Steve Ditko Death: Co-Creator of Spider-Man Was 90



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Artist Steve Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man and Dr. Strange with Stan Lee, died at the age of 90.

The New York Police Department confirmed his death in The Hollywood Reporter . No cause of death has been reported. Ditko was found dead in his apartment on June 29 and is believed to have died about two days earlier.

In 1961, Ditko and Lee created Spider-Man. Lee, the editor of Marvel Comics, entrusted the task to Ditko after he was not satisfied with Jack Kirby's idea about the idea of ​​a super hero with spider powers. The look of Spider-Man – the costume, the web-shooters, the red and blue design – all came from Ditko. Spider-Man appeared in Amazing Fantasy No. 15. The cartoon was an unexpected success, and the character was launched in The Amazing Spider-Man . Ditko helped create such classic Spider-Man characters as Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard and Green Goblin. Starting with number 25, Ditko received a conspiracy credit in addition to his artist credit. Ditko's race ended with the number 38.

In 1963, Ditko created the surrealist and psychedelic hero, Dr. Strange. The character debuted in Strange Tales No. 110, and Ditko continued on the comic book through number 146, cover dated July 1966.

After that, Ditko left Marvel Comics on a fight with Lee, the causes have always remained obscure. The pair had not been talking for several years. Ditko never explained his side, and Lee claimed to not really know what motivated the release of Ditko. The best explanation suggests that Ditko was frustrated by Lee's negligence and failure to properly share the credit for Ditko's contributions to Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. The charismatic Lee was still the face of Marvel Comics, but Ditko (and Jack Kirby) thought Lee was more interested in self-promotion than by selling the company, and in doing so, was implying that He deserved the lion's share to create characters in the Marvel Universe.

Ditko worked for Charlton, DC Comics and other small independent publishers. He returned to Marvel in 1979, where he worked on Machine Man and the Micronauts, and he continued working for them as a freelancer in the 1990s. latest creations figure Squirrel Girl in 1992, become cult since a few years

. After his work at Marvel, Ditko is best known for creating Mr. A in 1967. The character embodied the objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand, Ditko was an ardent believer since the mid-1960s. Other characters Objective-inspired inspiration created by Ditko included The Question, Hawk and Dove and The Creeper – all for DC Comics.

The Reclusive Ditko was known as the "J.D. Salinger" of comics. From the 1970s, he rarely spoke on the record, declining almost every interview request. He avoided the advertising booms that accompanied the movies Spider-Man and the film Doctor Strange

"We have not approached it.It's like JD Salinger. He is privately and has voluntarily remained aloof as JD Salinger, " director of Dr. Strange Scott Derrickson says THR in 2016." I hope that it will not be a problem. he is going to see the film, wherever it is "

Derrickson, author Neil Gaiman and filmmaker Edgar Wright paid homage on Twitter as he heard the news of Ditko's death.

Wright tweeted that Ditko was "influential on countless plans of existence" and "his work will never be forgotten." Gaiman wrote: "I know I am a different person because he was in the world. "

Ditko maintained a studio in Manhattan until his death, where he continued to write and draw, although the quantity and unpublished material remain unknown.

Comic Book Creator Graig Weich He made friends with Ditko over the last four years and visited him in his Manhattan office, where he would find the legendary creator well dressed and wearing a beret, as well as It came out of the 1940s. Ditko continued to work on his own creations, although he did not share the details with Weich, who remembers that Ditko looked younger than his years.

"He was not 90. He seemed to be a cool young artist who" Weich says THR . Weich remembers questioning Ditko about his relationship with Lee and saying that the artist told him, "We are peaceful."

Stephen J. Ditko was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on November 2, 1927. His Father worked mill and his mother was a housewife. He developed an interest in his father's comic strip, which loved Prince Valiant, and Batman and the Spirit, which began in adolescence

After graduating from high school, Ditko served in the army in post – war Germany. drawing for a military paper. After being released, he moved to New York in 1950 and studied under Batman artist Jerry Robinson at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (later the School of Visual Arts).

In 1953, Ditko became work as a professional draftsman, including at the studio of Captain America's creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Ditko became ill with tuberculosis in 1954 and spent the next year recovering in Johnstown. He began drawing for Atlas Comics, the forerunner of Marvel Comics in 1955. He first collaborated with Stan Lee, who worked together on a number of science fiction stories

Ditko's & nbsp; There are no known survivors. It is believed that he never married.

– Ryan Parker and Aaron Couch contributed to this report.

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