Also, 35:00 -- I never considered the Shocker bank fight a trope, but now that you mention it... They also fight in a bank in the Raimi movie games, and in Spectacular (joined by Ricochet and Ox). Feels weirdly specific, but I guess robbing banks is just Shocker's deal. A bank fight in general is certainly a trope, and Shocker is a villain that fits easily into that and hasn't really outgrown it over the years the way someone like Ock or Sandman have.
As absolutely phenomenal as the Ditko era is (despite the VERY small handful of weaker stories), The Romita era is when I feel like the Amazing Spider-Man comics really lived up to their name. It's one outstanding issue after another. Can't wait to see you cover more.
Yep. All due respect to Ditko, but Romita was the superior artist and the storytelling improved radically when he came onboard. It's the best run Spider-Man ever had.
Weaker stories? Perhaps. Honestly, I think I'd agree. Romita's my favorite. BUT as far as original villains go, Ditko clears Romita by a healthy margin. Only the Kingpin and maybe the Prowler had a truly lasting impact.
Ditko's work was more expressive, and possibly better suited to the original "Strange Tales" stories, but Romita's naturalistic and confident draftsmanship easily became the defining look of Spider-Man.
Stumbled onto these retrospectives, and they have a nice casual vibe discussing the appeal of these old comics even in today's world. You often hit what made these stories appealing while tossing in what parts future writers improved
As a huge Spider-Man fan, I consider Ditko to be a genius and his work was epic. But Romita Sr is the best ever to do it. The best Spider-Man artist of all time and in comics, in my opinion.
I always thought that one of the biggest differences between Ditko and Romita's Spider-Man was that under Romita, Peter Parker became noticeably more handsome. Since the Spider-Man comic has always been more about Peter Parker than Spider-Man, this made a big difference....
Being a fan of ER at the time I noted the change of Peter’s appearance as JRSR turning Peter from Anthony Edwards (the hirsute 1980s Edwards) to George Clooney..
Not according to Steve Ditko. From the moment Norman was introduced in ASM25, he was meant to be the Goblin. Stan Lee wasn't even working on the book by that point But when Stan WAS working on it, he didn't want the Goblin to be Osborne, he wanted him to be the unleashed spirit of an ancient egyptian goblin wizard.
@SlainOracle you need to take another look. Stan wanted the goblin to be someone that everyone knew ditko wanted it to be someone anonymous. Lee gave the writing reigns on spiderman to Ditko because they kept disagreeing on plot developments and one of those developments was making Osborne the green goblin.
@@HarlanEllisonlivesSteve ditko explicitly wrote that everything you're saying was a lie by Stan Lee. We know for a fact from Lee's own mouth that Ditko was plotting the book entirely by himself by issue 25 or so, and they weren't even talking to each other after that (again, Lee admits this). Stan would receive Steve's already completed pages with story notes to explain what was happening, and then Stan would dialogue the pages. Steve wrote that based on all of this, of course it was his idea to make the Green Goblin Norman, and he had been planting clues throughout the entire run.
In some ways Ditko was more realistic. You're focusing (as far as I can tell) only on the figure drawing, but Ditko would map out and define the environment the characters were in in a way Romita never did. (Or Kirby or Neal Adams or 95% of comic artists then or now.). The classic question is "Where is Spider-Man's web-line attached?". With Ditko you could tell! Still, I see why Rosita's style was more popular. You can see the advertising backgroun in Romita's stuff, everyone is model handsome,the action is bigger and more immediately eye catching. Ditko's best non Spider-man work was surrealism and supernatural horror, Rosita's was romance comics and he drew attractive women better than pretty much anyone. Spider-Man became Marvels flagship #1 and flagship book under Romita's tenure. But to me Spider-man was never as good after issue 36.
