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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 14, 2016 17:04:07 GMT -5
As we await the opening of the Dr. Strange movie, the Telegraph of London has published a short biography of Steve Ditko: www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/10/14/steve-ditko-the-reclusive-comic-book-legend-who-created-doctor-s/"... co-creator on Spider-Man and the man single-handedly responsible for inventing Doctor Strange..." "Lee was reduced to chipping in dialogue while Ditko conceived and plotted the entire story." "Hippies believed that a couple of carelessly-drawn cigarettes in one Ditko comic meant that he smoked weed, and that Strange’s psychedelic worlds meant that he was using acid to boot. They adopted him as one of their own. [...] But Ditko was horrified by these hippy admirers – and the sentiment was returned when they met this 'crew-cut conservative', who did not use drugs or approve of their lifestyle." "[Ditko] was introduced to [Ayn] Rand by Lee, a fan of her larger-than-life heroes – but Lee didn’t buy wholeheartedly into her beliefs. Ditko, however, did, going to see her lectures and even meeting her more than once." "... monstrous newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson (an unkind caricature of Lee)." I learned a few things from the article. |
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RikerDonegal
Full Member
Most of the comics I'm reading at the moment are Marvels from 1982.
Posts: 128 
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Post by RikerDonegal on Oct 14, 2016 20:25:35 GMT -5
That was a great read. I've read very little of his work, but am well aware of his legacy.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 15, 2016 2:15:23 GMT -5
I can strongly recomend the TV documentary mentioned in the article, In Search of Steve Ditko, to anyone who hasn't seen it. It touches on most of what's in the article in more detail, and is well worth watching just for the part at the end where Jonathan Ross and Neil Gaiman track Ditko down in New York; Ross goes over to the building's intercom, then returns to the camera wreathed in smiles and delightedly announces "I've just been told to f*** off by Steve Ditko".  |
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Post by Farrar on Oct 15, 2016 13:06:11 GMT -5
Interesting article. And I imagine the general public wouldn't know the difference, but just before the section talking about Ditko's inspiration for Dr. Strange there's a cover image. But it's misleading; the Dr. Strange #1 cover shown is obviously not by Ditko--why show a Frank Brunner cover? Plus the cover is mislabeled as being published in 1968 instead of 1974. I guess the image pickings were slim; I just looked through his Strange Tales covers and there's not a whole lot to choose from in terms of covers highlighting Strange by Ditko. Maybe ST #146 (and look at the title caption!)? Or how about a Ditko Strange pin-up? Or splash from that series?  The great "In Search of Steve Ditko" documentary is available on YouTube. A while back I posted some links to a couple of segments, including the near-encounter Tingramretro refers to, in this post: classiccomics.org/post/109036/thread |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2016 12:09:50 GMT -5
There's a bit of editorializing there, about Lee and Ditko; but, Ditko was pretty much plotting and drawing Dr Strange on his own, much as Kirby was doing the bulk of the heavy lifting on Thor (moreso in the Tales of Asgard stories). The hippie thing is an old story; but not with a ton of credibility. It is likely that there were some who loved Dr Strange, though the entire Marvel line had a pretty big following, by the Hippie period. I think its been rather exaggerated, like most stories in comics. Ditko's reclusive nature has not. The man wouldn't even do the Marvel Bullpen record, even to tell them to get lost. The Ross documentary is a good one, though there is some questionable interpretation of things, here and there. That's to be expected in these kinds of things, depending on access to source material.
