously reclusive, fiercely talented, original and influential artist, Blake Bell's book is pure gold.

Amazing book about an amazing artist!, 15 Aug 2008
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.

In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.

Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.

Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!

The Virtue of Ditko-ness, 12 Nov 2008
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.

The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms. We learn of his artistic influences (mainly Jerry Robinson, Will Eisner and Mort Meskin), and his time at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York, which segues quite nicely into his earliest days as a comic book artist (Ditko's first pro job, a macabre 'Plastic Man'-like horror tale, is presented in full). From there it's a journey from his formative, low paying days drawing stories for Charlton Comics, onto his career-defining work at Marvel, to his time at Warren drawing horror tales (which he would eventually decide conflicted with his belief system). He returned to Charlton and went to DC Comics, where his attempts to meld superheroics with his right-wing worldview, with characters like the Question and the Hawk and the Dove, were ultimately doomed to failure. He even made a return to Marvel in the late 70s, though his second tenure was only moderately successful. Most disheartening is the time in the early 80s when, with his somewhat dated art having fallen out of favour, he was reduced to drawing a 'Transformers' colouring book just to make ends meet. If he'd only considered drawing Spider-Man or Doctor Strange again, even just in the form of commissions, he could have ensured himself a better standard of living. But that would mean compromising his iron-rigid principles and like his most extreme creation, the white-suited vigilante Mr. A, there is no chance of him doing that.

It would be very easy to view Ditko as cutting off his nose to spite his face much of the time. Bell, to his credit, doesn't sneer at Ditko's choices or philosophy, but the penultimate chapter is openly critical of what he sees as Ditko's failings, both as a businessman and as an artist. The common complaint with Ditko is that he long since sacrificed such storytelling staples as plot, credible dialogue and rounded characters in favour of browbeating the reader with his Objectivist ideas. His comics are described as 'didactic', and they are, unquestionably. But they're never not interesting, and Ditko, at the very least, has a point to make.

STRANGE AND STRANGER is a very handsome volume, lushly illustrated in colour and black and white. You occasionally wonder why panels from his groundbreaking Marvel work, for example, have been reproduced in monochrome, especially as they were drawn for colour reproduction and the Spidey rogue's gallery is the most colourful in comics. It pays special attention to some of Ditko's stylistic idiosyncrasies; his habit of shading eyeballs is touched upon, though his unmistakeable way of drawing hands, even in mundane settings, with fingers splayed out as if shooting a web or casting a spell, is inexplicably skirted over. The design of the book falls prey to the modern phenomenon of letting the art bleed off the page. This is slightly irksome in that we sometimes don't see the art in full, but is a minor gripe.

Overall, Blake Bell has managed a very satisfactory overview of Ditko's career, a somewhat less satisfactory overview of Ditko's life. That book is still waiting to be written. But, with Ditko determined to let his art speak for itself, this is the best we might hope for. In the end, if you want a real glimpse of the real Ditko, you might want to crack open those Spider-Man reprints and have another look at 'Midtown High's only professional wallflower'. The bespectacled, bookish and lonely figure of Peter Parker is very likely who you're after.


Ditko: the Doctor of Strange, 16 Oct 2008
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange. He never achieved anything like their commercial success with any of his other work, and Blake Bell's admirably researched, well-written book points to many of the reasons why. Ditko's adherence to the strange philosophy of Ayn Rand seems to account for a lot of his troubles. As Bell's title indicates, he does seem a strange man. But the art remains amazing, and there's a lot of the best of it on display in this book, much of it rarely seen.
For those of us who've wondered for years about the many mysteries surrounding this notoriously reclusive, fiercely talented, original and influential artist, Blake Bell's book is pure gold.

Amazing book about an amazing artist!, 15 Aug 2008
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.

In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.

Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.

Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!


Like a David Lynch movie in comic book form, 02 Jul 2008
This is a work of twisted genius in which the protagonist is caught up in a grotesque & Kafkaesque world of snuff porno, hit men, cultists, deformities, mutilations, and the mysterious Mister Jones. It's like the kind of thing David Lynch would do if he were a cartoonist, & I think it could be made into an excellent movie. Expect some perturbing imagery, dark humour, and a rosy ending (sort of).

It is important that you read this book..., 14 May 2003
... if you are interested in Daniel Clowes and american comics(other than the obvious marvel), but be warned: like most comics, it's all well drawn and interesting, but the story has its problems.
But its always better than Judge Dredd or Dan Dare.

A freaky and compulsive ride!, 08 Nov 2002
This is the kind of comic that makes me genuinely afraid of people.Well, actually to be more specific and to quote Mr Bowie ... afraid of americans...because no matter how far out and twisted the characters and events may be ... i have an uneasy feeling that if you went a travelling and got lost in the woods some of these things could happen... somehow ... somewhere.
Strange doesnt even start to describe 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron' but: stunning, surreal and nightmarish is a beginning. Hilarious nuggets of black humour make the eerie journey even more engrossing and I have a feeling that a couple of those characters are gonna stay with me for quite a while. Clowes characterizations are amazing... he can make anyone look... well just alittle bit wrong, disturbed, inbred and goofy!I think Clowes is an artist everyone interested in comics and/or the bizarre just has to explore...go buy it... but just dont read it when you're eating... it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.

Weird and satirical, David Lynch-esque comic-book genius., 06 Dec 2001
This classic comic book is a weird and deranged tale of conspiracy theories, sideshow freaks, pornography, and murderous religious cults, all told with a vein of dark and satirical humour. It was originally serialized in "Eightball" comic, and the author Daniel Clowes has got a lot of attention lately after the film adaptation of another Eightball strip "Ghost World" hit the screens. This earlier effort is even more cinematic. It's similar in tone to the films of David Lynch, particularly "Twin Peaks", which it actually pre-dates by a couple of years; and the title is a quote from the classic Russ Meyer film "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!", with which the book shares it's stark black and white visuals and a demented road trip storyline. This disturbing, but very funny book (and anything else by the idiosyncratic Clowes) is leagues ahead of anything in the comics canon, with the exception of the recently published "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware.

The Virtue of Ditko-ness, 12 Nov 2008
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.

