How do you memorialize a person who was principally opposed to publicity? That’s the current unenviable task faced by the Steve Ditko estate, spearheaded by the artist’s very motivated and pleasant nephew, Mark Ditko. Many online posters who never met the great artist are under the belief that because [Steve] Ditko avoided fandom, he was a recluse and would prefer to be forgotten. Hence, the occasional clickbait headlines like "Ditko Remembered Against His Wishes" or some such nonsense. Unfortunately, “official” history tends to be written by the forces that wield the greater public relations firm. If the Ditko estate were to listen to online trolls like this, it would be very likely that Ditko’s contributions as a plotter, co-writer, and visual designer of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange would eventually be erased. After a generation or two, the “real fans” of Ditko would all be gone and he would be reduced to a footnote on Wikipedia, with the greater creative glory given to former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee. Not to say that Lee deserves no credit, but definitely not all or most of it. Unfortunately, the Ditko estate may face some adversity from both Stan Lee fans and the “real” Ditko fans, which makes arranging the Hometown Heroes - Steve Ditko Exhibit and Ditko 2021 Mini-Con at the Bottle Works in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, an especially brave decision.
In a recent Bleeding Cool article, the Ditko estate received some backlash for proposing a collected reprint of Mr. A. stories against Steve’s wishes. Mark Ditko was recently a guest on the Comic Book Historians channel discussing little-known details about his uncle, including what Steve’s thoughts were on the matter. Steve was never married and never had kids, but fortunately he had a very curious nephew, Mark, to exchange many letters and share many conversations with, bestowing precious knowledge that he has chosen to share with the world. Mark explained that Steve felt that people would likely not be interested in Mr. A., but stated in a letter, “He is one character from the past that I would like to see in the present and the future.” It is dramatic misunderstandings like that those enunciated in the Bleeding Cool article that make it understandable why Steve Ditko avoided fandom. It wasn’t long ago that another online news site accused him of stealing his Spider-Man costume idea from the 1950s Ben Cooper Halloween costume, which is ridiculous, especially when viewing that yellow paper bag monstrosity in color. Yet Ditko was accused of this nonsense, and occasionally a social media poster brings it up as if they have uncovered the Ark of the Covenant.
Fans are far more focused on promoting the memory of the other Marvel co-creator, Jack Kirby. The Kirby estate is rightfully revered and respected for following through on their father’s wishes and winning some financial security in a settlement with Disney. However, Steve Ditko’s personal Ayn Randian beliefs and avoidance of fandom have made the efforts of the Ditko estate to remember their uncle more complicated. Even Ditko’s later comics, published with his friend Robin Snyder, were done for the love of the form and not for the money. In fact, Steve Ditko received multiple offers from various comic outlets, including Marvel, that would have resulted in financial security, and they were generally turned down. He never drew Spider-Man or Doctor Strange after the 1960s, and when I asked Mark if Steve had received money for the Spider-Man movies, he replied that Steve would only accept money that would compensate him for the entirety of royalty income from the start of Spider-Man, and rejected the buy-off. So, should the Ditko estate reprint Mr. A. and also use the proceeds to promote their uncle’s memory? One hopes that this is the current plan. The alternatives are to not do anything and let the work vanish from popular culture, or to eventually release the artwork as public domain. Both of these options are terrible, because in one scenario we would see a unique artist and creator eventually be forgotten, and in the other, every rabid comic fan would be reprinting the material for a quick dollar. The Ditkos themselves are by nature not greedy, so it will likely take a great deal of discussion to point them all in the same direction.
My friendship with Mark goes back a few years to the San Diego Comic-Con, where we met after several months of Facebook exchanges. We started chatting on the phone and we finally had the time for an interview at Comic Book Historians to learn about his uncle Steve, as well as to promote the two-month Bottle Works exhibit, which ended on September 11, 2021, with a festive Ditko comic convention. There were no accordions involved in the festivity, but in the age of COVID-19, humans getting together is welcome, and I was intent on showing my support for both Steve Ditko’s memory and the Ditko estate. Originally, Matthew Lamb, the creative director for the Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, reached out to Mark Ditko once he realized Steve Ditko was from Johnstown, born in 1927. Unfortunately, Johnstown is generally known for two things, the great and lesser-great floods of 1889 and 1977, as well as its proximity to the crash site for United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. It really was about time that the city was remembered for something else, and so the time came for images of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange’s co-creator to build some pride and morale. The event became an ambitious project, and with the Ditko estate’s cooperation, developed over a couple of years from the idea stage to its full implementation.
