Steve Ditko - Comic Book DB

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Steve Ditko
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Bio:
Ditko studied at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York City under Jerry Robinson and began professionally illustrating comic books in 1953. Much of his early work was for Charlton Comics (for whom he continued to work intermittently until the company's demise in 1986), producing science fiction, horror and mystery stories. In the late 1950s, he also began working for Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursor of Marvel Comics.

Ditko and writer-editor Stan Lee created Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962, and shortly thereafter Doctor Strange, in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Ditko also drew many stories of the Hulk, first in the final issue of The Incredible Hulk (#6, March 1963), and then in Tales to Astonish, relaunching the character's series in issue #60 (Oct. 1964) and continuing through #67 (May 1965, succeeded by Jack Kirby. In these stories, Ditko designed the Hulk's primary antagonist, the Leader (issue #62, Dec. 1964), and developed the notion of Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk under extreme emotional stress, rather than with the rising of the moon or other, previously muddled reasons.

Whichever feature he drew, Ditko's idiosyncratic, cleanly detailed, instantly recognizeable art style, emphasizing mood and anxiety, found great favor with readers. The character of Spider-Man and his troubled social life meshed well with Ditko's personal style and interests, which Lee eventually acknowledged by giving the artist plotting credits on the latter part of their 38-issue run together. But after four years on the title, Ditko left Marvel; he and Lee had not been on speaking terms for some time, though the details remain uncertain. The last straw is often alleged to have been a disagreement as to the secret identity of the Green Goblin, but Ditko himself has stated in print that this was not the case.

At Charlton — where the page rate was low but which allowed its creators great freedom — Ditko worked on such characters as Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, writer Joe Gill's Liberty Belle (a backup feature in the comic E-Man), and Ditko's own Killjoy (also in E-Man) and The Question. With the latter two, Ditko freely expressed his personal philosophy, inspired by Ayn Rand's Objectivism and the writings of Greek philosopher Aristotle. Also at Charlton, Ditko did much work on their science-fiction and horror titles. In addition, Ditko drew 16 stories for Warren Publishing's horror-comic magazines, most of which were done using ink-wash.

In 1967, Ditko gave his philosophical ideas ultimate expression in the form of Mr. A, published in Wally Wood's independent title witzend #3. Ditko's hard line against criminals was controversial and alienated many fans, but he continued to produce Mr. A stories and one-pagers until the end of the 1970s. Ditko returned to Mr. A once more in 2000.

By 1968, Ditko was producing his first work for DC Comics. He created the Creeper (in Showcase #73, March-April 1968, with scripter Don Segall), and with writer Steve Skeates, co-created the short-lived title The Hawk and the Dove, working on the first two issues (Aug.-Sept. to Oct.-Nov. 1968) before it was turned over to artist Gil Kane. Unusal for the time, plotter and penciller Ditko used these fondly remembered superhero features to explore complicated ethical issues.

Ditko's stay at DC was short — he would work on all six issues of the Creeper's own title Beware the Creeper (May-June 1968 - March-April 1969), though leaving midway through the final one — and again, the reasons for his departure are uncertain. From this time up through the mid-1970s, he working exclusively for Charlton and various small press/independent publishers.

Ditko returned to DC in the mid-'70s, creating one short-lived title, Shade, the Changing Man. Shade was later successfully revived, without Ditko's involvement, and was one of the longer-running titles in the DC Vertigo line. He also revived The Creeper and did various other, more obscure jobs. He finally returned to Marvel in 1979, taking over Jack Kirby's Machine Man title. He worked regularly for both companies until his retirement from mainstream comics, producing a wealth of work showcasing his unique take on everything from such established chararacters as The Sub-Mariner (in Marvel Comics Presents) to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Ditko retired from the mainstream in 1998. Since then, his strictly solo work has been published intermittently by independent publisher and long-time friend Robin Snyder, who was his editor at Charlton, Archie Comics (where Snyder scripted Ditko's plots on a revival of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's The Fly), and Renegade Press in the 1980s. The Snyder-published books have included Static, The Missing Man, The Mocker and, most recently, Avenging World (2002), a giant collection of stories and essays spanning 30 years.

Ditko resides in New York City. Though a prolific and hard-working artist, he is also an intensely private man. Preferring to speak for himself (through both his comics work and numerous essays), he has refused to give interviews since the 1960s. A rare Steve Ditko interview from 1968 can be found at http://www.vicsage.com/wp/interviews/interview-with-ditko-from-marvel-main-4/

Date of Birth: November 2,1927
Birthplace: Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Date of death: June 29, 2018

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