The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms. We learn of his artistic influences (mainly Jerry Robinson, Will Eisner and Mort Meskin), and his time at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York, which segues quite nicely into his earliest days as a comic book artist (Ditko's first pro job, a macabre 'Plastic Man'-like horror tale, is presented in full). From there it's a journey from his formative, low paying days drawing stories for Charlton Comics, onto his career-defining work at Marvel, to his time at Warren drawing horror tales (which he would eventually decide conflicted with his belief system). He returned to Charlton and went to DC Comics, where his attempts to meld superheroics with his right-wing worldview, with characters like the Question and the Hawk and the Dove, were ultimately doomed to failure. He even made a return to Marvel in the late 70s, though his second tenure was only moderately successful. Most disheartening is the time in the early 80s when, with his somewhat dated art having fallen out of favour, he was reduced to drawing a 'Transformers' colouring book just to make ends meet. If he'd only considered drawing Spider-Man or Doctor Strange again, even just in the form of commissions, he could have ensured himself a better standard of living. But that would mean compromising his iron-rigid principles and like his most extreme creation, the white-suited vigilante Mr. A, there is no chance of him doing that.

It would be very easy to view Ditko as cutting off his nose to spite his face much of the time. Bell, to his credit, doesn't sneer at Ditko's choices or philosophy, but the penultimate chapter is openly critical of what he sees as Ditko's failings, both as a businessman and as an artist. The common complaint with Ditko is that he long since sacrificed such storytelling staples as plot, credible dialogue and rounded characters in favour of browbeating the reader with his Objectivist ideas. His comics are described as 'didactic', and they are, unquestionably. But they're never not interesting, and Ditko, at the very least, has a point to make.

STRANGE AND STRANGER is a very handsome volume, lushly illustrated in colour and black and white. You occasionally wonder why panels from his groundbreaking Marvel work, for example, have been reproduced in monochrome, especially as they were drawn for colour reproduction and the Spidey rogue's gallery is the most colourful in comics. It pays special attention to some of Ditko's stylistic idiosyncrasies; his habit of shading eyeballs is touched upon, though his unmistakeable way of drawing hands, even in mundane settings, with fingers splayed out as if shooting a web or casting a spell, is inexplicably skirted over. The design of the book falls prey to the modern phenomenon of letting the art bleed off the page. This is slightly irksome in that we sometimes don't see the art in full, but is a minor gripe.

Overall, Blake Bell has managed a very satisfactory overview of Ditko's career, a somewhat less satisfactory overview of Ditko's life. That book is still waiting to be written. But, with Ditko determined to let his art speak for itself, this is the best we might hope for. In the end, if you want a real glimpse of the real Ditko, you might want to crack open those Spider-Man reprints and have another look at 'Midtown High's only professional wallflower'. The bespectacled, bookish and lonely figure of Peter Parker is very likely who you're after.


Ditko: the Doctor of Strange, 16 Oct 2008
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange. He never achieved anything like their commercial success with any of his other work, and Blake Bell's admirably researched, well-written book points to many of the reasons why. Ditko's adherence to the strange philosophy of Ayn Rand seems to account for a lot of his troubles. As Bell's title indicates, he does seem a strange man. But the art remains amazing, and there's a lot of the best of it on display in this book, much of it rarely seen.
For those of us who've wondered for years about the many mysteries surrounding this notoriously reclusive, fiercely talented, original and influential artist, Blake Bell's book is pure gold.

Amazing book about an amazing artist!, 15 Aug 2008
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.

In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.

Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.

Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!


Like a David Lynch movie in comic book form, 02 Jul 2008
This is a work of twisted genius in which the protagonist is caught up in a grotesque & Kafkaesque world of snuff porno, hit men, cultists, deformities, mutilations, and the mysterious Mister Jones. It's like the kind of thing David Lynch would do if he were a cartoonist, & I think it could be made into an excellent movie. Expect some perturbing imagery, dark humour, and a rosy ending (sort of).

It is important that you read this book..., 14 May 2003
... if you are interested in Daniel Clowes and american comics(other than the obvious marvel), but be warned: like most comics, it's all well drawn and interesting, but the story has its problems.
But its always better than Judge Dredd or Dan Dare.

A freaky and compulsive ride!, 08 Nov 2002
This is the kind of comic that makes me genuinely afraid of people.Well, actually to be more specific and to quote Mr Bowie ... afraid of americans...because no matter how far out and twisted the characters and events may be ... i have an uneasy feeling that if you went a travelling and got lost in the woods some of these things could happen... somehow ... somewhere.
Strange doesnt even start to describe 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron' but: stunning, surreal and nightmarish is a beginning. Hilarious nuggets of black humour make the eerie journey even more engrossing and I have a feeling that a couple of those characters are gonna stay with me for quite a while. Clowes characterizations are amazing... he can make anyone look... well just alittle bit wrong, disturbed, inbred and goofy!I think Clowes is an artist everyone interested in comics and/or the bizarre just has to explore...go buy it... but just dont read it when you're eating... it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.

Weird and satirical, David Lynch-esque comic-book genius., 06 Dec 2001
This classic comic book is a weird and deranged tale of conspiracy theories, sideshow freaks, pornography, and murderous religious cults, all told with a vein of dark and satirical humour. It was originally serialized in "Eightball" comic, and the author Daniel Clowes has got a lot of attention lately after the film adaptation of another Eightball strip "Ghost World" hit the screens. This earlier effort is even more cinematic. It's similar in tone to the films of David Lynch, particularly "Twin Peaks", which it actually pre-dates by a couple of years; and the title is a quote from the classic Russ Meyer film "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!", with which the book shares it's stark black and white visuals and a demented road trip storyline. This disturbing, but very funny book (and anything else by the idiosyncratic Clowes) is leagues ahead of anything in the comics canon, with the exception of the recently published "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware.

Humour and raunch, 17 May 2007
A selection of 'stand alone' cartoons - very adult but with a definate sense of humour. With the men reduced to amazed or helpless onlookers these housewives are very Adult and very determined to enjoy themselves.Proof that cartoons aren't just for the kiddies.

