ACE COMICS
AND THE ART OF STEVE DITKO
by Ron Frantz
Chapter Four
During this time, Ditko did some humor work for Cracked Magazine. The Editor at Cracked
was a young man named Michael Delle-Femine. Since Ditko was working with both Delle-Femine
and I, it seemed natural that we became acquainted. We got to know one another fairly well,
talking from time to time on the phone. In one conversation, Delle-Femine told me that he had
difficulty finding good gag material. I suggested that he get in touch with Pat Boyette and
Jerry De Fuccio. As a result, both men were soon doing free lance work for Cracked. A few
years later, De Fuccio became Managing Editor at Cracked, when Delle-Femine moved on.
Knowing that I was looking for an inker for Ditko, Delle-Femine recommended Rick Altergott,
who had been doing freelance cartoons for Cracked. Altergott had an interesting style that had
been influenced by Wally Wood. It proved to be a curious assignment for Altergott, when I
asked him to forsake his usual style and imitate McLaughlin. Under the circumstances, he
did a fine job.
For some reason or another, The Face never sold especially well. Among other things,
the Direct Sales comic market had been saturated with black and white comics, produced by
dozens of publishers. It is not an uncommon situation in the publishing business for a good
title to fail miserably, while something of lesser quality becomes a top seller. It doesn't
make sense, but it is often the nature of the business.
The first issue of The Face sold about 15,000 copies, which was enough to make a
reasonable profit. With the second issue, sales dropped to about 10,000 which, about
broke even. By the third issue, sales dwindled to a meager 6,000 copies, resulting in a
loss of about $2,000.00. At that point, I had no choice but to give the character a rest
while I still had a roof over my head.
Over the years, several people have asked about Ditko's cover for ACE Comics Presents
#1..."Daredevil Battles The Claw." About ten years earlier, C.C. Beck did a marvelous
recreation of Jack Cole's original story from 1940, which had been published in Cartoonist
Profiles. Jerry De Fuccio had the original artwork and suggested I republish it as a
tribute to Jack Cole. As you might imagine, De Fuccio had ideas on how to package the
material and a recommendation for a cover illustrator:
"I think I'd have John Severin do the Daredevil cover. We need
mood and impact, contrasting with Cole's flat work inside. I'm convinced we need Severin
on the Daredevil cover!"
I have always admired Severin's art. However, the bottom line was that Severin wanted
too much money. He asked for $600.00, which was more than twice what I had ever paid for a
cover. I understand this is what Cracked paid Severin received to do covers. Unfortunately,
I had a limited budget to work with, so I had to find someone willing to work cheaper.
Much to De Fuccio's chagrin, I called Ditko and offered him the job. Much to my
surprise, Ditko was a fan of Jack Cole and he seemed thrilled by the prospect of doing
the cover. We agreed on a price, which included inks. I sent copies of the Jack Cole
story to Ditko for reference. A short time later, the finished cover arrived in the mail.
As I looked at the original art, I was almost blown away by its beauty.
When I went home that evening, I left the original on top of a work table. That night,
severe thunderstorms moved through the area, resulting in a number of roof leaks. When I
arrived the following morning, I was stunned to see Ditko's original soaking wet, stained
with a brown colored gunk that had leaked in from the roof. For all practical purposes, the
original was ruined.
I cleaned up the mess as best I could, and set the original out to dry, hoping for the
best. It looked a little better after it had dried out, but it was still unsuitable for
reproduction. Looking for a miracle, I took the page over to a printer friend, asking if
he could do anything with it. The printer looked if over and said: "I can't make you any
promises, but I think I might be able to salvage it". A couple of days later, he called
and said the proof was ready. By using camera filters and a bit of cutting and pasting,
the printer produced a flawless copy on silver print paper. Of course, I was thrilled.
A magnificent Ditko art job had been saved. To this very day, it remains a favorite of mine.
I was beginning to give serious thought to publishing Skyman. Jerry De Fuccio seemed to
think that Ditko's art had been a major factor in the diminishing sales on the Face.
De Fuccio believed that a change of artist would result in better sales on Skyman.
De Fuccio's believed that the only artist worthy to draw Skyman was Alex Toth. There was
some discussion between us about De Fuccio writing the script.
I had met Toth about ten years earlier and knew him reasonably well. Toth had been a
very big fan of Ogden Whitney, who had drawn the Skyman during the 1940s. For these reasons,
I considered using Toth instead of Ditko on Skyman.
While this was going on, DC caused some minor trouble by announcing plans to rename
the Star Spangled Kid as "Skyman". Naturally, I was concerned. On June 13, 1986, I received
the following letter from Toth:
"Just had a phone chat with Pat Boyette and heard about DC's
intent to do their own Skyman book (if it is public domain). So let the battlelines be
drawn. It must be a shock to you, at this late date to be compromised by DC.
Good luck!
Meanwhile (and prior to this news) I'm not sure about my wanting to draw the strip
in updated 80's form -- which was De Fuccio's idea. We've not discussed it at all, by
the way -- or even if I ought to tangle with it at all? If I did do it, I'd revise his
costume details a bit without affecting its integrity, and write it ala Whitney, as I did
with the Fox, for Archie Comics in '83."
