Ditko DC Oddities With Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman

The comic industry is mourning the loss of one of its greats, Steve Ditko, the co-creator of Spider-Man (and many of his foes, like the Sinister Six) and Doctor Strange.  A little less well known is some of his DC work, on characters of his own, such as the Creeper and Hawk & Dove.

But, in a career that spanned decades, Steve Ditko worked on DC trinity only a few times, and this seems like a great time to take a look at those pieces of work.

Superman 400

In Superman #400 (October, 1984), under a cover by Howard Chaykin, was an incredible opportunity to see artists at the time who normally did not work on Superman.

Along with multiple stories exploring the various legends of Superman (including a multi-generational saga by comic legend, Jim Steranko), there were various pin-ups of the Man of Steel within the issue, done by a laundry list of who's who in the comic community....and, individuals who had not normally drawn Krypton's last son.

One of those was Steve Ditko, who did this impressive piece...

...wonderfully capturing the iconic image of the Man of Steel in that Ditko style.



It makes me sad that Ditko had not gotten the chance to do more Superman work, seeing how well this particular piece worked out....

Man-Bat 1

Next up, Steve Ditko draws the darknight detective, Batman...

....but not in any of his own books, but instead in a spin-off, that of Man-Bat #1 (December-January, 1975/1976), hidden under a stunning cover by Jim Aparo (mostly, there seems to have been some alteration of Batman's face on the cover....not by Ditko, sadly....)


Man-Bat, an odd character himself, with a bit of a history before this issue, really came into his own with this, the first of two issues of his own title, here facing off against a sorcerous foe, Baron Tyme.

Ditko really gave an impressive look to Batman on every page he drew the hero, who was there to face off against Man-Bat, due to the magical manipulations of Baron Tyme.  

Though Ditko would not get any more opportunities to draw Man-Bat, he did get another shot at Baron Tyme, in a back up featuring Jack Kirby's Demon in Detective Comics.

DC Special Series 9

Last, but not least, a hard battle to find a version of Steve Ditko's Wonder Woman, which eventually paid off with a lengthy search of the Wonder Woman Spectacular, published under the title of DC Special Series #9 (1978), this under a disturbing cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dick Giordano.

In the 1970s, thanks to the first year of Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman TV series, DC pushed the comic adventures of Wonder Woman back to World War II, in her regular issues, as well as in a few back-ups in World's Finest Comics.  This issue featured a jam of different artists including Russ Heath....and Steve Ditko.

But, it was a bit of a search to find any panels of Wonder Woman drawn by Ditko....as his parts of the story focused on the Amazons and the Olympians, some truly stunning work by a man known more for his gritty realism, but lacking in a certain Amazing Amazon who was the focus of the book....at least until you hit one page, where god of war, Mars, was looking over a chessboard, with pieces he was manipulating, including Wonder Woman and Hitler. 

It is worthwhile to take a look at one of the two page spreads, done by Ditko as well, just to show that he did quite the job with this topic he usually didn't cover....


More would be said, but quoting from the man himself from this profile on Steve Ditko, with his works of the Creeper, Hawk and Dove, Stalker, the Odd Man, Shade the Changing Man, and his outer space prince Starman...

A Stalker's Quest

With the Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies due at the theatres, figured it was time to talk about another hero on a quest.

This hero was on a “Quest for his stolen soul!”. (It even says so on the cover, and is the title of the issue…talk about truth in advertising!). Sadly, this quest was due to be short…or not, depending on your point of view…it was certainly a long journey for Stalker, over many lands, and many times as well!

Stalker #1 was cover dated June-July, 1975, and featured as its hero, the Stalker, a peasant boy who wanted more out of life, but kept getting nothing. So, he made a deal with the demon lord, Dgrth, to become the ultimate warrior, able to handle any weapon…and all it cost the lad was his soul.

Stalker felt cheated by the deal, and while planning revenge on the queen who wronged him, went out to find Dgrth to reclaim his soul. The letter’s page even provided a map of the world of the Stalker.

With his second issue (cover dated August-September, 1975), Stalker went looking for Dgrth and faced a “Darkling Death at the World’s End Sea!”. 