Not what I expected, 15 Jul 2002
I am a fan of Manara and Noe and I was expecting a comic strip story. I was unfamiliar with the work of this artist, and this is just a series of pencil drawings, one per page which I found rather dull.

What Artwork!, 12 Jun 2001
When I first saw the artwork of this book on the net I liked it but when I got the book... Oh my!! I was taken aback at the skill and time that the author must have put into these drawings, they are truely excellent! Every picture has great detail and also are very erotic... If you are a fan of erotic artwork of any kind then this is the book for you! A real enjoyment!

Dan Clowes described the story in Ghost World as the examination of "the lives of two recent high school graduates from the advantaged perch of a constant and (mostly) undetectable eavesdropper, with the shaky detachment of a scientist who has grown fond of the prize microbes in his petri dish". From this perch comes a revelation about adolescence that is both subtle and coolly beautiful. Critics have pointed out Clowes's cynicism and vicious social commentary, but if you concentrate on those aspects, you'll miss the exquisite whole that Clowes has captured. Each chapter ends with a melancholia that builds towards the amazing, detached, ghost-like ending. --Poppy Andress

The Virtue of Ditko-ness, 12 Nov 2008
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.

The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms. We learn of his artistic influences (mainly Jerry Robinson, Will Eisner and Mort Meskin), and his time at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York, which segues quite nicely into his earliest days as a comic book artist (Ditko's first pro job, a macabre 'Plastic Man'-like horror tale, is presented in full). From there it's a journey from his formative, low paying days drawing stories for Charlton Comics, onto his career-defining work at Marvel, to his time at Warren drawing horror tales (which he would eventually decide conflicted with his belief system). He returned to Charlton and went to DC Comics, where his attempts to meld superheroics with his right-wing worldview, with characters like the Question and the Hawk and the Dove, were ultimately doomed to failure. He even made a return to Marvel in the late 70s, though his second tenure was only moderately successful. Most disheartening is the time in the early 80s when, with his somewhat dated art having fallen out of favour, he was reduced to drawing a 'Transformers' colouring book just to make ends meet. If he'd only considered drawing Spider-Man or Doctor Strange again, even just in the form of commissions, he could have ensured himself a better standard of living. But that would mean compromising his iron-rigid principles and like his most extreme creation, the white-suited vigilante Mr. A, there is no chance of him doing that.

It would be very easy to view Ditko as cutting off his nose to spite his face much of the time. Bell, to his credit, doesn't sneer at Ditko's choices or philosophy, but the penultimate chapter is openly critical of what he sees as Ditko's failings, both as a businessman and as an artist. The common complaint with Ditko is that he long since sacrificed such storytelling staples as plot, credible dialogue and rounded characters in favour of browbeating the reader with his Objectivist ideas. His comics are described as 'didactic', and they are, unquestionably. But they're never not interesting, and Ditko, at the very least, has a point to make.

STRANGE AND STRANGER is a very handsome volume, lushly illustrated in colour and black and white. You occasionally wonder why panels from his groundbreaking Marvel work, for example, have been reproduced in monochrome, especially as they were drawn for colour reproduction and the Spidey rogue's gallery is the most colourful in comics. It pays special attention to some of Ditko's stylistic idiosyncrasies; his habit of shading eyeballs is touched upon, though his unmistakeable way of drawing hands, even in mundane settings, with fingers splayed out as if shooting a web or casting a spell, is inexplicably skirted over. The design of the book falls prey to the modern phenomenon of letting the art bleed off the page. This is slightly irksome in that we sometimes don't see the art in full, but is a minor gripe.

Overall, Blake Bell has managed a very satisfactory overview of Ditko's career, a somewhat less satisfactory overview of Ditko's life. That book is still waiting to be written. But, with Ditko determined to let his art speak for itself, this is the best we might hope for. In the end, if you want a real glimpse of the real Ditko, you might want to crack open those Spider-Man reprints and have another look at 'Midtown High's only professional wallflower'. The bespectacled, bookish and lonely figure of Peter Parker is very likely who you're after.


Ditko: the Doctor of Strange, 16 Oct 2008
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange. He never achieved anything like their commercial success with any of his other work, and Blake Bell's admirably researched, well-written book points to many of the reasons why. Ditko's adherence to the strange philosophy of Ayn Rand seems to account for a lot of his troubles. As Bell's title indicates, he does seem a strange man. But the art remains amazing, and there's a lot of the best of it on display in this book, much of it rarely seen.
For those of us who've wondered for years about the many mysteries surrounding this notoriously reclusive, fiercely talented, original and influential artist, Blake Bell's book is pure gold.

Amazing book about an amazing artist!, 15 Aug 2008
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.

In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.

Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.

Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!


Like a David Lynch movie in comic book form, 02 Jul 2008
This is a work of twisted genius in which the protagonist is caught up in a grotesque & Kafkaesque world of snuff porno, hit men, cultists, deformities, mutilations, and the mysterious Mister Jones. It's like the kind of thing David Lynch would do if he were a cartoonist, & I think it could be made into an excellent movie. Expect some perturbing imagery, dark humour, and a rosy ending (sort of).

It is important that you read this book..., 14 May 2003
... if you are interested in Daniel Clowes and american comics(other than the obvious marvel), but be warned: like most comics, it's all well drawn and interesting, but the story has its problems.
But its always better than Judge Dredd or Dan Dare.

A freaky and compulsive ride!, 08 Nov 2002
This is the kind of comic that makes me genuinely afraid of people.Well, actually to be more specific and to quote Mr Bowie ... afraid of americans...because no matter how far out and twisted the characters and events may be ... i have an uneasy feeling that if you went a travelling and got lost in the woods some of these things could happen... somehow ... somewhere.
Strange doesnt even start to describe 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron' but: stunning, surreal and nightmarish is a beginning. Hilarious nuggets of black humour make the eerie journey even more engrossing and I have a feeling that a couple of those characters are gonna stay with me for quite a while. Clowes characterizations are amazing... he can make anyone look... well just alittle bit wrong, disturbed, inbred and goofy!I think Clowes is an artist everyone interested in comics and/or the bizarre just has to explore...go buy it... but just dont read it when you're eating... it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.

