Censorship has been around longer than Steve Ditko, and while he has always
been held in the higher regard as an artist, that hasn't placed him above having
his artwork altered. The Comics Code Authority kicked in around 1955, and kicked out
alot of the "filth" (aka anything interesting) that was supposedly perverting young
minds. And while one may be able to make an argument against rampant depictions
and rape and pillage in a children's medium, the Code had set up stringent rules
of conduct to manipulate the reader's thought process, as it related to good and
evil. The Code was to be a moral authority, and the results could be rather
humourous at times.
Strange that a company like Charlton would even notice such a thing, but
the 'scare' must have still been on in the late '50s. But Ditko's work being
censored was not limited to Charlton. No, Marvel also must have had a 'Code
checker'. And again, the censorship of Ditko's work had nothing to do with
bloodshed or gore, or criminal acts, but with the Code's desire to manipulate
the reader's sense of good and evil. Once again, they achieve their aims
with laughable results in the final panel of this page from the April 1961 issue
of STRANGE TALES #83.
The story consists of a vengeful socialite, who has supposedly met the
man of her dreams at a party. Everyone is to take off their masks at midnight,
but trouble lurks below.....
.....once more Ditko's original ending is CENSORED.
"What mask?" says the Devil, but clearly this would have corrupted too
many young minds. Whomever reviewed this story at Marvel in 1961 (Stan Lee
himself?) must have believed it to violate the Code's authority when it
came to presenting the Devil in anyway (as no one was allowed to use
certain words in the title of a comic, or present stories on vampires
and other undead creatures). The last two inset panels are clearly not by
Ditko's hand, and were clearly placed in afterwards to water down the story
for the kiddies. POOF! He ain't the Devil anymore, and mankind survives
to live another day!
IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER EXAMPLES OF DITKO (or any other Marvel Silver Age
artist) BEING CENSORED OR ALTERED, PLEASE E-MAIL
ME, SO THAT I CAN ADD IT TO THIS SECTION. YOU WILL RECEIVE FULL CREDIT FOR YOUR
CONTRIBUTIONS.
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