Steve Ditko

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964): Cover art by Ditko.

Steve Ditko (born 2 November 1927 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is a renowned American comic book artist and writer best known as the co-creator of Spider-Man. He is also a proponent of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism.

Biography

Early career

Ditko studied at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York City under Jerry Robinson and began professionally illustrating comic books in 1953. Much of his early work, beginning in the early 1950s, was for Charlton Comics (for whom he continued to work intermittently until the company's demise in 1986), producing science fiction, horror and mystery stories, as well as the first Captain Atom stories in 1960-61. Later in the decade, he would also begin drawing for Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursor of Marvel Comics.

Marvel Comics

Ditko and writer-editor Stan Lee created Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), and shortly thereafter Doctor Strange, in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Ditko also drew many stories of the Hulk, first in the final issue of The Incredible Hulk (#6, March 1963), and then in Tales to Astonish, launching the character's feature in issue #60 (Oct. 1964) of that split book, and continuing through #67 (May 1965). Ditko designed the Hulk's primary antagonist, the Leader, in #62 (Dec. 1964).

Dormammu attacks Eternity in a Ditko "Dr. Strange" panel from Strange Tales #146 (July 1966).

Often overshadowed by his Amazing Spider-Man work, Ditko's "Doctor Strange" stories were equally remarkable, showcasing surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly head-trippy visuals that helped make the feature a favorite of college students, according to contemporaneous accounts. Eventually, as co-plotter and later sole plotter, in the "Marvel Method", Ditko would take Strange into ever-more-abstract realms, which yet remained well-grounded thanks to Lee's reliably humanistic, adventure/soap opera dialog. Ditko's tenure on "Dr. Strange" culminated in the introduction, in Strange Tales #146 (July 1966), of Ditko's grand and enduring conception of Eternity, the personification of the universe, depicted as a majestic silhouette whose outlines are filled with the cosmos. It was a groundbreaking creation at a time long before such cosmic conceits were commonplace.

Whichever feature he drew, Ditko's idiosyncratic, cleanly detailed, instantly recognizeable art style, emphasizing mood and anxiety, found great favor with readers. The character of Spider-Man and his troubled personal life meshed well with Ditko's own style and interests, which Lee eventually acknowledged by giving the artist plotting credits on the latter part of their 38-issue run. But after four years on the title, Ditko left Marvel; he and Lee had not been on speaking terms for some time, though the details remain uncertain. The last straw is often alleged to have been a disagreement as to the secret identity of the Green Goblin, but Ditko himself has stated in print that this was not the case.

Writer and future Marvel editor Roy Thomas said in a 1998 interview that, "I'll never forget the day I walked into one Marvel office not long after Ditko quit, and here's John Romita drawing Amazing Spider-Man and Larry [Lieber] drawing the Spider-Man Annual and Marie Severin drawing 'Dr. Strange', and I joked, 'This is the Steve Ditko Room; it takes three of you to do what Steve Ditko used to do' " [1]

Charlton and DC Comics

At Charlton â€" where the page rate was low but which allowed its creators great freedom â€" Ditko in the 1960s worked worked on such characters as Captain Atom (1960-61;65-67), Blue Beetle (1967-68) and The Question (1967-68), and in the 1973/74 writer Joe Gill's Liberty Belle (a backup feature in the comic E-Man), and Ditko's own Killjoy (also in E-Man). With the The Question and Killjoy, Ditko freely expressed his personal philosophy, inspired by Ayn Rand's Objectivism and the writings of Greek philosopher Aristotle. Ditko also produced much work for Charlton's science-fiction and horror titles. In addition, he drew 16 stories for Warren Publishing's horror-comic magazines, most of which were done using ink-wash.

In 1967, Ditko gave his philosophical ideas ultimate expression in the form of Mr. A, published in Wally Wood's independent title witzend #3. Ditko's hard line against criminals was controversial and alienated many fans, but he continued to produce Mr. A stories and one-pagers until the end of the 1970s. Ditko returned to Mr. A once more in 2000.

Showcase #73 (April 1968): Cover art by Ditko.

In 1968, Charlton editor Dick Giordano moved to DC Comics and Steve Ditko, like several other artists and writers in Giordano's stable, moved with him. He created the Creeper (in Showcase #73, March-April 1968, with scripter Don Segall); and with writer Steve Skeates, co-created the The Hawk and the Dove in Showcase #75, working on the first two issues of their ongoing series (Sept.-Nov. 1968) before it was turned over to artist Gil Kane. Unusually for the time, plotter and penciller Ditko used these fondly remembered superhero features to explore complicated ethical issues.

Ditko's stay at DC was short â€" he would work on all six issues of the Creeper's own title Beware the Creeper (June 1968 - April 1969), though leaving midway through the final one â€" and again, the reasons for his departure are uncertain. From this time up through the mid-1970s, he worked exclusively for Charlton and various small press/independent publishers.

Latter-day Ditko

Ditko returned to DC in 1975, creating one short-lived title, Shade, the Changing Man (1977-78). Shade was later successfully revived, without Ditko's involvement, and was one of the longer-running titles in the DC Vertigo line. He also revived the Creeper and did various other jobs such as a short Demon backup series in 1979, work on Legion of Superheroes in 1980-81, and various stories in DC's horror and science-fiction anthologies. He also did the artwork for the Prince Gavin Starman in Adventure Comics #467-478 (1980). The next time he did work for DC was briefly in 1986, which consisted only of 4 pinups of his characters for the Who's Who in the DC Universe, after he turned down a chance to do the new version of Captain Atom.