Weird and satirical, David Lynch-esque comic-book genius., 06 Dec 2001
This classic comic book is a weird and deranged tale of conspiracy theories, sideshow freaks, pornography, and murderous religious cults, all told with a vein of dark and satirical humour. It was originally serialized in "Eightball" comic, and the author Daniel Clowes has got a lot of attention lately after the film adaptation of another Eightball strip "Ghost World" hit the screens. This earlier effort is even more cinematic. It's similar in tone to the films of David Lynch, particularly "Twin Peaks", which it actually pre-dates by a couple of years; and the title is a quote from the classic Russ Meyer film "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!", with which the book shares it's stark black and white visuals and a demented road trip storyline. This disturbing, but very funny book (and anything else by the idiosyncratic Clowes) is leagues ahead of anything in the comics canon, with the exception of the recently published "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware.

Humour and raunch, 17 May 2007
A selection of 'stand alone' cartoons - very adult but with a definate sense of humour. With the men reduced to amazed or helpless onlookers these housewives are very Adult and very determined to enjoy themselves.Proof that cartoons aren't just for the kiddies.

Not what I expected, 15 Jul 2002
I am a fan of Manara and Noe and I was expecting a comic strip story. I was unfamiliar with the work of this artist, and this is just a series of pencil drawings, one per page which I found rather dull.

What Artwork!, 12 Jun 2001
When I first saw the artwork of this book on the net I liked it but when I got the book... Oh my!! I was taken aback at the skill and time that the author must have put into these drawings, they are truely excellent! Every picture has great detail and also are very erotic... If you are a fan of erotic artwork of any kind then this is the book for you! A real enjoyment!

the very thing that happens, 31 Aug 2006
Don't you just hate it when a reviewer titles their review with a line you'd only understand if you'd read the book they're reviewing, and why would you read it if you'd read the book.

Ghost World isn't exactly value for money at only 80pages. But its a great story of friendship and the transition between different stages of life, in this case high school to college, you'll feel gratified after reading it.

What's really interesting about Ghost World is the way its two characters are all so right about their judgments on the world around them, but they are so judgmental that not even themselves or each other live up to their expectations.
Like 'Black Hole' this story shows that life doesn't simply start and ends like a story, encapsulating just a piece of life.

The story is both funny and emotional, true to life and outrageously off the wall.
Daniel Clowes style is defined by its set black lines that in case ever detail, coloured simply in white and mint shade of green. It's not the value of other comics but it's one you'll want to read again and again.

A beautiful booký, 15 Sep 2004
I picked this book up on someone's desk at work and started flicking through. "Haven't read it myself but it's meant to be quite good" was the brief recommendation.

Quite good aren't really the words for this beautiful story of, well, just two friends and the short period during which they try to adjust to having left school and face uncertain future.

The tale(s) centre on Enid (a sassy, witty deep thinker with a sarcastic rapier like wit) and Rebecca (an attractive gentle girl, a more relaxed foil to Enid's barely concealed angry angst). Daniel Clowes chronicles their small time (and town) adventures, with a sensitivity that belies both his gender and dare I say the comic book format.

It soon becomes apparent that the friendship that served them well through school and through what could have been some very tough times (a funeral is suggested in the opening pages, Enid's had multiple step mothers and Rebecca appears to only have a single parent / grandmother / guardian?) is going to be tested and stretched as they grow apart and try to find out who they are and who they want to be...

I was amazed and unsettled as to how instantly I was whisked back to that painful time when you're told that you're completely free and everything is possible. Yet, at the same time - like Enid and to lesser extent Rebecca - you're seized by a terrible nostalgic fear of the future and clutch for security at what's in your past.

My only criticism (and this is probably actually one the books strengths) is the brevity of the stories is quite brutal. You begin to care desperately for these vulnerable characters and want to be reassured that they do indeed find some kind of contentment ... yet the ambiguous story lines and (in my mind) vague ending ensures that they remain ghosts not just from the author's but your own past as well...

Buy it, as the other reviewers have said it's wonderful...

Loved it!, 21 May 2004
Bought the book because I really liked the film, and it didn't disappoint me - I enjoyed it even more than the film. Highly Recommended!

Disappointing, 17 Dec 2002
I'm a big fan of "understated" comics, which focus on character and plot, rather than super-heroes, mystery and guns. When I bought "Ghostworld" I expected something in this more subtle vein, and of high quality, given all the back blurbs/hype. I enjoyed reading it, but I was disappointed. Having read a lot of the understated/subtle comics that are out there I found Ghostworld to be average. There is plenty better than this around if you want an introduction to mature thoughtful comics.

Story about friendship, 14 Dec 2002
I really enjoyed this.

This is the first graphic novel I have read for a few years and it is among the best.

The two main characters are extremely likeable and easy for teenagers to relate to. I was really touched by their friendship.

The novel also raises a few questions which it does not eventually answer which keeps you thinking about this book after reading.

I certinally recommend this.

The Virtue of Ditko-ness, 12 Nov 2008
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.

The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms. We learn of his artistic influences (mainly Jerry Robinson, Will Eisner and Mort Meskin), and his time at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York, which segues quite nicely into his earliest days as a comic book artist (Ditko's first pro job, a macabre 'Plastic Man'-like horror tale, is presented in full). From there it's a journey from his formative, low paying days drawing stories for Charlton Comics, onto his career-defining work at Marvel, to his time at Warren drawing horror tales (which he would eventually decide conflicted with his belief system). He returned to Charlton and went to DC Comics, where his attempts to meld superheroics with his right-wing worldview, with characters like the Question and the Hawk and the Dove, were ultimately doomed to failure. He even made a return to Marvel in the late 70s, though his second tenure was only moderately successful. Most disheartening is the time in the early 80s when, with his somewhat dated art having fallen out of favour, he was reduced to drawing a 'Transformers' colouring book just to make ends meet. If he'd only considered drawing Spider-Man or Doctor Strange again, even just in the form of commissions, he could have ensured himself a better standard of living. But that would mean compromising his iron-rigid principles and like his most extreme creation, the white-suited vigilante Mr. A, there is no chance of him doing that.

