Gallery: Ditko after Spidey

In 1966, Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, left Marvel Comics under still cloudy circumstances.

Legend has it that he departed because he and Stan Lee disagreed over the true identity of Spider-Man's nemesis, the Green Goblin. But Ditko, himself denied this, saying:

"Stan never knew what he was getting in my Spider-Man stories and covers until after [production manager] Sol Brodsky took the material from me ... so there couldn't have been any disagreement or agreement, no exchanges ... no problems between us concerning the Green Goblin or anything else from before issue #25 to my final issues."

Ditko's successor on Spidey, artist John Romita said that Stan and Steve:

" ... ended up not being able to work together because they disagreed on almost everything, cultural, social, historically, everything, they disagreed on character."

Stan Lee informed fans of the departure this way, in one of his Bullpen Bulletin items:

"Steve recently told us he was leaving for personal reasons. After all these years, we're sorry to see him go, and we wish the talented guy success with his future endeavors."

What we do know, is that Ditko immediately started doing superhero work at Charlton after his departure from Marvel, illustrating the adventures of Blue Beetle, the Question and Captain Atom.

Here's a look at his Charlton covers from that period. These issues are collected in DC Comics' "Action Heroes Archives," published back in 2004.

Pop focus: The (Dr.) Strange art of Steve Ditko

With a Dr. Strange movie on the horizon from Marvel, let's look back to the roots of the character, and spotlight the amazing, other worldly art of Steve Ditko, who co-created the character with Stan Lee.

Ditko is a master at using his character's hands as a mode of expression and storytelling. Doctor Strange, in particular, is fascinating to look at in this light, as he expressively conjures up magic.

Ditko's use of shapes and patterns to portray magical energies and other realms and cosmic beings is also highly unique and pioneering in the field of comics.

Below: One of the few photos of the reclusive Ditko.

One of only a few pictures of Steve Ditko

Dr. Strange's astral travels.

The distinctive window of Dr. Strange's Greenwich Village pad (above right and below) was inspired by a similar window in Will Eisner's "Spirit" strip (above left). The influence of Eisner's early work on the "Spirit" is evident on Ditko's line work and visual conception. The two images above are from this site. Notice the window design is also repeated on the cupboard in the picture below.

After Ditko left Marvel, the excellent Marie Severin had the unenviable task of following him up, doing her best to capture the trippy nature of the strip.

Marvel developed a strong college/hippie readership in the mid to late 1960s and Dr. Strange was obviously a favorite. Despite the appearance of his art, however, Ditko was decidedly not influenced by LSD or other drug use and was, in fact, very conservative devoting his later career to comics focused on the black/white, every many for himself philosophy of Ayn Rand.

The Severin image below made its way onto the cover of Pink Floyd's second LP, A Saucerful of Secrets.

Via a YouTube, a narrated Dr. Strange using images and text from the comic and music by Pink Floyd.

And finally, here's "In Search of Steve Ditko," an excellent documentary from BBC TV.

Vintage Steve Ditko Spider-Man pin-up

Steve Ditko's "wide" panels

Posted by the Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon in celebration of the Spider-Man and Doctor Strange co-creator's recent birthday, here's a selection of Steve Diko's panoramic panels. Click here for more.

Comic Book Art: Spider-Man splash page Steve Ditko original art!

Yoe Books announces "Ditko's Shorts" book!

Not only did he co-create Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, comics artist Steve Ditko produced a whole bunch of one-, two- and three-page comics stories for a variety of different publishers.

Yoe Books collects some of those tales in a new volume out in December and just announced today via Craig Yoe's Twitter feed.

Here's a look:

Ditko's Shorts is a fun and incredibly fascinating compilation of short comics one, two and three pages in length. Only a brilliant master could tell a dramatic, compelling tale in such compact form. You'll thrill as Ditko walks this exciting high-wire act without a net! The many stories contained in this hardcover are fast-paced and sport terrific, compelling artwork as only Steve Ditko can draw it! The genres show the artist's great range. There's horror, fantasy, science fiction, western, and even humorous stories. Taken from rare comic books from a who's who of publishers, all the comics are meticulously restored and printed in a beautiful, large-format book. Insightful introductions by punk-rocker and comics historian Fester Faceplant and Eisner Award-winner Craig Yoe. Don't miss Ditko's Shorts - sure to be a much loved and talked about Ditko treasure!

"New" picture of Steve Ditko surfaces!

Via Ditko Cultist: Only a couple of pictures of media-shy-shy Spider-man co-creator Steve Ditko have been published. Now a new one, likely from the 1970s, has appeared. Here it is:

Coming soon: Creepy Presents Steve Ditko

A collection of Steve Ditko-illustrated stories for Creepy will be out this summer from Dark Horse Comics.

Info:
Out Aug. 20, 2013
Making a lasting mark on comics as the co creator of Spider-Man, Steve Ditko veered away from the mainstream and into darker territories at the end of the sixties. His work in Creepy and Eerie proved that this superhero maestro also excelled at short-form horror, collaborating with Archie Goodwin on fifteen tension and terror-filled stories. A must for fans of the enigmatic Ditko, his deluxe hardcover collection not only finds the artist at his pen-and-ink finest, but also showcases some rarely seen ink wash work from a storytelling maestro and features a new introduction from comics historian Mark Evanier. Warring wizards, paranoid goons, persistent heroes, and otherworldly domains dominate the sixteen diverse tales in this handsome hardcover collection!

Steve Ditko Week: Out of this World covers - original art

We wind up our week-long tribute to Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko with a look at his original art covers for the Out of this World sci-fi/suspense series.