BBC - Jonathan Ross - In Search of Steve Ditko, part 1 of 7

[man13717]

thanks for posting this , excellent

[MrLunitunz]

I love Ditko's artwork. He did stuff with Spider-Man himself that wouldn't be seen again until McFarlane stepped on the book, he made him quirky and Spider-like and, from the side at least, he gave Spider-Man those big Spider-eyes. He drew ugly people and made Peter Parker look like an average guy. I love Romita's artwork as well, and given how he drew Gwen, I don't think Ditko could've drawn Mary Jane as beautiful as Romita, but Romita empahasised the Man, Ditko emphasised the Spider.

[darkmike333]

I coulda swore Kirby designed Spidey's costume? Or was it that he just drew Amazing Fantasy #15's cover?

[hanshotfirst1138]

@ToruKun1

[TaskMaster619]

This documentary introduced me to Watchmen. Love Jonothan Ross forever for doing that!

[mazniq]

@jcbs boo to your comment, mate. How is Steve not a co-creator when he provides the sequantial art!?! Also haven't you heard of the "Marvel Method" where Stan Lee gives brief sypnosis of the story for the issue to the designated artist and that artist have to build the plot and fill in the details on his own? So Spider-man owns much of its appeal to Steve Ditko because Ditko was the main visionary of what was going on in the books! Not to mention Ditko made the design of the costume!!

[ManifestPanda]

Steve ditko is an incredible artist, i honestly couldn't stand any stan lee comics when jack kirby was penciling. It took until This Man This Monster and The Coming of Galactus until the fantastic four even had good stories to speak of, and well, the X-men comics were almost unreadable until they became 'Uncanny'. But Amazing spider-man was always the heart and soul of what Stan and Ditko were trying to achieve with comics, but you're a hipster if you don't think Stan invented Spider-man

[madcapoperator]

Alan moore's voice can cut metal!

[joeshoe2009]

Around the time that Ross was reading comics I was becoming friends with Bill Pearson because of his zine Witzend. Ditko did work for that zine and I got to meet him at Archie Goodwin's place. Little did I know just how rare this opportunity would be. He signed my Witzend but I didn't dare ask him why he left Marvel. We did talk about his work at Charleton and what he was going to do next.

[metacosmos]

I think Ditko is of Russian origin, many of the characters he draws seem very Russian to me.

[geton101]

I love the old Spider-Man books that Steve Ditko did. There's a biography out on Steve Ditko called Strange and Stranger. If you want more information see my review of the book on squidoo by searching under the phrase ''Strange and Stranger.''

[marvelbrothers]

I always believed that Ditko walked out because Stan and Ditko had a disaggrement with who the green goblin was....... Ditko left after issue 37.... ironically issue 38 was when the green goblin's identity was revealed...John romita took over the artwork

[GuitaristInProgress]

Thanks so much for posting this. Great documentary.

[slyther2]

Alan Moore's awesome but I can't help but think he's a wee bit ovverated

[TheSteveDitko]

@slyther2 true

[slyther2]

@TheSteveDitko I like the guy and many others like lee, bill everet e.t.c but I don't hero worship certain personalities I like

[burlearth]

@TheSteveDitko not-true

[davenielsen78]

@slyther2 It's hard to believe the same man who created Watchmen also created The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Lost Girls.  Vastly overrated.

[detrius82]

@slyther2 My take on Alan Moore. He's an amazing talent when he's doing his own thing, but when he's writting for characters he didn't create, he tends to screw things up. As amazing as "The Killing Joke" is, he clearly didn't understand the Batman character enough, because at the begining of the story it seems as if Batman is pleading with the Joker that they need to stop their back and forth before one of them ends up dead. Then at the end (after all Joker did) he laughs at a lame joke.

[MrLunitunz]

@slyther2 Depends on what you mean by 'overrated'. Personally I feel that the words 'overrated' and 'underrated' are both over-used and misapplied.

Alan Moore did bring a great sense of maturity to American comic books, but he probably took his influences from novels and the movies, and according to Alan Grant, who was talking about Frank Miller when he said this, 'British comics have been doing it for years'.

Moore's still an intelligent, albeit crazy, guy though.

[Puddislove]

is there any english subtitle to this? i couldn't find it

[allaboutdmagic]

I just bought Blake Bell's superb artbook/biography of Steve Ditko, Strange and Stranger. It's got nearly everything you could want about this amazing artist and goes some way into the creation of his most famous characters.

[jcbs]

Steve Ditko is a great artist but he will never be a co-creator of Spider-Man.

He is only the artist that was commissioned, sanctioned and hired by the creator to draw the character.

[cha5]

@jcbs Ditko's role in Spider-Man's creation went way beyond just drawing the character. Ditko plotted the early Spider-Man stories, Stan Lee did the dialog and the prose.

Check back issues 32-38 of ASM where it clearly says in the credits "Plotted and Illustrated by Steve Ditko"

That meets the criteria of being a co-creator IMHO.

[TheSteveDitko]

@jcbs true

[davenielsen78]

@TheSteveDitko Ditko designed the character, came up with his clinging power, web shooters, and spider signal. Stan didn't even like the idea of the character having a mask. Sounds to me like Ditko deserves 90% of the credit.

[666948]

@jcbs "Without the amazing artistry and superb story sense of Ditko, Spidey would be like a hamburger without ketchup or Indiana Jones without a fedora and bullwhip" - Stan Lee.

Don't discredit the creative input the artist has in comics, "...His sense of pacing, his flair for action scenes, and his ability to make the most outlandish situations look totally believable...gave the early Spider-Man stories an impetus that helped keep them rolling to this very day."

[empyreanlc]

@666948

"...but I get to keep the money, Ok?"

