This is certainly a strange pick to start the new year. The mind of Steve Ditko has produced many characters and creations that we all know and cherish. Whether it be Spiderman and Doctor Strange at Marvel, The Creeper at DC, or the Question and Blue Beetle at Charlton, Ditko is undoubtedly one of the greatest talents that ever blessed the comic book industry. However, like every other giant in the field, there’s a huge library of his creative works that are often overlooked or even forgotten. Even Jack Kirby had his fair share of forgotten titles. For Steve Ditko, most of them occur during the 1970s, an era where the medium was changing and companies such as DC were launching titles left, right, and centre (before abruptly cancelling them after three issues). Aside from Shade, The Changing Man (vol 1) from 1977-78, Ditko’s latter period at DC isn’t recalled nearly as fondly as his time at Marvel in the sixties. Shade remains the most famous, but there are several other Ditko titles that don’t receive the recognition they deserve and one of those is Stalker. Have you ever heard of it? Unlike Ditko’s strip (also scripted by Paul Levitz) in Adventure Comics featuring yet another Starman, Stalker only lasted for a mere four issues and failed to gain a conclusive chapter in a title such as DC Comics Presents. Although it’s a title that features the bizarre and unique fantasy genre, we all associate with Ditko, why didn’t it last longer and, more crucially, why hasn’t it been revived?
Stalker 1-4 was published from July 1975 to January 1976. It was written by Paul
Levitz, with art by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood. I’ve read the issues in The Steve Ditko Omnibus Volume One hardcover.
Like Shade, The Changing Man, Stalker takes place in its own fantasy world with brand new characters. In some respects, its focus on fantasy with Ditko’s trademark weirdness is reminiscent of his Doctor Strange works at Marvel in the early 1960s, except, in the case of Stalker, the series is less than one-hundred pages long. However, Stalker was unique in the sense that it offered an overarching story, one which took the main character on a journey to reclaim something taken from him. Stalker 1 begins as if penned by Grant Morrison. We’re thrown right into the action at the end of the story, with Stalker (a heroic, scarlet-eyed knight) attempting to assassinate a fiendish Baroness in her castle. How did this all begin? Well, Stalker was once a kid thrown out onto the streets and was forced to fend for himself as his parents effectively disowned him. But one day, the child begged in front of the Baroness to take him with her back to what he believed to be a paradise, a place where he could serve as a knight protecting the Baroness from evil. Although the Baroness agreed to take the boy with her, it was a deception, and he was forced into slavery. For some reason, it takes the boy a year to realise that he’s being used by the Baroness, and he revolts by escaping from the castle. This is where the Ditko-ness begins to appear. Searching for his revenge, the boy goes to the nth degree and meets with Dgrth, a literal demon lord who spends his time exchanging souls for desires. The demon tempts the boy with the mystical powers of combat in exchange for his soul. And, like Bart Simpson, the boy accepts immediately and becomes Stalker. It may not be the most unique origin, but much of the interest in the Stalker storyline comes from its form rather than plot. We’ll get to that as the issues progress, but in the meantime, Stalker heads back to the Baroness’s castle only to trash the place and claim victory. However, he feels no emotion. You see, the removal of Stalker’s soul means that he can no longer feel any emotion whatsoever. Therefore, he wants his soul back and he begins his long (and as of yet uncompleted) journey to retrieve it. The opening issue may be somewhat cliched in some of its plot points, but it’s worth mentioning that Paul Levitz makes the title far more interesting to read. Clearly, the plot and ideas are Ditko, but the fine scripting and dramatic writing is down to Levitz. It lacks the stiffness that many Ditko scripts are encumbered by, which was most likely why I struggled to get into Shade, The Changing Man. It lacked the accessibility that Stalker has. For issue two, the main storyline takes a bit of a backseat as Stalker ends up on an isle which is connected to Dgrth through a temple, but he spends most of his time escaping from sacrifices and rescuing helpless victims. There is a bit at the start about Stalker’s lack of emotion after defeating another demon, but it just repeats virtually the same dialogue from the first issue. I think that there could have been much more about Stalker’s internal thoughts and how his thoughts change over time about his lack of emotion. He’s got the determination to reclaim his soul, but you would have thought that there would be more anger. Regardless, Stalker investigates one of Dgrth’s temples only to be captured and imprisoned. However, Stalker is aided by one of the temple’s worshippers as she tells him of a hidden cavern near the alter where the hero will be sent to his apparent death. As we all know, Stalker doesn’t die and he escapes, but his helper is captured for treason and tortured with what is effectively a theme park ride (i.e., a spinning board). But Stalker rescues her and instead leaves the torture device to wreak havoc on the torturer. With that, Stalker must leave the island alone and continue on his quest. Overall, issue two is most probably the weakest of them all mainly because it hasn’t got much to do with the main plot. By the end, there’s barely any progression at all and story for the second issue, although satisfactory, isn’t anything thrilling or brilliant. It’s just a bit too plain for my liking. Fortunately, issue three continues the main story in what proves to be an intriguing direction. Once more, Stalker heads to another island, but this time, he’s attacked overseas by a flying demon. Suddenly, he wakes up on the island greeted by Srani, a woman who was (continued)