I never quite understood why DC using the name Skyman should have concerned Toth one
way or the other. However, for some reason, it did. Then, a month later, Toth wrote
again:
"Without rights to the title Skyman, you've little cause to peruse
updating the nameless character. Chalk of your loss to experience, or lack of same, and
start from scratch with totally new original titles/characters/format/stories and have a
fresh start."
I discussed the matter with Dick Giordano, who was then Vice President at DC. From
Giordano's viewpoint, we didn't have a problem. Giordano mentioned there were several
instances where Marvel and DC had different characters using the same name. For example,
Marvel had a "Sandman" and so did DC. It didn't seem unreasonable to Giordano that DC and
ACE Comics could have different characters called Skyman. Giordano promised to pass word
to that effect along to DC's legal department, which I very much appreciated.
At this point, I no longer cared to pursue discussion with Toth. Not wanting to waste
any more time, I called Ditko, who agreed to draw Skyman with a minimum of discussion.
Both Ditko and I felt that a different writer might help. I had talked several times with
Delle-Femine, who was literally chomping at the bit for a chance to write Skyman. Delle-Femine
submitted a preliminary script which I didn't particularly like. I made a few suggestions,
expecting revisions. Instead, Delle-Femine wrote an entirely different script (using the
pen name, Mort Todd) which Ditko pencilled. I had sent Ditko copies of a dozen Skyman
stories from the 40s, drawn by Ogden Whitney. I asked, if possible, that Ditko give the
art just a touch of a "Whitney" look.
Rick Altergott had such a good time inking Face #3, that he was quite anxious to ink
Ditko on Skyman. The last time out, Altergott had been a little cramped, trying to imitate
McLaughlin. This time, I suggested that he let himself go, and do the job in his own style.
I was not disappointed. Altergott really outdid himself.
Curiously, Ditko was the only person who didn't seem to like the inking.
His complaints pertained to basic points, like Altergott not spotting blacks in certain
panels, or using too much detail...or not enough. Considering that Ditko's pencils were
often lacking in detail, I didn't think Ditko had a valid argument. In a situation like
that, it is more or less up to the inker to use his own judgement. As a matter of fact,
Ditko had made similar comments about McLaughlin. In both situations, I suggested that
if Ditko felt that strongly about it, he should consider inking his own work. No doubt,
it would have been interesting.
Return of The Skyman #1 was one of the last comics I published. For several months,
I had been hanging on by my thumbs as business went from bad to worse. My cash flow had
dwindled to almost nothing. Those were dark days for the Direct Sales comic book industry.
Distribution became almost insolvent. In a ninety day period, six different distributors
filed bankruptcy, owing me, and a lot of other publishers considerable sums of money.
In my own instance, I wrote off $25,000.00 in bad debt. Being a small publisher with
a limited cash reserve, I was unable to absorb that kind of a loss and remain in business.
I probably should have been more embittered by the experience, but I considered much of
the fault my own. I had been a little too liberal in extending credit to distributors.
When they started experiencing problems, I tried to be a nice guy and work with them.
I accomplished very little, except losing more money.
Looking back at my publishing days from twelve mileposts down the road, I have many
pleasant memories of working with Steve Ditko. We talked on the telephone many times.
I came to think of him as a friend. I had the pleasure of visiting Ditko in his office
during the summer of 1987. One of my few regrets is that we were not able to do more work
together.
In February of this year, I had the good fortune of corresponding with Dick Ayers.
As it had been with Mark Twain, the reports of Ayer's death had been greatly exaggerated.
While we were exchanging emails, I told Ayers about my effort to locate him in 1986.
Ayers responded with some interesting comments:
"I sure wish that you found me back in those 80s. I would have
enjoyed inking Steve's work in your books. I would have given it the look of those horror
stories he did so well which were the period when I admired his inking style. Reading
"The FACE", I sure visualize how I would have inked his pencils using strong lighting
as Steve did in those 50s Charlton and Atlas stories. And there I was in the '86 to
'91 period, when you did the books, sitting on the beach reading John Jakes' novels.
I would much rather have been contributing to your books."
I have often wondered if all the aggravation, worry, and hard work that went into the
production of twenty-two comics was really worth the effort? There were times when I
wondered if anyone read them at all. About the time I am ready to write off the experience
as a lost cause, something comes along to give me pause.
For example, in the June, 1999 issue of DITKOMANIA, Bill Hall brought to my attention
that I had published nearly half of the interior pages and the only cover drawn by Ditko
in 1987. The cover featured an illustration by Dick Ayers, of Gabe Jones performing a
musical duet with the Face. It probably goes without saying that this kind of thing makes
a fellow realize that his work has not gone totally unappreciated. Actually, it is kind of
a nice feeling.
In closing, I hope you enjoyed my little trek down memory lane. If anyone has comments
or questions, please feel free to email me
at : Magilla445@aol.com.
I will be delighted to hear from you.
Warmest regards,
Ron Frantz
August 31, 1999
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