The exhibit promised to display Steve Ditko’s original art and photos, which was a definite draw. Guests’ panels and courses were organized, including former Marvel Comics Executive Editor Carl Potts. Potts is also a teacher at the School of Visual Arts, and he presented his lecture on Sequential Visual Storytelling. Khoi Pham, comic artist and cover illustrator, presented “Drawing with Intention”. Arlen Schumer returned to the convention circuit with his Steve Ditko Visual Lecture, which informed as well as entertained. Javier Hernandez, writer-artist of El Muerto and co-founder of the Latino Comics Expo, presented a brief history of Latino creators in the American comics market in “Culture & Comics”. He also produced and edited his You Don’t Know Ditko zine for the event, which was adorned with Ditko-inspired art. Robert Jeschonek has written pieces for DC Comics, USA TODAY, and various science fiction works. We spoke at his booth, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he is currently working on a Steve Ditko Family and Friends-style biography with the Ditko estate. He has already interviewed various professionals who worked with Ditko, including Tom DeFalco and Mort Todd; however, he did share that there was an occasional pro that refused to be interviewed saying, “Steve wouldn’t want that.” That was another reminder that professionally remembering Steve Ditko in a formal work setting can get complicated.
The convention and final exhibit day were held on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, so flight delays were to be expected. The population dips every year in Johnstown and currently measures 18,775 people, which explains why there were no taxis at the airport and only one identifiable Uber ride. Some of the buildings appeared abandoned. Despite the dwindling number of citizens, there are still approximately 40 Catholic churches, many of which are Byzantine, suggesting a strong Eastern European populace. While the Uber driver attempted to figure out how to use his cell phone, my imagination drummed up a young Steve Ditko walking along the road to find the local market or gas station to thumb through the nearest Batman by his creative idol, Jerry Robinson, or Will Eisner's The Spirit insert in the local newspaper. This was indeed a town with memories of simpler times. The Bottle Works building is a quaintly tall, yellow, artistic building with an interesting shape and design. It definitely stands out and I was excited to walk in.
The exhibit had a gift shop area and a tall Spider-Man cardboard stand welcoming visitors. To Spider-Man’s left were woodcuts from Ditko’s younger years that he had fashioned, revealing a hands-on artistic inclination that most fans aren’t familiar with. To Spider-Man’s right was the entry to a series of rooms, one filled with Ditko’s collection of his own comic book works. Ditko was known to always focus on his next artistic assignment because it was the act of working and improving that meant more to him than focusing on the past. That being said, it is refreshing to know that he likely enjoyed seeing that his work was published and kept copies of his own comic books. Another room had copies of original Ditko Spider-Man pencil and ink art, loaned to the museum by comic artist Steve Leialoha. Ditko’s lesser-known art pages were also present, including some from his 1987 Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos comic written by Jo Duffy.
Another room displayed a wall of newspaper clippings, including a 1950 Johnstown Tribune showing a section devoted to Stephen J. Ditko as “Most Likely to Succeed.” The same display also showed his certificate of completion from the Johnstown Veterans Trade School in 1950, which he attended after he served in the military from 1945-1948 and before studying under Jerry Robinson at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York City in 1950, as well as with Mort Meskin in 1953 at the Simon and Kirby studio. His commercial art assignments were shown on the wall next to his education certificates. There were also two photos of a younger Steve Ditko dressed as an Arab sheik with a sword which I assume were used as reference material for a drawing. Ditko fan art donated for auction was in the last room on the right. There was a smaller room on the left of the photo stand which Mark Ditko used for his engineering work office. He moved his computer workstation from California to the exhibit for its two-month entirety, sacrificing his time and money to promote his uncle’s memory and function as a good host for whomever attended.