2:25 Recently read through the first 50 or so issues and I didn't care for the looter. He might have been fine, even iconic, if he'd been introduced earlier in the series, but by the time he's introduced we've had like 5 of the last 6 villians "power" be super strength. That alien gas could have given him literally ANY power, its the sort of power source that's a blank check to a writers imagination, but instead its just super strength for the 6th time almost entirely in a row. His motivations also make no sense, he's worried his powers will wear off so he needs more meteors to "refill" despite the fact its never worn off, and enough time has passed since he got the powers that if it was going to wear off, it almost certainly would have by then. I guess you could argue thats what makes him unique, no other villian or hero worries about their powers wearing off during this early run, but the concern doesn't feel justified, it really needed it to ACTUALLY wear off, him get a second source, and then become obsessed with getting more and more. 3:55 I appreciated the new secondary perspective Gwen gave us. Up until this arc I feel like we almost exclusively saw through the eyes of peter and the villians. A handful of times we briefly saw through Flash's eyes (which I also appreciated) during the Ditko run, but he also was usually an antagonist so it was for the same purpose of letting us know what trouble Peter was walking into. But Gwen's character perspective doesn't really serve that purpose, instead she seems to serve for the viewer, at least initially, as a look into how a normal unrelated third party sees Peter. Eventually it evolves into a will they won't they thing, but thats quite a few issues out from her first appearance when her point of view is mostly just trying to figure out what the deal is with this Peter Parker guy who appears to have no friends, yet doesn't seem to care, and in fact always seem to have his mind on other things whenever she or anyone else trys to offer him an olive branch of friendship. It also shows, I think, some level of humbling she endures, as some one who was always the popular girl in school, with the early issues having her get pissed off at him just for not thanking his lucky stars whenever she gives him, a 7 to her 10, any attention. Initially it seems like, per usual, Peter's second life is harming a chance to get with a girl he finds very attractive, but because we see her side it could be argued spider man is the reason Gwen stays so interested in Peter, what makes him stand out to her and makes her keep coming back to him rather then just playing with him and then moving on as it seems like she intended early in the series. 7:33 There is something hilarious and fitting that Ditko's final issue was yet another new villian whose sole power, which again came from a source which could have given him ANY power, just gives him super strength. Like I LOVED the Ditko run, and this is arguably more on Stan Lee then Ditko depending on if you believe Lee that he was coming up with all the characters and stories, but whether it was Ditko or Lee, it really felt like there was a mental block that had been hit villian power wise that perhaps the fresh perspective of Romita aided in over coming. In fact there's an argument to be made Joe was the LEAST creative "villian" they'd ever added, since he was basically just the Hulk minus the green skin, thin white dude who gets super strength but loses his mind whenever he gets angry. That said, I did still like Joe's story more then Looters if only for the sympathetic angle, but it still felt like one of Ditko's weakest stories (for the reasons you noted in the video). Anyway, glad I found your channel, from what I've watched so far you're making great videos, can't wait for more.
@FinnSuto II. There was one time Prof. Stromm did return to menace Spider-man, in an issue of "Spectacular Spider-man" sometime in the 1980's. At the time of his death, he somehow had three robots activated from his mind, and they fought Spider-man in Stromm's former lab. Spidey, of course defeated all 3 of Stromm's robots. I liked Steve Ditko's artwork on Spider-man, but I believe John Romita, Sr. was a worthy successor to Ditko. and some Spider-man fans may not agree, but I also felt that Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr. made a good Spider-man art team. Also, Jack Kirby doing the art and Ditko inking the Spider-man Comic. And other later Spider-man artists I liked were Don Heck, John & Sal Buscema, Ross Andru and in the 1980's Ron Frenz. And I agree that the late John Romita, Sr. was THE BEST Spider-man artist, but I like Steve Ditko too. At first, I didn't like when Romita too over as the new artist on the Spider-man Comic, I liked Ditko better. But later on, I began to like Romita too!
@FinnSuto II. Just for the record, I should also mention that I didn't like when Stan Lee changed the line-up of the Original Avengers in Issue #16, to three "former villains", Hawkeye the Archer, Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch. I liked the original line-up better. Later on I got to like them. Speaking of The Avengers Comic, at first I didn't like when John Buscema took over as the artist from Jack Kirby and Don Heck. But later I got to like HIS artwork. Also, I didn't like when Gene Colon took over as the artist on the Iron Man Comic from Don Heck, starting with Tales of Suspense #73. But I later on got to like his art style too. The trouble with me was when I started reading Superhero Comics, both Marvel & DC in 1962/63, I would unwisely start reading the story without reading the credits first. Also, for a brief time, from 1965-1966, I unwisely stopped reading comic books. That is why the artwork looked differently to me. And as I looked back, it was "narrow mindedness," on my part!
