SPIDER-MAN
Contrary to a few of the mad Kirby acolytes (most of them are really very nice), Stan Lee
and Steve Ditko gave birth to second most significant super-hero of all-time. While other
bug and insect heroes and villians may have existed in other forms and names before
Spider-Man's debut in September of 1962, Stan Lee's scripts and Ditko's visuals were the
calling card of the Saviour of the Silver Age. Never before had a hero transcended the fantasy
world of comics onto the streets; a character who could be the nerd sitting beside you in class - the poor teen stuck carrying his umbrella to
the mall on a sunny July day. Never before had a hero come to represent everything that any
insecure teen-ager wanted to become; the dweeb in street clothes transformed into wise-cracking
super-hero. While the Kirby Collective give Jack virtually all the credit for creating most
of the comics universe because he created the visual look for the characters, they shoot
themselves in the foot when not crediting Ditko with the same thing. Spider-Man was half
Stan Lee's creation for the reasons mentioned above. He was half Ditko's creation because
Ditko gave him a look that comics had rarely seen before. While most creators today couldn't
come up with a good villian in a year, forced to recycle black-costumed aliens every 12 issues,
Ditko put to paper with his pen an enormous gallery of the most visually sensational villians
in comics history, all in the first two years of the title! The feel of Ditko's Spider-Man
was so unique, so implanted in the minds of the generation absorbing it, that poor John
Romita Sr., who took over the book with issue #39, felt obligated to ape Ditko in his
beginnings, constantly haranged by fans who wanted to know when Ditko was coming back.
Ditko, if he is a man of his word (little doubt there), will never be coming back. Granted,
it is a depressing thought, yet it more than suffices to know that the 41 issues of Lee/Ditko
on the Amazing Spider-Man exist to thrill new generations (and old) time and time again.
Steve Ditko wrote a letter to the magazine COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE concerning comments
made by Stan Lee surrounding the famous ''Take A Load Off, Spidey'' scene in issue #33.
The letter was published in issue #63 (September) and reads as follows...
In your Comic Book Marketplace # 61, July 1998, page 45, Stan Lee talks about
''... a very famous scene...'' of the trapped Spider-Man lifting heavy machinery
over his head.
The drama of that sequence was first commented on and popularized by Gil Kane.
Stan says, "I just mentioned the idea...I hadn't thought of devoting that many
pages to it..."
I was publicly credited as plotter only starting with issue # 26. The lifting
sequence is in issue # 33.
The fact is we had no story or idea discussion about some Spider-Man books
even before issue # 26 up to when I left the book.
Stan never knew what was in my plotted stories until I took in the penciled
story, the cover, my script and Sol Brodsky took the material from me and took
it all into Stan's office, so I had to leave without seeing or talking to
Stan.
Steve Ditko, New York.
Michael Cho has written an on-line essay concerning the stylings of Steve Ditko
on the Amazing Spider-Man. It can be found on his site
by clicking HERE.
If you have any stories or articles concerning Ditko's take
on the Amazing Spider-Man, please E-MAIL me.
You will receive full credit for your contributions.