He was a unique individual. I wonder if anyone ever really understood him. No wife or kids during his life.

Here's a BBC4 documentary, hosted by fan Jonathan Ross.



Ditko's segment of The Masters of Comic Art, introduced by the late Harlan Ellison

A genius and a legend that all of us will never, ever forget ... A rare bird these days that will be enjoyed by us and future generations to come.

While Ditko was not what I believe to be the perfect Spider-Man artist, his co-creation of the character places him on the same level of the other great comic legends, although its rather sad that when some discuss the creation of the character, Lee's contribution often dominates the discussion. I think his idiosyncratic nature (at least in regards to his creativity) made him a perfect fit for Doctor Strange, and in my view, I've yet to see any other artist "get" the wild, truly mystical realm represented by the character in the way Ditko did.

In my lifetime, he was "always there", meaning there was never a time where I would not see his work; from first run titles, to reprints of early superhero, horror and sci-fi at Marvel, to the Creeper, Hawk & Dove at DC, to his Charlton days. Part of the foundation and psychological landscape of the Silver Age revolution(s) that should never be forgotten as comic characters are now absorbed into a single corporate identity like never before.

Despite some creators receiving on-screen credit in the Marvel movies of late, one can also go back to 1966's The Marvel Super Heroes cartoon and see Ditko's work come "alive" on characters like the Hulk (taken from Tales to Astonish) in a way that's closer to the heart of that era--and his work--than any other adaptation since.

He will be missed.

The amazing thing about Ditko's career is that you can remove his work for Marvel, and it's still five decades of interesting, idiosyncratic, high-quality, sometimes experimental work that would've ranked him in the top tier of comic book creators. Not many people were able to use the vocabulary and grammar of comics more effectively.

By all accounts he was extremely friendly to the fans who would stop by to see him. 

This is what I wrote on Facebook; apparently inadvertently vert similar to Gaiman's thoughts.  


R. I. P. Steve Ditko.

Without the work of Mr. Ditko there’d be no Spider-Man, no Dr. Strange, no Creeper, no Hawk & Dove, no Question and without The Question no Rorshach!

He was equally adept at the long-running Master Planner saga and the five-pagers that populated the back of the Atlas monster mags.

A master of the craft is gone.

Sad news, but not unexpected - this is definitely the loss of an artistic icon.

I wasn't around when the original Spider-man comics came out, but did read these original issues when they were reprinted in Marvel Tales, back in the early '80's. Ditko's art was unique & refreshing. Also enjoyed the work he did on Dr. Strange & all of the other numerous comics he drew over the years. It was also cool to see Ditko's art pop up in unexpected places occasionally; the handful of issues he drew of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (back in the 1980's) were some of my favorite stories of that short-lived series.