PAUL SMITH Exclusive to DITKO LOOKED UP by Paul Smith, July '99
You want influence? I got your influence right here. Steve Ditko changed my
life.
My Father tells me he knew from the time I was 5 years old that I'd grow up to
be a cartoonist. Although he always thought I would go into animation. Mighty
Mouse (my first real hero), Popeye, Bugs, there wasn't a flat surface in the
house that was safe from me. Even at an early age my characters were always
doing... something. Never a tree or a house, I might draw the occasional car
but, it had to be going very fast. I had little interest in comic books for
one simple reason, they didn't move, they just sat there. Then I discovered
Ditko.
Issue #36 of the Amazing Spider-Man. The Looter (AKA the Meteor Man), I was
hooked. This stuff MOVED. Beyond that, it was believable. Yeah, I know...wall
crawling, web spinning, spider strength, believable? You bet. In his own
quirky way, Ditko was the most representational of the early Marvel artists.
The FF, the Avengers, the X-Men, they weren't "real." Ditko was real.
Three months later, he was gone.
Fortunately in those early days of Marvel fandom, back issues were available
from collectors (i.e. other kids) at below cover price. Even better, they were
available for free, almost. When the other kids found out I could draw, they'd
trade issues for drawings I'd copy out of the books. One guy wants a Kirby
Captain America, another wants Kubert's Hawkman, or Heck's Iron Man, or Kane's
Green Lantern. Me, I just wanted more Ditko. More Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, odd
little stairways between heaven and hell, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie.
Jamie, Kent, Leslie, if you're out there, if you remember? I have to thank you
for warning me about Spidey 30-33. They told me not to read any of it, until I
had all of it. It took a couple of years but my heart was pure. The reward was
great. Marvel went NOVA on Page 5, issue 33 of the Amazing Spider-Man. I can
only imagine what it was like to have been there from the beginning, following
the story every month, in order. The build up. The payoff. Nothing in its
genre has ever come close. Not "This Man, This Monster", not...not nuthin'!
Spider-Man 1-38 was my Golden Age of comics. It took the output of an entire
industry to fill the hole that Ditko's 30 pages a month left behind in my
head. I've had other influences to be sure. I'm trying my best to leave them
behind. But, there are certain Ditkoisms so deeply ingrained that I may never
escape them. You'll see them most in my drapery and blacks. I even use (I
think) his methodology of sparse building block pencils, deadweight pen
outline, spot blacks with your brush and render out.
Those of us who were lucky enough to turn our joy into our livelihood usually
have a transcendent moment. The one where everything changes. The first time
my father saw a plane fly overhead, the first time John Lennon heard Elvis,
the first time I saw Ditko.
Ditko may not be the King but, for one bright, shining, well sustained moment,
he was the best.