Eric Stanton, Steve Ditko

In the mid-1960s, while Steve Ditko was concluding his legendary run as the co-creator of Spider-Man, he was quietly leading a second creative life in a shared Manhattan studio with artist Eric Stanton. This volume documents their unlikely partnership, collecting the thirteen “Stantoons” where Ditko brought his distinct inking style to Stanton’s provocative pencils. Featuring themes of fighting females and dominant women, these installments were sold exclusively through private mail order and produced entirely outside the boundaries of the comics mainstream.

This collection represents the complete Stanton-Ditko Stantoons series as it was published, showcasing a rare synergy between Stanton’s fetish-leaning scenarios and the craftsmanship of one of the industry’s most influential stylists. Included are favorites such as “Divorce Agreement,” “My Husband, the Loser,” “Broken Engagement,” and the Mad magazine-inspired “On a Kinky Hook,” which stand as the high point of the duo’s creative collaboration. These works offer a rare, unfiltered glimpse into Ditko’s creative life during his transition away from Marvel Comics and into a more independent era of his career.