Spider-man has always been my favorite comic book character... even with all the ups and downs of the stories over the years. I think Stan Lee wrote the book for the first 100 issues or more. He did give plotting or co-plotting accolades to many of the artists back in those days. I remember an article were Stan had mentioned the "If this be my destiny" store arc in which he said that he gave Steve notes on the story, and then Ditko would draw up the panels... then Stan would write the dialogue for the pages. There was the rumor why Steve Ditko left the book was because of an argument over Green Goblins identity... which I'm not sure if it is true or not. I know that when Ditko drew the Green Goblin getting out of costume his face was always blocked... kind of like the mystery of Mary Jane looks. I loved Ditko's rendition of Spider-man... the action scenes seemed to almost come off the pages. John Romita is also a great Spider-man artist (I've seen shirts in stores to this day still using his Spider-man art). It was said that when he started his run on Spider-man that he tried to mimic Ditko to make the transition easier for the fans back then... I never saw it, the two styles are very different, but they are my 2 favorite Spider-man artists. I also like John Romita Jr.'s Spider-man art... he started out very close to his father rendition, but later on it became a very good style of his own.
Mendel Strom was in the movie and in the animated series, in both the helps Norman become the Green Goblin come in the movie he's murdered in the show he just kind of disappears.
As a lifelong Shocker fan, I've always known the guy to be smart, but he knows he's not Doc Ock or Green Goblin, so he tempers his expectations and tries to be more professional than most other villains...His first issue is not humble, though, and it doesn't seem like he gets that way for a while. Unfortunately, my comics heyday is the 2000's and my knowledge before that is limited to the Avengers Celestial Madona storyline, Secret Wars, Infinity Gauntlet and then mostly encyclopedias on the characters. My knowledge of Shocker isn't as complete as I once thought, but my 2000's issues of him check out, so hopefully I'm not completely off-base.
Yeah Shocker becomes a competent shmuck around the 80s. Starts working for gang bosses and super criminals while also ripping them off, a lot of pathos around him letting his pride be wounded long enough to secure the contract, make the deal, get the bag
First couple of issues were in Romita's version of Ditko's style since Romita 9as he later admitted) figured Ditko would return since it sold so well . . . .
My least favorite Lee/Ditko Spider-man Comic when I first read it was Issue # 38, "Just A Guy Named Joe!" But when I reread it later, I liked it. It was kind of bittersweet, since it was the last Spider-man Comic that Lee and Ditko did together. I also liked Lee and Ditko's run on Dr. Strange, and the Steve's various artwork on the monster, horror and fantasy comics he did @ Marvel and at other comic book companies.
The stories lost something when Ditko left. The unique spark of creativity and genuine strangeness was something that made it stand apart. Romita was good, great even, but his run set the template for a more standard Superhero book.
I will say reading the comments, people that dislike ditko are just people that dont like his art style and think stan lee invented everything. Complete casuals that dont know jack about comics.
Romita was definitely the better artist, but Spider-man to this day has never been as competent as he was when Lee and Ditko worked together. Nearly all of his most iconic villains came from Lee and Ditko and unlike villain introductions for other famous comic heroes I'd say Spider-man's initial stories hold up very well. Non-powered characters such as Kingpin posing any kind of a threat to Spider-man physically is such bad writing and Romita/Lee had Spider-man sprain his arm for drama every ten issues. Some of Lee/Romita's stories really fall apart when you think about them at all. Goblin figuring out Peter's identity for example was utter nonsense
The more that's revealed about Steve Ditko the less there is to like about him. He was deeply troubled and dependent on a cult to justify whatever it was he spent his entire life hiding . Too many "fans" enjoy in the sad fad of slandering Stan Lee but the fact is that Stan guided comics into the modern era and would have done so with or without prima donnas like Kirby and Ditko .
