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.
Ditko was famous for his great extras added to his titles and especially
the annuals. In AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #20 (Jan '65), Ditko did a pin-up which
would be subjected to some alterations. Here's a B&W copy of the original...
When Ditko left Marvel in early 1966, John Romita Sr. stepped in as the Spider-Man
artist. When MARVEL TALES #30 (Apr '71) came out, it has a reprint of Ditko's
pin-up, but since a new generation of Marvel fans were used to Romita Sr.'s version
of Peter Parker, Marvel edited Ditko's original, and left Ol' Peter without a neck...
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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