MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION GIANT-SIZE #2
VF/NM: 9.0
(Stock Image)
DESCRIPTION
Avengers, Dr. Strange
Artists Information
Steve Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known for being the co-creator of Marvel superhero Spider-Man and creator of Doctor Strange. He also made notable contributions to the character of Iron Man, revolutionizing the character's red and yellow design.
Ditko studied under Batman artist Jerry Robinson at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York City. He began his professional career in 1953, working in the studio of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, beginning as an inker and coming under the influence of artist Mort Meskin. During this time, he began his long association with Charlton Comics, where he did work in the genres of science fiction, horror, and mystery. He also co-created the superhero Captain Atom in 1960.
During the summer of 1958, writer-editor Stan Lee invited Ditko back to Atlas. Ditko would go on to contribute a large number of stories, many considered classic, to Atlas/Marvel's Strange Tales and the newly launched Amazing Adventures, Strange Worlds, Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish, issues of which would typically open with a Kirby-drawn monster story, followed by one or two twist-ending thrillers or sci-fi tales drawn by Don Heck, Paul Reinman, or Joe Sinnott, all capped by an often-surreal, sometimes self-reflective short by Ditko and Stan Lee. The first collaboration between Ditko and Lee was 2-Gun Western #4 (May 1956), which was also Ditko's only non-fantasy story.
These Lee-Ditko short stories proved so popular that Amazing Adventures was reformatted to feature such stories exclusively beginning with issue #7 (Dec. 1961), when the comic was rechristened Amazing Adult Fantasy, a name intended to reflect its more "sophisticated" nature, as likewise the new tagline "The magazine that respects your intelligence". Lee in 2009 described these "short, five-page filler strips that Steve and I did together", originally "placed in any of our comics that had a few extra pages to fill", as "odd fantasy tales that I'd dream up with O. Henry-type endings." Giving an early example of what would later be known as the "Marvel Method" of writer-artist collaboration, Lee said, "All I had to do was give Steve a one-line description of the plot and he'd be off and running. He'd take those skeleton outlines I had given him and turn them into classic little works of art that ended up being far cooler than I had any right to expect."
During the 1950s, Ditko also drew for Atlas Comics, a forerunner of Marvel Comics. He went on to contribute much significant work to Marvel. Ditko was the artist for the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, co-creating much of the Spider-Man supporting characters and villains with Stan Lee. Beginning with issue #25, Ditko was also credited as the plotter. In 1966, after being the exclusive artist on The Amazing Spider-Man and the "Doctor Strange" feature in Strange Tales, Ditko left Marvel for a variety of reasons, including creative differences and unpaid royalties.
Ditko continued to work for Charlton and also DC Comics, including a revamp of the long-running character the Blue Beetle and creating or co-creating the Question, the Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, and Hawk and Dove. Ditko also began contributing to small independent publishers, where he created Mr. A, a hero reflecting the influence of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Ditko largely declined to give interviews, saying he preferred to communicate through his work.
Ditko was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994. He will be posthumously honored as a Disney Legend in 2024.
Bill Everett was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner, as well as co-creating Daredevil with writer Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. Everett fell into comics almost by accident in the industry's earliest days, creating the character Amazing-Man for Centaur Publications in 1939. That same year saw Everett contributing the first Sub-Mariner story for Marvel Mystery Comics #1, the very first book from Timely Comics (which would eventually become Marvel Comics). Sub-Mariner would prove to be one of Timely's earliest hits, and Everett would continue drawing Namor's adventures until 1949. In the '50s, Everett would continue working for what was now Atlas Comics on numerous titles, occasionally reviving Sub-Mariner. With the explosion of the Marvel Age in the '60s, Everett joined Stan Lee in co-creating and drawing the first issue of Daredevil. He also found regular work contributing to Tales to Astonish and Strange Tales. The Sub-Mariner would return again in Tales to Astonish #85, continuing there (and then in his own title) with sporadic contributions from Everett. Bill Everett died suddenly at the age of 55 in 1973.
Eugene Jules Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series. He co-created the Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics, Carol Danvers, who would become Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, and the supernatural vampire hunter Blade.
Richard "Dick" Ayers was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of the main inkers during the late-1950's and 1960's Silver Age of Comics, including some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' including Jack Kirby's The Fantastic Four. He is the signature penciler of Marvel's World War II comic Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, drawing it for a 10-year run, and he co-created Magazine Enterprises' 1950s Western-horror character the Ghost Rider, a version of which he would draw for Marvel in the 1960s. His career would span 7 decades until his death in 2014.
Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1988) was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray, Giacoia made the rounds to almost every Golden Age publisher, notably working on Flash and Batman stories, he also worked at Timely during this period. In the Silver Age Frank worked on many Jack Kirby pages, particularly in Captain America, and he also notably inked the first appearance of the Punisher in AMS #129.
Don Heck was an American comics artist best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics characters Iron Man and the Wasp, and for his long run penciling The Avengers during the Silver Age.
George Roussos also known under the pseudonym George Bell, was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four. Over five decades, he created artwork for numerous publishers, including EC Comics, and he was a staff colorist for Marvel Comics.
