X-mas Special! My three 2013 books for $99 (incl. shipping)

Looking for the Holy Trinity of Christmas gifts? How about a special on all three of my 2013 books for only $99...which includes shipping within Canada and the U.S.!

Yes, that's The Secret History of Marvel Comics, Impossible Tales: The Steve Ditko Archives vol. 4, and Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2. That's a $145 value for less than a c-note. Each book has a cover price of $40 each, but you can have them all for about 60% of the cover price (when you factor in the shipping costs).

Just email me at ditko37@rogers.com to order via Paypal and you will receive a copy of each signed by me (plus my co-author, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo for The SHoMC), very well packed to survive the journey.

And there's more! Add the following older books of mine for 50% off each (only $5 more for shipping for each two added):

• Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
• Unknown Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives vol. 2
• Mysterious Traveler: The Steve Ditko Archives vol. 3
• Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2

Here's all you need to know about my three 2013 books...

The Secret History of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is home to such legendary super-heroes as Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, all of whom have spun box office gold in the 21st century. But Marvel Comics has a secret history hidden in the shadows of these well-known franchises.

"Top 10 Bill Everett Covers" Feature for Wednesday's Heroes

As if I haven't written enough these days, here's another 2000+ words on one of my favorite artists, Bill Everett!

Craig Rogers runs the "Wednesday's Heroes" website and he commissioned me to write an installment for his "Top 10 Covers" feature, in light of the release last month of my book, Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 2.

I first caught wind of the "Top 10 Covers" feature when I saw Tom Field do the same for Gene Colan, and was interested myself in what I'd label as Everett's ten best covers, not too much how I'd ever be able to order them ten through to one.

Blessedly, Everett was great from start to finish in his career, so there's representation from 1939 up to the year of his passing in 1973.

Click here to view my crack at the "Top Ten Bill Everett Covers"!

Leave your feedback below, or at the Wednesday's Heroes site, about my 10 and how it may compare to your choices!

Bill Everett Archives Contest! Pick Your Favourite Cover!

"Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2" is making its way through bookstores and through the digital stores like Comixology, but you can win a copy of both volumes in our "Pick Your Favourite Bill Everett Cover Contest!"

Our friends over at the website, Wednesday's Heroes, run a feature called "Top Ten Covers" where, you guessed it, they feature the top ten covers of a particular artist with commentary by writers like yours truly.

I'll be doing up such a feature for Bill Everett, but here's where you can help, and snag yourself a copy of both volumes in the Archives series.

Simply tell us what is your favourite Bill Everett cover, and why it's your favourite, either in the Comments Section below, or on my personal Facebook page, or like my Bill Everett Facebook Page and post it there.

If yours is the same as mine (which I won't reveal until I post my entire list on the Wednesday's Heroes site), you'll be eligible to win both volumes. If more than one person picks my favourite, all those who did will be entered in a random draw and the winner will announced here on my site.

Got it? Here's a helpful start. Click on THIS LINK at comics.org to view 345 different Bill Everett covers. Feel feel to post the title name and issue number, as well as a link to the cover (or, if on Facebook, just post the cover). The only "catch" is that the first cover you post, that's the one that gets considered for the contest. Now...GO! (Contest ends Saturday, October 5, 2013 at 11:59pm.)

Bill Everett Archives goes digital at Comixology!

September has seen the debut on "Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2" in stores, but you can now get both volumes of the series available for digital download at Comixology! Click on the titles of each volume for links right to their respective Comixology pages.

Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 1 - collects over 200 pages of this never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). These titles feature an endless array of great vintage Everett characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Sub-Zero, The Chameleon, and many more, all produced by Everett’s shop Funnies, Inc. for such clients as Centaur, Novelty Press, and Eastern Color, and all displaying Everett’s brilliant cartooning and energetic storytelling.