It would be very easy to view Ditko as cutting off his nose to spite his face much of the time. Bell, to his credit, doesn't sneer at Ditko's choices or philosophy, but the penultimate chapter is openly critical of what he sees as Ditko's failings, both as a businessman and as an artist. The common complaint with Ditko is that he long since sacrificed such storytelling staples as plot, credible dialogue and rounded characters in favour of browbeating the reader with his Objectivist ideas. His comics are described as 'didactic', and they are, unquestionably. But they're never not interesting, and Ditko, at the very least, has a point to make.

STRANGE AND STRANGER is a very handsome volume, lushly illustrated in colour and black and white. You occasionally wonder why panels from his groundbreaking Marvel work, for example, have been reproduced in monochrome, especially as they were drawn for colour reproduction and the Spidey rogue's gallery is the most colourful in comics. It pays special attention to some of Ditko's stylistic idiosyncrasies; his habit of shading eyeballs is touched upon, though his unmistakeable way of drawing hands, even in mundane settings, with fingers splayed out as if shooting a web or casting a spell, is inexplicably skirted over. The design of the book falls prey to the modern phenomenon of letting the art bleed off the page. This is slightly irksome in that we sometimes don't see the art in full, but is a minor gripe.

Overall, Blake Bell has managed a very satisfactory overview of Ditko's career, a somewhat less satisfactory overview of Ditko's life. That book is still waiting to be written. But, with Ditko determined to let his art speak for itself, this is the best we might hope for. In the end, if you want a real glimpse of the real Ditko, you might want to crack open those Spider-Man reprints and have another look at 'Midtown High's only professional wallflower'. The bespectacled, bookish and lonely figure of Peter Parker is very likely who you're after.


Ditko: the Doctor of Strange, 16 Oct 2008
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange. He never achieved anything like their commercial success with any of his other work, and Blake Bell's admirably researched, well-written book points to many of the reasons why. Ditko's adherence to the strange philosophy of Ayn Rand seems to account for a lot of his troubles. As Bell's title indicates, he does seem a strange man. But the art remains amazing, and there's a lot of the best of it on display in this book, much of it rarely seen.
For those of us who've wondered for years about the many mysteries surrounding this notoriously reclusive, fiercely talented, original and influential artist, Blake Bell's book is pure gold.

Amazing book about an amazing artist!, 15 Aug 2008
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.

In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.

Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.

Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!


Like a David Lynch movie in comic book form, 02 Jul 2008
This is a work of twisted genius in which the protagonist is caught up in a grotesque & Kafkaesque world of snuff porno, hit men, cultists, deformities, mutilations, and the mysterious Mister Jones. It's like the kind of thing David Lynch would do if he were a cartoonist, & I think it could be made into an excellent movie. Expect some perturbing imagery, dark humour, and a rosy ending (sort of).

It is important that you read this book..., 14 May 2003
... if you are interested in Daniel Clowes and american comics(other than the obvious marvel), but be warned: like most comics, it's all well drawn and interesting, but the story has its problems.
But its always better than Judge Dredd or Dan Dare.

A freaky and compulsive ride!, 08 Nov 2002
This is the kind of comic that makes me genuinely afraid of people.Well, actually to be more specific and to quote Mr Bowie ... afraid of americans...because no matter how far out and twisted the characters and events may be ... i have an uneasy feeling that if you went a travelling and got lost in the woods some of these things could happen... somehow ... somewhere.
Strange doesnt even start to describe 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron' but: stunning, surreal and nightmarish is a beginning. Hilarious nuggets of black humour make the eerie journey even more engrossing and I have a feeling that a couple of those characters are gonna stay with me for quite a while. Clowes characterizations are amazing... he can make anyone look... well just alittle bit wrong, disturbed, inbred and goofy!I think Clowes is an artist everyone interested in comics and/or the bizarre just has to explore...go buy it... but just dont read it when you're eating... it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.

Weird and satirical, David Lynch-esque comic-book genius., 06 Dec 2001
This classic comic book is a weird and deranged tale of conspiracy theories, sideshow freaks, pornography, and murderous religious cults, all told with a vein of dark and satirical humour. It was originally serialized in "Eightball" comic, and the author Daniel Clowes has got a lot of attention lately after the film adaptation of another Eightball strip "Ghost World" hit the screens. This earlier effort is even more cinematic. It's similar in tone to the films of David Lynch, particularly "Twin Peaks", which it actually pre-dates by a couple of years; and the title is a quote from the classic Russ Meyer film "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!", with which the book shares it's stark black and white visuals and a demented road trip storyline. This disturbing, but very funny book (and anything else by the idiosyncratic Clowes) is leagues ahead of anything in the comics canon, with the exception of the recently published "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware.

Humour and raunch, 17 May 2007
A selection of 'stand alone' cartoons - very adult but with a definate sense of humour. With the men reduced to amazed or helpless onlookers these housewives are very Adult and very determined to enjoy themselves.Proof that cartoons aren't just for the kiddies.

Not what I expected, 15 Jul 2002
I am a fan of Manara and Noe and I was expecting a comic strip story. I was unfamiliar with the work of this artist, and this is just a series of pencil drawings, one per page which I found rather dull.

What Artwork!, 12 Jun 2001
When I first saw the artwork of this book on the net I liked it but when I got the book... Oh my!! I was taken aback at the skill and time that the author must have put into these drawings, they are truely excellent! Every picture has great detail and also are very erotic... If you are a fan of erotic artwork of any kind then this is the book for you! A real enjoyment!

the very thing that happens, 31 Aug 2006
Don't you just hate it when a reviewer titles their review with a line you'd only understand if you'd read the book they're reviewing, and why would you read it if you'd read the book.

Ghost World isn't exactly value for money at only 80pages. But its a great story of friendship and the transition between different stages of life, in this case high school to college, you'll feel gratified after reading it.

What's really interesting about Ghost World is the way its two characters are all so right about their judgments on the world around them, but they are so judgmental that not even themselves or each other live up to their expectations.
Like 'Black Hole' this story shows that life doesn't simply start and ends like a story, encapsulating just a piece of life.

The story is both funny and emotional, true to life and outrageously off the wall.
Daniel Clowes style is defined by its set black lines that in case ever detail, coloured simply in white and mint shade of green. It's not the value of other comics but it's one you'll want to read again and again.

