Comics Steve Ditko Documentary?

[Kirk Langstrom]

Anybody aware of this? I'd love to see it. Ditko never seems to get any press, being such a recluse and all....



"Finally got to view the “In Search Of Steve Ditko” documentary by British TV commentator Jonathan Ross the other night. Jonathan was kind enough to drop off a DVD of it at our Comicon booth, and I found it immensely entertaining. It was a riveting hour-long look at Ditko’s career that I hope will soon be widely seen in the US. He manages to expose Ditko to the world in a way that’s respectful to comics fans, while keeping it lively enough for the general public to enjoy. I can’t say enough good things about it; you get Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee, John Romita, Flo Steinberg, and others on-camera talking about Ditko and his work, and yes, Jonathan does actually go in search of the elusive Mr. Ditko at his New York studio. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but do seek it out if it’s available on YouTube or elsewhere online. (Nice to see Jack Kirby Quarterly’s Chrissie Harper listed as “Researcher” on the documentary’s credits; near as I could tell, Jonathan got all his facts right on-screen, no doubt largely due to Chrissie’s help.) "

I'd love to see this!

 

[Themanofbat]

Sounds awesome...

 

[Web-Head408]

This sound's great, especially since Steve Ditko is my favorite Spider-Man artist!

 

[Green Goblin 1964]

I want to see this...It's going to be on youtube? Hell yeah I'm gooing to watch it! nice find Cap'n

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Awesome! I would love to see this.

 

[Dangerous]

Wow that sounds amazing Cap, like most other web heads I have always wanted to hear more from Ditko, and wished he was not a recluse.
..What he thinks of Spider-Man today, and if he had stayed on what he would have wanted to do. I know he wanted PP to stay 16 forever which I'm not down with.

'Wossy' as he is know in Blighty (he can't pronounce his r's), has long let his Spider-fandom be known on the chat show he hosts. Although recently I found out that his forte is only the first 100 issues or so, and he also got a couple of issues mixed up recently when trying to impress Tobey and Kirsten on his show.

He claimed Spidey sprouted 4 extra arms in issue 101 when we all know it was the last page of 100. I laughed, he got something else wrong too.. I forget.

I'm waffling now.
I'm going to go seek his new docu online and if I can't find it I'm going to pester you to upload it.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Wow that sounds amazing Cap, like most other web heads I have always wanted to hear more from Ditko, and wished he was not a recluse.
..What he thinks of Spider-Man today, and if he had stayed on what he would have wanted to do. I know he wanted PP to stay 16 forever which I'm not down with.

'Wossy' as he is know in Blighty (he can't pronounce his r's), has long let his Spider-fandom be known on the chat show he hosts. Although recently I found out that his forte is only the first 100 issues or so, and he also got a couple of issues mixed up recently when trying to impress Tobey and Kirsten on his show.

He claimed Spidey sprouted 4 extra arms in issue 101 when we all know it was the last page of 100. I laughed, he got something else wrong too.. I forget.

I'm waffling now.
I'm going to go seek his new docu online and if I can't find it I'm going to pester you to upload it.

I havent found it yet myself..in fact i really sort of just stumbled over that brief article while searching for some Dr. Strange stuff to discuss on the Marvel movie forums... but im going to keep checking youtube periodically, and hopefully it will turn up sooner or later...

If any of you find it first, please let me know.

 

[Themanofbat]

There was a good Ditko thread in Spidey-World a few years ago (circa 2002) with a decent link to a Steve Ditko chat (I think the interviewer got as far as a "very brief" phone call and that was it) that has probably been long since deleted by the powers that be.

 

[Donald Thomas]

Aloha,
Let's all stay on the look out for this or anything else on Steve Ditko. As Spider-Man fans and collectors we can NEVER give enough praise to this man. Despite his own eccentricities, he is the CO CREATOR of everything that we now hold sacred and good about the character Spider-Man.
Spidey rules with Ditko and Lee

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Aloha,
Let's all stay on the look out for this or anything else on Steve Ditko. As Spider-Man fans and collectors we can NEVER give enough praise to this man. Despite his own eccentricities, he is the CO CREATOR of everything that we now hold sacred and good about the character Spider-Man.
Spidey rules with Ditko and Lee

Very nice post and I completley agree. Steve Ditko is a man that deserves to be praised and cheered for. He is one of my favorite Spidey artists.

 

[Web-Head408]

Aloha,
Let's all stay on the look out for this or anything else on Steve Ditko. As Spider-Man fans and collectors we can NEVER give enough praise to this man. Despite his own eccentricities, he is the CO CREATOR of everything that we now hold sacred and good about the character Spider-Man.
Spidey rules with Ditko and Lee

I 100% agree, I loved everything about Ditko's Spider-Man, his design for the costume was so powerful and great that it is still used today!

 

[spidertwit]

It's on in the UK on the 18th of september, I think. BBC 4.

 

[Dangerous]

I havent found it yet myself..in fact i really sort of just stumbled over that brief article while searching for some Dr. Strange stuff to discuss on the Marvel movie forums... but im going to keep checking youtube periodically, and hopefully it will turn up sooner or later...

If any of you find it first, please let me know.

Oh right ok, I’m up to speed.

It's on in the UK on the 18th of september, I think. BBC 4.

If that’s true- that great news.

 

[wolvie2020]

Mark Millar poted a thread about this on millarworld.tv about a month or so ago about this.

The documentary is spearheaded by Jonathon Ross, (I love that guy!)

Apparently Ross contacted Millar himself, (I think Millar may even be in it,) and Millar already said it's going to be great. He's also excited by the fact that Ross is raising awareness for Ditko.