This book collects over 200 pages of this never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). These titles feature an endless array of great vintage Everett characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Sub-Zero, The Chameleon, and many more, all produced by Everett’s shop Funnies, Inc. for such clients as Centaur, Novelty Press, and Eastern Color, and all displaying Everett’s brilliant cartooning and energetic storytelling. - See more at: http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/amazing-mysteries-the-bill-everett-archives-vol.-1-pre-order-2.html#sthash.HsgMHgyx.dpuf

This book collects over 200 pages of this never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). These titles feature an endless array of great vintage Everett characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Sub-Zero, The Chameleon, and many more, all produced by Everett’s shop Funnies, Inc. for such clients as Centaur, Novelty Press, and Eastern Color, and all displaying Everett’s brilliant cartooning and energetic storytelling. - See more at: http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/amazing-mysteries-the-bill-everett-archives-vol.-1-pre-order-2.html#sthash.HsgMHgyx.dpuf

Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 2 - is almost 250 pages deep; a huge heaping of not only the remainder of his Golden Age action hero material, but his 1950s horror work, his humor and romance material, as well as his phenomenal fantasy work from the early 1970s. Most everyone knows that Bill created the Sub-Mariner (for Marvel Comics #1 in 1939) and co-created Daredevil, The Man Without Fear (along with Stan Lee) in the 1960s, but he also touched every genre in comic-book history, and you see it all in this volume.

Get into the digital age with Bill Everett and Comixology!

Bill Everett Archives Vol. 2 on sale now!

You heard right. You can finally purchase "Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 2"! Click HERE to go to the ordering page on the Fantagraphics web site where you can purchase volume two, or buy both volumes at a deep discount.  

Currently, you can only purchase the book from Fantagraphics.

It may not be available in retail stores and online places like Amazon.com for another three weeks, so if you can't wait, jump on it now! (Technically, the assigned street date is September 21, but it could be available earlier, depending upon the sales channel.)

Why should you buy the Bill Everett Archives vol. 2?

1) It features Bill Everett at his most refined. We finish off the Golden Age of Comics hero material, and then move right into his work done at the peak of his career, from the 1940s right until his passing in the 1970s.

2) Get a sampling of his pre-Code horror material published by Marvel in the early 1950s. This volume features SEVEN stories from 1950-52 of Everett at his horrific best!

3) The variety of the work. See Everett draw horror, romance, humour (on his super-rare Cracked Magazine material), adventure, war, western...and Bing Crosby! There's lots of work here by Everett that I guarantee you've never seen before!

4) Almost 7000 words detailing Everett's career, including never-before-seen quotes from Everett about working with Marvel Comics in its first days back in 1939-42!

In the meantime, want to see a video preview of what the book looks like?

Bill Everett Archives v2 ToC & 23-page preview unveiled!

The release of "Heroic Tales: The Bill Everett Archives vol.2" is almost upon us! Click here to view the book's page on the Fantagraphics Books, Inc. website , has a page on its website where you can:

1) view a 23-page (!) preview.
2) pre-order the book and get vols. 1 and 2 at a major discount!
3) view the Table of Contents for the first time ever.

I emphasize the last point because the contents of the book has never been revealed until now...and it is filled with surprises! The vast majority of the book shows Bill Everett at his absolute peak, at his most refined as an artist, covering his earliest days in 1940 until his passing in 1973.

You get a huge heaping of not only his Golden Age action hero material, but his 1950s horror work, his humor and romance material, as well as his phenomenal fantasy work from the early 1970s. Most everyone knows that Bill created the Sub-Mariner (for Marvel Comics #1 in 1939) and co-created Daredevil, The Man Without Fear (along with Stan Lee) in the 1960s, but he also touched every genre in comic-book history, and you see it all in this volume.

You also get a number of essays by yours truly that covers the beginning of his days in the industry up until his passing, with quite a number of quotes by Everett from an unpublished interview in the late 1960s.

Thanks for everyone who purchased "Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 1" and we hope that you'll support this second (and last) volume dedicated to one of the medium's greatest artists: Bill Everett!

Half price on all my books at my NYC Event!

