Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle and Captain Atom Collected?
Recently I've read in a history of Tower Comics that Steve Ditko stopped by to do some work for them/Wally Wood on some of the issues of the Thunder Agents... on his way to Charleton Comics.
This implies that he was always aware that he was going to Charleton, and that the work at Tower was never intended to be a 'home' for him and his efforts.
Anyway, my question revolves around his re-imagining of Blue Beetle, which I understand was a character from the Golden Age, updated and brought into the Silver Age. He also created from whole cloth, Captain Atom.
Have either of these efforts been collected? In their entirety? Have there been a Blue Beetle Omnibus or a Captain Atom Omnibus? Why or why not.... were they not that successful?
I would think that as the creator of Dr. Strange and co-creator of Spider-Man, his next work would have been very high profile and desirable. So, why not?
Replies
You're in luck, Kirk! They've both been reprinted... and in the same volumes. DC published the Action Heroes Archives volumes 1 & 2, combining both Captain Atom and Blue Beetle stories (along with the Question, I believe), and I think between the two volumes, it's Ditko's entire output.
Both books are pricey, of course, being Archives. But if you look online or or find them at a con, you can probably get a bargain.
Ditko's early Captain Atom was in Volume One. The Captain Atom stories he did post-Spider-Man are in Volume Two, along with all of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle stories. I only got Volume 2 because the older Captain Atom stories don't appeal to me as much. The writing and art don't stand up to what came later.
I have been fortunate enough to have had my dirt cheap low ball make an offer bid ACCEPTeD for the first THUNDER AGENTS archive volume 1, and so, I may have some loose change kicking around to invest in this Action Heroes Archive Vol. 2. What a pair that will make on my book shelf, eh?
So, If I can find a few saw bucks to spend, I may follow your suggestions.
In the meantime, I still need to liquidate my Essential Hulk #1, Rampaging Hulk #1, Teen Titans #2, Essential Human Torch, and Uncanny X=men #4 Essentials and Showcases. So, feel free to thill me with an offer for these b&w collections so that I may humbly pursue this Ditko period in the Archive!
Wait, I'm confused.
You say the first volume is just older Captain Atom stories?
and the Ditko work is in Volume 2? So it's #2 that I want?
Then why does Tales of wonder have ads that show Blue Beetle, Capt Atom and the Question on the cover of Volume #1
and some other lone hero on the cover of Volume #2. Isn't that BACKWARDS? Is it that Tales of Wonder have the pics backwards, or is it that DC's Archives have the dustjackets illustrated backwards? Something doesn't make sense here.
They have it backwards. Do a search for Action Heroes Archives on Amazon and the correct covers pop up. Vol 1 is showing Captain Atom in his original costume. Vol 2 is the one showing the Ted Kord Blue Beetle, the Question, and Captain Atom in his new costume.
Kirk G said:
The first Captain Atom stories appeared in Space Adventures in 1960-1961. In this period he appeared in, I think, 18 stories, each 5-7 pages long. These stories were written by Joe Gill. Most of the stories were drawn by Steve Ditko, but three were drawn by Rocco Mastroserio. Many of the stories have a Cold War/dangers of nuclear war themes.
After leaving Amazing Spider-Man Ditko handled a revival of the feature in its own title in 1965-1967. The character was remodelled midway through the series, and his modern appearance derives from his remodelled look (which involved silver arms). These stories were 17-20 pages long. The GCD credits Gill with the script of the first issue, but apparently Ditko took over the plotting at an early stage. It credits the scripts of the later issues to David Kaler. In this series he fought a number of supervillains. Nightshade was introduced in the feature, and Ditko's remodelled version of the Blue Beetle in a back-up strip.
Apparently a two-page story with art by Frank McLaughlin appeared in Thunderbolt #53.
A two-parter scripted by Roger Stern and with pencils by Ditko appeared in Charlton Bullseye ##1-2. This was a B&W fanzine that (the GCD tells me) Charlton supported. The parts were 10 and 11 pages respectively.
A new story by Dan Reed (plot and art) and Benjamin Smith appeared in Charlton Bullseye #7 (now an actual Charlton comic) in 1982.
Captain Atom also appeared in an issue from AC called Americomics Special #1 in 1983, where he teamed up with other Charlton heroes as one of the "Sentinels of Justice". Apparently that was just before he and other Charlton superheroes were sold to DC.
There had been at least two previous Captain Atoms. One was an Australian superhero who appeared in the post-war period. You can find a couple of his issues in the "UK Comics and Australian" section at Comic Book Plus. The other was a science hero, and appeared in comics from Nation-Wide Publishing.
Information predominately drawn from the GCD.
To simplify the timeline, Action Heroes Archives Volume 1 mostly features pre-Spider-Man Ditko on Captain Atom with some post-Spider-Man Captain Atom, too. Volume 2 has post-Spider-Man Ditko on Captain Atom and Blue Beetle and the Question.
Oh, man. They should put out another Omnibus Edition like they did with Creeper and Steve Ditko Omnibus 1 and 2.
Volume 2 of the Archives is already quite a bit thicker than most Archives volumes.