Every marvel character you know was created by kirby or ditko. Stan lee was a used car salesman. Name me one creation stan Lee invented before kirby or ditko worked for marvel you clown.
Stan was just about ready to leave comics altogether at that time as well being that he had felt at multiple times that he was in a dead end career towards the end of the fifties and the start of the sixties, and without Kirby and Ditko things might have been very different insofar as the Marvel era of comics goes. Not to mention the fact that both artists among others ranging from Wally Wood to Jim Steranko had a hand in co writing their comics. Inspite of some “fans” who seem to have this idea that Stan created everything over at Marvel all on his own.
@@matthewschwartz6607 Ditko hid most of his life and never granted interviews . From the bizarre statements he issued it's obvious that he was an admirer of the vacuous fraud Ayn Rand .
I actually prefer the Lee/Romita and Lee/Kane issues over the Ditko ones . Romita’s art also has held up better. And I think that the stories were better and deeper.
The first comic I ever bought was Spiderman #39,Romita's debut issue, because I liked the art. Before that, Ditko's art looked quirky and interesting but kind of amateurish to me.
Da Vinci, or Picasso. Now Steve ditko, or John romita what's the difference to both phenomenal artists make the Old Masters remind me in Deadpool are gold and silver age comics it's like the old Masters they both taught me how to read as a child Leonardo da Vinci or Pablo Picasso didn't but I still like their art get grateful
After Ditko left, that era was kinda mid ngl, there is like a story where he fights an evil conservative after captain Stacy died and that was like the most boring comic I have ever read. the he fights a politician who was bipolar and dies at the end. I think Ditko understood his characters more. People hate on Ditko cause of his politic and because of that Nerd Sync video. Romita had some good stories but a lot of it felt like filler to the point I took a break from his run, his stuff doesn't get good till way later on and the creative team after that was imo a more worthy successor.
People just like romita because they think his art was pretty. The romita run story wise was mid because he wasn't a creative, even romita admits himself that he was just an illustrator not a creator. Guys like kirby and ditko were really good storytellers along with great artists. Most casuals dont realize how good ditko was.
@@LOLheyman you know Ditko was good when a character that was supposed to parody and insult one of creation ended up being a fan favorite against the authors wishes. The guy made Marvel cosmology move further than what it was before with his Doctor Strange books and Co created Marvel's most popular character and his Mr.A creation inspired other popular characters. For someone who did not like interviews, he really did make his work speak for itself.
Romita had such an iconic look it was the main design used in two decades of Spider-Man merchandise
Yes😊
It's THE spider-man look.
Also Alex Saviuk (web of spider-man late 80s, parallel lives) was great at emulating Romitas style imo.
Not just Spider-Man. Romita's style was the Marvel look throughout the 70's and into the 80's. That's just how good he was. An irreplaceable talent.
6:16 Stromm is in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man! He's the other scientist that Norman kills in the beginning. "Back to formula" guy.
Also, 35:00 -- I never considered the Shocker bank fight a trope, but now that you mention it... They also fight in a bank in the Raimi movie games, and in Spectacular (joined by Ricochet and Ox). Feels weirdly specific, but I guess robbing banks is just Shocker's deal. A bank fight in general is certainly a trope, and Shocker is a villain that fits easily into that and hasn't really outgrown it over the years the way someone like Ock or Sandman have.
As absolutely phenomenal as the Ditko era is (despite the VERY small handful of weaker stories), The Romita era is when I feel like the Amazing Spider-Man comics really lived up to their name. It's one outstanding issue after another. Can't wait to see you cover more.
Yep. All due respect to Ditko, but Romita was the superior artist and the storytelling improved radically when he came onboard. It's the best run Spider-Man ever had.
The Romita era was also when Peter stopped describing everything that was happening and when they started using visual storytelling far more.
Weaker stories? Perhaps. Honestly, I think I'd agree. Romita's my favorite. BUT as far as original villains go, Ditko clears Romita by a healthy margin. Only the Kingpin and maybe the Prowler had a truly lasting impact.
