INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Toward the end of his life, it became somewhat common practice to post a picture of his door
It was an otherwise unremarkable thing, with a mail slot and a metal plate at the bottom
Up top, a large plate read simply, &S
Ditko.&
Most wouldn&t venture beyond that, respectful of not disturbing the legendary cartoonist who&d become something akin to a comic book
version of J.D Salinger, or maybe Thomas Pynchon
Those who did invariably had entertaining stories of the great — if somewhat salty — man who co-created such legendary comics characters
This one from Fantagraphics publisher Eric Reynolds is a delightfully mixed bag:
1
Soon after the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie came out in 2002, Gary Groth and I were on business in NYC one day and had a few hours to
Gary said, "Wanna meet Steve Ditko" It sounded good to me
We showed up at Ditko's 5th Ave
studio and knocked on the door.
— Eric Reynolds (@earinc) July 7, 2018
Either character would have been enough to cement his place in the
comic book hall of fame, but Ditko list stretched much longer, including key figures in the Marvel universe
Jonah JamesonDormammuGreen GoblinBaron MordoGwen StacyBlue BeetleSquirrel GirlHawk DoveAunt MayThe QuestionSpeedballFlash ThompsonAncient
OneHarry OsbornSandmanCleaScorpionWongChameleonCreeperShadeDr
OctopusEtc.#Ditko
— Steve Horton (@tropicalsteve) July 7, 2018
As noted, nearly all of the above were credited to both Ditko and Stan Lee
His early Code work deserves closer examination, as well
It was, at turns, unblinkingly terrifying and bizarre, the kind of vibrant work one could have only created free from the sanitizing force
of the Comics Code.
Most of his best known work dates back to the 1960s, but Steve Ditko made comics until the end, even as he sat out of
the Hollywood blitzes from film franchises built around his creations
Ditko declined interviews, content to work on his books in private
He seemed to take pride in creating above all else.
After decades of working with the biggest publishing houses in comics, Marvel and DC,
the artist self-published his own black and white books
A, stuck with him the longest
The character, which dates back to the late-60s, appeared throughout the decades, directly reflecting the Randian Objectivist philosophy
that also pervaded DC creations like Hawk and Dove
Regardless of philosophical bent, however, Ditko work was, above all, uncompromisingly original
It was vibrant and off-kilter, sometimes horrifying, sometime psychedelic and always, unfailingly, well, strange
He was a bonafide, brilliant weirdo in world of superhero comics that could use a lot more of that these days
The artist was found dead in his New York apartment on June 29
He was believed to have passed away two days prior