For those who have been following the new Secret History Of Marvel Comics Book Blog, you'll know that I am going to be in New York City this coming Wednesday at 7pm for a pre-release event at the Society Of Illustrators. We've given people lots of reasons to attend: 1) a special, limited edition, tipped-in plate only available in NYC; 2) discount tickets if you pre-order the book from Fantagraphics; 3) author Danny Fingeroth interviewing me and co-author, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo about the making of the book; 4) a first-look preview slide show of the book's contents, including works by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Alex Schomburg, Bill Everett and many more; 5) an audience Q&A; 6) a special book signing event after the show. And now we give you one more reason to attend!

50% of all my books
For the book signing event after the show, I'll be making the special offer of selling my books at half off the cover price. That's right; all my $40 books will be available (to also be signed by me) at only $20 per copy. The books included are:

• Strange & Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
• Unexplored Worlds: The Steve Ditko Archives vol. 2
• Mysterious Traveler: The Steve Ditko Archives vol. 3
• Fire & Water: Bill Everett...
• Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives vol. 1

I only have a certain number of each books left, so if you'd like to reserve copies, you can send the $20 via Paypal to ditko37@rogers.com, and I'll make sure you have a copy waiting for you.

* If you can't make the event, but still want to take advantage of the offer, contact me at the above email address, we can work out the cost of shipping, and I'll send off whatever is available after the event. (Remember, I will be in the U.S. during this time, so shipping will be much cheaper than sending from my hometown of Toronto, Canada.)

We're hoping to see everyone at the event as we unveil a first peek at the contents of the Secret History of Marvel Comics, available in stores by November of 2013 from Fantagraphics Books, Inc.!

Finder's Fee for Bill Everett Archives Help!

That's right - if you can help us find someone with a copy (someone who possesses the original comic book) of Target Comics v1 #8 and Silver Streak Comics #1, we will give you a copy of Heroic Comics: The Bill Everett Archives v2 (pictured left) and Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1. (Click HERE to email me.)

These are the last two items we need to complete the Bill Everett Archives v2. Target #8 contains a 6-page "Chameleon" story by Bill. Silver Streak #1 contains a text story with its first page having two illustrations by Bill. If we get these two, we'll have documented all of Bill's Golden Age work (quite an achievement, given the rarity of this 1938-42 material).

Target #8 is a challenge because it contains a Basil Wolverton Spacehawk story. Silver Streak #1 is also tough because of its 1939 date (and the Alan Cross and subsequent reprints left out the text story). I fear that the practice of "slabbing" books has likely led to a number of these key Golden Age books being encased in plastic for all time, hence the challenges we're having in locating them.

That's why we're offering a finder's fee. Of course, the person who owns the comics will get comp. copies of the Archives series, but if you find that person, we'll comp you, and put your name in the latest book too.

Volume two is going to be the last in the Bill Everett Archives series, so it would be a real shame to not have that work of his documented. Please pass a link to this message amongst your peers and retailers.

Bill Everett 1950 Lev Gleason story unearthed

Some of the most satisfying moments in putting together the Bill Everett Archives volumes have been discovering hitherto unknown works that seemingly no one knew existed, and that fall outside of Bill's normal modus operandi - i.e., working as a virtual lifer for Marvel Comics, creating the Sub-Mariner in 1939, doing all those horror books in the 1950s, and co-creating Daredevil in the 1960s.

We're still one story away - Target Comics #8 - from completing Everett's 1938-42 work in volume 2. If you have this comic, please email me.

Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1 focused on Bill's earliest Golden Age comics - from 1938 to 1942 - for companies other than the oft-reprinted Marvel superhero work. Heroic Comics: The Bill Everett Archives v2 completes that material and then moves into some of his most stunning work. And it's been this pursuit - especially the 1950s canon - that has led to some fantastic surprises.

The most recent is a story in Crime and Punishment for the company, Lev Gleason, (in)famous for its Crime Does Not Pay title and other books that brought the crime genre into comics. Collectors and historians have assumed that when Everett came back from WWII he jumped right into the Sub-Mariner books and then into the horror work. In fact, circa 1949-50, just after the Marvel heroes died off in 1949, and before the horror genre overtook that company, Everett did reach out to some other publishers to either fill a gap or load up on income, given that he would be bringing three children into the world around these years.

