A MORRISON MONDAYS birthday tribute! By BILL MORRISON On this day in in 1927, Steve Ditko was born! Imagine if that had never happened. We wouldn’t have the Amazing Spider-Man, or Dr. Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts! No Creeper or Hawk and Dove either! I wanted to draw a Ditko homage for today’s column, in tribute to his fantastic creations, but a couple of pesky jobs got in the way of my play time. Then, I remembered a cover I did for 2005’s Simpsons Super Spectacular #1, a flip cover actually, featuring Bongo’s Atomic Avenger, Radioactive Man. At the time, the Irradiated Crusader’s exploits were being penned by the late, great Batton Lash, and he had written and drawn a fun retelling of RM’s origin story for the issue, plus two more tales, all in the style of Steve Ditko (with inks by none other than Michael T. Gilbert). Bat also provided me with a rough layout for the cover, an homage to Ditko’s co-creation (with Joe Gill,) Captain Atom. My final image parodies the cover of Charlton’s Strange Suspense Stories #75 (June 1965), which features a Ditko drawing of Captain Atom that was lifted from the first appearance of the character in Space Adventures #33 (March 1960). I don’t know if Matt Groening or the Simpsons show writers were inspired by Captain Atom when they came up with Radioactive Man, but given their similarities, Ditko’s co-creation was a perfect target for us to parody in one of Ol’ Bolt Head’s exploits, and I’m glad Batton thought of it. If you can find the super-size, 52-page first issue, I highly recommend it. Batton and Michael showed a lot of love for Mr. Ditko, including a great Gorgo parody, “Radioactive Man and Roargo.” — Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below! — MORE — Oh, Boy! I Got Me a ‘New’ 1960s BEN COOPER BATMAN Play Suit! Click here. — BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s JENIFER Still Haunts Me — More Than 50 YEARS Later. Click here. — Eisner winner BILL MORRISON has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has...
A SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN (early) birthday salute to STEVE DITKO… By KERRY CALLEN Tomorrow, November 2, is Steve Ditko’s birthday — he was born 99 years ago, in 1927. Not only did he create the distinctive look for the Amazing Spider-Man, but his eclectic art style provided visuals never seen before in comics. I’m a HUGE Ditko fan, so… My column this week features a guest artist, Bruce McCorkindale! Bruce is a master at drawing cover recreations. Sometimes his commissions are to create classic covers as is, and other times it’s to create covers that never were. Some of my very favorites are his “imaginary” covers featuring Spider-Man combined with some of the creatures Ditko created for Marvel’s Silver Age monster comics — as if Amazing Fantasy kept going after Spidey’s debut in 1962’s Issue #15. I love them! Since this particular series was inked on Bristol board, using only black ink, I asked Bruce if he would be OK with me digitally coloring some of these excellent recreations. Happily, he was good with it! Here are the four I’ve colored: Here’s Bruce’s original art, complete with references noted: For more, or to request a cover commission, Bruce’s work can be found on all the various social media sites. — Want more SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN? Come back next week! Want a commission? Send an email to KerryCallenArt@gmail.com. You can also find other work at linktr.ee/kerrycallen. — MORE — THE JOKER’s Latest Dastardly McPlot! Click here. — What Does DOC SAVAGE Think About…? Click here. — KERRY CALLEN spent much of his career as an artist and art director, developing product for Hallmark, but has also dabbled in comics for many years. As a freelancer, he creates work for a range of needs, spanning from Mad Magazine to children illustrations. He has two graphic novels available on Amazon worldwide, Halo and Sprocket: The Definitive Collection, as well as Dirtnap: Mystic...
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