Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Stan Lee | Tagged: christos gage, dan slott, frank cho, steve ditko, wheatcakes

Steve Ditko Didn't Draw Aunt May Giving Peter Parker Wheatcakes

Steve Ditko Didn't Draw Aunt May Giving Peter Parker Wheatcakes - Not Originally Anyway. Any idea what he originally intended?

Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee is also the first use of Aunt May giving wheatcakes to her nephew Peter Parker.

Which are, for the uninformed American-style pancakes made with whole wheat flour and buttermilk, beaten eggs, butter, and egg whites. Although Aunt May has a more involved recipe, after it became a catchphrase for the character.

And a source for infinite jokes about Spider-Man fattening up Mary Jane Watson for the personal delictation of Peter Parker… and for one Frank Cho. In 2017, he stated "The wheat cake joke became the sleeper hit of the summer and I was bombarded by fans wanting more wheat cake loving Mary Jane art."

But comics/TV writer Christos Gage has discovered that it could have been very different, posting the following privately on Facebook, after loking at the original comic book artwork held by Congress.

He posts "While visiting the Library of Congress, it was pointed out to me that on the original Amazing Fantasy #15 art, there is a penciled note from Stan Lee to Steve Ditko on this crucial Spider-Man origin panel saying "Steve, change to wheatcakes".

He continues, addressing fellow Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, "As wheatcake enthusiasts who have used our great power to reference wheatcakes many times (the Superior Venom story comes to mind, as does Superior Spider-Man #6 which isn't even out yet), it is now our great responsibility to determine what Steve Ditko originally drew BEFORE wheatcakes! Pancakes? Flapjacks? Objectivist cakes? This is a mystery on the level of the National Treasure movies! I feel I have done my part by uncovering the mystery, and now it's your job to brave the traps and assassins to solve it. Excelsior!"

Christos Gage gave permission for Bleeding Cool to reprint this observation but wanted to underline that I "credit Sara Duke, Curator, Popular & Applied Graphic Art, Prints and Photographs Division, with knowing what the pencil note said. She knows all of them (by heart) and is super helpful with any inquiries, setting up visits, etc. She also welcomes donations of comic art to the Library of Congress, and is especially keen to acquire some Jack Kirby art, as they currently don't have any, and the high cost of vintage comic book art makes it tough to acquire any under their limited budget. Here's a link to the Library of Congress's web site."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!