A beautiful booký, 15 Sep 2004
I picked this book up on someone's desk at work and started flicking through. "Haven't read it myself but it's meant to be quite good" was the brief recommendation.

Quite good aren't really the words for this beautiful story of, well, just two friends and the short period during which they try to adjust to having left school and face uncertain future.

The tale(s) centre on Enid (a sassy, witty deep thinker with a sarcastic rapier like wit) and Rebecca (an attractive gentle girl, a more relaxed foil to Enid's barely concealed angry angst). Daniel Clowes chronicles their small time (and town) adventures, with a sensitivity that belies both his gender and dare I say the comic book format.

It soon becomes apparent that the friendship that served them well through school and through what could have been some very tough times (a funeral is suggested in the opening pages, Enid's had multiple step mothers and Rebecca appears to only have a single parent / grandmother / guardian?) is going to be tested and stretched as they grow apart and try to find out who they are and who they want to be...

I was amazed and unsettled as to how instantly I was whisked back to that painful time when you're told that you're completely free and everything is possible. Yet, at the same time - like Enid and to lesser extent Rebecca - you're seized by a terrible nostalgic fear of the future and clutch for security at what's in your past.

My only criticism (and this is probably actually one the books strengths) is the brevity of the stories is quite brutal. You begin to care desperately for these vulnerable characters and want to be reassured that they do indeed find some kind of contentment ... yet the ambiguous story lines and (in my mind) vague ending ensures that they remain ghosts not just from the author's but your own past as well...

Buy it, as the other reviewers have said it's wonderful...

Loved it!, 21 May 2004
Bought the book because I really liked the film, and it didn't disappoint me - I enjoyed it even more than the film. Highly Recommended!

Disappointing, 17 Dec 2002
I'm a big fan of "understated" comics, which focus on character and plot, rather than super-heroes, mystery and guns. When I bought "Ghostworld" I expected something in this more subtle vein, and of high quality, given all the back blurbs/hype. I enjoyed reading it, but I was disappointed. Having read a lot of the understated/subtle comics that are out there I found Ghostworld to be average. There is plenty better than this around if you want an introduction to mature thoughtful comics.

Story about friendship, 14 Dec 2002
I really enjoyed this.

This is the first graphic novel I have read for a few years and it is among the best.

The two main characters are extremely likeable and easy for teenagers to relate to. I was really touched by their friendship.

The novel also raises a few questions which it does not eventually answer which keeps you thinking about this book after reading.

I certinally recommend this.

Viva El Borbah!, 27 Jul 1999
Burns has always been a consistently excellent artist. No one knows how to put black on paper better than him. This collection contains some great artwork and entertaining writing. I can't wait until the next collection....

Viva El Borbah!, 30 May 1999
Years before bands such as Southern Culture on the Skids and Los Straightjackets began to pay homage to masked Mexican wrestlers, Burns gave us El Borbah. The mask wearing Private Dick chain smokes, swills beer and gets into fist fights with just about everyone. Bizarre and beautiful. For those who love B-Grade Sci-Fi, Mexican wrestlers and Film Noir, this is a must have.

Sick Thrills from the Master of the Razor Line!, 03 Nov 1998
Fans of Burns know him to be one of the two or three (let's include Gary Panter and Chris Ware) geniuses of the form at work today. The El Borbahs are top of the line and deserve this collection between covers. Nobody-- NOBODY!-- draws like Burns, and his writing is obsessively dark and charmingly twisted. Bedtime reading for people who've forgotten why they once liked comics.....

The Virtue of Ditko-ness, 12 Nov 2008
With STRANGE AND STRANGER, THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO, author Blake Bell set himself an unenviable task; to shed light on Steve Ditko: artist, co-creator of Spider-Man and the greatest enigma in comics. Ditko is second only to Jack Kirby in the Marvel pantheon of artists, in terms of his role in kick-starting the 'Marvel Age of Comics', in the early 1960s, with editor/writer Stan Lee. With everybody's 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man', Lee and Ditko created an enduring pop culture phenomenon, a character that Marvel have milked for countless millions of dollars since. And yet Ditko himself has seen none of the profits. But this isn't just another simple case of the corporation screwing over the artist, as with 'Superman' creators Siegel and Shuster. In 1966, on the crest of a commercial and artistic wave, he walked away from Stan Lee, from Marvel, from Doctor Strange, and from Spider-Man. For years the myth has been propagated that the Lee/Ditko partnership dissolved over a dispute over the Green Goblin's identity. Thankfully, Bell lays this to rest. To Ditko, it was a matter of principle. He was prepared to follow his convictions to the letter, to retreat more and more from mainstream, commercial success in order to plough a lonely furrow expounding his own philosophy on man, life, commerce, justice and good and evil, heavily based on the Objectivist teachings of Ayn Rand. And that's what makes Ditko such an enduringly fascinating character.

The book is a chronological retrospective of Ditko's life and career, though given the level of secrecy the artist chooses to shroud himself with, there is inevitably little of his personal history. Ditko's childhood in the mining town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is covered in quite cursory terms. We learn of his artistic influences (mainly Jerry Robinson, Will Eisner and Mort Meskin), and his time at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York, which segues quite nicely into his earliest days as a comic book artist (Ditko's first pro job, a macabre 'Plastic Man'-like horror tale, is presented in full). From there it's a journey from his formative, low paying days drawing stories for Charlton Comics, onto his career-defining work at Marvel, to his time at Warren drawing horror tales (which he would eventually decide conflicted with his belief system). He returned to Charlton and went to DC Comics, where his attempts to meld superheroics with his right-wing worldview, with characters like the Question and the Hawk and the Dove, were ultimately doomed to failure. He even made a return to Marvel in the late 70s, though his second tenure was only moderately successful. Most disheartening is the time in the early 80s when, with his somewhat dated art having fallen out of favour, he was reduced to drawing a 'Transformers' colouring book just to make ends meet. If he'd only considered drawing Spider-Man or Doctor Strange again, even just in the form of commissions, he could have ensured himself a better standard of living. But that would mean compromising his iron-rigid principles and like his most extreme creation, the white-suited vigilante Mr. A, there is no chance of him doing that.

