philippos42 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
philippos42) wrote2018-07-07 01:16 am
philippos42) wrote2018-07-07 01:16 am
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RIP, Mr. Ditko
I think his heyday was before my time. But due to reprints, Ditko was one of my early favorites. I didn't really get Kirby, but Ditko was someone whose work I recognized and liked as a child.
I think it's generally agreed by historians of the comics that Steve actually wrote much of the first three years of Spider-Man, whatever Stan Lee says. Stan was the editor, so he had final say, but on a lot of issues he probably wrote some captions and punched up the dialogue. I have a reprint of a comic where Stan screwed that up and conflated two different characters.
Ditko produced or worked on the early versions of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Creeper, the Question, the Ted Kord Blue Beetle, Captain Atom & Nightshade, Shade the Changing Man, & Speedball. He also drew the first Squirrel Girl story. I've forgotten the name of at least one very Ditkoesque character published by Charlton or someone.
Of course there was Mr. A, a creator-owned and even more bombastic variation on the Question. Also, somewhere I have read a very wacky anti-government spending tract Ditko drew, which as I recall was more "cartoony" & exaggerated than his super-hero work.
Ditko was reclusive and a bit odd. He's bewildered fans who've met him, and been an object of a bit of mockery at times. But he's also a beloved and influential figure in American comic books. He was a brilliant writer/artist when comics needed just that.
(originally posted on s_d)
I think it's generally agreed by historians of the comics that Steve actually wrote much of the first three years of Spider-Man, whatever Stan Lee says. Stan was the editor, so he had final say, but on a lot of issues he probably wrote some captions and punched up the dialogue. I have a reprint of a comic where Stan screwed that up and conflated two different characters.
Ditko produced or worked on the early versions of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Creeper, the Question, the Ted Kord Blue Beetle, Captain Atom & Nightshade, Shade the Changing Man, & Speedball. He also drew the first Squirrel Girl story. I've forgotten the name of at least one very Ditkoesque character published by Charlton or someone.
Of course there was Mr. A, a creator-owned and even more bombastic variation on the Question. Also, somewhere I have read a very wacky anti-government spending tract Ditko drew, which as I recall was more "cartoony" & exaggerated than his super-hero work.
Ditko was reclusive and a bit odd. He's bewildered fans who've met him, and been an object of a bit of mockery at times. But he's also a beloved and influential figure in American comic books. He was a brilliant writer/artist when comics needed just that.
(originally posted on s_d)