Forum - View topicNEWS: Spider-Man Co-Creator Steve Ditko Passes Away at 90
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the green death
Posts: 128 |
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I love Ditko’s work, the closest I ever got to meeting him was having a few phone conversations with Robyn Snyder who published a lot of latter years Ditko work and he told me some extremely minor Ditko stories (them going to movies in NY and stuff like that). Snyder rightly respected Ditko’s privacy, but they seemed to be pretty close friends.
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Hitokiri Kenshin
Posts: 293 |
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Mr. Ditko was known for being rather reclusive. Some years back there used to be jokes that when he left this world it wouldn't be reported for several years due to him being so reclusive. Still RIP. |
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Zeino
Posts: 1098 |
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The thing about Ditko was that he took Objectivism more seriously than 99% of its followers do, including even Ayn Rand herself. Guy did not compromise under any circumstances, did not take short cuts, did not do any work not for himself or accept charity or ask to be let out of contracts that he signed, and the result is he lived in a crappy apartment in NYC drawing weird comics he sold for a pittance to hardcore fans who mostly didn't care for his philosophy and are only buying them on the strength of work he did 50+ years ago. He used old Spider-Man pencils for cutting boards because he feels it would be immoral to sell work that he drew under contract for another company, and anyways the finished product is what matters, not the drawings themselves, which are trash -- despite being worth a fortune to collectors. He could have breathed at Disney and they'd have thrown millions at him to prevent a very justifiable lawsuit, but he's never so much as lifted a finger -- because he didn't work on the movies, action figures, lunch boxes, etc. he doesn't feel entitled to money from them. Ditko was completely aware of how unpopular his philosophies made him, and a great deal of his stories end with the hero alone, or actively being trashed by his compatriots for being a jerk or a hard-ass. Many of The Question stories he made leave it open as to whether the hero's actions have actually done anything at all to improve the world at large. He's the kind of guy most alt-right types wish they could be, but, you know, without the whole living and dying as a recluse in poverty with no wife or children thing. They want to ignore the almost Catholic guilt that Ditko's work carries with it, the level of responsibility that one has when one has the power to help others, and the lack of absolution possible for crimes one commits against one's own moral code. (Think of Spider-Man's constant guilt over Uncle Ben's death, a death that occurred because Spider-Man didn't stop the robbery.) I'm definitely not an Objectivist. Rand's philosophy itself is overall appalling to be sure, but I did find Ditko fascinating, and maintain a great deal of respect for the man for keeping to his moral code despite the hardship, even if others who follow said code tend to be gigantic jerks. Plus, there is a lot to like in his comics. He was lovely artist with a great imagination. He'll definitely be remembered as one of the greats. |
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the green death
Posts: 128 |
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Wonderfully said Zeino!
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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Funny how I find the most insightful and respectful acknowledgement of Ditko's work in an anime/manga website forum!
There was some semi-pathetic business (one particular loudmouth made a nasty comment about Ditko's politics but he's somebody who most people acknowledge as an ingracious jerk in the comic book industry anyway, so vile and despised he had a comic book series CANCELLED before a single issue was published!) this past weekend and not a lot of Marvel people really said anything until Monday. There was supposedly a blurb in The New York Times by Marvel but not everybody reads that paper and there was really NO OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE by Marvel on ANY of the comic book websites I browsed BEFORE Monday. Honestly, I looked. DC Comics, on the other hand, did comment about his passing on Friday, the day it was announced. Jim Lee and Dan Didio made very generous statements. Ditko created Hawk and Dove, The Creeper, and Shade the Changing Man while he worked for DC in the late 1960s. The character of The Question (Ditko's most personal 1960s character), the second Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), and Captain Atom (a co-creation) all co-creations and/of designs by Ditko were later bought DC in the 1980s from Charlton Comics, the original publisher in the 1960s. I've read a number of Ditko's Charlton Comics and his work on those comics struck me as neater and more polished than his Spider-Man work for Marvel in all honesty. That's without going into story issues. I've always felt that Kirby and Ditko's most enjoyable works were STILL created for Marvel even though they each had issues with the company and Stan Lee later on. Both Kirby and Ditko ended up creating their last most significant comic characters with DC. Kirby created the Fourth World characters (Orion, Darkseid, the Forever People, Mister Miracle) and the Demon (Etrigan) as well as Kamandi in the 1970s. I already mentioned what Ditko produced for DC. Ditko DID have family. He has a brother and nephew. There a YouTuber who was a fan of Ditko's that was instrumental in spreading the news about his passing and the family allegedly contacted him. I guess Ditko did have some things that he left behind. I don't know if it's original artwork or not but they are dealing with his apartment and whatever he left behind. I know as far as artwork there was the most significant piece of Ditko art donated to the Library of Congress years back. The original inked pages for Amazing Fantasy #15 (Spider-Man's first published appearance in August 1962) were donated to the LoC by a fan after he got the okay by Ditko to donate the pages... Now, those pages are worth something! |
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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What he describes is INTEGRITY, a word most people don't have in their vocabulary or have a clue about what it means. On the other hand, by NOT standing up for himself and being more vocal, Ditko DID cheat himself out of some money he was probably owed! He might have taken his philosophy too far for his own personal good. I don't think he ever intended to be nasty to people. That's an interpretation by some people who are taking him out of context. One of these vile persons I mentioned was already "rewarded" by comic book fans for being a particularly big jerk to people on social media. That was before he popped off about Ditko this past weekend and reinforced his reputation of frankly being an asshole. ************************ Ditko finally DID get his credit on Spider-Man works OUTSIDE of the comics (which I don't believe Marvel gives a byline for to ANY of their creators; DC's a different story!). All the Spider-Man movies and TV series AFTER 2002 bear the "created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko" or "based on the original comics by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko" byline in the credits. Amazing that in this case a Hollywood studio (Marvel Studios) gave one of the principal architects of Marvel Comics more credit than the publishing house generally does! I don't think Ditko's contributions to other Marvel characters are as well appreciated. He did MUCH more than Spider-Man. He virtually designed the entire world of Dr. Strange and was a significant early artist on the Incredible Hulk after Jack Kirby took two breaks from the character. Ditko created The Leader, the Hulk's arch-nemesis. He also designed the basic gold and yellow Iron Man armor that was used for nearly 20 years without major changes to the design. It's still the basis for the armor designs used today. So, with the exception of the Grey Armor (a Jack Kirby design) that appeared in the first Iron Man movie, what you're seeing in Marvel movies for IM is based off Ditko's design. Every armor since Ditko's has been a derivative. Squirrel Girl and Speedball are probably the last two characters Ditko created for Marvel. He stopped doing work for Marvel around 1998. He regularly worked in a studio until about 2012. Like was mentioned, there's a whole sub-cult of Ditko fans. What was NOT mentioned, was that a lot of Ditko's early work in comics, which is now public domain, has been reprinted in recent years. He did a lot of science fiction and monster comics in the 1950s. Me? I've ALWAYS been a fan of the early Spider-Man character. Ditko's run is still my favorite of anyone's run on that character. He created all the great villains (with the exceptions of Venom, Kingpin, and Rhino) and most memorable supporting characters Spider-Man ever had. |
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Lord Oink
Posts: 876 |
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I like to imagine anime/manga fans know the value of a creator and their work, especially a famous one and their impact on an industry. Most modern comic writers are pretty openly dismissive of the old guard. With each passing of the founders I can see them rubbing their hands with glee in anticipation for the next, ready to destroy the legacy they created. |
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