Thursday, September 03, 2009

Steve Ditko Cover of the Week: Space War #29

This cover is a reworked splash page from one of the late 50s stories reprinted within. It was also used as the cover to Space Adventures #31, but I much prefer it here. Ditko's signature was repositioned and the image was increase a bit at the bottom. I actually really like the way it was recoloured, as it comes across as very vivid. Almost every colour has been changed, or at the very least, a new shade was select and it is a vast improvement. There are certain aspects of this particular image that have a Pete Morisi vibe to them. Perhaps it is because so man figures are in profile, or perhaps it's the dark, dark brown of the creatures' fur that almost comes across like that heavy Morisi black. In the original image, it's a much lighter shade of brown and the actual strands of fur are much more visible. That it loss with the darkening, but for me, it comes across as much intense. Overall, I really like the way it is laid out, and the main figure's heroic pose is quite dynamic. As an aside, is anyone familiar with the lead story 'Underground War'. The artwork is signed 'A. Elias', and I've got to think it is a clever nom de plume and I don't think it's a reprint as the artwork is very contemporary. Does anyone have any info on that story?

1 comment:

Jeremy A. Patterson said...

This was the second issue of this incarnation of 'Space War'!

J.A.P.