Beschreibung:

CGC certified: Fine (6.0). Off-white pages. STEVE DITKO COLLECTION. Cover: Steve Ditko pencils and inks, Stan Goldberg colors. Story: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Art: Steve Ditko Colors: Stan Goldberg. Lettering: Sam Rosen. First appearance: Molten Man. First occurrence of the "Thwip" web-shooting onomatopoeia (see NerdSync Flashpoint #494, "Did Marvel Trademark Spider-Man's 'Thwip'?", YouTube upload, 8/28/2015). Provenance: From the Steve Ditko Estate, CGC-certified as Steve Ditko's personal copy, and with a certificate of authenticity signed by Mr. Patrick S. Ditko, Steve Ditko's brother. Not cleaned and pressed in order to preserve all traces of Steve Ditko's handling. GPAnalysis: A non-Ditko Collection 6.0 sold for $421 in 8/22. A note on the Ditko Collection: Steve Ditko owned from one to three copies of each of the 41 Spider-Man comics that he drew (comprising Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spider-Man #s 1-38, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #s 1 & 2). The only complete set of 41 Spidey comics belonging to Ditko is featured in this sale; an incomplete set of 23 Spidey comics was offered last year by another auction house; and a final incomplete set of 19 Spidey comics will be offered by PBA next year. Ditko Collection Census: There are two Ditko Collection copies of ASM #28: 3.0 and 6.0. This is the highest-graded copy. Peter Parker graduates high school, setting the stage for college classmates Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn to get tangled in Spidey's web. Ditko teases readers once again with an unseen Mary Jane Watson. MJ's face wasn't shown until ASM #42, after former romance artist John Romita took over the title and glammed it up. Did Ditko avoid showing MJ's mug because he lacked confidence in his ability to draw cuties? One critic said that "his females were rather butch" ( Ditko Unleashed: An American Hero, 2016, p. 23). According to Jeff Gelb's article in The Irving Forbush Gazette #1 (Dec. 1966-Jan. 1967), "One need only look at Mary Jane Watson and compare her to Ditko's version of Betty Brant to come to the conclusion that Romita has Ditko beat, in this subject, by a mile-and-a-half." Craig Yoe gets the last word: "In Ditko's work, there are no 'pretty girls,' like that of his successor on Spider-Man , John Romita. There is an attempt... to present buxom, enticing-looking females, but they're not convincing. They are a bit manly and harsh.... Does this say something about the artist?" Enjoying the Spidey Sale? Order a fully-illustrated softcover catalogue for 30 bucks. Only about 100 copies were printed and they're going fast. To reserve a copy, contact PBA's Director of Comics: [email protected] Consign to PBA Galleries. Our comic sales average a 98% sell-through rate, our prices realized are top-of-the-market, and our research-intensive catalogues are the best in the business. Seeking Silver Age Marvel, Golden Age superheroes, and pre-Code horror. Contact [email protected]