Anything You Want or: You Been Screwed This was for a benefit book that never happened. Once upon a time a comics writer mentions in their blog about loving conventions …

Does Whatever a Spider Can or: the Fork in the Road I only met Ditko once. We exchanged pleasantries …and I ran. Williamson, Frazetta, Adams, Kirby, all my heros, I …

@#$%! Hippies or: Down With Puppies Among the many lessons I learned from Ditko was how to separate art from the artist. Hard going when you find your hero thinks …

Creepy Crawlies or: Laughing Justice No amusing anecdote, just another brilliantly bizarre Ditko design. Happy Trails Smitty      

And They Call Him… Wha? or: Can I Keep It, Mom? When I was a little kid, what I really wanted for Christmas was a Siberian tiger, or a grizzly …

Mindless Fun or: Rabble Rabble Mindless ones. Gotta love the Mindless Ones. Every story needs angry villagers, a mob. Mindless Ones are great because they don’t need an excuse. You …

A=A or: I Got Your Reflexive Property Right Here Unassuming as he was visually, I found Mr. A to be Ditko’s most frightening character. Before there was the Punisher, before …

Ditko du Jour or: Ditko of the Day Once I get past Spider-Man and Doctor Strange any list I make of my favorite Ditko characters has to start with the …

Without Steve Ditko, I don’t draw comics. Happy Trails, Steve Smitty      

Smitty Meets Bambizilla or: Ain’t That a Kick in the Head You almost lost me. For most of the last week, I’ve been playing babysitter to Bambi (or Feline, I’m …

(X) 23 Skidoo or: Kids These Days It’s Commissionin’ time! Revisiting X-Men 173 with X-23 sauce. You guys probably know more about this character than I do. Last, first and …

Eternity’s End or: The Long Big Goodbye Strange Tales 146. Sturdy Steve Ditko’s swan song at Marvel. I don’t know that he actually finished this one after Spider-Man 38 but, …

The Bat Bounces Back or: If At First You Don’t Succeed… With a big Bat-Fanfare… Happy Trails Smitty      

No Peeking or: Things Aren’t Always What They Seem When last we met I was most despondent having just killed the Batman. You’ll be happy to know we’re both feeling …

Breaking Batman or: Whoever Knows Fear… I killed it. The Batman commission I gave you a peek at last week is dead. Muerte, food for worms, sleeps with the fishes, …

Building a Better Bat or: Signal Me This You’ve caught Uncle Smitty mid task this week, kiddies. A commission request… pretty simple: the Batman. That was it. A few thumbnails …

Grim is the Reaper or: Big Bad John When Big John Buscema drew a bad guy, you knew he was bad. We didn’t need back stories of stolen lunch money …

…the Man Behind the Curtain or: Lazy Sunday Blues We’re going to the files this week with a piece I did for an Eisner celebration over at penciljack.com For those …

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner or: Flying Purple Planet Eater oooh, we’re in trouble now, courtesy of Galactus from Marvel Aventures the Fantastic Four #26. This was in the middle …

If He Be Worthy or: the Ballad of Beta Ray Bill I was going to put MAJOR SPOILERS ahead but, the drawing pretty much gives it all away, so… too …

The Man Who Would Be Kahn or: Peril of Inappropriate Hue Given today’s climate, this is one that Marvel would probably prefer to forget but, the grab bag has rules: …

The Once and Future Doom or: When Camelot Came and Went Rather than the longboxes, this week we’ve pulled from one of many piles-O-mystery to revel the Epic Collection of …

Mad About Me or: the Fools of April One of these is a portrait of the artist as a young man… not sure which. Happy Trails Smitty      

Fear and Dread or: Let Them Eat CPR Like one who on a lonely road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns …

Rudeicai Interruptus or: Where Were We Allow me to finish up what I started a few weeks ago. My first thought was chess but, that seemed too formal. I considered …

Night Shift or: It Burns, It Burns Whoever invented morning should be shot! Our long national nightmare began last night with the institution of EDT (Evening Deprivement Time) In celebration …

Devil On Your Tail or: Tales of Ice and Sex Last week on Hill Street Blues we saw our intrepid hero running for his life from the Devil’s own bounty …

Bat Out of Hell or: the Great Escape Got family coming in. Been on KP all weekend. I’m too pooped to draw. Allow me to make amends by presenting something …

BFFs or: the Odd Couple Not so much a grab bag as a “oh, look at this,” as I was cleaning up, this weeks springboard is the World’s Finest trade …

Furious Filler or: What Price Inventory This weeks pick reveals Marvel Comics Presents #78, an anthology title featuring, at the moment, the Weapon X story line. It may be unfair …