Caleb Orecchio here with a brief discourse on the fundamental prowess of Steve Ditko, and more!
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This Ditko spread is breathtaking. To me at least. It’s so simple. Simple and balanced colors, simple shapes, strong silhouettes, and I love the way he uses hatching to convey the foggy atmosphere. I understand the action immediately. It’s beautifully structured like a painting. Fundamental. Every comic student should be made to copy it.
Consider the left page. Notice how the top and middle tiers make an “X” so to speak. They correspond or “rhyme.”
You see what I mean? And look, that bottom wide panel opens it up while maintaining the flow of images.
And that’s just the obvious stuff I notice! It is not terribly complicated, but it’s smart comics. Ditko is like a good quarterback. He patiently stays in the pocket – he waits he waits – then bang – right in the bread basket! He’s not resorting to hail marys or 180 degree flipping of perspective. The entire page is essentially from the same camera angle, he just pulls it in and out to create tension. Then, on the next page, he flips the perspective to show spacial relations and to keep the action moving towards the center of the page.
The result is great sequencing on top of the fact that the spread itself is pleasing to look at as a whole. I can’t stop looking at it.
Oh yeah, also check out the Pat Boyette strip in this issue of Haunted #14 (1973) if you can find it – – it’s really good too.
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if you don’t know, now you know
- Did you see the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum announcement for the 2018 Lucy Shelton Caswell Research Award winners? One of three recipients was our own Frank Santoro! Go read all about what Frank and the other cartoon researchers will be getting into.
- Scott Cederlund takes a look at the newest Love and Rockets over on Panel Patter.
- Elijah Brubaker is the latest guest on Inkstuds.
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Suzy and Cecil – 6-18-18 – by Gabriella Tito