Ditko's work was more expressive, and possibly better suited to the original "Strange Tales" stories, but Romita's naturalistic and confident draftsmanship easily became the defining look of Spider-Man.
Romita did what Ditko couldn't.That is giving the scenes clean and clear lines.I love Ditko's work but John Romita was a worthy successor.
Stumbled onto these retrospectives, and they have a nice casual vibe discussing the appeal of these old comics even in today's world. You often hit what made these stories appealing while tossing in what parts future writers improved
As a huge Spider-Man fan, I consider Ditko to be a genius and his work was epic. But Romita Sr is the best ever to do it. The best Spider-Man artist of all time and in comics, in my opinion.
Love romita but Ron Frenz doesn't get enough credit imo
Goblin finding out who Peter is just makes me think "now this is what I call a pro goblin move.."
Folks often ask about How Green was my Goblin. It's a spoof on the recent Oscar winning film How Green was my Valley.
Unfortunately, I know it better by its Futurama parody, How Beige Was My Jacket?
I always thought that one of the biggest differences between Ditko and Romita's Spider-Man was that under Romita, Peter Parker became noticeably more handsome. Since the Spider-Man comic has always been more about Peter Parker than Spider-Man, this made a big difference....
Being a fan of ER at the time I noted the change of Peter’s appearance as JRSR turning Peter from Anthony Edwards (the hirsute 1980s Edwards) to George Clooney..
The book was immeasurably better once JR Sr. was established. That's when he became the Spidey everyone knows and loves.
The best one two punch of back to back artistic talent on a title.
I just finished the Ditko run last night, I refresh TH-cam this morning and here this is on my home page
Ditko wanted the goblin to be a nobody stan wanted him to be Osborne.
Not according to Steve Ditko. From the moment Norman was introduced in ASM25, he was meant to be the Goblin. Stan Lee wasn't even working on the book by that point
But when Stan WAS working on it, he didn't want the Goblin to be Osborne, he wanted him to be the unleashed spirit of an ancient egyptian goblin wizard.
@SlainOracle you need to take another look. Stan wanted the goblin to be someone that everyone knew ditko wanted it to be someone anonymous. Lee gave the writing reigns on spiderman to Ditko because they kept disagreeing on plot developments and one of those developments was making Osborne the green goblin.
@@HarlanEllisonlivesSteve ditko explicitly wrote that everything you're saying was a lie by Stan Lee. We know for a fact from Lee's own mouth that Ditko was plotting the book entirely by himself by issue 25 or so, and they weren't even talking to each other after that (again, Lee admits this). Stan would receive Steve's already completed pages with story notes to explain what was happening, and then Stan would dialogue the pages. Steve wrote that based on all of this, of course it was his idea to make the Green Goblin Norman, and he had been planting clues throughout the entire run.
I'm reading ASM and currently on issue 28 and I'm so excited to get to Romita's to get to the really classic stuff like college and MJ, Harry and Gwen
How Green was my Goblin is a pun on the movie title "How Green was My Valley". A classic of cinema.
These are great videos bro, youre doing Salazar Knights work
These way older Comics are always going to be way better then anything out today , Just my opinion.
The thumb nail shows the iconic close-up of Gobby's face by Romita which would be the same swipe used in the 67 Cartoon.
I'm having trouble imagining what "BUTTOOOP" actually sounds like
In some ways Ditko was more realistic. You're focusing (as far as I can tell) only on the figure drawing, but Ditko would map out and define the environment the characters were in in a way Romita never did. (Or Kirby or Neal Adams or 95% of comic artists then or now.). The classic question is "Where is Spider-Man's web-line attached?". With Ditko you could tell! Still, I see why Rosita's style was more popular. You can see the advertising backgroun in Romita's stuff, everyone is model handsome,the action is bigger and more immediately eye catching. Ditko's best non Spider-man work was surrealism and supernatural horror, Rosita's was romance comics and he drew attractive women better than pretty much anyone. Spider-Man became Marvels flagship #1 and flagship book under Romita's tenure. But to me Spider-man was never as good after issue 36.
Maybe The Question?
