I loved Ditko's work. His Dr. Strange stuff was just amazing. The Spiderman art was pretty cool as well. I never knew he created so many chars, most of whom I've never heard of, lol. The pages from How Stan and Steve Create Spidey are just golden. That's when Marvel was fun. That's why so many young people fell in love with Marvel. Thanks for this vid.
You're right, there'll never be another artist like him; he created and co-created so many unique heroes that have stood the test of time. He will be missed.
I enjoy Ditko's work on the Super Heroes but even more I really favor his work on the anthology stories he did for the various companies during the 50s through the 70s. My feelings are the same about another favorite artist Bill Everett, I highly admire his 50s era Sub-Mariner just as much as his work on anthology books of that era.
If anyone in the comic world deserves a memorium it is Steve Ditko. So thats what happened ? Damn! That sucks! But I've always been a fan of Ditko's work. I actually held a copy of Amazing Fantasy's #15 in my hands when I was young. I should have taken it home! But honestly my favorite characters of Ditko's were the Creeper and the Question, and yep, the Blue Beetle. I had all of them at one point, and even the Hawk and the Dove, and Captain Atom. Steve Ditko, RIP.
Ditko was certainly amazing and full of great and original ideas. I was just going through my collection and found some early Creeper stories from Showcase. Great stuff. That character was way ahead of his time.
I liked Steve Ditko's artwork and still do! My 3 favorite Spider-man artists were Ditko, Romita, Sr. and Gil Kane. I also liked his artwork on Dr. Strange. It was a sad coincidence that Stan Lee died I believe about 8 months after Steve Ditko.
Very nice tribute FizzFop1! Of course, Captain Atom is not the only Steve Ditko character that inspired the Watchmen. In fact, most of the Watchmen heroes are based on Ditko characters: Blue Betle (Ted Kord) is Nite Owl, Question is Rorschach, Nightshade is Silk Spectre (in name and sex if not in power), and, as you said, Captain Atom is Dr. Manhattan. Only The Comedian (inspired by Peacekeeper) and Ozymandias (inspired by Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt) are not based on Ditko characters. One of my favorite DC character that Ditko co-created (?) and never gets any love is Stalker (short lived series that came in the DC Implosion period) which had beautiful inks by Wally Wood. Always liked the Ditko/Wood combo.
I noticed Steve Dtiko early on, back when I was about 11- his unique style was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Jack Kirby, in my book, was the "giant" of Marvel, but Steve had a style that could simply not be imitated.
Hi jaiffee! Thanks for watching! Ditko was one of the first artists I recognized also. He was the first artist I studied and tried to draw like...when I'm in a hurry or doodling, I notice that my style naturally goes there.
I am a huge fan of Ditko's DC creations. Even did videos on them with more to come. At Marvel, I remember him writing and drawing Speedball. Always a favorite of mine. I love psychedelic heroes.
Ah miss steve ditko best comic book ever legends character superheroes artist spiderman dr.strange and squirrel girl golden age life time greatness memories rest in peaces.
I knew that Question must be based on Mr. A. I liked Speedball. I liked Creeper. I didn't realize Squirrel Girl was done by Ditko. I liked Dr. Strange. I knew it is mostly Ditko. Ken Kesey, the writer of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, had a party in 1966, called Tribute to Dr. Strange, an early LSD party. Most of Watchmen were based on Ditko's superheroes at Chalton.
Nice little tribute. Took me awhile to get into Ditko, as I was never a huge Spider-man reader. Really learned to appreciate him through his stuff for Charlton and Hawk and Dove and the Creeper. Creeper especially fun, as it Ditko with a sense of humor, which was a weird surprise, as all his other stuff seemed so serious.
So basically without Steve Ditko, there would have been no WATCHMEN. Since four of the six main characters are based on his Charlton characters: Nightowl=Blue Beetle Rorschach=The Question Captain Atom=Dr. Manhattan Silk Spectre=NIghtshade In fact by the end of the story it's the analogues of the four Ditko characters that are united against the villain who's based on Peter Cannon Thunderbolt, a non Ditko created character.
I really would have liked to know what Ditko thought of Moore's treatment of his characters. He( Moore) really took some pot shots at the right wing thinking that were inherent in Blue Beetle and the Question.
@@FizzFop1 hi know this is a late post but want to ask if anyone else noticed that Ditko had a - A game and a B game depending on which comic company he was working for as to how much work he would do in the comic, less detailed backgrounds or work on the main characters details. Just asking if I did indeed notice something or is it my imagination.
Hi Rob, thanks for watching. I noticed that too...always felt that The Creeper should have been used more. I'm not sure if any post Ditko Hawk and Dove really captured what he was going for.
What I hate about these great comic book legends were that most of them never ever imagined or got to see the heroes they brought to life on paper, become household names, beloved cherished & idolized by millions!!! Not only that but since most of the characters were not owned by the artist but by the comic book companies, it means that they were denied any substantial profit or revenue from merchandise, toys, movies, games etc. Most of them died pennyless even tho their works have made other capitalist companies millions. There is no justice in this world
Ditko was an amazing artist. I really like his lead age art best. I think with less continuity and deadline pressure, his style stood out a lot. The way he played with shadows and light and perspective in those was awesome. The closest he got to the quality of those with superheroes was Dr. Strange and Shade, where he was able to mess with viewer perceptions again.
When I was a kid collecting comics in the late '70s, when I saw 'Steve Ditko' credited as an artist, I would pass. I hated his style! Compared to Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Jim Aparo, etc., I couldn't get submerged into the story like I could with other artists. However, I didn't know that even then, he was legendary, didn't know he was a co-creator of Spider-Man and so many other characters. I look at hos art now, and even though I can still see the differences from the artists that I really liked back then, I can also see his huge contribution and direction he helped lead the industry in. Plus, I can get really creeped out by his horror stories now! I find myself preferring his horror stories over any others'! RIP, Steve Dikto. I'm glad the rest of the world isn't as short-sighted as I was!
