Steve Ditko's abstract depiction of Dr. Strange appreciation

[Make Mine Mar-Vell]

it works for me even to this day.

I know the legendary Spidey stuff to, but his Strange work is awesome, it fits. It's like Lee drawing the X-Men or Weeks drawing Mar-Vell or Kirby's Cap or so on and so forth.

I realize the thread is a bit out of left field but it's great stuff, and it reminds me of how certain artists are just "right" for certain characters, and as great as they are or not depending on your opinions, this artist may work well for this character but not for that one and so forth.

Yet for some reason I always preferred the blue cape for Stephen Strange.

P.S. BTW, on a side note, have you seen the animated DVD of Dr. Strange? It's really, really good IMHO.

Any thoughts?

[The Confessor]

Oh yeah, Ditko is the definitive Dr. Strange artist as far as I'm concerned. His psychedelic depictions of Strange's dealings with the worlds of magic are unsurpassed and really are the benchmark against which all other Dr. Strange artists should be judged. I have to say though that you really need to read Ditko's run in colour to get the full affect. Of all the Marvel Essential collections I think that the Dr. Strange ones suffer the most from being printed in black & white.

I really wish Marvel would hurry up and release a Dr. Strange Omnibus, reprinting all those classic early appearances of the Master Of Mystic Arts.

[Zomling]

I agree with you both, Ditko was the definitive Dr Stange artist IMHO.

I have the Essential reprints, but would love to have them in colour.

[leebrown1990]

I really like Marcos Martins work on the character too, he seems to have a really good grasp on Ditkos characters. I mean his work on spider-man has been amazing, Paper doll, and his latest Shocker story arc were great, there definitley my two favorite BND story lines so far*. I'm really hoping to get my hands on the oath, its got a stellar creative team. But since I haven't had the pleasure of reading much of Ditko's work I'll definitley want to read some more of that first. I much prefer full color over the essentials, so a masterpiece collection or omnibus would be great.

(*NWTD, kelly's hammerhead and Zeb Wells snowy aztec storyline being the next bets IMO.

[Jim Thompson]

Oh yeah, Ditko is the definitive Dr. Strange artist as far as I'm concerned. His psychedelic depictions of Strange's dealings with the worlds of magic are unsurpassed and really are the benchmark against which all other Dr. Strange artists should be judged. I have to say though that you really need to read Ditko's run in colour to get the full affect. Of all the Marvel Essential collections I think that the Dr. Strange ones suffer the most from being printed in black & white.

I really wish Marvel would hurry up and release a Dr. Strange Omnibus, reprinting all those classic early appearances of the Master Of Mystic Arts.I'd pitch a tent outside a bookstore to get that Omnibus! I think that particular run was one of the five best runs of all time.

[Dark Traveller]

With the first Ditko stories Dr Strange looks quite Slavic, Hungarian or perhaps even Transylvanian.
In his later appearances he starts to look a bit more western european, which I suppose makes more sense as 'Strange' is an english name. (and it would be an odd one for an east european to adopt)
Though one supposes he could have gotten that Hungarian look from his mothers side.
I quite like it when todays artists include just a touch of this in his appearance.

[jackolover]

I have read some criticism of Ditko's work, that says something to the effect that it's 2 dimensional (silly when you think about it). It's really difficult to compare the artists of the Silver Age to the current age, like the guy who did Secret War , The TBolts covers with Ellis, or the Serbian artist on MA covers. (They are all 'D' names I think). The modern artists are almost painters, while Ditko was pencil and ink.

But Ditko did it with his imagination. His style may have been dated, but like other posters have said, the imagination in his depictions is what is the yardstick for other artists. People like Dan Adkins stole directly from Steve, and Bill Everett and Marie Severin suffered because the subject of Dr Strange hinged heavily on the visual representation, of gathering smoke, Spell structure, body and incantation attitudes, and extra dimensional conception.

When you think of the philosophy of what Steve Ditko put into the art of Dr Strange, he distinctly melded with the immediate form. By this I mean, look at his hanging sleeves, the melting wax, the billowing smoke, the sweeping Scottish Highland tracks, and the flickering flames, the splashing rain drops, the dripping liquid. Ditko had frozen the moments of this life, in time, not like a photograph, but like that super slow motion in the Fox Sports add of basketballers. He kept this immediacy as a part of the Dr. Strange character, and Stranges concept of life as the Sorcerer Supreme. Life wasn't the hurry and bustle that the everyday man experienced. For Strange, magic stood still, was esoteric, and transcended the rational experience.