It cannot be understated that Ditko set the tone...no not even, he MADE the tone
idk how you dont have more subs. I just know your channel is gonna blow up. This is a fantastic video
2:25 Recently read through the first 50 or so issues and I didn't care for the looter. He might have been fine, even iconic, if he'd been introduced earlier in the series, but by the time he's introduced we've had like 5 of the last 6 villians "power" be super strength. That alien gas could have given him literally ANY power, its the sort of power source that's a blank check to a writers imagination, but instead its just super strength for the 6th time almost entirely in a row. His motivations also make no sense, he's worried his powers will wear off so he needs more meteors to "refill" despite the fact its never worn off, and enough time has passed since he got the powers that if it was going to wear off, it almost certainly would have by then. I guess you could argue thats what makes him unique, no other villian or hero worries about their powers wearing off during this early run, but the concern doesn't feel justified, it really needed it to ACTUALLY wear off, him get a second source, and then become obsessed with getting more and more.
3:55 I appreciated the new secondary perspective Gwen gave us. Up until this arc I feel like we almost exclusively saw through the eyes of peter and the villians. A handful of times we briefly saw through Flash's eyes (which I also appreciated) during the Ditko run, but he also was usually an antagonist so it was for the same purpose of letting us know what trouble Peter was walking into. But Gwen's character perspective doesn't really serve that purpose, instead she seems to serve for the viewer, at least initially, as a look into how a normal unrelated third party sees Peter. Eventually it evolves into a will they won't they thing, but thats quite a few issues out from her first appearance when her point of view is mostly just trying to figure out what the deal is with this Peter Parker guy who appears to have no friends, yet doesn't seem to care, and in fact always seem to have his mind on other things whenever she or anyone else trys to offer him an olive branch of friendship. It also shows, I think, some level of humbling she endures, as some one who was always the popular girl in school, with the early issues having her get pissed off at him just for not thanking his lucky stars whenever she gives him, a 7 to her 10, any attention. Initially it seems like, per usual, Peter's second life is harming a chance to get with a girl he finds very attractive, but because we see her side it could be argued spider man is the reason Gwen stays so interested in Peter, what makes him stand out to her and makes her keep coming back to him rather then just playing with him and then moving on as it seems like she intended early in the series.
7:33 There is something hilarious and fitting that Ditko's final issue was yet another new villian whose sole power, which again came from a source which could have given him ANY power, just gives him super strength. Like I LOVED the Ditko run, and this is arguably more on Stan Lee then Ditko depending on if you believe Lee that he was coming up with all the characters and stories, but whether it was Ditko or Lee, it really felt like there was a mental block that had been hit villian power wise that perhaps the fresh perspective of Romita aided in over coming. In fact there's an argument to be made Joe was the LEAST creative "villian" they'd ever added, since he was basically just the Hulk minus the green skin, thin white dude who gets super strength but loses his mind whenever he gets angry. That said, I did still like Joe's story more then Looters if only for the sympathetic angle, but it still felt like one of Ditko's weakest stories (for the reasons you noted in the video).
Anyway, glad I found your channel, from what I've watched so far you're making great videos, can't wait for more.
Imagine 100 plus issues of Romita Daredevil! THAT would have been epic.
I missed Ditko. More than that, I was very disappointed that Romita Sr. left the Daredevil book.
I loved this video, this makes me want to do compare two of the more controversial SM artists
I’m glad ditko left, he was holding the book back, especially saying green goblin shouldn’t be anyone Peter knows at all
@FinnSuto II. There was one time Prof. Stromm did return to menace Spider-man, in an issue of "Spectacular Spider-man" sometime in the 1980's. At the time of his death, he somehow had three robots activated from his mind, and they fought Spider-man in Stromm's former lab. Spidey, of course defeated all 3 of Stromm's robots. I liked Steve Ditko's artwork on Spider-man, but I believe John Romita, Sr. was a worthy successor to Ditko. and some Spider-man fans may not agree, but I also felt that Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr. made a good Spider-man art team. Also, Jack Kirby doing the art and Ditko inking the Spider-man Comic. And other later Spider-man artists I liked were Don Heck, John & Sal Buscema, Ross Andru and in the 1980's Ron Frenz. And I agree that the late John Romita, Sr. was THE BEST Spider-man artist, but I like Steve Ditko too. At first, I didn't like when Romita too over as the new artist on the Spider-man Comic, I liked Ditko better. But later on, I began to like Romita too!
