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.
And, sigh...it's one of the most famous covers of all time.
Ditko drew up the first cover to Spider-Man's first appearance in
AMAZING FANTASY #15 (Aug '62). The cover below is much truer to the spirit (and far
more physically realistic) of the Spider-Man comic than the published version -
the famous Kirby version, inked by Ditko. Of course, Lee liked the cosmic Kirby
covers, but he quickly realized Kirby's majestic style didn't fit the Spider-Man
ethos. Below is the original cover drawn by Ditko, and you can see how it captures
the essence of the ''street'', of the man of the street, the perspective at the
street level. How Ditko.
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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