Funny Stuff: "Love Is a Dandy!" by Skeates, Ditko, and Wood
Crazy story. Check. Gorgeous art. Check. Sight gags that make you chuckle. Check. Pretty girls. Check. Yep, it's a PLOP! story by Steve Skeates, Steve Ditko, and Wally Wood. From PLOP! #16 (May 1975), here's "Love Is a Dandy!"
I can't believe you found this, Goove! This is one of my all-time faves by Ditko! Nothing like love blooming between a man an a flower! Those greens tho are pretty good in a salad. Thanks for posting!
Ditko & Wood were slumming it by this time. Skeates' story is forced, but has a few laughs. I preferred the first five issues of Plop!, but these later ones were of at least some interest.
I respectfully disagree. I thought the art was magnificent here. Also check out Stalker from DC which came out around the same time. It was another great teaming of Ditko and Wood.
Always glad to hear different opinions. I don't think this story holds a candle to Wood's work in the first 23 issues of Mad, and his later work in the b&w magazine from 1955-64 (often using duoshade paper or ink washes) was magnificent. It had an incredible intensity which was lacking in his post 1964 work. One of Wood's assistants said he suffered from severe migraines from doing the Mad work. I can understand that, as he was so fully invested in those pages---even more than he was in the E.C. sci fi comics (Which is saying a lot). I own a number of Mad issues from 1956 to 1964 (and all of them from 1964-76), and Wood was amazing there. He really simplified his comics work on Daredevil at Marvel and for Tower Comics titles. Still great stuff, but not on the level of the Mad work up to 1964.
I'm not excited by Ditko's post Marvel work after 1966 with perhaps the exception of a few Warren mag stories where he used ink wash to give more dimension to his imagery.
His '70s output at DC was handiwork with the same old panels, figures, & stock characters/expressions. It's likely he stopped caring & stopped learning. His work of the past 20 years is tragically amateurish, having devolved to the level of "outsider art." These are crazed Objectivist rants that are sold online by Robin Snyder.
That's my take. Feel free to disagree! The bottom line that we agree on is that comics are meant to be fun & pleasantly diverting. Seeing these scans from the Groovy Era evokes a lot of nostalgia for those pre-internet days of my youth.
Weird story indeed! I could see Wally Wood very well, but it was so difficult to spot Ditko (and I usually can). Panel 3 is Ditko,yes, but only because I knew. I'd say: Wally Wood AND Steve Ditko.
Woody usually dominated any other artist he inked (Jose Delbo on Wonder Woman, e.g.). I see Ditko all over this story. Woods biggest contribution was in giving the inks a lushness Ditko's pencils Didn't have, & in making the brunette more fulsome & prettier than Ditko alone would have.
Amazingly Ditko is still alive! Most of the late Golden Age greats of his generation are long gone.
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!
Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.
All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.
As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!
I can't believe you found this, Goove! This is one of my all-time faves by Ditko! Nothing like love blooming between a man an a flower! Those greens tho are pretty good in a salad. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteDitko doing comedy? Whodathunk?
ReplyDeleteDitko & Wood were slumming it by this time. Skeates' story is forced, but has a few laughs. I preferred the first five issues of Plop!, but these later ones were of at least some interest.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
Chris A.
I respectfully disagree. I thought the art was magnificent here. Also check out Stalker from DC which came out around the same time. It was another great teaming of Ditko and Wood.
DeleteAlways glad to hear different opinions. I don't think this story holds a candle to Wood's work in the first 23 issues of Mad, and his later work in the b&w magazine from 1955-64 (often using duoshade paper or ink washes) was magnificent. It had an incredible intensity which was lacking in his post 1964 work. One of Wood's assistants said he suffered from severe migraines from doing the Mad work. I can understand that, as he was so fully invested in those pages---even more than he was in the E.C. sci fi comics (Which is saying a lot). I own a number of Mad issues from 1956 to 1964 (and all of them from 1964-76), and Wood was amazing there. He really simplified his comics work on Daredevil at Marvel and for Tower Comics titles. Still great stuff, but not on the level of the Mad work up to 1964.
DeleteI'm not excited by Ditko's post Marvel work after 1966 with perhaps the exception of a few Warren mag stories where he used ink wash to give more dimension to his imagery.
His '70s output at DC was handiwork with the same old panels, figures, & stock characters/expressions. It's likely he stopped caring & stopped learning. His work of the past 20 years is tragically amateurish, having devolved to the level of "outsider art." These are crazed Objectivist rants that are sold online by Robin Snyder.
That's my take. Feel free to disagree! The bottom line that we agree on is that comics are meant to be fun & pleasantly diverting. Seeing these scans from the Groovy Era evokes a lot of nostalgia for those pre-internet days of my youth.
Best regards,
Chris A.
Ditko and Wood together always brought out the best in each other.
ReplyDeleteWeird story indeed!
ReplyDeleteI could see Wally Wood very well, but it was so difficult to spot Ditko (and I usually can).
Panel 3 is Ditko,yes, but only because I knew.
I'd say: Wally Wood AND Steve Ditko.
Woody usually dominated any other artist he inked (Jose Delbo on Wonder Woman, e.g.). I see Ditko all over this story. Woods biggest contribution was in giving the inks a lushness Ditko's pencils Didn't have, & in making the brunette more fulsome & prettier than Ditko alone would have.
DeleteAmazingly Ditko is still alive! Most of the late Golden Age greats of his generation are long gone.
Regards,
Chris A.
Unfortunately, he's evolved into a cranky Objectivist.
Delete