This circa 1870s cartoon advertisement for Van Buskirk’s Fragrant Sozodont tooth wash,  was illustrated by comic artist Gray Parker, known for his depictions of social life amongst New York City’s aristocracy, of which he was a member. He continued to create cartoons more than a decade after this ad, strongly hinting he suffered no retributions for helping to promote a product whose effects were reputedly the opposite of whitening teeth… 

Part 2 of this week’s Valentine’s Day tribute to the commercialization of Love.

Doug Wheeler

In honor of the commercialization of Romance and this weekend’s approaching Valentine’s Day, I’ll be posting a number of cartoon advertisements touting how to attain love via the correct product purchase. 

Enjoy today’s entry, as you suck in those waists for Love!

Doug Wheeler

Click here to buy this book

MoCCA (The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) is the most wonderful place in the world! It’s in New York City (arguably the birthplace of comic strips and comic books) and is staffed by the most enthusiastic and nicest people! Ellen Abramowitz and Karl Erickson head the terrifically dedicated  army of volunteers. I always get a big smile on my face when I go there, like I did for their current kick-ass exhibit–perfectly presented–of Archie Comics. But I had a REALLY big smile on my face when I went to talk last night at MoCCA about The Art of Ditko–it was so fun and also so many of my friends showed up. Here’s some photos of the event that Gary Dunaier kindly took–with revealing photos of special guest “Faux Stan Lee” and the star of the show, in a very rare public appearance, “Faux Ditko”!

I’m on the panel, between two of my heroes, “Faux Stan Lee” and “Faux Ditko”–revealed to be two of my good friends–Jim Salicrup and Bob Burton–this sure surprised the hell out of me!

The crowd of Ditko fans raptly listening to my interview with actual dialogue from 1960s fanzine interviews with Ditko and Stan Lee’s introduction to The Art of Ditko.

“Faux Stan Lee,” “Faux Ditko” and “No-Faux Yoe” (me) talk about Steve Ditko’s amazing comics collected in the book.

You must go to MoCCA, and support this wonderful institution–you’ll enjoy yourself immensely. Hey, you can visit virtually right now and sign up to be a member and get involved. Go here: MoCCA!

Order the beautiful large format faux leather “Art of Ditko” by clicking here!

l Love this story  because it’s about a comic book artist–a Faux “Ditko” as it were. And last night  I had the plesu of interviewing  Faux “Ditko” at beautiful MoCCA museum . The event was a lot of fun and I much seeing many readers of The ITCH Blog there!

Here’s the book Ditko fans are raving about! A revealing introduction by Stan Lee. Essays by Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker and Ditko’s teacher), John Romita (who followed Ditko on Spiderman) and P. Craig Russel (who inked Ditko). And 30 of Ditko’s most innovative stories, rare and unpublished art…and the book concludes with some of Ditko’s own words!

Order the beautiful large format faux leather “Art of Ditko” by clicking here!

Our celebration of the work of Steve Ditko continues with more links today starting with a long, semi-scholarly essay by Christopher Hayton on Mr. D’s Charlton collaborations with Joe Gill on low budget monster movie adaptations and continuations.

http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=131

Here’s a brief but nicely illustrated look at some of Steve’s most obscure work–his children’s books starring the GOBOTS.

http://livingbetweenwednesdays.com/?p=98

You say you know as much as anyone about the mysterious Mister Ditko and you just want to talk about him with other fans? Well, here’s DITKOLAND! THE STEVE DITKO PLAYGROUP. Sounds like just the board you’re looking for.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/260331/

Dig this lush Wally Wood-ish sci-fi tale by the master, Ditko! See you tonight when I interview Faux “Ditko” with special guest Faux “Stan Lee” at MoCCA, The Museum Of Comic and Cartoon Art in NYC. 594 Broadway, Suite 401 (btwn. Houston and Prince) 7:00.

Here’s the book Ditko fans are raving about! A revealing introduction by Stan Lee. Essays by Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker and Ditko’s teacher), John Romita (who followed Ditko on Spiderman) and P. Craig Russel (who inked Ditko). And 30 of Ditko’s most innovative stories, rare and unpublished art…and the book concludes with some of Ditko’s own words!

Order the beautiful large format faux leather “Art of Ditko” by clicking here!

To say I am having technical difficulties is an understatement as I have lost my entire hard drive and everything on it, only a relataively small percentage of which was backed up. Lesson here: Back up EVERYTHING and do it now!

That said, I borrowed a laptop because…well…It’s Steve Ditko Week!

Here’s a great, detailed piece on THE SECRET ORIGINS OF STEVE DITKO’S MR. A by the pseudonymous “Robby Reed” from the late, lamented DIAL B FOR BLOG.

http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/296/

THE ILLUSTRATED STEVE DITKO COMPENDIUM is a site still under construction but what’s there looks great thus far.Check it out at:

http://www.ditko-fever.com/

Finally today, believe it or not, an actual interview with the Man of Mystery himself from a 1968 fanzine! Ditko was, at one time, quite accessible to fans through zines and even attended early conventions but as always seems to happen, some less than scrupulous fans ruined it for the rest of us and he turned his back. Even here in this brief but  fascinating interview he remains mysterious.

http://www.vicsage.com/wp/interviews/interview-with-ditko-from-marvel-main-4/

The illustration seen above featuring a whole bunch of characters associated with our spotlight star of the week is from legendary fan artist Russ Maheras.

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This is my favorite story in the book. One of my favorite comic stories of all time, really. The script is touching, thought provoking. Ditko’s layouts, his point of views, make it compelling. Every use of close ups ans long shots is perfect. It’s not a flashy sci-fi comic or a dark atmospheric horror story. It’s just simply a story about a simple boy in the back yard–and philosophy–and life. I love it.

Here’s the book Ditko fans are raving about! A revealing introduction by Stan Lee. Essays by Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker and Ditko’s teacher), John Romita (who followed Ditko on Spiderman) and P. Craig Russel (who inked Ditko). And 30 of Ditko’s most innovative stories, rare and unpublished art…and the book concludes with some of Ditko’s own words!

Order the beautiful large format faux leather “Art of Ditko” by clicking here!