If you want a real artifact, hunt down The Masters of Comic Book Art. It was a video, hosted by Harlan Ellison, that featured several artists, including Ditko. Images of their work appear on screen as they discuss their work. Ditko is the only one who doesn't appear on screen. instead, he reads a statement, as images of Mr A appear on the screen. Ayn Rand comes up a lot. Last I looked, you could also find it on Youtube. I highly recommend it, as it also features Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Dave Sim (before his brain exploded), Art Spiegelman, Moebius, and Frank Miller (before his brain exploded). It's a little dry at times, since there isn't interactions between the artist and the interviewer, just the artists giving their answers. Ellison makes for an engaging host and flies his fanboy flag high.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,211
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Post by Confessor on Oct 18, 2016 18:33:26 GMT -5
The hippie thing is an old story; but not with a ton of credibility. It is likely that there were some who loved Dr Strange, though the entire Marvel line had a pretty big following, by the Hippie period. I think its been rather exaggerated, like most stories in comics. Oh, I don't know...there were quite a few references to Doctor Strange within the Hippie counterculture and its music. To name just a few, the very first Hippie "love in" in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district in 1965 was called "A Tribute to Doctor Strange", the cover of Pink Floyd's 1968 album A Saucerful of Secrets is based on Ditko's art and even features an image of the good Doctor, he was name dropped in songs by the likes of Marc Bolan and the aforementioned Pink Floyd, and there was even a British psychedelic band called Dr. Strangely Strange. There's also little doubt in my mind that Ditko's artwork on Dr. Strange was hugely influential on the psychedelic rock posters that flourished in the later 1960s. On a related note, Marvel even licensed a number of Dr. Strange black light posters that were sold in head shops in the late '60s and early '70s, like this one...  Given the number of references to him by leading lights of the Hippie counterculture, I think it's highly likely that this fascination with the character was extremely common throughout the larger youth movement of the time. That's not to say that every Hippie was a Dr. Strange fan, of course, but the comic's trippy visuals and exotic orientalism resonated with the Hippies in a way that the likes of Captain America or Superman simply didn't. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 18, 2016 23:39:20 GMT -5
I wasn't a hippie until 1970 and just about the only one of my group that still read comics. The only characters I thought were relatable to the hippie culture would have been Dr. Strange, The Silver Surfer, Bat Lash and Brother Power, The Geek
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 19, 2016 1:24:08 GMT -5
The hippie thing is an old story; but not with a ton of credibility. It is likely that there were some who loved Dr Strange, though the entire Marvel line had a pretty big following, by the Hippie period. I think its been rather exaggerated, like most stories in comics. Oh, I don't know...there were quite a few references to Doctor Strange within the Hippie counterculture and its music. To name just a few, the very first Hippie "love in" in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district in 1965 was called "A Tribute to Doctor Strange", the cover of Pink Floyd's 1968 album A Saucerful of Secrets is based on Ditko's art and even features an image of the good Doctor, he was name dropped in songs by the likes of Marc Bolan and the aforementioned Pink Floyd, and there was even a British psychedelic band called Dr. Strangely Strange. There's also little doubt in my mind that Ditko's artwork on Dr. Strange was hugely influential on the psychedelic rock posters that flourished in the later 1960s. On a related note, Marvel even licensed a number of Dr. Strange black light posters that were sold in head shops in the late '60s and early '70s, like this one... Given the number of references to him by leading lights of the Hippie counterculture, I think it's highly likely that this fascination with the character was extremely common throughout the larger youth movement of the time. That's not to say that every Hippie was a Dr. Strange fan, of course, but the comic's trippy visuals and exotic orientalism resonated with the Hippies in a way that the likes of Captain America or Superman simply didn't. I'm not saying the book wasn't popular with the hippie crowd; but, mots of Marvel's line had a following with the youth culture. Those of the hippie persuasion probably leaned towards Ditko; but, I don't think the audience was as big as it is made out, compared to the Undergrounds. Ditko certainly had some influence on some of the psychedelic rock artists, though so did Steranko and Neal Adams. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 19, 2016 19:08:17 GMT -5
I wasn't a hippie until 1970 and just about the only one of my group that still read comics. The only characters I thought were relatable to the hippie culture would have been Dr. Strange, The Silver Surfer, Bat Lash and Brother Power, The GeekHow did Kirby's Forever People resonate with early 70s hippies, Ish? I was a nerd in junior high in 1970-71. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 19, 2016 19:17:06 GMT -5
I wasn't a hippie until 1970 and just about the only one of my group that still read comics. The only characters I thought were relatable to the hippie culture would have been Dr. Strange, The Silver Surfer, Bat Lash and Brother Power, The GeekHow did Kirby's Forever People resonate with early 70s hippies, Ish? I was a nerd in junior high in 1970-71. Understand that I can't speak for a whole culture, but while Kirby's book was visually appealing and very imaginative, the writing itself did not resonate at all with the counter-culture. Nor was Kirby trying to do that, thank god. he had no connection, culturally speaking with those 25-30 years younger than him. At least he didn't embarrass himself to the extent of, say, Bob Haney, who thought he good right like a hipster. The same with Spider-man back then. Even though they wanted him to be written like a modern teen/ young adult, he came of as very square. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 19, 2016 22:56:35 GMT -5
How did Kirby's Forever People resonate with early 70s hippies, Ish? I was a nerd in junior high in 1970-71. Understand that I can't speak for a whole culture, but while Kirby's book was visually appealing and very imaginative, the writing itself did not resonate at all with the counter-culture. Nor was Kirby trying to do that, thank god. he had no connection, culturally speaking with those 25-30 years younger than him. At least he didn't embarrass himself to the extent of, say, Bob Haney, who thought he good right like a hipster. The same with Spider-man back then. Even though they wanted him to be written like a modern teen/ young adult, he came of as very square. Somehow I always had the impression that the Fourth World, and particularly the Forever People, matched the spirit of the times better than any of the self-consciously "hip" books that Marvel & DC put out. And Peter Parker never lost his nerdiness. I thought he was intentionally written as square. |
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