Hi JeffIrok! When I started collecting as a kid, Ditko's glory years with Spider-man and Blue Beetle were long over. During the 1970s, there was such an amazing group of talented artist out there. Mike Grell was one of my all-time favorites. Ditko's style just couldn't compete. Now, I look at Ditko's work a lot different. I appreciate his story-telling skill. His work has a certain cinematic feel to it which blows me away to see it now.
Cool - I guess we both had a similar "first impression" experience with Steve Ditko! Great video, by the way - I only discovered you last spring but caught up with all of your videos and look forward to your future topics!
I was also reading comics in the '70's! In all fairness, I still do not like his style, but that does not mean that I do not recognize his contribution and am grateful for his direction in the Marvel universe! RIP!
He did not co-create Spider-Man - he CREATED Spider-Man. Lee only had a name, that is not creating a character. Ditko made everything; The characters, the stories, the costume. Same goes for Dr. Strange.
Despite the claim from many that Doctor Manhattan was based on Captain Atom, I believe he was based on Doctor Solar. Doctor Solar could see through time, (as he views some rabbits in one issue), he could grow or shrink, he could multiply himself, all attributes Doctor Manhattan would later possess. The only difference is his unearthly green was changed to blue and Doctor Solar (who started without an outfit) was later given a disguise of a red jumpsuit to follow the new trend in comics as science fiction was becoming less popular then superheroes.
I agree with your comparisons but Doctor Manhattan was a replacement for Captain Atom from the original draft. All the Watchmen were originally supposed to be characters from Charlton Comics (that DC has acquired).
@@TheETBubba @@TheETBubba See the thing is that in the original draft, Alan wanted to work with the Archie heroes line (I found this information in a interview compressed in a novel when Alan was turning 50) He wanted the Shield to be found dead in a sewage runoff and the mystery of how he died would follow. When Alan heard that they had purchased the Charlton characters he then brought the same story draft except was substituting the heroes. Watchmen was a combined effort of him and Dave Gibbons, whom had mentioned that he designed the characters for Watchmen and had two designs for the Comedian. One based on Groucho and the other was an S&M outfit. Because that seemed too dark as a joke he added a little smiley face button to which Alan Moore said he had an ideal of what to do with that. So the first script was written after the development of the new heroes meaning after Alan was told he couldn't kill the Charlton heroes, but create his own. That and not to mention Captain Atom never had those powers, at least at the time of Watchmen. So just like Fizz Fop pointed out that he substituted Phantom Lady for Nightshade, I believe he had substituted Doctor Solar for Captain Atom. Perhaps pointing this out won't convince you, Hillhouse Homesteading. That's alright. I have never read any interview where Alan confessed to using the Gold Key hero instead of the Charlton, but I feel there are too many similarities to ignore.
Not one of his best, but certainly Ditko's most... interesting creation was Mister A. A walking summation of Steve's objectivistic beliefs -- although not as realistic as Rorschach would be -- Mr. A was a darker, harder version of The Question. He may also have had kind of a supernatural feel to him, as his stories often showed the bad guys having the ground turn dark and crumble out from beneath them while Mr. A and the villain's victims would remain safe on the "good side", kind of like a Chick Track by way of Ayn Rand.
Kirby was never the right artist for Spider-Man. His blocky style didn't suit the slender, fluid movements required of the web slinger. For Thor and Hulk, Kirby was perfect! Still, I think his best work was on the FF. Because, Galactus.:)
Although as I recall John Romita’s Spider-Man actually came to resemble Kirby’s depiction of Spidey later on when he bulked up Spidey and gave him a distinctive build and threw out Peter Parker’s nerd like glasses. 🤓
@@cha5 romita ran with the look that Ditko had built up to over the course of his run. He gradually gave Peter more muscle and eventually did away with the glasses. John did give him better civilian clothes, pretty much off the bat, though.
@@neighborhoodthreattv I recall that Peter Parker stopped wearing glasses starting with ASM #8 on. Flash Thompson accidentally broke them when he shoved Peter. Also, I'm sure after gaining his Spider Powers, Peter discovered he didn't need them anymore.
Jason Bean. Stan Lee agreed with you. I remember reading in the book, Origins of Marvel Comics by Lee, his first choice on Spider-man was Kirby. But he felt that Kirby was not right, since he wanted Peter to look like a ordinary person. When he tried Steve Ditko, he felt that Ditko was the right artist for Spider-man. Although Kirby drew the cover for Amazing Fantasy #15.
Ironically, Jack KIrby's version of Spider-Man looks a lot like Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle. If things had gone Steve's way with Peter Parker/Spider-Man maturing as time went on, they may have dumped the perennial loser, wage slave to J. Jonah Jameson time lop the character seems trapped in, and gone onto honestly becoming something like the young scientific research-and-development whiz kid that Marvel Comics briefly played with during the Superior Spider-Man arc.
If I had the chance to work at marvel when they get it back together I would love to see something like that in a spider noir or 2099 alternate universe.
Wonderful video tribute to a legendary artist! Another hero that Ditko created was Static! I think that his design of this Hero is one of his best after Spider Man!
Hi Jalen! Thanks for watching! I agree. He would make an awesome show. He would be the perfect DC streaming program. I would probably join it if there was a Question program. As superhero shows go, it could be done a lot smaller budget and still look great. The problem would be getting writers/producers who would respect the source material.
most of Steve Ditko's non-mainstream characters, as well as the prototypes for many of his mainstream creations, are public domain, now want to do my own tribute, RIP Mr Ditko you will always be the real spiderman in my eyes.
Hi SpringHeeledJack of the Guardians!!! Ditko was awesome! I loved him when I was a kid. Hated him in high school. Now, I think he's brilliant. Not sure what is in public domain. Copyright law is complicated.
well, there's the monster comics he did for Charlton Gorgo and Konga [which according to a response he gave to a fan letter in 2015 he had great fun drawing] there's the horror host Dr. Huant in fact pretty much everything he did at Charlton not related to the "Charlton Action Hero line" has been used before by fan revivals without incident [at least none that I aware of] this also extends to character he didn't create but helped develop like DELL comics' Nukla a precursor to captain atom, btw have you ever thought of doing a lost heroes episode on the DELL superheroes?