Ditko finally returned to Marvel in 1979, taking over Jack Kirby's Machine Man title. He freelanced regularly for both companies until his retirement from mainstream comics in 1998, having produced in his latter years a wealth of work showcasing his unique take on everything from such established chararacters as the Sub-Mariner (in Marvel Comics Presents) to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The last major character he created was Speedball, for Marvel Comics.

Since then, his strictly solo work has been published intermittently by independent publisher and long-time friend Robin Snyder, who was his editor at Charlton, Archie Comics (where Snyder scripted Ditko's plots on a revival of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's The Fly), and Renegade Press in the 1980s. The Snyder-published books have included Static, The Missing Man, The Mocker and, in 2002, Avenging World, a giant collection of stories and essays spanning 30 years.

In 1993, he did a one-shot comic, The Safest Place in the World at Dark Horse Comics, then an aborted series at Fantagraphics Books, Steve Ditko's Strange Avenging Tales that lasted only one issues in 1997.

Ditko resides in New York City as of 2006. Though a prolific and hard-working artist, he is also an intensely private man. Preferring to speak for himself (through both his comics work and numerous essays in Synder's fanzine The Comics), he has refused to give interviews since the 1960s.

Awards

Ditko was a finalist for induction into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1989, and formally inducted in 1990.

Issue #8 (Jan. 1962) of Amazing Adult Fantasy â€" the magazine that respects your intelligence! Cover art by Ditko.

Selected bibliography

Strange Suspense Stories #75 (June 1965), reprinting the Captain Atom stories from Space Adventures #33, 34 & 36. Cover art by Ditko.

The Hawk and the Dove #1 (Sept. 1968). Cover art by Ditko.

As penciler (generally but not exclusively self-inked), unless otherwise noted

Marvel
* Amazing Adventures #1-6; becomesAmazing Adult Fantasy #7-14; becomes:Amazing Fantasy #15
* The Amazing Spider-Man #1-38
* The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1-2
* Strange Tales #110-111, 114-146 (Doctor Strange)
* Strange Tales Annual #2
* The Fantastic Four #13 (inking Jack Kirby)
* The Incredible Hulk #2 (inking Jack Kirby), #6
* Phantom 2040 #1-4 (The Phantom)
* Tales of Suspense #47-49 (Iron Man)
* Tales to Astonish #60-67 (The Hulk)
* Speedball #1-10

DC
* Beware the Creeper #1-6
* The Hawk and the Dove #1-2
* Shade, the Changing Man #1-8
* World's Finest Comics #249-55 (script & art, Creeper series)

Charlton
* Blue Beetle #1-5
* Mysterious Suspense #1
* Strange Suspense Stories #75-89 (Captain Atom)
* Captain Atom #78-89
* Ghostly Haunts, Ghostly Tales, The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves (most issues)Warren
* Eerie #3-10 (1966-67)
* Creepy #9-16 (1966-67)

Ditko quotes

Excerpt from Comic Fan #2, Summer 1965, Ditko interview conducted by mail with Gary Martin; punctuation verbatim [2]:

        GARY - Who originated Spider-Man?

        STEVE - Stan Lee thought the name up. I did costume, web gimmick on wrist & spider signal.

        GARY - Would you enjoy continuing on him?

        STEVE - If nothing better comes along.Excerpt from Voice of Comicdom #4, April 1965, Ditko letter-to-the-editor commenting on the fanzine's reader-poll to determine which "Best Liked" fan strips would continue to be published; punctuation verbatim [3]: "It seems a shame, since comics themselves have so little variety of stories and styles that you would deliberately restrict your own creative efforts to professional comics shallow range. What is 'Best Liked' by most readers is what they are most familiar in seeing and any policy based on readers likes has to end up with a lot of look-a-like strips. You have a great opportunity to show everyone a whole new range of ideas, unlimited types of stories and styles---why FLUB it!"

Other creators on Ditko

Dick Giordano, editor at Charlton and later DC Comics [4]: "He was suffering from a lung ailment all his life from, I think, tuberculosis when he was younger. He was younger then and needed to exercise, so Steve and I used to spend a lot of time playing ping-pong. They had a table in the cafeteria, and we'd work up a sweat â€" that's how I learned to play, with Steve â€" and I had to defend myself when we started. By the time we finished playing, we were fairly equal, I think, but he'd still beat me more often than not."

Frank McLaughlin, Charlton art director [5]: "Ditko lived in a local hotel in Derby for a while. He was a very happy-go-lucky guy with a great sense of humor at that time, and always supplied the [female] color separators with candy and other little gifts."

Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby Collector: [6] "In 1970 when Steve Sherman and I met Steve Ditko, he asked us about the new Kirby books that were then about to debut at DC. When we told him Colletta was handling the inking, he winced and said that he would probably not look at the comics. Back when he was working for Marvel, Ditko said he'd pick up the latest issues in the office and always check the credits before taking the comics home. If he found Colletta's name â€" especially as Kirby's embellisher â€" he would make a point of putting the comic back, or even in a wastebasket. And he'd make sure Stan saw what he was doing and knew the reason why."