Artists Information
Steve Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known for being the co-creator of Marvel superhero Spider-Man and creator of Doctor Strange. He also made notable contributions to the character of Iron Man, revolutionizing the character's red and yellow design.
Ditko studied under Batman artist Jerry Robinson at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York City. He began his professional career in 1953, working in the studio of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, beginning as an inker and coming under the influence of artist Mort Meskin. During this time, he began his long association with Charlton Comics, where he did work in the genres of science fiction, horror, and mystery. He also co-created the superhero Captain Atom in 1960.
During the summer of 1958, writer-editor Stan Lee invited Ditko back to Atlas. Ditko would go on to contribute a large number of stories, many considered classic, to Atlas/Marvel's Strange Tales and the newly launched Amazing Adventures, Strange Worlds, Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish, issues of which would typically open with a Kirby-drawn monster story, followed by one or two twist-ending thrillers or sci-fi tales drawn by Don Heck, Paul Reinman, or Joe Sinnott, all capped by an often-surreal, sometimes self-reflective short by Ditko and Stan Lee. The first collaboration between Ditko and Lee was 2-Gun Western #4 (May 1956), which was also Ditko's only non-fantasy story.
These Lee-Ditko short stories proved so popular that Amazing Adventures was reformatted to feature such stories exclusively beginning with issue #7 (Dec. 1961), when the comic was rechristened Amazing Adult Fantasy, a name intended to reflect its more "sophisticated" nature, as likewise the new tagline "The magazine that respects your intelligence". Lee in 2009 described these "short, five-page filler strips that Steve and I did together", originally "placed in any of our comics that had a few extra pages to fill", as "odd fantasy tales that I'd dream up with O. Henry-type endings." Giving an early example of what would later be known as the "Marvel Method" of writer-artist collaboration, Lee said, "All I had to do was give Steve a one-line description of the plot and he'd be off and running. He'd take those skeleton outlines I had given him and turn them into classic little works of art that ended up being far cooler than I had any right to expect."
During the 1950s, Ditko also drew for Atlas Comics, a forerunner of Marvel Comics. He went on to contribute much significant work to Marvel. Ditko was the artist for the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, co-creating much of the Spider-Man supporting characters and villains with Stan Lee. Beginning with issue #25, Ditko was also credited as the plotter. In 1966, after being the exclusive artist on The Amazing Spider-Man and the "Doctor Strange" feature in Strange Tales, Ditko left Marvel for a variety of reasons, including creative differences and unpaid royalties.
Ditko continued to work for Charlton and also DC Comics, including a revamp of the long-running character the Blue Beetle and creating or co-creating the Question, the Creeper, Shade the Changing Man, and Hawk and Dove. Ditko also began contributing to small independent publishers, where he created Mr. A, a hero reflecting the influence of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Ditko largely declined to give interviews, saying he preferred to communicate through his work.
Ditko was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994. He will be posthumously honored as a Disney Legend in 2024.
Bill Everett was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner, as well as co-creating Daredevil with writer Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. Everett fell into comics almost by accident in the industry's earliest days, creating the character Amazing-Man for Centaur Publications in 1939. That same year saw Everett contributing the first Sub-Mariner story for Marvel Mystery Comics #1, the very first book from Timely Comics (which would eventually become Marvel Comics). Sub-Mariner would prove to be one of Timely's earliest hits, and Everett would continue drawing Namor's adventures until 1949. In the '50s, Everett would continue working for what was now Atlas Comics on numerous titles, occasionally reviving Sub-Mariner. With the explosion of the Marvel Age in the '60s, Everett joined Stan Lee in co-creating and drawing the first issue of Daredevil. He also found regular work contributing to Tales to Astonish and Strange Tales. The Sub-Mariner would return again in Tales to Astonish #85, continuing there (and then in his own title) with sporadic contributions from Everett. Bill Everett died suddenly at the age of 55 in 1973.
Eugene Jules Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series. He co-created the Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics, Carol Danvers, who would become Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, and the supernatural vampire hunter Blade.
Richard "Dick" Ayers was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of the main inkers during the late-1950's and 1960's Silver Age of Comics, including some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' including Jack Kirby's The Fantastic Four. He is the signature penciler of Marvel's World War II comic Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, drawing it for a 10-year run, and he co-created Magazine Enterprises' 1950s Western-horror character the Ghost Rider, a version of which he would draw for Marvel in the 1960s. His career would span 7 decades until his death in 2014.
Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1988) was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray, Giacoia made the rounds to almost every Golden Age publisher, notably working on Flash and Batman stories, he also worked at Timely during this period. In the Silver Age Frank worked on many Jack Kirby pages, particularly in Captain America, and he also notably inked the first appearance of the Punisher in AMS #129.
Don Heck was an American comics artist best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics characters Iron Man and the Wasp, and for his long run penciling The Avengers during the Silver Age.
George Roussos also known under the pseudonym George Bell, was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four. Over five decades, he created artwork for numerous publishers, including EC Comics, and he was a staff colorist for Marvel Comics.