I've looked at the Dell heroes. They had a bunch in the early 40s. There's just so many heroes and so little time to cover them all. I've wanted to do one on The Owl. I started a 10 Rip-Offs of Batman video...with him in it...never finished that one.
their golden age is interesting but I find their silver age attempts such as the Fab Four, Kona Monarch of Monster Isle, Nukla and Toka the jungle king the most interesting personally [there also public domain and are some of the only silver age characters to be such besides the previously listed Charlton heroes since the shenanigans with T.H.U.N.D.E.R agents stopped them from entering the public domain].
Of all the characters Ditko made, Peter Parker is the only one who actually looked like him. Maybe that's why it was so personal to him. That was his comic book incarnation of himself, and someone was hijacking it and directing it wrongly, from his point of view. I agree about the characters should age like real people. 15 in 63, Peter Parker is in his 70's now and STILL in high school. Give the spider suit to his grandson, for pete's sake.
Hi Tater Shed!!! I would have too...but from what I've heard, he was very reclusive. He didn't go to comic cons or wouldn't do an interview. There's a BBC documentary about him and they show up at his office with Neil Gaimon in tow wanting to talk to him and he refused. He talked to the film-maker and Gaimon, but only off camera. They said he was very nice and pleasant, but couldn't be persuaded to be on camera.
@@FizzFop1 To be fair, if a film crew turned up at my place without an appointment, I wouldn't want to see them either. Just because a guy's famous, it doesn't mean he's given up his right to privacy.
Steve Ditko also created two superhero that will Appear in the Titans show The first one was the avatar of War and destruction and the Second one is the avatar of Order and peace can you guys Guess who they are
I was a fan of Ditko's Spider-man. I liked his Blue Beatle. Doctor Strange was brilliant. The 1978 Doctor Strange movie was cheap rubbish, nothing to do with the look of Ditko's Doctor Strange. I take it that it was Stan Lee's okay for Marvel to make a little tele movie money and that's it.
What? No mention of Killjoy, Static, The Missing Man, or The Mocker? ;-) Nah, I know you can't cover them all. But while Ditko added something special to all the characters he created, I think Shade The Changing Man was the most interesting, what with the unusual sci-fi setting, harkening back to his Doctor Strange art, weird powers and even weirder villains, and some fascinating subplots going on. It's a shame it only lasted for 8 issues (9, if you count the uncolored story that was finally published in an archive edition). Ditko really needed to be let loose to do his own comic for a lengthy period of time, and he didn't get to do that nearly often or long enough.
I had a hard time with that because originally I had Killjoy and Static on the list...but I felt I had to edit it down. I liked Shade the Changing Man. I noticed that he changed the way he did layouts for that characters...I have a couple of the later issues...I don't know if he did that for the entire run.
@@FizzFop1 And who could have missed the one and only appearance of The Odd Man? ;-) He was scheduled to appear as a back up story in Shade #9, but since that was never published, the story was eventually published in Detective Comics #487 instead. In fact, doing a quick Google search, I'm surprised to find that the character actually did make a few more appearances in the DC universe, including a "blink and you'll miss him" cameo in the fun miniseries, Hero Hotline.
The Objectivist of the Marvel Silver age, a paragon of character creation,morality and development, Steve Ditko gone but not forgotten. His influences are far and wide from comics and even the competition to every Luchador who designs a mask with iconic Spider man Eye sockets or even tales the characters motif on special occasions. Steve Ditko was a man the comic communist of his era,the bronze,dark and even present day either despise,dismiss or spew venom at today for the soul reason of being an Objectivist to there relativist bullshit world view of things,Long Live Spider-Man,Long Live The Question,God Bless the greatness of his art and may he rest in peace in comic book Valhalla. "...and those that doubt me! Suck cock by choice!".
I remember when Razor made that Ditko video after he died. In the video, he talked about some newer guy, making Spider-Man regret reading Ayn Rand. Pretty much a diss on Ditko's beliefs. As well as Alan Moore and some other guy.
You might have something there. I didn't realize it until I started making this video...but the Creeper costume also resembles the original Spring Heeled Jack Costume with that fur boa.
Hi Mudd Bear! Thanks for watching! I muck up a lot of names...it's one of the reasons why I don't make a lot of videos. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the video.
I was surprised no Star man. His first arc in Adventure was so whimsical and cozy. I can’t explain why I love it. Nothing against Jim starlin but when he wrapped up the story in DC presents it just didn’t have that Je ne sais quoi
FizzFop1 could you please do a lost heroes video on the hero known as The Blue Flame...who only started in one comic on December 11 1946. The comic is called Captain Flight Comics...and it's issue is #11. He looks like the Human Torch but instead the fire on his body is blue. But when he is not on fire he has red hair and wears only blue boots and blue shorts. And the only villain he fights is a bad guy named Mr. S. Aitan. Thanks
lol, that's pretty good pratheek shetty...I have a super villain in one of my scripts called Captain Creepers. He's a bad guy trying to form a super villain gang to go up against a superhero team.
Here another the rivals of Sherlock Holmes Aka Sherlock Holmes clones like dr thorndyke sexton blake Johnny dollar solar pons lady Molly max carrados Thomas carncki
Wait- did you say a " fetish artist" touched up spider-man's design? Explains a lot Here's a few more really obscure ditko characters (that you probably know about). Stalker Odd Man Starman 3 (or 4h The line Jim Shooter created after he did aValiant Comics, Defiant characters in a series called Dark Dominion. I think Shooter said Ditko worked on around 6 issues before quitting once he realized that there was a supernatural element, demons that made characters not responsible for their own decisions- an Objectivism no-no And, I think a few more Atlas characters- not sure
FWIW, the "fetish artist" was Eric Stanton, Ditko's studio roommate for over a decade, and he mostly suggested the idea of the webs shooting out of Peter's hands, which inspired the web-shooter design - or so he always said. There's some debate in comic historian circles about whether he deliberately downplayed his contributions to the design to keep his friendship smooth with Ditko, and some claim he did some uncredited work on early Doctor Strange as well. He's pretty well known in the underground fetish comics community and probably had more impact on that genre than Ditko had on superhero books - which is really saying something. Might be best known for his "Blunder Broad" Wonder Woman parody in the 1970s, which he worked on with noted scifi/pulp/erotica author Andrew J. Offut, who cranked out books by the hundreds under many pen names.