Stalker confronted the priests of Dgrth, and freeing a slave maiden, though this didn’t turn out as planned for either side. It ended with the soulless one leaving behind his new companion, and heading out to the Burning Isle to find the passage to confront Dgrth in hell.

But, Stalker had to get to the island and survive the struggle there…and he did that in issue #3 (October-November, 1975), where he confronted the inhabitants of the island, including Srani (she who is on the cover).

 Eventually, Stalker got past the trials of the isle, and was ready to confront the war god, Dgrth….

…in issue #4 (December-January, 1975/1976).

Here Stalker would “Invade The Inferno” that was Dgrth’s home, and face the evil being that had taken his soul. The story changed (slightly) from straight out sword and sorcery to adding a little science fiction, and definitely established this was not on Earth (though that was relatively obvious from the first issue on…).

Here, Stalker’s quest changed a little, as he now worked to end Dgrth’s hold on the world….and, had the series continued we may have seen more of this new development.

Sadly, the fourth issue was Stalker’s final one. At least the series maintained one writer (Paul Levitz), and one artist (Steve Ditko) and one inker (Wally Wood). The combination of Ditko (known for his angular characters and hard faced heroes) and Wood (known for softer, curved art with beautiful women) helped to make this a unique series, and an artistic treat, as well as having a gripping story. The four issues were even reprinted in the first Steve Ditko Omnibus (along with Shade the Changing Man and a little more) in 2001.

Still, even during the series, there were plans to take Stalker further across his world (issue #2‘s lettercol mentioned that Stalker should be headed to the swampland in “the Great Swamp” in the “never happened” issue #7). Ironic, as the next place Stalker appeared was in Swamp Thing #163 (February, 1996), though it was for barely a panel, along with the sword and science Starfire (herself having 8 issues in the 1970s, and pre-dating the New Teen Titans‘ Starfire), Claw the Unconquered (12 issues in the 1970s) and Nightmaster (who was in three issues of Showcase…and may have dreamed the whole thing).

Stalker even came back again…towards the end of World War II, and faced the Justice Society of America when summoned by a cabal of Nazis who were looking for a magical force to fight the Americans (and got more than they bargained for, getting a Stalker who had given up his heroic pretense, and instead had decided the best way to end evil, was to end all life!

The JSA (and a few friends) barely got out of this one in All-Star Comics in May, 1999 written by James Robinson! Sadly, Stalker only appeared in the two main issues, and didn’t make the cover of either of the core issues (or the collected tradepaperback., the Justice Society Returns).

Stalker returned one more time, in four issues of Wonder Woman, #20-23 (2008, by Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti), along with Claw the Unconquered and Beowulf (the ancient hero having 6 DC issues over 1975 and 1976 as well in DC’s fantasy explosion), to face an attempted invasion of Earth by D’Grth (giving D’Grth a cover, finally, fighting Diana on the last issue of the series, though Stalker never made the cover of the “Ends Of The Earth”; Dgrth had also gained an apostrophe in his name). Likely, this might have been a Stalker earlier in his life, as he still had hope, and worked with the other heroes (still lacking a soul, though…and these issues were collected in the Wonder Woman Tradepaperback, Ends of the Earth). Stalker left these heroes with a mad female oracle witch queen, still searching for a soul.

Stalker even returns in the New 52, getting a back-up feature in Sword and Sorcery, starting with the fourth issue, and ending in the 7th (still getting no covers, as they featured Ametyst and Constantine....in this small series by Marc Andreyko and Andrei Bressen).

Seems four is the number of the Stalker, and may give him more luck starting his quest this time (if not a soul to enjoy his return….).

Amazing Spider-Man's Sinister Six

True, the Sinister Six are some of the Amazing Spider-Man's most devious villains...but they also had an effect on the rest of the mighty Marvel Universe!


The Sinister Six premiered in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (January, 1964) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and included 6 of Spidey's biggest, baddest foes (at the time...all also created by Lee and Ditko!).


This was the original gathering of this bunch, and certainly a tough task for Peter Parker to face...


Let's break the six down, one by one...

