Heading:
Author:
Title: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL No. 2 * Steve Ditko Collection
Place Published:
Publisher:Marvel [Indicia: Non-Pareil Publishing Group]
Date Published: [September], 1965
Description:

CGC certified: Fine (6.0). Off-white to white pages. STEVE DITKO COLLECTION. Cover: Steve Ditko pencils and inks. Story: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko. Steve Ditko pencils and inks. Lettering: Sam Rosen.

Provenance: From the Steve Ditko Estate, CGC-certified as Steve Ditko's personal copy, and with a certificate of authenticity signed by Mr. Patrick S. Ditko, Steve Ditko's brother. Not cleaned and pressed in order to preserve all traces of Steve Ditko's handling. GPAnalysis: A non-Ditko Collection 6.0 sold for $190 in 9/22.

A note on the Ditko Collection: Steve Ditko owned from one to three copies of each of the 41 Spider-Man comics that he drew (comprising Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spider-Man #s 1-38, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #s 1 & 2). The only complete set of 41 Spidey comics belonging to Ditko is featured in this sale; an incomplete set of 23 Spidey comics was offered last year by another auction house; and a final incomplete set of 19 Spidey comics will be offered by PBA next year.

Ditko Collection Census: There are two Ditko Collection copies of ASM Annual #2: 5.5 and 6.0. This is the highest-graded copy.

Spidey and Dr. Strange's worlds collide. It's a super fun mag, but not the senses-shattering tour-de-force that the first annual was. Andrew Rilstone says ASM Annual #2 falls short due to its omission of the core characters who help define Ditko's Spider-Man universe: Aunt May, Betty Brant, JJJ, Flash Thompson, and Liz Allen. "The best Spider-Man stories are the ones involving all five characters. When none of them appear (as in the Doctor Strange annual) what we are left with barely counts as a Spider-Man story at all." – Andrew Rilstone, Listen Bud: The First Great Graphic Novel in American Literature. Unpublished manuscript, p. 305.

Why did Spidey plotter Steve Ditko exclude Spidey's supporting cast from this mag? It looks Spidey's co-star, Dr. Strange, is to blame. According to one of Ditko's mini-essays, the artist disliked superhero cross-overs in ASM: "Everyone used from another hero's story-world prevented us from focusing on... and developing our own unique story-world of characters and villains." – Steve Ditko, "Guest-Stars: Heroes and Villains," The Comics, Vol. 14, No. 7, July 2003.

Enjoying the Spidey Sale? Order a fully-illustrated softcover catalogue for 30 bucks. Only about 100 copies were printed and they're going fast. To reserve a copy, contact PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consign to PBA Galleries. Our comic sales average a 98% sell-through rate, our prices realized are top-of-the-market, and our research-intensive catalogues are the best in the business. Seeking Silver Age Marvel, Golden Age superheroes, and pre-Code horror. Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.