Number 903
"I've just seen another Face..."
Friday's Face posting segues into today's story, "The Face," drawn by Steve Ditko, which appeared in Tales Of Suspense #26, in 1961. I downloaded the scans of the original art some years ago from Heritage Auctions, then encountered the story recently when I found it reprinted in Fear #8 from 1972.
I'm posting both so you can look at a really well-designed story without color, then with. The art is not packed with details. Ditko's minimalist design choices might have had more to do with how much work was on his schedule, but I find it exceptionally attractive. I also think the full-page splash is a classic.
As with so many comics from this era, the plain black and white drawings're often FAR more powerful than the coloured in versions.
ReplyDeleteI like that the B&W one is advertising Amazing Adult Fantasy, that changed to Amazing Fantasy with issue 15.
ReplyDeleteGus, who owned the drug store where I bought my comics, hassled me over buying a comic book with the word "adult" on the cover. He had to look through the first one I bought to make sure it didn't contain anything that would hurt my little kid brain. ("I don't want your father coming in and yelling at me for selling adult material to his son.") By that time the kid brain was hurt beyond recognition, anyway...he gave it a grudging seal of approval, and I got it. I could never understand why Marvel wanted to mess with us younger readers by using the word "adult."
ReplyDeleteHow about adding the original Tales of Suspense pages for further comparison? Most of Marvel's bronze age reprints are utterly disappointing in both color and line quality.
ReplyDeleteTeddy, if I had a copy of Tales Of Suspense #26 I would have scanned it for the posting.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a pleasure to see Ditko in black and white.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised no one is inquiring about who the inker is. In my opinion, the inker's work is just as strong as Ditko's pencils. Definitely not DItko on ink as the line quality is razor sharp. Someone suggested it might be Wally Wood considering how meticulous the detail is. Ditko's inks were not as refined.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, those quick, slapped on colors nearly destroy this phenomenal body of work. I would have never known such beauty is hidden beneath those colors.