@@richmcgee434 thanks for info. That’s really interesting . Was he published in those little pamphlets? I’ll have to look him up. Iirc, Jack Kirby said that he contributed to the character design and possibly it was based on an older character that eventually became the Fly for Archie comics.
@@hexum7 The only Stanton stuff I've seen scans of were full sized comix, but he may well have done pamphlet format work as well - maybe the "Stantoon" things he did? There's a lot of strange formats in the underground scene - zines in A4 size are pretty common too. Not really quite my line, I only know what I've read about him while I was studying some media history a while back. Adam Warren's Empowered book got me digging and it turned out to be quite the rabbit hole. Always kind of surprising how many artists and authors turn out to have made a lot of their living through erotica when you look into their past work. Really says something about where the money is in and around the comics industry, even today.
@@richmcgee434 I think they used to call the small envelope shaped Pamphlets something like Tequila papers- i guess a lot of them were printed in Mexico . But I’m not going to bother googling “tequila something because there’d be thousands, if not millions, of wrong hits. I wasn’t familiar with Stanton before this Not that into bondage except as an aesthetic. He has a great erotic style, remember seeing a Ditko Horror cover printed in a comics coloring book. It featured s man in s castle being assaulted by 3 or 4 witches . I wouldn’t doubt Stanton had a had in that because it seemed a little different style wise from standard Ditko works though I couldn’t tell you why. It just seemed to be drawn in a slightly different style think it was called Weird stories. If I recall correctly, the letters in the logo were filled with drawings of moaning souls. Hard to describe
One part that i never understand with comminist is we don,t need money But i Wonder ok i know Karl Marx did not know what movies are but point how can you make hollywood movie without money
I agree...it looks bad. I never watched the show back in the 80s. My younger sister loved He-Man, but never got into She-Ra that much. When I saw the first pics of the new She-Ra, my reaction was the same to the new Thundercats cartoon...it looks awful. The design is artistically poor. The aesthetics are displeasing to look at. The feedback so far is 98% negative...and that may be a low estimate on my part. I don't t believe people are going to watch it. Whoever is backing it is throwing their money into a toilet and flushing it down.
Has anyone else noticed that Ditko had a A-level game and a B- level his attention to detail in his comic art always showed which company was paying him the most.
I loved Ditko's work. His Dr. Strange stuff was just amazing. The Spiderman art was pretty cool as well. I never knew he created so many chars, most of whom I've never heard of, lol. The pages from How Stan and Steve Create Spidey are just golden. That's when Marvel was fun. That's why so many young people fell in love with Marvel. Thanks for this vid.
You're right, there'll never be another artist like him; he created and co-created so many unique heroes that have stood the test of time. He will be missed.
I did not know that Ditko had a hand in creating Squirrel Girl. Thank You for that.
I enjoy Ditko's work on the Super Heroes but even more I really favor his work on the anthology stories he did for the various companies during the 50s through the 70s. My feelings are the same about another favorite artist Bill Everett, I highly admire his 50s era Sub-Mariner just as much as his work on anthology books of that era.
Ditko deserves far more credit than Lee would ever allow. Hell Kirbys family had to sue for credit for Jack
Hi doomo! It's a sad situation. Lee had several opportunities to step up for Kirby and Ditko and he didn't.
If anyone in the comic world deserves a memorium it is Steve Ditko. So thats what happened ? Damn! That sucks!
But I've always been a fan of Ditko's work. I actually held a copy of Amazing Fantasy's #15 in my hands when I was young. I should have taken it home! But honestly my favorite characters of Ditko's were the Creeper and the Question, and yep, the Blue Beetle. I had all of them at one point, and even the Hawk and the Dove, and Captain Atom. Steve Ditko, RIP.
Ditko was certainly amazing and full of great and original ideas. I was just going through my collection and found some early Creeper stories from Showcase. Great stuff. That character was way ahead of his time.
Steve Ditko's Spiderman was the best.
Steve ditko was great at drawing both surrieal imigray and acrobatic action. Rest in peace.
May Steve Ditko art live on forever. My favorite’s was the late 1950’s and all his 60’s art.
I liked Steve Ditko's artwork and still do! My 3 favorite Spider-man artists were Ditko, Romita, Sr. and Gil Kane. I also liked his artwork on Dr. Strange. It was a sad coincidence that Stan Lee died I believe about 8 months after Steve Ditko.
Very nice tribute FizzFop1! Of course, Captain Atom is not the only Steve Ditko character that inspired the Watchmen. In fact, most of the Watchmen heroes are based on Ditko characters: Blue Betle (Ted Kord) is Nite Owl, Question is Rorschach, Nightshade is Silk Spectre (in name and sex if not in power), and, as you said, Captain Atom is Dr. Manhattan. Only The Comedian (inspired by Peacekeeper) and Ozymandias (inspired by Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt) are not based on Ditko characters. One of my favorite DC character that Ditko co-created (?) and never gets any love is Stalker (short lived series that came in the DC Implosion period) which had beautiful inks by Wally Wood. Always liked the Ditko/Wood combo.
I always felt that Ditko was always under appreciated and under rated.
I did not know he actually created Captain Atom or Hawk & Dove. That’s awesome. RIP Steve!
I noticed Steve Dtiko early on, back when I was about 11- his unique style was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Jack Kirby, in my book, was the "giant" of Marvel, but Steve had a style that could simply not be imitated.
Hi jaiffee! Thanks for watching! Ditko was one of the first artists I recognized also. He was the first artist I studied and tried to draw like...when I'm in a hurry or doodling, I notice that my style naturally goes there.