It would be very easy to view Ditko as cutting off his nose to spite his face much of the time. Bell, to his credit, doesn't sneer at Ditko's choices or philosophy, but the penultimate chapter is openly critical of what he sees as Ditko's failings, both as a businessman and as an artist. The common complaint with Ditko is that he long since sacrificed such storytelling staples as plot, credible dialogue and rounded characters in favour of browbeating the reader with his Objectivist ideas. His comics are described as 'didactic', and they are, unquestionably. But they're never not interesting, and Ditko, at the very least, has a point to make.

STRANGE AND STRANGER is a very handsome volume, lushly illustrated in colour and black and white. You occasionally wonder why panels from his groundbreaking Marvel work, for example, have been reproduced in monochrome, especially as they were drawn for colour reproduction and the Spidey rogue's gallery is the most colourful in comics. It pays special attention to some of Ditko's stylistic idiosyncrasies; his habit of shading eyeballs is touched upon, though his unmistakeable way of drawing hands, even in mundane settings, with fingers splayed out as if shooting a web or casting a spell, is inexplicably skirted over. The design of the book falls prey to the modern phenomenon of letting the art bleed off the page. This is slightly irksome in that we sometimes don't see the art in full, but is a minor gripe.

Overall, Blake Bell has managed a very satisfactory overview of Ditko's career, a somewhat less satisfactory overview of Ditko's life. That book is still waiting to be written. But, with Ditko determined to let his art speak for itself, this is the best we might hope for. In the end, if you want a real glimpse of the real Ditko, you might want to crack open those Spider-Man reprints and have another look at 'Midtown High's only professional wallflower'. The bespectacled, bookish and lonely figure of Peter Parker is very likely who you're after.


Ditko: the Doctor of Strange, 16 Oct 2008
Steve Ditko is one of the great stylists of the comic book medium. Instantly recognisable because nobody else's art looks quite like his. His 1960s runs on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel are rightly remembered as classics of the super-hero genre. Amazing Spider-Man nos. 32-33, published in 1966, contain a sequence that ranks as one of the finest in the history of graphic story-telling. Not only did Ditko co-create Spider-Man, he set the look of the character and the world he inhabited, the feel of the series, and a horde of villains who trouble the Marvel Universe to this day: the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to name but two. Spider-Man, of course, became the most popular character of the whole Marvel super-hero line - an icon as recognisable as Superman or Mickey Mouse - and star of a string of massively popular movies.
Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange. Nowhere near as well known as Spidey, but every bit as interesting. Marvel's 'Master of the Mystic Arts' is essentially a super-hero who uses magic. For this series, Ditko created some of the most amazing, surreal landscapes of alternate dimensions ever put on paper. The climax of Ditko's run took graphic story-telling into hitherto unexplored regions with Doctor Strange's encounter with Eternity, an immense, god-like being portrayed by Ditko as filled with black night, stars, planets and flashing comets. Comics were never quite the same again.
And for all this, what did Ditko get? A share in royalties? No. Reprint payments? No. Co-creator credit? No. A share in film rights? No. A paltry page rate for producing the original art was all he ever got. Half the time, he wasn't even given credit for plots he devised.
But there's a lot more to Ditko than Spidey and Doc Strange. He never achieved anything like their commercial success with any of his other work, and Blake Bell's admirably researched, well-written book points to many of the reasons why. Ditko's adherence to the strange philosophy of Ayn Rand seems to account for a lot of his troubles. As Bell's title indicates, he does seem a strange man. But the art remains amazing, and there's a lot of the best of it on display in this book, much of it rarely seen.
For those of us who've wondered for years about the many mysteries surrounding this notoriously reclusive, fiercely talented, original and influential artist, Blake Bell's book is pure gold.

Amazing book about an amazing artist!, 15 Aug 2008
I've been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for someone to write the definitive book on the talented Steve Ditko and with this brilliant tome Blake Bell has succeeded beyond anything I could have hoped for.

In case you didn't know, Steve Ditko is one of the greatest comic book artists ever, being most famous for co-creating, along with Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. But, as this book shows so brilliantly, Ditko has done so much more in his illustrious career.

Reading this book you realise that no matter what you may think of his political views and personal philosophy, there has never been anybody, including Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, with quite the artistic vision of the reclusive Mr. D.

Although Ditko has shunned interviews in recent years and has stated many times that his work should speak for itself, I, for one, am extremely glad that Mr. Bell found the time and inclination to put this book together. So to anyone with even just a passing interest in comics and comics' history I cannot recommend this book too highly - BUY IT NOW!!


Like a David Lynch movie in comic book form, 02 Jul 2008
This is a work of twisted genius in which the protagonist is caught up in a grotesque & Kafkaesque world of snuff porno, hit men, cultists, deformities, mutilations, and the mysterious Mister Jones. It's like the kind of thing David Lynch would do if he were a cartoonist, & I think it could be made into an excellent movie. Expect some perturbing imagery, dark humour, and a rosy ending (sort of).

It is important that you read this book..., 14 May 2003
... if you are interested in Daniel Clowes and american comics(other than the obvious marvel), but be warned: like most comics, it's all well drawn and interesting, but the story has its problems.
But its always better than Judge Dredd or Dan Dare.

A freaky and compulsive ride!, 08 Nov 2002
This is the kind of comic that makes me genuinely afraid of people.Well, actually to be more specific and to quote Mr Bowie ... afraid of americans...because no matter how far out and twisted the characters and events may be ... i have an uneasy feeling that if you went a travelling and got lost in the woods some of these things could happen... somehow ... somewhere.
Strange doesnt even start to describe 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron' but: stunning, surreal and nightmarish is a beginning. Hilarious nuggets of black humour make the eerie journey even more engrossing and I have a feeling that a couple of those characters are gonna stay with me for quite a while. Clowes characterizations are amazing... he can make anyone look... well just alittle bit wrong, disturbed, inbred and goofy!I think Clowes is an artist everyone interested in comics and/or the bizarre just has to explore...go buy it... but just dont read it when you're eating... it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.