That guy's art is superb

 

[wolvie2020]

I 100% agree, I loved everything about Ditko's Spider-Man, his design for the costume was so powerful and great that it is still used today!

That fact really does astound me. Every other mainstream comic book character has really changed their look from their initial appearances.

Ditko really created something special with Spidey, so much so that all that pretty much happens over the years is that artists just put their 'stamp,' on the costume, with no major tweaks.

And if the costume DOES change, it always goes back to the red and blues, which is usually planned anyhow. (They even had that plan with the black costume, it was just so popular that they decided to keep it.)

 

[Dangerous]

can't wait for this program, a few days ago I almost wet myself w/ excitement thinking about it. I'm hope that it has an interview w/ the man himself at the end.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

That would be great, but i doubt it....Ditko has turned Wizard Magazine down for interviews several times in the past.

 

[wolvie2020]

That would be great, but i doubt it....Ditko has turned Wizard Magazine down for interviews several times in the past.

You know, I seem to remember the article insinuating there will be footage of Ditko...

We can only hope

 

[The Shredder]

Good god I would absolutely LOVE to see this!

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

You know, I seem to remember the article insinuating there will be footage of Ditko...

We can only hope

Well, yeah. I would LOVE to hear his spin on things...

 

[Dangerous]

Unfortunatley, as it turns out Ditko declined to be in this new documentary.
I learned this after looking up his entry on wikipedia. It's a real shame he is such a recluse.

Here's a quote from his wiki page-

Ditko resides in New York City as of 2006. He has refused to give interviews or make public appearances since the 1960s, explaining, "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". He has, however, contributed numerous essays to Synder's fanzine The Comics.

That's great and all, but what he obviously does not care about- is that we are very interested in his opinion and perspective on all things Spider-Man related.

He has been quoted saying words to the effect that Stan Lee came up with the name Spider-Man, and he came up w/ the costume, web shooters, and everything else. If Ditko never gives interviews I guess we'll never know the real deal.

There is an opinion amungst those in the know that Stan Lee is a bit of an ass-hole in terms of taking all the credit for his co creations and also not paying his fellow co creators what they were due. Most notably Jack Kirby got completley screwed and never recived the royalties he was owed for the characters he created w/ Lee.

Did Stan screw Ditko in the same way?, most likely. Unless Ditko gives an interview before he dies we might never know.

Anyway it seems this show is on UK screens next month, so it will be interesting to see if this subject is addressed.
It is certainly one of the areas I am most interested in regarding Ditko.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

There is an opinion amungst those in the know that Stan Lee is a bit of an ass-hole in terms of taking all the credit for his co creations and also not paying his fellow co creators what they were due. Most notably Jack Kirby got completley screwed and never recived the royalties he was owed for the characters he created w/ Lee.

Did Stan screw Ditko in the same way?, most likely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvE6JJN0_is

I've followed Stan Lee's career very closely, and dont recall him taking full credit for any of his early work at Marvel, other than conceptually.

Also; Stan was an employee of Marvel, just like Steve, Jack, and all the others...he wasnt responsible for "paying his fellow co-creators what they were due"...

 

[Donald Thomas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvE6JJN0_is

I've followed Stan Lee's career very closely, and dont recall him taking full credit for any of his early work at Marvel, other than conceptually.

Also; Stan was an employee of Marvel, just like Steve, Jack, and all the others...he wasnt responsible for "paying his fellow co-creators what they were due"...

Aloha,
I think you must also remember that Stan had to sue Marvel several years ago, to get the money that HE was due. Ditko didn't want to reveal Green Goblin's identity. That caused the rift among other things.Please people, the folks that run Marvel comics today, are rarely if EVER mentioned on these boards. The power is much higher up that Joe Q. or JMS or Stan Lee.
Spidey rules

 

[wolvie2020]

Aloha,
I think you must also remember that Stan had to sue Marvel several years ago, to get the money that HE was due. Ditko didn't want to reveal Green Goblin's identity. That caused the rift among other things.Please people, the folks that run Marvel comics today, are rarely if EVER mentioned on these boards. The power is much higher up that Joe Q. or JMS or Stan Lee.
Spidey rules

Yea, as a rule back in the day, there was no such thing as royaltieswow: ) Everyone got their wage.

I've followed Stan a lot through my life too, and EVERY TIME someone referes to him as the 'creator,' of any character, he's very quick to point out that he's a co-creator.

I actually remember an interview with JR Sr, where he was asked about this. JR pointed out that Stan has always been very charasmatic, people always wanted to interview him, as he's always been a better interview, (go to youtube and search for Jack Kirby for proof.) Naturally, when thihs happens, the public at large consider him, when they think of his co-creations.

Not his fault, but I can totally see why other people may get pissed off.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Yea, as a rule back in the day, there was no such thing as royaltieswow: ) Everyone got their wage.

I've followed Stan a lot through my life too, and EVERY TIME someone referes to him as the 'creator,' of any character, he's very quick to point out that he's a co-creator.

I actually remember an interview with JR Sr, where he was asked about this. JR pointed out that Stan has always been very charasmatic, people always wanted to interview him, as he's always been a better interview, (go to youtube and search for Jack Kirby for proof.) Naturally, when thihs happens, the public at large consider him, when they think of his co-creations.

Not his fault, but I can totally see why other people may get pissed off.

Absolutely. For ever Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko that complain about Stan, there's a John Romita, Gene Colan, or Sal Buscema right there who praise him.


I think it's all a matter of ego.