Everett wrote the following in a 1961 letter to comic fan, Jerry Defuccio: "Things got rough about 1949, and I felt it advisable to pack up and move back to New York. I left my family (two kids by now) in Erie, Pa., with my sister and her family, and came to N.Y. by myself. I picked up comic accounts with Quality Comics, Eastern Color, and, of course, with Stan Lee. Things finally started to good in '50, and my family joined me (four of us lived and worked - in one tiny room in a mid-town hotel for six months!), and we eventually moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey, where I brought a small house."

Everett reestablished his connection with Steve Douglas, editor at Eastern Color, and did a number of adventure and romance stories in books like Heroic Comics and Personal Love. But any 1950 Lev Gleason connection was unknown until I received an email from Mr. Monster creator, Michael T. Gilbert who sent me scans of "The Button" from Crime and Punishment #31, cover-dated October 1950. (Click on the above image to see the signed splash panel.)

Bill had done a couple of stories in 1942 for Silver Streak Comics published by Gleason, but that was while Everett was working in the Funnies Inc. studio, packaging stories for other companies. Still, in 1949/50, Everett must have reached out to Lev Gleason editor Charles Biro for some freelance work and was thrown this story. (Mr. Gilbert also sent me a text story from Silver Streak Comics #1, cover-dated Dec. 1939, that had an Everett illustration - another unknown Everett contribution!)

So far, that's the only Everett crime story for Biro/Gleason we've uncovered. Everett's not in the issue on either side - you can check out full books of the rest of the title at comicbookplus.com. Why possibly only one? Perhaps the same as why Everett only did one story for DC Comics in late 1959. Gleason editor Charles Biro and DC editor Robert Kanigher were reputed to have a "hands on" editorial style and Everett loved the freedom he had under Stan Lee.

Regardless, here's hoping we continue to uncover more Bill Everett in our journey of bringing you unreprinted works from this comic-book legend.

We're still one story away - Target Comics #8 - from completing Everett's 1938-42 run in vol. 2. If you have this comic, please email me.

Bill Everett Archives v2 title, cover & help needed!

We're happy to share with you here for the first time the cover and title for the second Bill Everett Archives. Click on the image to your left to see a larger version of the cover to Heroic Comics: The Bill Everett Archives vol.2!

The table of contents for this volume takes the quality of Everett's artwork to another level. We finish off the 1938-42 Golden Age non-Marvel work, but the rest of the volume is filled with tons of surprises that will blow your mindhole! You can't miss this one if you want to see the best of Everett's best.

It's another 200+ pages of artwork, plus all the extras you enjoyed from volume one, such as a thorough introduction and detailed notes for each section that place the work in its historical context and talks about the how the industry worked in its naive heyday.

But we need help! Get a free copy of the book!

There's two short stories from the early 1940s that we can't locate. If you have these books, please email me at ditko37@rogers.com. We'll give you the specs for the high-rez scans and how to get them to us. Here are the two books:

Silver Streak Comics #20 (Apr '42) - Rex Reed 8-page story
Target Comics v1 #8 (Sep '40) - Chameleon 6-page story

If you can help, we'll send you a free copy of the book and put your name in the Acknowledgements. Look for the volume to come out in April 2013.

Listen to 90 mins on Ditko, Everett & My Upcoming Projects

Want the latest update on the next Steve Ditko Archives (v4), Bill Everett Archives (v2), and our Secret History of Marvel Comics book that's due later this year?

Click here for the Distinguished Comic Book Podcast page run by Zack Kruse and Ben Tiede. Episode #38 is 90 minutes of yours truly discussing the aforementioned topics with Zack and Ben, easily downloadable into your tacknology. We also take a look behind the scenes at Fantagraphics with how these projects are put together, and discuss the Golden Age of comics that we've existed in for the past 10 years on two fronts. First, the stunning amount of archival reprint material put out by companies like Fantagraphics, Marvel, DC, etc. Second, the superb quality of graphic storytelling by the likes of Joe Sacco, Guy Delisle, Seth, Chester Brown, Chris Ware, etc. We're in the golden age of (cable) television drama and of comics, and we discuss the latter at length.