Ditko would never be mistaken for any other artist. I am amazed that he was not recruited by EC.
I am a huge fan of Ditko's DC creations. Even did videos on them with more to come. At Marvel, I remember him writing and drawing Speedball. Always a favorite of mine. I love psychedelic heroes.
I LOVED the Missing Man back up comics he did for PC.
Static was pretty cool to.
The weird acrobatic, semi-invisible man? Yeah that was goofy-cool, and was often featured alongside Dave Stevens' Rocketeer.
Ah miss steve ditko best comic book ever legends character superheroes artist spiderman dr.strange and squirrel girl golden age life time greatness memories rest in peaces.
An excellent round up, thank you!
We'll miss you, Steve....
I knew that Question must be based on Mr. A. I liked Speedball. I liked Creeper. I didn't realize Squirrel Girl was done by Ditko. I liked Dr. Strange. I knew it is mostly Ditko. Ken Kesey, the writer of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, had a party in 1966, called Tribute to Dr. Strange, an early LSD party. Most of Watchmen were based on Ditko's superheroes at Chalton.
My very first 1st Post! Thanks for this great video. He was a legend! RIP Mr. Ditko!
A great tribute to a great artist.
Nice little tribute.
Took me awhile to get into Ditko, as I was never a huge Spider-man reader.
Really learned to appreciate him through his stuff for Charlton and Hawk and Dove and the Creeper.
Creeper especially fun, as it Ditko with a sense of humor, which was a weird surprise, as all his other stuff seemed so serious.
So basically without Steve Ditko, there would have been no WATCHMEN. Since four of the six main characters are based on his Charlton characters:
Nightowl=Blue Beetle
Rorschach=The Question
Captain Atom=Dr. Manhattan
Silk Spectre=NIghtshade
In fact by the end of the story it's the analogues of the four Ditko characters that are united against the villain who's based on Peter Cannon Thunderbolt, a non Ditko created character.
I really would have liked to know what Ditko thought of Moore's treatment of his characters. He( Moore) really took some pot shots at the right wing thinking that were inherent in Blue Beetle and the Question.
@@daviderwin4705 I doubt he ever read watchmen. He didn't care what others did with characters he created and had no interest in keeping up.
“Alexa, when did Steve Ditko die?” “As far as I know, Steve Ditko is still alive. He is 91 years old.” Swear to God, that just happened.
Hi Belzedar! I wish I was experiencing the Mandela Effect, but I believe in reality, Steve is gone.
FizzFop1 is correct. 😧
Thankfully his memory will always be a blessing for generations yet to come.
@@FizzFop1 hi know this is a late post but want to ask if anyone else noticed that Ditko had a - A game and a B game depending on which comic company he was working for as to how much work he would do in the comic, less detailed backgrounds or work on the main characters details. Just asking if I did indeed notice something or is it my imagination.
@@lonknight3197 Hey Lou, I sort of knew that some of his work looked rushed at times...Ditko might be a great follow up to the Wood series I did!
Dr Strange is my favorite super heroe
One thing that I'm noticing about all of the DC Comics characters that Steve Ditko had created has hardly to never been used.
Hi Rob, thanks for watching. I noticed that too...always felt that The Creeper should have been used more. I'm not sure if any post Ditko Hawk and Dove really captured what he was going for.
Cuz they don't make thaf decision to show more or less.... Teh draw that's it... Do you get it???
Very admirable work you have made, I'm sure Steve would respect you for acknowledging his work.
Fantastic vid! 👍😎
What I hate about these great comic book legends were that most of them never ever imagined or got to see the heroes they brought to life on paper, become household names, beloved cherished & idolized by millions!!! Not only that but since most of the characters were not owned by the artist but by the comic book companies, it means that they were denied any substantial profit or revenue from merchandise, toys, movies, games etc.
Most of them died pennyless even tho their works have made other capitalist companies millions. There is no justice in this world
Ditko had a unique style that set him apart. He was one of the best!
Ditko was an amazing artist. I really like his lead age art best. I think with less continuity and deadline pressure, his style stood out a lot.
The way he played with shadows and light and perspective in those was awesome. The closest he got to the quality of those with superheroes was Dr. Strange and Shade, where he was able to mess with viewer perceptions again.
I loved his work on Dr Strange.
When I was a kid collecting comics in the late '70s, when I saw 'Steve Ditko' credited as an artist, I would pass. I hated his style! Compared to Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Jim Aparo, etc., I couldn't get submerged into the story like I could with other artists. However, I didn't know that even then, he was legendary, didn't know he was a co-creator of Spider-Man and so many other characters. I look at hos art now, and even though I can still see the differences from the artists that I really liked back then, I can also see his huge contribution and direction he helped lead the industry in. Plus, I can get really creeped out by his horror stories now! I find myself preferring his horror stories over any others'! RIP, Steve Dikto. I'm glad the rest of the world isn't as short-sighted as I was!
Hi JeffIrok! When I started collecting as a kid, Ditko's glory years with Spider-man and Blue Beetle were long over. During the 1970s, there was such an amazing group of talented artist out there. Mike Grell was one of my all-time favorites. Ditko's style just couldn't compete. Now, I look at Ditko's work a lot different. I appreciate his story-telling skill. His work has a certain cinematic feel to it which blows me away to see it now.
Cool - I guess we both had a similar "first impression" experience with Steve Ditko! Great video, by the way - I only discovered you last spring but caught up with all of your videos and look forward to your future topics!
I was also reading comics in the '70's! In all fairness, I still do not like his style, but that does not mean that I do not recognize his contribution and am grateful for his direction in the Marvel universe! RIP!
He did not co-create Spider-Man - he CREATED Spider-Man. Lee only had a name, that is not creating a character. Ditko made everything; The characters, the stories, the costume. Same goes for Dr. Strange.
Lee founded spider man. Dikto dikto. SAY Co creator maybe
@@Moodboard39 Lee barely, and I mean barely, had the name. Ditko did everything else.
