Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Captain Atom, Comics, creeper, dc comics, doctor strange, hawk and dove, marvel, spider-man, steve ditko

Steve Ditko's Birthday Original Art Gallery

It can be said without hesitation that the world of comics would be a very different place today without the contributions of Steve Ditko.  Born November 2, 1927, Ditko began working in comics in 1953 and went on to create or co-create characters such as Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Captain Atom, Hawk & Dove, The Creeper, and others, and has left his mark on countless other characters with an incredible range of stories from Marvel, DC, Charlton, and other publishers.

Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko^[1] (born November 2, 1927)^[2] is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.

Ditko studied under Batman artist Jerry Robinson at the Cartoonist and Illustrators School in New York City. He began his professional career in 1953, working in the studio of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, beginning as an inker and coming under the influence of artist Mort Meskin. During this time, he then began his long association with Charlton Comics, where he did work in the genres of science fiction, horror, and mystery. He also co-created the superhero Captain Atom in 1960.

Ditko then drew for Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics. He went on to contribute much significant work to Marvel, including co-creating Spider-Man, who would become the company's flagship character. Additionally, he co-created thesupernatural hero Doctor Strange and made important contributions to the Hulk and Iron Man. In 1966, after being the exclusive artist on The Amazing Spider-Man and the "Doctor Strange" feature in Strange Tales, Ditko left Marvel for reasons never specified.

Ditko then worked for Charlton and DC Comics, making major contributions, including a revamp of long-running character Blue Beetle, and creating or co-creating the Question, the Creeper, and Hawk and Dove. Ditko also began contributing to small independent publishers, where he created Mr. A, a hero reflecting the influence of Ayn Rand's Objectivism philosophy. Since the 1960s, Ditko has declined most interviews, stating that it is his work he offers readers, and not his personality.

Ditko was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990, and into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994.

If you'd like to learn more about Ditko, Blake Bell's blog and the Steve Ditko Comics Weblog are good places to start. Ditko has not made any public appearances or given interviews for decades, preferring to let his work speak for him.  It does speak volumes:

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