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Author:
Title: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 31 * Steve Ditko Collection
Place Published:
Publisher:Marvel Pop-Art Productions [Indicia: Non-Pareil Publishing Group]
Date Published: 24077
Description:

CGC certified: VG+ (4.5). Off-white pages. STEVE DITKO COLLECTION. Cover: Steve Ditko pencils and inks, Stan Goldberg colors. Story: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Art: Steve Ditko. Colors: Stan Goldberg? Lettering: Sam Rosen, Artie Simek.

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: PBA sold a Ditko Collection 5.0 for $4687 in 12/21. Heritage sold a Ditko Collection 6.5 for $4560 in 9/21. A non-Ditko Collection 4.5 sold for $360 in 5/23.

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 was featured in PBA's 12/22 "Spidey Sale, Including the Steve Ditko Collection Part One"; an incomplete set of 23 Ditko Collection Spidey comics was offered in 2021 by Heritage; and a final incomplete set of 19 Ditko Collection Spidey comics is offered in this sale.

Ditko Collection Census: There are three Ditko Collection copies of ASM #31: 4.5, 5.0 and 6.5.

First installment of the classic "Master Planner" three-parter, a saga that's come to define the Lee-Ditko era of Amazing Spider-Man. According to British blogger Andrew Rilstone, the trilogy that starts with this ish vindicates Steve Ditko's vision of Amazing Spider-Man as a vehicle for Peter Parker's psychological dramas, in contrast to Stan Lee's vision of ASM as an action-based mag with brief Parker interludes.

"This isn't a story about a superhero with a secret identity: it's a story about a young man with superpowers who sometimes wears a garish costume. It is Peter Parker who finally stands up to J.J.J and demands a fair day's pay for an honest day's work. It is Peter Parker who hits Ned Leeds and distances himself from his immature classmates. But it is also Peter Parker who lifts two hundred tons of wreckage. The half-Parker/half-Spider- Man Gemini face is absent. There is no need for it. Parker is Spider-Man and Spider-Man is Parker.... If Stan Lee turned Steve Ditko's idiosyncratic anti-hero into a '70s Superman who would conquer the world, then so much the better for Stan Lee. But just for today, I ask you to consider Amazing Spider-Man #s 1-33 as a completed work of art: the first great graphic novel in American literature." – Andrew Rilstone, Listen Bud: The First Great Graphic Novel in American Literature. Unpublished manuscript, p. 345.

A limited edition of ten hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a few dozen softcovers. Fun reference, great keepsake, fully illustrated, chockablock with obscure facts, gags, bon mots. Softcovers are $40, deluxe hardcovers with dust jackets and limitation plates are $200. These books always go fast so don't delay. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Fall 2023 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of funnybook fiends. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." – R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Coming soon: The DC Universe Collection, featuring over 40,000 comics, comprising every comic book published by DC for retail sale between 1934 and 2014. Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com to get on the notifications list.