Bill Everett Archives v1 in comic stores this week

Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1 hits comic-book stores this week (although, in true comic-book fashion, some slipped out to the East Coast last Wednesday, and it doesn't hit bookstores and Amazon.com until next Monday).

It's 240 pages of all Everett Golden Age goodness featuring rare and never-before-reprinted work from titles such as Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940). Join us in Toronto on Wednesday, February 29 at 7pm for the Book Launch Event hosted by The Beguiling.

The reviews are coming in and are superlative regarding the production of the book, and reveal the fascination of watching Everett's style evolve. Oddly enough, some of the reviews use language that contradicts the expressed purpose of how I organized the book - by "action hero" versus strict chronology. In other words, I included works of Everett from 1940-1942 to highlight the change in Everett's style in 1940 to that well-known slick, polished style, so that readers who buy this, or the subsequent, volume would have a sampling of his work from 1938-1942 to compare.

If I had gone strictly by chronology, you would have only seen the more raw material from 1938-39, plus you wouldn't have a sampling of virtually all of Everett's creations in each volume. Alas, I don't envy a reviewer's workload when it comes to absorb 240 pages of this volume plus every other product that came out in the given week. Rest assured, though, that while the first half of volume one is Bill's comparatively raw style, you do get a huge sampling in the book's second half of his more polished work. Volume two will also take this to the next level, as it will include his super-rare 1950s romance and adventure work for Eastern, plus some unexpected Everett goodness! Here are snippets of the reviews to date:

Comic Book Resources - "What’s exciting for me about this book is watching Everett develop as an artist and storyteller and figure out the medium in relatively rapid fashion. His lettering, clunky and stylized in his initial Skyrocket Steele story, quickly more straightforward and easier to read. His composition becomes more assured and dramatic. He clearly starts thinking of the page as a unit and not a bunch of unrelated panels as they stories start to seem less cluttered and more refined.

Publisher's Weekly - "This volume provides an illuminating look at the artist’s numerous attempts at catching Sub-Marineresque lightning in a bottle for a second time."

Comics Bulletin - "For fans of comics from the dawn of the comic book era, this book is an indispensable gift from Blake Bell and Fantagraphics."

Booksteve's Library - "Presented chronologically, one can witness Bill's design skills develop by leaps and bounds even as his storytelling skills just seem to have come naturally to him. Compiled by Blake Bell, author of the still recent Bill Everett biography, who provides some insightful text and art samples throughout, fans of Golden Age comic books in general and key artists in particular have a treasure trove here similar to Vanguard's recent Wally Wood volume. Lots of fun, colorful stories with some of the best artwork of the late 1930's and early 1940's."

Michael T. Gilbert - "The reproduction is absolutely superb, shot from the original comics but really cleaned up nicely. It's truly a pleasure to look at, and Blake's insightful commentary on Everett's life and career is fascinating. Early efforts like Amazing-Man and Skyrocket Steel, reprinted here, display Bill's early efforts when he was still learning the ropes. But even then Everett had an uncanny knack for telling an exciting story with unexpected twists and fascinating characterization. For my money, Bill was as great a writer as he was an artist (and more's the pity he wasn't encouraged to write more of his own material in the 60s!). This is the collection hardcore Everett fans have always wanted to see, but never dreamed they would. The incredibly rare stories in this book aren't as slick as say, Lou Fine or Will Eisner, but the stories themselves are really terrific and very readable."

Scans of Bill Everett Sub-Mariner B&W origin story

We hope you’ll join us for the Bill Everett Book Launch on Wednesday February 29 in Toronto for Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1. We’ll be featuring some dazzling early work by Everett in my brand new slideshow on the Sub-Mariner creator, as well as on Steve Ditko. (Mysterious Traveler: The Steve Ditko Archives v3 went to the printers last week! Out in Q2!)