@FinnSuto II. Just for the record, I should also mention that I didn't like when Stan Lee changed the line-up of the Original Avengers in Issue #16, to three "former villains", Hawkeye the Archer, Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch. I liked the original line-up better. Later on I got to like them. Speaking of The Avengers Comic, at first I didn't like when John Buscema took over as the artist from Jack Kirby and Don Heck. But later I got to like HIS artwork. Also, I didn't like when Gene Colon took over as the artist on the Iron Man Comic from Don Heck, starting with Tales of Suspense #73. But I later on got to like his art style too. The trouble with me was when I started reading Superhero Comics, both Marvel & DC in 1962/63, I would unwisely start reading the story without reading the credits first. Also, for a brief time, from 1965-1966, I unwisely stopped reading comic books. That is why the artwork looked differently to me. And as I looked back, it was "narrow mindedness," on my part!
Nice video, I subbed. I think this channel will get pretty big if you keep at it man.
Spider-man has always been my favorite comic book character... even with all the ups and downs of the stories over the years.
I think Stan Lee wrote the book for the first 100 issues or more. He did give plotting or co-plotting accolades to many of the artists back in those days. I remember an article were Stan had mentioned the "If this be my destiny" store arc in which he said that he gave Steve notes on the story, and then Ditko would draw up the panels... then Stan would write the dialogue for the pages.
There was the rumor why Steve Ditko left the book was because of an argument over Green Goblins identity... which I'm not sure if it is true or not. I know that when Ditko drew the Green Goblin getting out of costume his face was always blocked... kind of like the mystery of Mary Jane looks.
I loved Ditko's rendition of Spider-man... the action scenes seemed to almost come off the pages. John Romita is also a great Spider-man artist (I've seen shirts in stores to this day still using his Spider-man art). It was said that when he started his run on Spider-man that he tried to mimic Ditko to make the transition easier for the fans back then... I never saw it, the two styles are very different, but they are my 2 favorite Spider-man artists.
I also like John Romita Jr.'s Spider-man art... he started out very close to his father rendition, but later on it became a very good style of his own.
6:26 Adrian Toomes in the 90s Spiderman cartoon as well
Mendel Strom was in the movie and in the animated series, in both the helps Norman become the Green Goblin come in the movie he's murdered in the show he just kind of disappears.
Fun fact: the Goblins coloring of boots and trick bag in Romitas run is the same as the one in the 60's cartoon.
As a lifelong Shocker fan, I've always known the guy to be smart, but he knows he's not Doc Ock or Green Goblin, so he tempers his expectations and tries to be more professional than most other villains...His first issue is not humble, though, and it doesn't seem like he gets that way for a while. Unfortunately, my comics heyday is the 2000's and my knowledge before that is limited to the Avengers Celestial Madona storyline, Secret Wars, Infinity Gauntlet and then mostly encyclopedias on the characters. My knowledge of Shocker isn't as complete as I once thought, but my 2000's issues of him check out, so hopefully I'm not completely off-base.
Yeah Shocker becomes a competent shmuck around the 80s. Starts working for gang bosses and super criminals while also ripping them off, a lot of pathos around him letting his pride be wounded long enough to secure the contract, make the deal, get the bag
First couple of issues were in Romita's version of Ditko's style since Romita 9as he later admitted) figured Ditko would return since it sold so well . . . .
My least favorite Lee/Ditko Spider-man Comic when I first read it was Issue # 38, "Just A Guy Named Joe!" But when I reread it later, I liked it. It was kind of bittersweet, since it was the last Spider-man Comic that Lee and Ditko did together. I also liked Lee and Ditko's run on Dr. Strange, and the Steve's various artwork on the monster, horror and fantasy comics he did @ Marvel and at other comic book companies.
Ohhhh yeaaaaah...