banished to the island (otherwise known as the Burning Isle) as her people thought her a witch. At first, it seems like there is nothing on the island for Stalker, with the exception of a few angry demons. However, he accepts Srani’s invitation to explore the island because he feels like he must. The reasoning is very vague, particularly as he left the island in the previous story without giving it much thought. Regardless, much of the issue is taken up by Srani wandering around with Stalker and believing him to be some kind of God, but the real kicker which arguably makes the story is the revelation that Srani is a demon herself working with Dgrth. It’s a nice twist and one that explains the demon that attacked Stalker at the very start. Stalker realises that Dgrth is merely toying with him as if he wanted him dead, he could have done it long ago easily. Stalker follows the demon into its realm, and he enters the fiery hell of Dgrth’s world. To be honest, issue three being more in-line with the main story and that revelation make the issue for me. I really like the idea of a continuing narrative because I think that there was something in Stalker. It felt like an adventure. It’s a shame that issue four concludes the series prematurely, arguably a dozen or so issues before it should have been axed. Ultimately, issue four features Stalker in the Land of the Damned, fighting against Dgrth’s demons. There is one great standout scene in the final issue, and that is Stalker travelling through this barren wasteland, discovering that it’s effectively made of the defeated bony remains of those who tried to kill Dgrth, but failed. It’s just very chilling and makes Dgrth appear much more threatening and more evil (not that he already wasn’t). Anyhow, Stalker puts himself through tests to confront the demon, fighting against resurrected skeletal corpses, a flaming dragon which transforms into a devilish imp creature not too dissimilar to Bat-Mite, before finally travelling through an endless void which kills nearly all (apart from Stalker of course). After taking out a legion of Dgrth’s warriors, Stalker is met with the demon himself in the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Stalker demands the return of his soul, before Dgrth challenges him, telling him that he must kill all of his followers before him. Instead of simply plunging his sword into Dgrth’s chest and justifying the length of this series, Stalker accepts and returns home. He pledges to banish evil from the world and kill all of those who use Dgrth’s power. What’s happens next? Stalker does actually turn up again in the late 2000s Wonder Woman by Gail Simone, but not in any meaningful way from what I gather. I think the title would have taken a very interesting direction after issue four. It would have focused on Stalker going around the world and taking out Dgrth’s worshippers and therefore, there would have been lots of potential when it comes to villains and even other protagonists who would have tagged along with Stalker. We might have learnt more about Stalker, his background, and more about his powers and destiny. But it was not to be. This is merely speculation more than fact, but I think Stalker was doomed from day one. It’s not just because Steve Ditko was clearly somebody difficult to work with, but also because DC were launching so many books a month that it was clearly financially unviable. Something had to give. Several of those titles in the late 1970s, whether it be Stalker, Shade, The Joker, Batman Family, or Black Lightning (to name just a few) may have had something in them all, but the timing was woeful. Also, I just don’t think it had the exposure or popularity which many other Ditko titles had. It’s a shame because I think Stalker had potential and it could have developed into an interesting ongoing story. It may be a bit clichéd in some areas, but it has an interesting narrative with an intriguing main character. We can only hope that it would have become an exceptional title.
As for the art, it’s Steve Ditko. Of course, it’s great and of course I’m going to like it. Even though the seventies saw giants like Jack Kirby fall in quality, Ditko remains a brilliant storyteller. His distinctive style does wonders for a fantasy title such as Stalker as it’s clear that his imagination is on-point. The storytelling is as unique as ever when it comes to Ditko and there are countless moments which look impressive even by the standards of today. It must also be stated that Ditko didn’t actually ink Stalker. That honour went to Wally Wood, another great talent whose somewhat rough style of inking surprisingly works with Ditko’s style. It gives the title a more edgy and unclean appearance. There haven’t been many who have inked Ditko apart from himself, and often those who do fail to capture what his pencils convey. However, Wood’s style collaborates well and overall, the two of them provide Stalker with memorable visuals.
VERDICT
Overall, Stalker may be one of Ditko’s most forgotten works in his period at DC Comics, but I think it’s overlooked, and it had huge potential. Despite its length at just four issues, it was clearly going places and the quality appeared to improve with each issue. Stalker provides us with not only a decent protagonist and an interesting overarching plot that could have led to intriguing tales, but also the great writings of Paul Levitz and the art of Steve Ditko, inked well by Wally Wood. To this day, Stalker has never got the true return he deserves and while the title may have ended nearly five decades ago, it’s about time the tale ended. Along with his soul, give Stalker his title back!
Stories: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Next Week: Batman and Robin Must Die (Batman and Robin (vol 1) 13-16, Batman: The Return). Written by Grant Morrison with art by Frazer Irving, Cameron Stewart, Chris Burnham, David Finch, Matt Banning, and Ryan Winn.
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