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Geeky Friday: Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko

June 20, 2008

A quick heads up on a sweet new book that came in, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko, by Blake Bell (Fantagraphics, ISBN 978-1-56097-921-0. $39.99). Comic book heads immediately will recognize the name, but for the uninitiated, Ditko was one of the top young artists at Marvel Comics in the early 1960s and was co-inventor of Spider-Man. Not an insignificant achievement.

My brother is a huge comic nerd, so I got him on the blower to tell him about the book, and he gave me some good background on Ditko’s story, so I’m cribbing heavily from him (thanks, Bill).

Ditko is both important and mysterious. Spider-Man was a pioneer in two ways: Spidey was the first teenage super. All supers except for sidekicks were adults, but since the target audience for comics was kids and teens, having one of their own in a costume obviously had large appeal, especially since as Peter Parker he reflected many of their everyday concerns about school and wanting a girlfriend, etc. Spidey also was the only successful super to wear a full face mask. There were others before him, but they didn’t last. All other supers show either all or most of their faces (this is why Toby Maguire is always tearing the mask off or getting it ripped in a fight in the Spidey films—actors want their faces to be seen).

Stan Lee conceptualized Spidey but Ditko did a lot of the grunt work. The book has an early pic of Ditko and he’s a skinny, nerdy looking guy in glasses and greasy hair. In the early days, Peter Parker looked like guess what, a nerdy looking guy in glasses and greasy hair! So Ditko seemingly based the physical character on himself.

When Spider-Man was becoming a monster hit around ’64 or ’65, Ditko got fed up with Lee taking all the credit and quit. He joined a lesser publisher and continued to work, but became a sort of J.D. Salinger of the comics world. He hasn’t done an interview in decades and doesn’t do cons. Nonetheless, he hasn’t been forgotten, and Bell, who has become the burning bush on Ditko, gives his full story. The book also features a ton of great color and B&W art work. Coming on the heels of Mark Evanier’s fab bio of Jack Kirby, it’s good to see that these behind-the-scenes guys who’ve had such a profound influence on people’s lives and pop culture are getting the recognition they deserve. Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko, by Blake Bell—buy it!


Posted by Michael Rogers on June 20, 2008 | Comments (2)


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July 21, 2008
In response to: Geeky Friday: Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
c.ryan commented:

Great teaser, Mike. Your observations make me look forward to reading this intriguing bio. Ditko's tale seems a mysterious and sad story, but his art and influence endure in ways too many people don't know about.

In a recent article on "Hellboy II" director Guillermo del Toro, it is reported that he is set to direct the two "The Hobbit" films, and then "Dr. Strange", another Ditko co-creation. To me, del Toro's imagination has clear and significant links to the incredible images with which Ditko infused the early Dr. Strange books. His influence continues.




April 15, 2009
In response to: Geeky Friday: Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko
Joel Justin commented:

If you are the Michael Rogers who wrote a review of Peter Viertel's "DANGEROUS FRIENDS" for Doubleday, then you are a complete idiot who probably didn't read it. I'll just say that I can think of 3 books that I've read in my long life, and Dangerous friends was 2 of them. I'm reading it again here in 2009. And unless you have later retracted your "so-wrong" opinion of this book, then I hope you never have the opportunity to review another book. Reading this review that you wrote for Doubleday blew my mind and I had to let you know that this book taught me so much about how 50's Hollywood worked, an industry I'm now in. I'm a huge admirer of these long-gone celebrities because of this book, and I was entertained from cover to cover. Try reading it next time fella. Joel@JoelJustin.com





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