"DC Profiles #58" from DC Comics cover-dated April 1980
...like (inhale) Spider-Man and much of his supporting cast and classic villains, Doctor Strange (and ditto), Captain Atom, the Creeper, Hawk and Dove, the Question, the Ted Kord Blue Beetle, Shade the Changing Man, Starman V...
from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #23 (April 1965), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Steve Ditko, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
...Speedball, and Squirrel Girl (the Sensational Character Find of 1991). Among many othersB. He drew a phenomenal number of SF/chiller/monster tales for the Atlas-era Marvel and for Charlton Comics!
cover of Monster Menace #2 (Marvel, January 1994); pencils, inks, and colors by Steve Ditko
Given his famously reclusive nature, it might be joked that Steve Ditko appeared more often in comic books than he did in public! Here's a self-effacing (or is that ink bottle facing?) self-portrait:
from Amazing Adult Fantasy #12 (Marvel, May 1962), pencils and inks by Steve Ditko, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Stan 'n' Steve in silhouette in the same pre-Spidey issue of Amazing Fantasy!
from "Something Fantastic?" in Amazing Adult Fantasy #12; script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Steve Ditko, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
And of course, this (in)famous, and probably the most complete self-portrait of Ditko in a Not Brand Ecch-style parody of Stan 'n Steve's partnership:
from "How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!" in Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964 series) #1 (Marvel, September 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Steve Ditko, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
This outside, historical look at their working relationship is probably a little closer to the truth, tho'.
from "Tales to Marvel (At)" in Comic Book Comics (2008 series) #4 (Evil Twin, October 2009); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
It was the end of an era; Ditko would return to Marvel in the 1970s to pencil series like Machine Man, ROM, The Micronauts, and Speedball, and characters like Captain Universe and Squirrel Girl, but he would never draw Spider-Man or Doctor Strange for Marvel again, and it was never quite the same again.
from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated July 1966
Stan's autobiographical take on that same relationship:
from Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir (Simon & Schuster, January 2019), script by Peter David and Stan Lee, art by Colleen Doran
Jack Kirby's view of Steve, from Tom Scioli's bio-graphic novel:
from Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics (Ten Speed, July 2020), script and art by Tom Scioli
Of course, other creators have put Ditko into comics within their own works, like this disguised-via-anagram hallucination/appearance in Doctor Strange:
from Doctor Strange (1974 series) #55 (Marvel, October 1982), script by Roger Stern, pencils by Michael Golden, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Jim Novak
Ditko reimagined as Stan Lee's psychiatrist:
from "Identity Crisis" in Amazing Spider-Man #600 (September 2009), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Marcos Martín, colors by Javier Rodríguez, letters by Joe Caramagna
Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Ross actually meet Ditko...and his roommate:
from "With Great Power..." in Amazing Fantasy (2022 series) #1000 (Marvel, October 2022); script by Neil Gaiman; pencils, inks, and colors by Steve McNiven, additional colors by Richard Isanove, letters by Todd Klein
During the period Steve was pencilling ROM: Spaceknight, Fred Hembeck has fun with the almost-mystical never-seen aspect of Ditko:
(Click picture to bushel-and-a-hempeck-size)
In Peter Milligan's Vertigo-era re-imagining of Steve Ditko's Shade, the Changing Man, Stringer's armed. What do you think he's armed with?
from Shade, the Changing Man #32 (DC, February 1993), script by Peter Milligan, pencils by Colleen Doran, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Klein
Why, a Deetko gun, that's what!
Quite rightly, Steve Ditko is recognized as one of the absolute giants of...not just superhero comics, not just Marvel or DC...but of all comics of all time.
from "No More Wednesdays" in Comic Book Comics (2008 series) #6 (Evil Twin, October 2009); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
Ditko continued to self-publish a respectable library of unique independent comics work before his death in 2018.
(Click picture to mythic-size)
But wait? Ditko...dead?!?
from Amazing Spider-Man #303 (Marvel, August 1998), script by David Michelinie, pencils and inks by Todd McFarlane, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Rick Parker
I don't think so!...since so many of these tombstones are for Spidey artists stlll alive! Another sinister prank by Kraven? Could they all be alive?
I can only assume the same is true of Steve, who lives forever...in our hearts and minds and imagination.
Happy birthday, Steve...and thank you. What you gave us was unequaled.
(Click picture to legend-size)
See also Ten of a Kind: Happy birthday, Steve Ditko!
from How to Read Comics the Marvel Way (Marvel, July 2022), script by Christopher Hastings, art by Scott Koblish, color by Nolan Woodard, letters by Travis Lanham
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2 comments:
The master! Thank you for this tribute.
“Hey, Neil! Ditko said he loved my color scheme!”
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