One of Six: Electro

Max Dillon was an electrical lineman who, due to a freak accident gained electrical powers and set about on a life of crime, starting with Amazing Spider-Man #9 (February, 1964).


Electro quickly branched out as well, fighting Daredevil (even founding his own group of villains, the Emissaries of Evil with Leap-Frog, the Stilt-Man, the Matador and the Gladiator) and he later joined the Frightful Four (a group of villains that gathered together to fight the Fantastic Four including the Wizard and Trapster, as well as some later on this list) as well as battling against Captain America's partner, the high-flying Falcon!

Two of Six: Vulture

Adrian Toomes was an electronics engineer who was cheated out of a fortune by his business partner, and then took his own flying harness to become the Vulture (in Amazing Spider-Man #2, May, 1963)  and avenge the wrongs felt done to him.

The Vulture was a more elderly villain, set in his ways, and stayed in New York to face Spider-Man mostly, though occasionally he fought others like Daredevil and the Punisher, and even facing off against the Beyonder in Secret Wars II and Rusty Collins of the New Mutants!

Three of Six: Mysterio

Quentin Black was a master of misdirection, he worked with special effects and was a stuntman on the side, and started his individual battles with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June, 1964).

Mysterio worked as an unnamed assistant to the Tinkerer (a foe Spidey first fought in Amazing Spider-Man #2), but continued to bedevil Spider-Man over the years using tricks like a fog that nullified Spider-Man's Spider-Sense and other tricks to make Peter Parker doubt himself.  Like most Spider-Man villains, he also ended up facing Daredevil...and the one and only X-Man as well!

Four of Six: Sandman

Flint Marko was his name and he was a thug...or just a good little mama's boy named William Baker, until, while trying to escape the police, he came into contact with sand irradiated from a local nuclear plant, and left his normal problems on the beach (with Amazing Spider-Man #4, September, 1963).

Sandman started his career menacing Spider-Man, but soon branched out, facing the Human Torch alone in Strange Tales, joining the Sinister Six, then being a founder of the Frightful Four (along with the Wizard, Trapster and Medusa).  Sandman even battled the Hulk, and then became friends with the Thing...trying to turn good for a time (even ending up as a provisional member of the Avengers) before going back to crime.

Five of Six: Kraven the Hunter

Sergei Kravinoff was a big game hunter and member of a family of Russian aristocrats who had to flee the country after the Communists took it over, and crossed paths with the amazing arachnid in Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August, 1964).

Kraven the Hunter fought Spider-Man with mucho gusto, and also battled with Iron Man, jungle lord Ka-Zar, Daredevil and the Black Widow, Spider-Man's foe the Man-Wolf, Tigra the were-woman and more, considering most heroes as big game, and it was later revealed Kraven was a member of a 1950s version of the Avengers!  Kraven even took on a nobility in facing Spider-Man in Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck.

Six of Six: Dr. Octopus 

Otto Octavius was a young kid, bullied by those around him, including his father, so turned his attention to science, becoming a respected nuclear physicist, engineer and researcher... ....and while using a creation of his own (mechanical tentacles) to control a reaction, it went wrong in Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July, 1963).

Dr. Octopus became one of Spider-Man deadliest villains, founding the Sinister Six to defeat Spider-Man.  For the most part, the doctor faced Spider-Man, but occasionally fought against other members of the Marvel Universe, like Daredevil (in a pre-Elektra story with plot and art by Frank Miller), Captain America (to get his shield and improve his tentacles) and Mr. Fantastic (of the Fantastic Four, for the life of Sue's baby).  Doc Ock even got recruited for the bad guys team for the original Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars, working with Dr. Doom, the Wrecking Crew, Absorbing Man, the Enchantress, Klaw, Ultron and more!   Dr. Octopus reformed the Sinister Six (having Hobgoblin replace Kraven, who had committed suicide...Chameleon has also been a replacement as well...). 

Doc Ock continues to menace Spider-Man to this very day, having replaced Peter Parker's mind in Spider-Man's body, and lives on as the Superior Spider-Man.

Still, all these villains will come back and face Spidey again, but they have proved their reach expands through the entire Marvel Universe and beyond!