The stories lost something when Ditko left. The unique spark of creativity and genuine strangeness was something that made it stand apart. Romita was good, great even, but his run set the template for a more standard Superhero book.
I will say reading the comments, people that dislike ditko are just people that dont like his art style and think stan lee invented everything. Complete casuals that dont know jack about comics.
I think they also dislike Ditko because he was a Randian shill
@@GabyGeorge1996 now explain what a "randian shill" is.
He was really into the author Ayn Rand, and her philosophy objectivism .
Romita was definitely the better artist, but Spider-man to this day has never been as competent as he was when Lee and Ditko worked together. Nearly all of his most iconic villains came from Lee and Ditko and unlike villain introductions for other famous comic heroes I'd say Spider-man's initial stories hold up very well. Non-powered characters such as Kingpin posing any kind of a threat to Spider-man physically is such bad writing and Romita/Lee had Spider-man sprain his arm for drama every ten issues. Some of Lee/Romita's stories really fall apart when you think about them at all. Goblin figuring out Peter's identity for example was utter nonsense
Stan Lee vs Steve Ditko
The more that's revealed about Steve Ditko the less there is to like about him. He was deeply troubled and dependent on a cult to justify whatever it was he spent his entire life hiding . Too many "fans" enjoy in the sad fad of slandering Stan Lee but the fact is that Stan guided comics into the modern era and would have done so with or without prima donnas like Kirby and Ditko .
Are you stupid?
Every marvel character you know was created by kirby or ditko. Stan lee was a used car salesman. Name me one creation stan Lee invented before kirby or ditko worked for marvel you clown.
Stan was just about ready to leave comics altogether at that time as well being that he had felt at multiple times that he was in a dead end career towards the end of the fifties and the start of the sixties, and without Kirby and Ditko things might have been very different insofar as the Marvel era of comics goes. Not to mention the fact that both artists among others ranging from Wally Wood to Jim Steranko had a hand in co writing their comics. Inspite of some “fans” who seem to have this idea that Stan created everything over at Marvel all on his own.
What do you mean he was troubled ? What cult?
@@matthewschwartz6607 Ditko hid most of his life and never granted interviews . From the bizarre statements he issued it's obvious that he was an admirer of the vacuous fraud Ayn Rand .
I actually prefer the Lee/Romita and Lee/Kane issues over the Ditko ones . Romita’s art also has held up better. And I think that the stories were better and deeper.
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The first comic I ever bought was Spiderman #39,Romita's debut issue, because I liked the art. Before that, Ditko's art looked quirky and interesting but kind of amateurish to me.
This is so underrated
Bro really snuck a yo momma joke in 💀
How come Peter's spidey sense 🤔 kick in when goblin was following 🤔 him?
No Ditko in my opinion is the best! I left the book when he left.
Da Vinci, or Picasso. Now Steve ditko, or John romita what's the difference to both phenomenal artists make the Old Masters remind me in Deadpool are gold and silver age comics it's like the old Masters they both taught me how to read as a child Leonardo da Vinci or Pablo Picasso didn't but I still like their art get grateful
After Ditko left, that era was kinda mid ngl, there is like a story where he fights an evil conservative after captain Stacy died and that was like the most boring comic I have ever read. the he fights a politician who was bipolar and dies at the end. I think Ditko understood his characters more. People hate on Ditko cause of his politic and because of that Nerd Sync video. Romita had some good stories but a lot of it felt like filler to the point I took a break from his run, his stuff doesn't get good till way later on and the creative team after that was imo a more worthy successor.
People just like romita because they think his art was pretty. The romita run story wise was mid because he wasn't a creative, even romita admits himself that he was just an illustrator not a creator. Guys like kirby and ditko were really good storytellers along with great artists. Most casuals dont realize how good ditko was.
@@LOLheyman you know Ditko was good when a character that was supposed to parody and insult one of creation ended up being a fan favorite against the authors wishes. The guy made Marvel cosmology move further than what it was before with his Doctor Strange books and Co created Marvel's most popular character and his Mr.A creation inspired other popular characters. For someone who did not like interviews, he really did make his work speak for itself.