-Stan Lee's conscience

[DeepSouthWrestling1]

@jcbs : Well, that's the company line as related by Stan Lee... further investigation has proven that Ditko had way more to do with Spidey's character development than just being a hired hand that illustrated Lee's plots. Particularly when juxtaposed with how much Kirby truly did, as opposed to the faint credit Lee deemed worthy to give to him. In truth, Ditko had more to do with the character Spidey became than Lee did...

[1982Nightwing]

@jcbs No way.

[CelestialWoodway]

@jcbs I disagree. He designed the costume and that was a major part of the character. He came up with the look and visual design of the Spider-Man villians, Peter Parker, Aunt May, etc. etc. There would be no Spider-Man as we know him without Ditko.

[1982Nightwing]

@jcbs Woooooooooooooooooooooooow. Where did you get that information.

[ASDMarauder007]

Jonathan should go back to making incredible strange film show.

[XAVIERCUERVO]

Steve Ditko ,the Bob dylan of comics

[teddyrocker]

@XAVIERCUERVO I don´t think Ditko would like the comparison at all.

[darrellkaiser11285]

Wow. England must have free access to use any type of music. At 1:49, that's from Star Trek.

[teddyrocker]

@darrellkaiser11285 Nope, it´s 1967 Spiderman´s cartoon incidental music.

[ToruKun1]

The apparent "ugliness" of old comics/Ditko's art is infinitely more appealing that today's flashy, trying too hard to be HAWT AND AWESOME! art, most of that stuff is gross to look at (at least to me)...that's why I just kinda read manga.

[xXVisionaryXx]

@ToruKun1 I think you like everyone else realised that modern comics work on the old(new actually very new) adage, make the boobs big, make the muscles bigger. Sometimes I wish that comics creators would just look at themselves and realise how freakin' stupid it looks. Doesn't stop me from buying them though :/

[ToruKun1]

@xXVisionaryXx

I think Rob Liefeld fucked everything up. His art was/is some of the FUGLIEST comic book art I've ever seen.

[xXVisionaryXx]

@ToruKun1 I know what you mean, the infamous Captain America drawing is everything that's wrong with comics. Once you sell editors don't care at all. Rob Liefeld(think I spelt it wrong) can draw, It's just that he chooses to draw shit. Let's remember though, in the 90s he sold 2 million copies of 1 X-men book.

[ToruKun1]

@xXVisionaryXx

And we were all the worse for it. XDD

[jackedsamurai772]

Ted Kord could beat the crap out of Spider-man, there I said it

[Brady2k10]

stan thought of spiderman, ditko designed spiderman on paper. So stan is the creator, he had the idea, ditko created spiderman on paper, so ditko designed spiderman, stan lee was the inventor/creator.

[teddyrocker]

@Brady2k10 In fact the original design for Spiderman was made by Joe Simon. Ditko just made some changes, for example the spider web was originally throwed from a special gun.

[EclipseTyrant]

I love this man, its a shame you can't teach the ignorant and its too late now. Thank you for this and these uploads. I am not giving up in looking for this man and take a picture or get something autographed from Mr. Ditko unlike several others who believe his dead to them, I still look up to him

[DeepSouthWrestling1]

He reminds me of Kirby insofar as being not only so in tune with cartooning, but being somewhat off mentally.

[nailbiter]

American TV is too stupid to put on anything as cool as this show. thank you BBC / Jonathan Ross! love Ditko.

[TheFlyingFresh]

@nailbiter whats ur problem, do u really hate ur self so much that u have to insult another country! stupid BRIT!!

[luvdomus]

Ditko did his best work for James Warren's Creepy and Eerie magazines in the mid-to-late '60s. As innovative as his work prior to that was, I personally didn't like his drawing when I was a kid, and never bought an issue of Spiderman until John Romita took over in '66. I did, however think Ditko's work on Dr. Strange was intriguing. Romitas work was handsomer, more polished and to me he is the quintessential Spiderman artist

[MrKipW]

I won't say he's selfish. He's reclusive partly because he was badly burned by stuff that's beyond my comprehension. Still, it's unfortunate that we can't at least get one interview out of the guy, because he was a gosh darn genius with a very distinct style and take on the world, and I don't think it's obsessive to want to hear him talk about his experiences just a little.

Still, it's his choice alone. I hope the video tells me some things. Here's to you, Mr. Ditko!

[flugel76]

Selfish? He didn't ask for fans to obsess over him, nor did he ask for this documentary to be made. I'm sure he's flattered by this attention in his own way, but you can't call someone who doesn't want to be bothered "selfish". Not all artists are narcisistic attention-seekers, you know.

[TheSteveDitko]

yeah true

[nobovrilformethanks]

@TheSteveDitko

you must be the least argumentative person on youtube.

[OropherThranduil]

Let the Man himself say it:

"When I do a job, it’s not my personality that I’m offering the readers but my artwork. It’s not what I'm like that counts; it’s what I did and how well it was done.... I produce a product, a comic art story. Steve Ditko is the brand name".

Steve Ditko, 1969

[rickflare5]

@flugel76 he was just angry like all the other artists in the 60's like jack kirby

because they never got the credit they deserve

[ajivins1]

@flugel76 I don't know, Ditko did turn-up at the Golden Globes in that meat dress...

[nofachx]

No Ditko interview here, but it was a good documentary. I just think it's selfish of Steve Ditko to deprive his fans of an interview since he'll soon be six feet underground. He probably won't even have a headstone. Besides that, a great comic book artist in his own right.

[kraigus]

why should he? he owes noone anything. he did his job, just cos he wont parade around like lee, doesnt mean hes useless, and he will have a tombstone. he has a loving family. how dare you sully the great man.