New York Post Reporter tried to interview Spider-Man Co-Creator Steve Ditko, however he didn’t many quotes. Check out the interview by clicking on this link. It seems Ditko makes royalties off of reprints of his Spider-Man work, but hasn’t received anything from the movies.
When The Post knocked on his door, Ditko — who turns out to be a owlish man with wisps of white hair and ink-stained hands, wearing large black glasses and an unbuttoned white shirt with a white tee beneath — pleasantly but firmly declines to answer any questions. Though he did say he reads The Post.
“I don’t have anything to say,” he says, standing in the doorway to his studio. Rumors abound that he also lives there, but a source in the building says he might be living at a nearby hotel.
“No,” he tells The Post, when asked if he was paid anything for the four recent Spider-Man movies.
“I haven’t been involved with Spider-Man since the ’60s.”
Whatever the case, the artist doesn’t seem much interested in money. Although he could make thousands doing commissions for fans, he consistently refuses. Instead, he forges ahead on black-and-white, self-published books with titles like “The Avenging Mind.”
“I do those because that’s all they’ll let me do,” he tells The Post, suggesting big publishers aren’t interested in his work anymore.
Writer Mark Evanier also shares a story of his attempts to work and contact Ditko.
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I have to agree with Parabolee; as much as I admire Ditko’s early work, my investigation into him revealed a very rigid, inflexible, closed-minded person, with a short temper, who turned in his laat work to Marvel and quit without ever explaining his reason to Stan Lee or even notifying him; he then proceeded to do some very strange work which expressed his literally black and white view of the world. He shut himself from other artists and writers during this period, and it was his choice to do so. In opinion, he cut off his nose to spite his face, and abandoned his creations of Spiderman and Dr. Strange. Yet his biographers insist he should forever receive royalties from sales of those comics After the point he quit them, up to the present day; which I think is very strange reasoning, indeed. He’s just an unpleasant, reclusive man, and has the right to be that way. He wasn’t “driven into it” as some people claim, he is just that way.
Strange that the man who co-created Spiderman became very akin to another spider: the Recluse.
My opinion is we should respect his wishes (media included) and leave him alone. It’s probably better that way anyway; given the unpleasant behavior he exhibited since then, and the bizarre stories he created about absolute right and wrong, and how Hawks are always right and Doves are always weak (and wrong), it would probably be a disappointment to know the real man…..
Peter Parker is Steve Ditko!!!
I would think that the big comic publishers would be interested in Ditko as long as he was willing to work on already established characters, because if all he’s interested in creating is objectivism material, then obviously they wouldn’t approach him. We all know Marvel would fall over themselves if Ditko called them up to illustrate another Dr. Strange or Spider-Man comic. I also have the impression based on interviews and articles over the years that he’s difficult to work with. It sounds like he enjoys and has accepted the role of comics martyr. The last paragraph of Mr Evanier’s article sums it up well.
Steve Ditko is still alive?
Paroblee, in that last post you called Ditko petty, crazy and a jerk. Seriously? This is your 2nd warning about insults and personal attacks.
Steve Ditko is unfortunatly a little crazy and a very petty man. He has successfully created this narative that suggests he was more responsible for the creation of Spider-Man than Stan Lee. This artricle again serves to perpetuate that myth, claiming that the human struggles of Peter parker came almost exclusivly from Ditko.
However history tells a different story. Stan Lee changed comics forever because the characters he created were human and had real human problems. Are we to believe that while Stan brought these elements top every character he created, it was instead Ditko that brought this element to Spider-Man? It is utter nonsense.
I also reject the claim that Ditko has never gotten the credit he deserves, as this article claims. Stan Lee wrote an open letter declaring Ditko the co-creator. And like petty jerk Ditko got upset about the workding of it.
Ditko’s name sit’s beside Stan Lee’s as the co-creator of Spider-Man in everything that is printed. Credit where it is due. And make no mistake Ditko does deserve huge credit for co-creating Spider-Man. Stan Lee created “Spider-Man”, simple fact. But without Ditko that Spider-Man would not be the one we know and love today. He is perfectly justified in being named the co-creator. 50/50 ownership, in the beginning at least.
Does he deserve more credit? What more could there be? Money? He does not want it. To be given more credit in the media more often as the co-creator? He discourages that.
This is a man that turned his back on his creation after issue #38 and has had no contribution since then. The same can not be said for Stan Lee who continued to write until issue 100 and another 7 to issue 120. Stan continued to be a huge influence on Spider-Man for years to come, and becomes giddy when talking about his beloved creation.
Not only did Ditko abandon any influence over the character by issue 38, but the book was better after he left. The Lee-Romita run being the definitive Spider-Man to many. And I don’t hear John Romita claiming he doesn’t get enough credit despite creating and shaping many of the most important characters in the characters history, including by far the second most important character in the books Mary Jane.
Every time a new movie comes out this nonsenese narrative will be trotted out again, when the fact of the matter is Ditko abandoned Spider-Man and wanted nothing to do with him since then. Steve Ditko’s is Peter Parker’s real parent that abondoned him, that is the narrative these articles should take.
Any lack of credit he gets is his own doing.
The Ayn Rand philosophy will turn you into a #6 on the island, if you don’t keep it balanced with some pragmatism.