Perhaps the most dazzling piece of Everett artwork from the early Golden Age of Comics (Everett produced work during this period from 1938-1942 before going to war; he started up again in 1946) is the original origin story for the Sub-Mariner. Most people remember the 12-page story in color from Marvel Comics #1 in 1939 but, prior to owner Martin Goodman commissioning that first book, Everett had already worked up the original 8-page version for a movie theatre promotional giveaway called Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. It was produced by the Funnies Inc. shop (i.e., a studio of comic-book creators that packaged comics for publishers unwilling in these early days to have their own stable of paid employees) that Everett had formed with his editor at Centaur Publications, Lloyd Jacquet (where Everett started in 1938 doing comics that we feature in the Everett Archives). Copies of MPFW only surfaced in the 1970s when Jacquet passed away.

Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 had a color cover, but the interior was B&W, and led off with Everett’s Sub-Mariner origin story. Click HERE to view scans of the entire issue (thanks to author Sean Howe for the link), including the back cover drawn by Everett promoting Funnies Inc.'s desire to encourage similar business for the shop. Read through the message board thread and you’ll learn a lot about the history of this key comic book (which we discuss in great length in my Fire & Water Bill Everett biography). When the story was “reprinted” in Marvel Comics #1, Everett expanded it by four pages (the original art to page 12 is featured in the Everett Archives v1) and attempted a coloring process that, in print, didn’t yield the desired results. Seeing the story in B&W only highlights Everett's place in the absolute top tier of creators during the Golden Age of Comics. (Creators, not just pencilers, since Everett was a five-tool player, to use a baseball analogy).

My favorite panels from the story include that stunning bottom panel on pg 2 (the first shot of the diver underwater) and I've always been in love with the "grace" of the final 4 panels of the following page. Page four features the Sub-Mariner crushing the head of the diver - hardly the plain jane origins of a garden variety superhero! On page 6, I love the way he portrays the Sub-Mariner, his mother and the Emperor; such fluidity in that line work. Once Everett gets down to the business of pumping out the strip, and his other work for Funnies Inc., on a monthly basis, we don't see the Sub-Mariner portrayed in this fashion again. And, of course, we get to see history clarified in that last panel on pg. 8 - April 1939 and "continued next week", removed for the expanded version (12 pgs) in Marvel Comics #1. The historical importance of MPFW can never be underestimated, in terms of writing the history of Marvel Comics, the company.

As we point out in the Everett Archives v1, Bill’s style in 1938-39 is very raw and dynamic, compared to this first Sub-Mariner story, until 1940 when that “polish” for which he became famous kicks into high gear on strips like Hydroman. But you can clearly see from these scans why Everett was considered a prodigy. He had artistic talent in spades before he entered comic books and it shines through in the original origin story of the Sub-Mariner in B&W.

Bill Everett Archives v1 Toronto Book Launch Event

On Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 7pm, The Beguiling (Toronto's finest book store) is hosting a book launch for the release of my latest book, Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1. It looks like the book will make its way into stores on the Wednesday prior, so there will be plenty of copies available for purchase!

The event features a book signing and exclusive slide show entitled "Bill Everett and Steve Ditko: Before the Sub-Mariner and Spider-Man" (as we also preview the third volume of my Steve Ditko Archives series, out in April). Join our Facebook Page for the Event.

The event is being held right next to The Beguiling at The Central (restaurant and bar), 603 Markham St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All those who attend will receive a signed Everett Archives v1 tipped-in bookplate by me!

Bill Everett created the Sub-Mariner (the first anti-hero and mutant of the Marvel Universe), and co-created Daredevil. "The Bill Everett Archives v1" reprints for the first time Everett's earliest work in comics from 1938-42 featuring his creations Amazing Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele and many more!

Steve Ditko is the co-creator and original artist of the Amazing Spider-Man, but produced an entire library worth of work in the decade prior. "Mysterious Traveler: The Steve Ditko Archives v3" debuts in April and focuses on Ditko's stellar work from 1957 for Charlton Comics.
 
More information on Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1
View the Bill Everett Archives v1 promo press sheet for more information on the book, published by Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

Pre-order from Amazon.com or directly from the publisher, Fantagraphics Books Inc.
 
Listen to me talk about the Bill Everett and Steve Ditko Archives series on Inkstuds.com and Collected Comics Library.