Great tribute for a great artist
TheComicsPreacher comic book preacher is best preacher
Despite the claim from many that Doctor Manhattan was based on Captain Atom, I believe he was based on Doctor Solar. Doctor Solar could see through time, (as he views some rabbits in one issue), he could grow or shrink, he could multiply himself, all attributes Doctor Manhattan would later possess. The only difference is his unearthly green was changed to blue and Doctor Solar (who started without an outfit) was later given a disguise of a red jumpsuit to follow the new trend in comics as science fiction was becoming less popular then superheroes.
I agree with your comparisons but Doctor Manhattan was a replacement for Captain Atom from the original draft. All the Watchmen were originally supposed to be characters from Charlton Comics (that DC has acquired).
@@TheETBubba @@TheETBubba
See the thing is that in the original draft, Alan wanted to work with the Archie heroes line (I found this information in a interview compressed in a novel when Alan was turning 50) He wanted the Shield to be found dead in a sewage runoff and the mystery of how he died would follow. When Alan heard that they had purchased the Charlton characters he then brought the same story draft except was substituting the heroes.
Watchmen was a combined effort of him and Dave Gibbons, whom had mentioned that he designed the characters for Watchmen and had two designs for the Comedian. One based on Groucho and the other was an S&M outfit. Because that seemed too dark as a joke he added a little smiley face button to which Alan Moore said he had an ideal of what to do with that. So the first script was written after the development of the new heroes meaning after Alan was told he couldn't kill the Charlton heroes, but create his own. That and not to mention Captain Atom never had those powers, at least at the time of Watchmen. So just like Fizz Fop pointed out that he substituted Phantom Lady for Nightshade, I believe he had substituted Doctor Solar for Captain Atom.
Perhaps pointing this out won't convince you, Hillhouse Homesteading. That's alright. I have never read any interview where Alan confessed to using the Gold Key hero instead of the Charlton, but I feel there are too many similarities to ignore.
Not one of his best, but certainly Ditko's most... interesting creation was Mister A. A walking summation of Steve's objectivistic beliefs -- although not as realistic as Rorschach would be -- Mr. A was a darker, harder version of The Question. He may also have had kind of a supernatural feel to him, as his stories often showed the bad guys having the ground turn dark and crumble out from beneath them while Mr. A and the villain's victims would remain safe on the "good side", kind of like a Chick Track by way of Ayn Rand.
RIP Steve Ditko. Thanx for creating Spiderman, Doctor Strange & many other popular comic characters for Marvel Comics & Dalton Comics(DC)
Kirby was never the right artist for Spider-Man. His blocky style didn't suit the slender, fluid movements required of the web slinger. For Thor and Hulk, Kirby was perfect! Still, I think his best work was on the FF. Because, Galactus.:)
Although as I recall
John Romita’s Spider-Man actually came to resemble Kirby’s depiction of Spidey later on when he bulked up Spidey and gave him a distinctive build and threw out Peter Parker’s nerd like glasses. 🤓
@@cha5 romita ran with the look that Ditko had built up to over the course of his run. He gradually gave Peter more muscle and eventually did away with the glasses. John did give him better civilian clothes, pretty much off the bat, though.
@@neighborhoodthreattv I recall that Peter Parker stopped wearing glasses starting with ASM #8 on. Flash Thompson accidentally broke them when he shoved Peter. Also, I'm sure after gaining his Spider Powers, Peter discovered he didn't need them anymore.
Jason Bean. Stan Lee agreed with you. I remember reading in the book, Origins of Marvel Comics by Lee, his first choice on Spider-man was Kirby. But he felt that Kirby was not right, since he wanted Peter to look like a ordinary person. When he tried Steve Ditko, he felt that Ditko was the right artist for Spider-man. Although Kirby drew the cover for Amazing Fantasy #15.
Rest ini peace Mr ditko
The MARVEL Trio are together again, the legacy of Stan, Jack, and Steve is eternal
Both Lee and Ditko died the same year Peter Parker died 2 times in the movies.
Ironically, Jack KIrby's version of Spider-Man looks a lot like Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle. If things had gone Steve's way with Peter Parker/Spider-Man maturing as time went on, they may have dumped the perennial loser, wage slave to J. Jonah Jameson time lop the character seems trapped in, and gone onto honestly becoming something like the young scientific research-and-development whiz kid that Marvel Comics briefly played with during the Superior Spider-Man arc.
If I had the chance to work at marvel when they get it back together I would love to see something like that in a spider noir or 2099 alternate universe.
a fine, appreciative tribute to the esteemed mr. d - many, many thanks!
Wonderful video tribute to a legendary artist! Another hero that Ditko created was Static! I think that his design of this Hero is one of his best after Spider Man!
poor Steve. he was like so many Spidey film fans who want Peter to get outta school. don't look like it will ever happen, though.
Love you steve
It says a lot when Stan Lee puts you on a book that Jack Kirby wasn't good enough for.
A beautiful tribute, "sniff, sniff".
Ok seriously does anyone agree with me that The question should get his TV show on the CW
Hi Jalen! Thanks for watching! I agree. He would make an awesome show. He would be the perfect DC streaming program. I would probably join it if there was a Question program. As superhero shows go, it could be done a lot smaller budget and still look great. The problem would be getting writers/producers who would respect the source material.
Well done.
Who’s watching this now after the marvel suing?
It's It's It's DDP
Who handles Mr Ditko's properties now?
Great job dude
5:14 to 5:24 trust me if there's any marvel hero you don't wanna be reminded of it's Mr.Fantastic.
Very cool
I wonder what Ditko thought about later Speedball in Marvel. Bet he hated it.
most of Steve Ditko's non-mainstream characters, as well as the prototypes for many of his mainstream creations, are public domain, now want to do my own tribute, RIP Mr Ditko you will always be the real spiderman in my eyes.
