https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/steve-ditko-dead-spider-man-creator-was-90-1125489I wasn't sure where to post this.
I can't say I know much about Ditko other than he's done work for the Legion and co-created Doctor Mayavale. The only character I know for sure he's worked on that I've been genuinely interested in is Odd Man from DC Comics. But he clearly was a major influence on comics and he's definitely gonna be missed.
Wow. First thoughts: Ditko was, in my opinion, a true visionary, and we are all fortunate that -- during his long stint with Marvel from the late 50s through the mid 60s -- he got to expound his challenging but rewarding visions in a way that made them accessible to people of all ages and all philosophies. His final year-and-a-half on Dr. Strange, in particular (STRANGE TALES 130-146), has never failed to give me goose-flesh and leave me short of breath. At the same time, I have to admit that, after his AMAZING SPIDER-MAN run reached its crescendo with issue 33 -- the one with Spidey pinned down by fallen debris in the sewer -- Ditko's last few ASM issues are a bit disconcerting to me, as they anticipate the more down-to-earth, more starkly political turn in his work that would reach a full head of force immediately after he left Marvel. But, bottom line, I say Gods bless him for having the courage of his convictions!
Finally, I have to single out Ditko's brief return to fantasy towards the end of the 70s, in DC's STALKER and the STARMAN serial in ADVENTURE COMICS, as his most underrated post-1966 work. His scripter on both of the above was Paul Levitz, and I dearly wish DC could have gotten some traction on both those series, because lately, I am finding Levitz's non-Legion work (on those two features and, of course, on his evergreen JSA run) to be far more pleasing than his Legion work. What might have been...
Rest in peace, Mr. Ditko. The exquisitely weird flora borne from your dazzling imagination will continue to seed inspired emulation and erudite discussion for generations to come.
RIP Steve Ditko, a man who stuck to his morals and believes. The older I get, the more I admire his approach to fame.
Ann Hebistand made great tribute above to most of his major work at Marvel, so I will talk a bit about his work at DC and Charlton. His creation and work on Hawk and Dove along with Skeates created the basis for characters and symbols that might be more relevant now than ever. He also created The Creeper, who is most famous for guest-starring in Batman series. The work in the '70s at Charlton Comics with Giordano created characters such as The Question and the second Beetle, who stared in comics that explored the modern world. I would even argue that this vain of realism ultimately guided the post-Crisis DC world as Giordano brought these characters into the mainstream DC Universe.
Thanks for the kind words about my tribute, Emily. I echo them for your tribute. I also second your admiration for Ditko's approach to fame.
Really, Ditko's generation of comic book artists (technically the 2nd, but, crucially, the 1st to have grown up reading comic books in addition to newspapers and magazines,) has emerged as my favorite overall. Unlike the 1st generation, they hadn't been raised on false promises which were dashed by the Depression -- they were born either right before, during, or right after the Depression, and never knew the world being any other way. So they just got on with their work!
Ditko was greatly admired by a lot of his contemporaries, especially Wally Wood (IIRC, Wood's independently published anthologies were the first place where Ditko had full creative control; also, Wood inked Ditko on all 4 issues of the aforementioned Stalker) and Gil Kane (who always credited Ditko's art with helping him master the articulation of the human figure in motion; I think it's quite fitting that Kane went on to be one of the most distinguished of Ditko's successors on Amazing Spider-Man.)