The building next door, Ace’s banquet hall, was used as the space to host the Ditko convention. It was a welcome sight to see booths, comics and comic art for sale, as well as a Steve Ditko panel including Potts, Hernandez, Schumer, Jeschonek, Mark Ditko, and his brother, Pat, each with their own take on the artist. Mark had a healthy balance of excitement and stress over the festivities at the convention, which makes sense considering how much time and energy he put into it. Javier Hernandez recommended everyone read Ditko’s later works and also ran into memorable fans at his table, including a couple from the local Rusyn Byzantine Catholic group. He reported that they felt Steve Ditko likely based his illustrated Spider-Man and Doctor Strange hands after one of the Saints in the Byzantine Catholic religion. After some research, it became apparent to me that the paintings of St. Nicholas’ right hand follow this same very distinct pattern. Arlen Schumer’s main concern was that Johnstown needs to continue using Ditko as their inspiration to revitalize the city. My longtime friend and former senior vice president at MGM, David Armstrong, was in attendance, and he mentioned that his two favorite stages of Ditko’s work were his 1950s Charlton era, for its atmospheric cinematic approach, and the late 1960s Warren ink wash era. Personally, I love Ditko's 1950s period work with Joe Gill at Charlton. I asked Mark about Gill and he mentioned that Steve loved to work with him. They communicated well and had little editorial oversight, which explained why Steve kept going back to Charlton.
When I finally got around to chatting further with the Ditkos, I found them to all be generally soft-spoken, analytical, and creative. Mark is an engineer who has written his own texts on the subject, and his father, Patrick, is an architect. Mark certainly has taken it upon himself to study his uncle’s snail mail exchanges, essays published under Robin Snyder, and his comics work. My impression is that his uncle would be proud of his nephew’s journey to become the ultimate Steve Ditko historian. Mark’s brother, Pat, lives in Arizona, and enjoys his favorite pastime of hiking. (Mark also has an older brother, Stephen Paul, and two sisters, Joanna and Helena, whom I did not meet.) Both Mark and Pat regaled me with stories of Uncle Steve being very competitive during the family pinochle game. Mark mentioned that Uncle Steve kept a collection of every article he had seen on his character, Spider-Man, which meant he kept tabs on the character’s influence in the news. The final days of Steve’s life were discussed, and some of the public details appear to be online on social media. Steve ended up in an inpatient hospital setting, suffering from severe cardiovascular health problems. His number was up, and he likely knew it. Rather than reach out to any friends and family, he left the hospital, possibly against medical advice, and went home, stepping into his rent-controlled apartment. Likely looking around one last time, he died there on the floor, on his own terms. I also spoke briefly with Patrick, Steve’s brother, who is eight years younger than Steve and likely knows his brother better than most people. As much as he could share, Patrick was noticeably not present on stage during the Ditko panel. He watched closely from the audience, and his discussions with me were more about old age and being comfortable in one’s own skin. The impression he gave me was that he may also share complicated feelings of how to express or share his brother’s memory. Again, celebrating and remembering Steve Ditko becomes complex.
The day ended with an auction of the Steve Ditko fan art. Most people that stayed got something, and the most surprising piece to me looked like the cover of a romance novel – a painting with a husky, dark-haired man with a short, trimmed beard, reclined against a couch. His hairy chest stood out in stark contrast to his leopard pants and reptile skin pillow. Any observer would have to look carefully at the top left to see a part of Spider-Man’s mask as a trophy on the wall, only to reveal that the figure is Kraven the Hunter, painted by Kyle Reidmiller. Most pieces sold for roughly $200-300, and the proceeds went to supporting the Steve Ditko Public Art Initiative and the Hero Initiative.
Altogether, the trip brought back the familiar comradery of a small comics convention, but also provided anyone visiting for the first time the opportunity to learn more about Steve Ditko the person, through his relatives and friends. I hope there are more of these, and not just in Johnstown once a year, but in multiple sites around the country. In order for Steve Ditko to be remembered for generations to come, it will take the Ditko estate, comics professionals, and fans (yes, even the “real” ones) maintaining a collective, focused approach that runs parallel to that for Jack Kirby. The Walt Disney Company will make sure everyone remembers Stan Lee, but it’s going to take the rest of us to push Ditko and Kirby into mainstream recognition. Let’s not allow neurosis or clickbait to overcome this important mission.
* * *
All photos by Alex Grand.