Hi SpringHeeledJack of the Guardians!!! Ditko was awesome! I loved him when I was a kid. Hated him in high school. Now, I think he's brilliant. Not sure what is in public domain. Copyright law is complicated.
well, there's the monster comics he did for Charlton Gorgo and Konga [which according to a response he gave to a fan letter in 2015 he had great fun drawing] there's the horror host Dr. Huant in fact pretty much everything he did at Charlton not related to the "Charlton Action Hero line" has been used before by fan revivals without incident [at least none that I aware of] this also extends to character he didn't create but helped develop like DELL comics' Nukla a precursor to captain atom, btw have you ever thought of doing a lost heroes episode on the DELL superheroes?
I've looked at the Dell heroes. They had a bunch in the early 40s. There's just so many heroes and so little time to cover them all. I've wanted to do one on The Owl. I started a 10 Rip-Offs of Batman video...with him in it...never finished that one.
their golden age is interesting but I find their silver age attempts such as the Fab Four, Kona Monarch of Monster Isle, Nukla and Toka the jungle king the most interesting personally [there also public domain and are some of the only silver age characters to be such besides the previously listed Charlton heroes since the shenanigans with T.H.U.N.D.E.R agents stopped them from entering the public domain].
2019th (this year) view. Fitting
I've got that comic DC Showcase issue #73(April 1968)
Of all the characters Ditko made, Peter Parker is the only one who actually looked like him. Maybe that's why it was so personal to him. That was his comic book incarnation of himself, and someone was hijacking it and directing it wrongly, from his point of view. I agree about the characters should age like real people. 15 in 63, Peter Parker is in his 70's now and STILL in high school. Give the spider suit to his grandson, for pete's sake.
We all know why we just got recommended this rn
Deadass 😂
Would love to have met that guy.
Hi Tater Shed!!! I would have too...but from what I've heard, he was very reclusive. He didn't go to comic cons or wouldn't do an interview. There's a BBC documentary about him and they show up at his office with Neil Gaimon in tow wanting to talk to him and he refused. He talked to the film-maker and Gaimon, but only off camera. They said he was very nice and pleasant, but couldn't be persuaded to be on camera.
@@FizzFop1 To be fair, if a film crew turned up at my place without an appointment, I wouldn't want to see them either. Just because a guy's famous, it doesn't mean he's given up his right to privacy.
What are your thoughts on Oddman? I'm sad he isn't used much, appearing only like a couple of times outside of Ditko's tiny run on the character.
Steve Ditko also created two superhero that will Appear in the Titans show The first one was the avatar of War and destruction and the
Second one is the avatar of Order and peace can you guys Guess who they are
Hawk and Dove
David Jackson well done man are you a Fan of Hawk and Dove
They said that in the video though
I was a fan of Ditko's Spider-man. I liked his Blue Beatle. Doctor Strange was brilliant. The 1978 Doctor Strange movie was cheap rubbish, nothing to do with the look of Ditko's Doctor Strange. I take it that it was Stan Lee's okay for Marvel to make a little tele movie money and that's it.
What? No mention of Killjoy, Static, The Missing Man, or The Mocker? ;-) Nah, I know you can't cover them all. But while Ditko added something special to all the characters he created, I think Shade The Changing Man was the most interesting, what with the unusual sci-fi setting, harkening back to his Doctor Strange art, weird powers and even weirder villains, and some fascinating subplots going on. It's a shame it only lasted for 8 issues (9, if you count the uncolored story that was finally published in an archive edition). Ditko really needed to be let loose to do his own comic for a lengthy period of time, and he didn't get to do that nearly often or long enough.
I had a hard time with that because originally I had Killjoy and Static on the list...but I felt I had to edit it down. I liked Shade the Changing Man. I noticed that he changed the way he did layouts for that characters...I have a couple of the later issues...I don't know if he did that for the entire run.
@@FizzFop1 And who could have missed the one and only appearance of The Odd Man? ;-) He was scheduled to appear as a back up story in Shade #9, but since that was never published, the story was eventually published in Detective Comics #487 instead. In fact, doing a quick Google search, I'm surprised to find that the character actually did make a few more appearances in the DC universe, including a "blink and you'll miss him" cameo in the fun miniseries, Hero Hotline.
The Objectivist of the Marvel Silver age, a paragon of character creation,morality and development, Steve Ditko gone but not forgotten.
His influences are far and wide from comics and even the competition to every Luchador who designs a mask with iconic Spider man Eye sockets or even tales the characters motif on special occasions. Steve Ditko was a man the comic communist of his era,the bronze,dark and even present day either despise,dismiss or spew venom at today for the soul reason of being an Objectivist to there relativist bullshit world view of things,Long Live Spider-Man,Long Live The Question,God Bless the greatness of his art and may he rest in peace in comic book Valhalla. "...and those that doubt me! Suck cock by choice!".
Player Juan Godspeed fellow razorfist fan
Donnie Dewitt God Speed Razorfans one and all.
I remember when Razor made that Ditko video after he died. In the video, he talked about some newer guy, making Spider-Man regret reading Ayn Rand. Pretty much a diss on Ditko's beliefs. As well as Alan Moore and some other guy.
Here in 2022, we at InDELLible Comics have gotten permission to use Killjoy in a limited manner!
Well done
3:43 imo a homage to his art teacher, creator of Joker
You might have something there. I didn't realize it until I started making this video...but the Creeper costume also resembles the original Spring Heeled Jack Costume with that fur boa.
100% a tribute to Jerry Robinson who was his art school teacher
Now Stan's gone.
1:08 Lmao 😂 he just said Aaron Rand instead of Ayn Rand
Hi Mudd Bear! Thanks for watching! I muck up a lot of names...it's one of the reasons why I don't make a lot of videos. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the video.
The Destructor, Speedball, and Squirrel Girl, but no Static, Starman, and only a mention of Mr. A???
I was surprised no Star man. His first arc in Adventure was so whimsical and cozy. I can’t explain why I love it. Nothing against Jim starlin but when he wrapped up the story in DC presents it just didn’t have that Je ne sais quoi
Dude you need to do mr a
You need to do a video on charlton comic some day dude same With escipse
Dude you need to do challengers of the unknown please
Do a charlton retrospective
do captain atom please
👍
Can you do land of the lost the radio show
Wished you would have done this in Chronological order...!!