Watch a video preview below and read a 23-page excerpt featuring three Hydroman stories!

"Purchase My Books" Page is now up!

I've just created a "Purchase My Books" page on my blog where you can order (and pre-order) all my books from Amazon.com, and those to which I've contributed, at big discounts! You can also order directly from my publisher Fantagraphics Books Inc. or if you want to order a signed copy of a book directly from me, please email me at ditko37@rogers.com. A nice checklist of my writing career...which also includes an oddity: I ran a Thompson Twins fan web site starting in 1996 and BMG U.K. hired me in 2003 to write the linear notes and compose the track listing for the Greatest Hits of the 1980s new wave, synth-pop power house (known mostly for their #1 hit, Hold Me Now). Lead singer Tom Bailey still pays compliments to my recap of that era. Anyway, help me feed my hungry mouths with a purchase of my books, thank you kindly!

Bill Everett Archives v1 advance copies in!

The advance copies of Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1 have arrived on U.S. shores! My publisher, Fantagraphics, has received the small batch, destined for promotional outlets, and the book looks amazing. The rest of the print run is literally on a slow boat from China and will likely hit stores in late January or early February. You can pre-order it from Amazon.com at the link above, or pre-order it directly from Fantagraphics to get it ahead of the game (they ship out pre-orders as soon as the books hit their warehouse). I am very proud of this volume for a number of reasons. First and foremost is that it gets this super-rare, super-expensive, super-awesome Bill Everett artwork out there for the first time. When the book finally hits stores, I'll run through the Overstreet Price Guide and tally up how much it would cost to buy all this material even in not-so-good condition. Prediction: a lot of money. And that's even if you could find half of it. There is so much super-rare, barely-ever-seen material in this book; some illustrations that I had never even seen before until putting together this volume.

Second reason for contentment is how I organized the book - by hero, not by chronology - and how that plays out so wonderfully in the design. Each action hero has its own special section, introduced by some context regarding their history and appearances. It's so "colourfully" organized too, so well designed overall and with such wonderful reproduction of this 1938-42 artwork. Thirdly, there's the value of the introductory essay. I went to town on the piece, drawing the lines from the earliest sequential art to this specific period in history. That's important given that Everett's first work in comics predates every major superhero milestone in comic-book history.

Need proof of how good this book looks? Here's a POV promo video on YouTube:

Need more proof? Read this 23-page .pdf preview that features three Hydroman stories! And here's a Facebook Photo Album with lots of still photos of the book and insides. Have to get back to work now on the distributor catalog text for volume two...

Bill Everett invades Spain!

As we await the arrival of Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1 from the printers, take a look at where my Bill Everett biography / art book, Fire & Water, is turning up! Clearly, La Central (located in Barcelona, Spain) is a fine purveyor of quality books, based on the selection of graphic novels present in the photos (courtesy of Bill's daughter, Wendy Everett)...


Technically, these photos were from late last year, and it's not the first time I've invaded Spain. The first Steve Ditko Archives volume was translated into the Spanish language.

Bill Everett Archives v1 final cover! Book to printers today!

It's equal parts exhilaration and unease whenever a book you've taken from conception to reality leaves the publisher's hand for the printing press. It's that moment when that moment comes, after months and months of knowing you can make changes, that you can no longer have an impact on what will be the final product that is in print forever.

I've gotten much better about being super-diligent on checking and rechecking those final .pdfs for errors, but you just never know. Mark Evanier once said that it was inevitable that he'd get back a book, and the first page he'd open would have the one type in the entire job.

I feel great about Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1 for numerous reasons, not the least is how amazing the final cover has turned out. Lots of time in this industry, the publisher slaps together a cover just to get it into the distributor's catalog on time because that information has to be prepared a good year or so in advance. With my book going off to the printers today (hopefully to arrive in stores before Christmas), I can finally share the finished version of the cover; in fact, the entire cover. Click on the top left image for the front cover, or click on the image below for the back, spine and front cover...

Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1 collects, for the first time, some of the earliest original comic-book material, all from the pen of Bill Everett – one of the true originals in the annals of the Golden Age of Comic Books. Everett – one of the first “five-tool players”: writer, penciller, inker, letterer and colorist – created the Sub-Mariner in 1939, the first mutant in the Marvel Comics Universe and the first anti-hero in comics. It was Everett’s sensibilities that paved the way for the X-Men’s Wolverine and other morally-challenged characters whose anger and disfranchisement saw them walk a fine line between hero and outlaw.

Everett is also “famously unknown” for co-creating the blind superhero, Daredevil, in 1963 with Stan Lee during the Silver Age of Marvel Comics. Bill Everett, however, wasn’t always a “Marvel Man”.

This volume brings together rare and classic material from as early as 1938, over a year before Marvel Comics #1 hit newsstands in late 1939. The pages that follow feature Everett's work for Golden Age titles like Amazing Mystery Funnies (1938), Amazing-Man Comics (1939), Target Comics (1940), Heroic Comics (1940), and Blue Bolt Comics (1940) to name a few. These books display an endless array of Everett-drawn characters such as Amazing-Man, Hydroman, Skyrocket Steele, Dirk the Demon and more. The majority of the comics were produced during Everett's early years as lead artist and Art Director for a company named “Funnies Inc.”, a collective of writers and artists that sold packaged comic books to first-generation comic-book companies like Centaur Publications, Novelty Press, Eastern Color and Timely Publications (known today as Marvel Comics).

Click HERE to pre-order the book from Amazon.com and stay tuned to this blog for more updates and previews as we inch closer to the book's release date!

Bill Everett Archives v1 in September "Previews"

Run, don't walk, to your local comic-book store, because "Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1" is available in the September "Previews" catalog for ordering! This means the book is scheduled to arrive in comic-book stores in November (I'd say late November). "Previews" is the catalog from the distributor (Diamond) which supplies all comic-book stores and you can pre-order your November purchases just by contacting your local store. This is important because, a lot of times, comic-book stores order just what they know, and what customers tell them they want. Times are tight and they often don't take a chance on non-returnable books (which is all that the distributor, Diamond, offers). If you really want to see publishers continuing to put out Golden Age Comics material, you need to put your stake in the sand early, so that the publishers know this is desired material and can order enough to meet the demand.

Information you need to order:

On the Diamond Customer Ordering Form, there's an ordering code for the book (which is on pg. 297 of the catalog). The ordering code is SEP11 1101. Give this to your comic-store owner and ask him to order the book. You don't pay until the book arrives. Click HERE to read all the details about the book. The 5000-word introduction of the history of comics leading up to, and including, Bill Everett's entrance into the comic-book field in 1938 is worth the price of admission alone!

Intro. to Bill Everett Archives v1 off to the publisher today!

Whoever said "half of writing is rewriting" I don't think got their percentages quite right. Today, I'm sending to my publisher, Fantagraphics, the completed introductory essay to my upcoming book, Amazing Mysteries: The Bill Everett Archives v1, that will make its debut at this year's San Diego Comicon. The book collects Bill Everett's non-Marvel Comics work from 1938-42 for the first time.

So, other than writing this blog post, what do you think I'd be doing today? Surely not rewriting a 335-word passage at the 500-word mark of this 5000-word essay, right?

Well, you'd be wrong. In giving the introduction one final read, I wasn't happy with this 335-word section that speaks to the evolution of sequential art in the 19th century, the comic strip, and the influence of the Hearst/Pulitzer newspapers. Thankfully, in part, by just moving some elements around, it reads more clearly and makes its point more succinctly.

Lots of people use the first appearance of Superman in 1938, or Marvel Comics #1 in 1939 (featuring Bill Everett's The Sub-Mariner), as the landmark in comic-book history and they certainly are key in the history of the super-hero, but Bill Everett's beginnings in the comic-book industry pre-date both events. His career can be viewed as a bridge between the evolution of the comic-book form and the whirlwind of superhero comic books that led the charge into World War II. We explore the connections in essay and I've been rewriting it until I've gotten it right...which I've hopefully done this morning!