Weird and satirical, David Lynch-esque comic-book genius., 06 Dec 2001
This classic comic book is a weird and deranged tale of conspiracy theories, sideshow freaks, pornography, and murderous religious cults, all told with a vein of dark and satirical humour. It was originally serialized in "Eightball" comic, and the author Daniel Clowes has got a lot of attention lately after the film adaptation of another Eightball strip "Ghost World" hit the screens. This earlier effort is even more cinematic. It's similar in tone to the films of David Lynch, particularly "Twin Peaks", which it actually pre-dates by a couple of years; and the title is a quote from the classic Russ Meyer film "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!", with which the book shares it's stark black and white visuals and a demented road trip storyline. This disturbing, but very funny book (and anything else by the idiosyncratic Clowes) is leagues ahead of anything in the comics canon, with the exception of the recently published "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware.

Humour and raunch, 17 May 2007
A selection of 'stand alone' cartoons - very adult but with a definate sense of humour. With the men reduced to amazed or helpless onlookers these housewives are very Adult and very determined to enjoy themselves.Proof that cartoons aren't just for the kiddies.

Not what I expected, 15 Jul 2002
I am a fan of Manara and Noe and I was expecting a comic strip story. I was unfamiliar with the work of this artist, and this is just a series of pencil drawings, one per page which I found rather dull.

What Artwork!, 12 Jun 2001
When I first saw the artwork of this book on the net I liked it but when I got the book... Oh my!! I was taken aback at the skill and time that the author must have put into these drawings, they are truely excellent! Every picture has great detail and also are very erotic... If you are a fan of erotic artwork of any kind then this is the book for you! A real enjoyment!

the very thing that happens, 31 Aug 2006
Don't you just hate it when a reviewer titles their review with a line you'd only understand if you'd read the book they're reviewing, and why would you read it if you'd read the book.

Ghost World isn't exactly value for money at only 80pages. But its a great story of friendship and the transition between different stages of life, in this case high school to college, you'll feel gratified after reading it.

What's really interesting about Ghost World is the way its two characters are all so right about their judgments on the world around them, but they are so judgmental that not even themselves or each other live up to their expectations.
Like 'Black Hole' this story shows that life doesn't simply start and ends like a story, encapsulating just a piece of life.

The story is both funny and emotional, true to life and outrageously off the wall.
Daniel Clowes style is defined by its set black lines that in case ever detail, coloured simply in white and mint shade of green. It's not the value of other comics but it's one you'll want to read again and again.

A beautiful booký, 15 Sep 2004
I picked this book up on someone's desk at work and started flicking through. "Haven't read it myself but it's meant to be quite good" was the brief recommendation.

Quite good aren't really the words for this beautiful story of, well, just two friends and the short period during which they try to adjust to having left school and face uncertain future.

The tale(s) centre on Enid (a sassy, witty deep thinker with a sarcastic rapier like wit) and Rebecca (an attractive gentle girl, a more relaxed foil to Enid's barely concealed angry angst). Daniel Clowes chronicles their small time (and town) adventures, with a sensitivity that belies both his gender and dare I say the comic book format.

It soon becomes apparent that the friendship that served them well through school and through what could have been some very tough times (a funeral is suggested in the opening pages, Enid's had multiple step mothers and Rebecca appears to only have a single parent / grandmother / guardian?) is going to be tested and stretched as they grow apart and try to find out who they are and who they want to be...

I was amazed and unsettled as to how instantly I was whisked back to that painful time when you're told that you're completely free and everything is possible. Yet, at the same time - like Enid and to lesser extent Rebecca - you're seized by a terrible nostalgic fear of the future and clutch for security at what's in your past.

My only criticism (and this is probably actually one the books strengths) is the brevity of the stories is quite brutal. You begin to care desperately for these vulnerable characters and want to be reassured that they do indeed find some kind of contentment ... yet the ambiguous story lines and (in my mind) vague ending ensures that they remain ghosts not just from the author's but your own past as well...

Buy it, as the other reviewers have said it's wonderful...

Loved it!, 21 May 2004
Bought the book because I really liked the film, and it didn't disappoint me - I enjoyed it even more than the film. Highly Recommended!

Disappointing, 17 Dec 2002
I'm a big fan of "understated" comics, which focus on character and plot, rather than super-heroes, mystery and guns. When I bought "Ghostworld" I expected something in this more subtle vein, and of high quality, given all the back blurbs/hype. I enjoyed reading it, but I was disappointed. Having read a lot of the understated/subtle comics that are out there I found Ghostworld to be average. There is plenty better than this around if you want an introduction to mature thoughtful comics.

Story about friendship, 14 Dec 2002
I really enjoyed this.

This is the first graphic novel I have read for a few years and it is among the best.

The two main characters are extremely likeable and easy for teenagers to relate to. I was really touched by their friendship.

The novel also raises a few questions which it does not eventually answer which keeps you thinking about this book after reading.

I certinally recommend this.

Viva El Borbah!, 27 Jul 1999
Burns has always been a consistently excellent artist. No one knows how to put black on paper better than him. This collection contains some great artwork and entertaining writing. I can't wait until the next collection....

Viva El Borbah!, 30 May 1999
Years before bands such as Southern Culture on the Skids and Los Straightjackets began to pay homage to masked Mexican wrestlers, Burns gave us El Borbah. The mask wearing Private Dick chain smokes, swills beer and gets into fist fights with just about everyone. Bizarre and beautiful. For those who love B-Grade Sci-Fi, Mexican wrestlers and Film Noir, this is a must have.

Sick Thrills from the Master of the Razor Line!, 03 Nov 1998
Fans of Burns know him to be one of the two or three (let's include Gary Panter and Chris Ware) geniuses of the form at work today. The El Borbahs are top of the line and deserve this collection between covers. Nobody-- NOBODY!-- draws like Burns, and his writing is obsessively dark and charmingly twisted. Bedtime reading for people who've forgotten why they once liked comics.....

Recent but lacklustre addition to series, 02 Sep 2008
I think there are much better ones in this series to get. Sadly this one seems to have lost a lot of the humour and joy that enlivened the earlier graphic artbooks. While being as adult as before there's a lot more tears and discomfort displayed with only an occasional inflictor showing delight.