Very frustrating to see it done this way.!!
Do Jack kirby story
Hi Melvin! I keep telling myself to redo Blue Bolt with narration. Someday I will get to it.lol
FizzFop1 could you please do a lost heroes video on the hero known as The Blue Flame...who only started in one comic on December 11 1946. The comic is called Captain Flight Comics...and it's issue is #11. He looks like the Human Torch but instead the fire on his body is blue. But when he is not on fire he has red hair and wears only blue boots and blue shorts. And the only villain he fights is a bad guy named Mr. S. Aitan. Thanks
I have named a super villan Creepers. I hope it does not clash with this
lol, that's pretty good pratheek shetty...I have a super villain in one of my scripts called Captain Creepers. He's a bad guy trying to form a super villain gang to go up against a superhero team.
And space family Robinson there like 3 or 4 comic of the same name
jack kirb made the orriginal spiderman drawing. no one ever gives him any credit
Here another the rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Aka Sherlock Holmes clones like dr thorndyke sexton blake Johnny dollar solar pons lady Molly max carrados Thomas carncki
And here genre Idea western and romance
Do red Barry a forgotten Dick Tracy
And Funnyman that one look funny
Wait- did you say a " fetish artist" touched up spider-man's design?
Explains a lot
Here's a few more really obscure ditko characters (that you probably know about).
Stalker
Odd Man
Starman 3 (or 4h
The line Jim Shooter created after he did aValiant Comics, Defiant characters in a series called Dark Dominion. I think Shooter said Ditko worked on around 6 issues before quitting once he realized that there was a supernatural element, demons that made characters not responsible for their own decisions- an Objectivism no-no
And, I think a few more Atlas characters- not sure
FWIW, the "fetish artist" was Eric Stanton, Ditko's studio roommate for over a decade, and he mostly suggested the idea of the webs shooting out of Peter's hands, which inspired the web-shooter design - or so he always said. There's some debate in comic historian circles about whether he deliberately downplayed his contributions to the design to keep his friendship smooth with Ditko, and some claim he did some uncredited work on early Doctor Strange as well. He's pretty well known in the underground fetish comics community and probably had more impact on that genre than Ditko had on superhero books - which is really saying something. Might be best known for his "Blunder Broad" Wonder Woman parody in the 1970s, which he worked on with noted scifi/pulp/erotica author Andrew J. Offut, who cranked out books by the hundreds under many pen names.
@@richmcgee434 thanks for info. That’s really interesting . Was he published in those little pamphlets? I’ll have to look him up.
Iirc, Jack Kirby said that he contributed to the character design and possibly it was based on an older character that eventually became the Fly for Archie comics.
@@hexum7 The only Stanton stuff I've seen scans of were full sized comix, but he may well have done pamphlet format work as well - maybe the "Stantoon" things he did? There's a lot of strange formats in the underground scene - zines in A4 size are pretty common too. Not really quite my line, I only know what I've read about him while I was studying some media history a while back. Adam Warren's Empowered book got me digging and it turned out to be quite the rabbit hole.
Always kind of surprising how many artists and authors turn out to have made a lot of their living through erotica when you look into their past work. Really says something about where the money is in and around the comics industry, even today.
@@richmcgee434 I think they used to call the small envelope shaped Pamphlets something like Tequila papers- i guess a lot of them were printed in Mexico . But I’m not going to bother googling “tequila something because there’d be thousands, if not millions, of wrong hits.
I wasn’t familiar with Stanton before this Not that into bondage except as an aesthetic. He has a great erotic style, remember seeing a Ditko Horror cover printed in a comics coloring book. It featured s man in s castle being assaulted by 3 or 4 witches . I wouldn’t doubt Stanton had a had in that because it seemed a little different style wise from standard Ditko works though I couldn’t tell you why. It just seemed to be drawn in a slightly different style think it was called Weird stories. If I recall correctly, the letters in the logo were filled with drawings of moaning souls. Hard to describe
@@richmcgee434 found it: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ditko#/media/File%3AThe_Thing_12.jpg
One part that i never understand with comminist is we don,t need money
But i Wonder ok i know Karl Marx did not know what movies are but point how can you make hollywood movie without money
Ok this is have nothing do With comic
I don.t care about she ra new look maybe she teenage or something and she like pre boob Job or something
I agree...it looks bad. I never watched the show back in the 80s. My younger sister loved He-Man, but never got into She-Ra that much. When I saw the first pics of the new She-Ra, my reaction was the same to the new Thundercats cartoon...it looks awful. The design is artistically poor. The aesthetics are displeasing to look at. The feedback so far is 98% negative...and that may be a low estimate on my part. I don't t believe people are going to watch it. Whoever is backing it is throwing their money into a toilet and flushing it down.
One problem of it not show who bitch with book thing
I was think maybe teenage or something
I really dont like steve ditko
Why?
I Missed the part Where that s my Problem
That’s sad
...why....because he refused creator residuals for all the Spider Man movies and merchandise!?
Nobody likes you lol
you have got to be kidding. Ditko was a great writer, but the WORST artist. He is as bad as Leialoha.
Steve Ditko was by far the worst artist of all time. His figures all looked the same, terrible.
Says someone who probably never sold a comic strip in his life.....
You must be a Wayne Boring fan.
Yet his Spiderman issues became worth thousands of dollars...which no other artist has been able to do!
@@stefanschleps8758 lol
Has anyone else noticed that Ditko had a A-level game and a B- level his attention to detail in his comic art always showed which company was paying him the most.
Steve Ditko didn't get along with Stan Lee. J. Jonah jameson was based on Stan.
...that made me laugh! I never knew that..but can honestly see Stan Lee being an ass to Ditko. Lol
you and terry talks are my favorite you tubers as far as music use.
goodman also had a problem with spider man being a teen. he though teen can only be side kicks. the pigeon whole mentality was astounding