davidh777

RIP Ditko

movieguru

Just because Ben Cooper created the Halloween costume in 1954, it doesn't mean that the costume was [B]only[B] sold in 1954. It was likely sold in the years that followed. The costumes were likely hand-me-downs as well so younger siblings may have worn their older brother's costume a number of years later. The Ben Cooper company was based in New York so these costumes and advertisements would have been all over New York for a good while after 1954. It would be highly unlikely that Ditko never had any exposure to this costume. He may have remembered it subconsciously when he was designing the Marvel Spider-Man, but they are really too similiar for that to be very likely.

Ditko's take on the costume is definetly better than Cooper's design. The red and the blue look much better than the yellow. The eyes are designed better, but of course a kids costume back then wouldn't have white lenses covering them,; but in comic books that would not have mattered. Also not having "Spider Man" written on the forhead was an improvement as well. Oddly Rubbie's licensed costumes almost always seemed to have the characters' names written in the chest area on their costumes. I always hated that as a kid.

rw2516

Weren't Ben Cooper costumes national? I grew up in Iowa in the 60s and every year the stores had an entire aisle of them.

fujishig

I wonder why Ben Cooper didn't go after them (or if they did, if they settled).

I always thought Spider-man's costume was kind of crazy in that it seems so hard to draw; so many lines, and you have to change the way you draw it at different angles, compared to other costumes of the era. I always thought as a kid the black symbiote costume was a way for artists to draw him quicker...

Why So Blu?

Ditko was an amazing artist I just never got the whole being a recluse thing. Was it depression?

Josh-da-man

Yeah, I don't know if that was just his temperament -- he might have been an introvert, or even "on the spectrum" -- or if he became that way after becoming an objectivist and decided his work would speak for itself.

I don't know if he had always been that way, or if he changed in the 1960s. There aren't really any old interviews with him or photos of him from his younger years, but that's not surprising since comic book creators toiled anonymously until fandom and cons became the norm.

ytrez

Some people just don't like or want the spotlight. I've never heard about depression in reference to Ditko just that he wanted his work to speak for itself. If you wanted to "know" Ditko, look to his work. Especially the B&W stuff he's been doing with Robin Snyder over the years.

Why So Blu?

I'm not necessarily talking about the spotlight. It doesn't seem like had friends or family and was actually discovered days after his death. It doesn't seem like he had a social circle or anything. I understand living a solitary lifestyle but this just seems like he lived a lonely one by choice.

Giantrobo

RIP Mr Ditko

will travel

Thank You Steve Ditko for creating: The Question, Creeper, and Shade The Changing Man.

Rest In Peace!

Josh-da-man

The Comics Journal has an interesting and lengthy article on Ditko and his career.

http://www.tcj.com/steve-ditko-1927-2018/

Trevor

As often the case with tcj, the comments are interesting too.

Why So Blu?

That's a great article, but yeah, he was a Rand follower, so that drops him down a couple of notches. Great artist, strange person. No pun intended.

rexinnih

I was surprised that he was still alive. RIP Mr. Ditko.

PhantomStranger

Stan Lee has made some remarks in light of Ditko's passing.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...reator-1127073

movieguru

Ben Cooper's eventually had a licensing deal with Marvel to make halloween costumes for many of their characters. Maybe that was more lucrative to them then suing Marvel at the time.

movieguru

He may have had some kind of mental issues beyond depression. He seemed to have anger issues. If you look at some of his letters he hand wrote to fans that are being sold on Ebay right now, he appeared to be very resentful and in generally not very friendly.

B5Erik

Wow. If you watch that video clip from Twitter that was embedded in that story Stan sounds really weak and tired. Time has definitely caught up with Stan.

It would be a shame to lose both Steve AND Stan in the same year. I hope that doesn't happen.

But it is nice to see and hear Stan make those comments about Steve. I think Stan realized over time what huge contributions Steve and Jack made, and his comments about them really changed in the 90's. Stan had brilliant ideas and concepts, and Steve and Jack gave those ideas stunning visual form.

digidoh

Brian Cronin at Comic Book Resources says Ditko was not a recluse. He just didn't give interviews or wanted his photo taken, but he did socialize with co-workers beyond what was needed to earn a living.

https://www.cbr.com/steve-ditko-recluse-truth/

Ringmaster

It's hard to believe he wasn't a recluse when his body wasn't discovered until 2 days after he died.

TheDude

The man was 90 years old for fuck's sake - so it makes sense that he wasn't found until after he died. No family, and probably many of his friends/peers had already passed. Though a lot may disagree with me, I don't find this sad at all. He lived life on his own terms - good for him.

Also - he was fortunate to be able to take care of himself at his age without having to be in a nursing home/assisted living facility.
I've done volunteer work in nursing homes over the years, and there are people a hell of lot younger than him that can't take care of their basic needs.

PhantomStranger

Unless you have had many children, most people living into their 90s often die having outlived everyone important in their life. It's one of the burdens of living longer than your peers and friends.

Ringmaster

I didn't say it wasn't impossible he wasn't a recluse. It's just sad that the man had a reputation for being ornary and reclusive and he wasn't found until 2 days later.

Red Hood

The Ditko state has filed Copyright Terminations for Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. Although I'm all for creators getting their fair share among other things, this just feels like a cash grab by Ditko's brother. Also, Steve never went after Marvel in regards to his creations due to his belief that he was fairly compensated, he signed a contract and knew the terms. I'm pretty sure the Ditko state will end up settling with Disney/Marvel but this may be one of the reasons why both Peter Parker and Stephen Strange are being written out of comic books right now.

Red Hood

Like expected, Marvel has sued the Ditko state

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...170243643.html