Artist Steve Ditko, who co-created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Stan Lee, has died. He was 90 and was found dead in his apartment on the 29th of June this year.
In 1961, Steve Ditko and Stan Lee created Spider-Man. Lee, the editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics, gave Ditko the assignment after he wasn’t satisfied with Jack Kirby’s idea of a teen superhero with spider powers. Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy No. 15. The comic was an unexpected hit, and then came The Amazing Spider-Man which was well taken by the viewers as well.
Marvel and DC Comics both paid tribute to Steve Ditko through official statements on their respective websites. The president of Marvel Entertainment, Dan Buckley, said that Ditko“ transformed the industry and the Marvel Universe, and his legacy will never be forgotten,” while the company’s Chief Creative Officer, Joe Quesada said that the artist “blessed us with gorgeous art, fantastical stories, heroic characters and a mystical persona worthy of some of his greatest creations.” Other writers and artists, from Neil Gaiman to Mike Mignola to Alex Ross have paid their own tributes online. “We didn’t approach him. He’s like J.D. Salinger. He is private and has intentionally stayed out of the spotlight like J.D. Salinger,” Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson told THR in 2016. “I hope he goes to see the movie, wherever he is, because I think we paid homage to his work.” Tom Holland, who has played Spider-Man in three movies since 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, remembered Ditko on Twitter Saturday, writing, “We all want to leave our mark on the world – this guy crushed it. He made so many people so happy and changed lives – most of all, mine! Thank you, Steve – your life lives on man, thank you.”
The artist created one of the biggest Marvel hits and he will surely be in our hearts forever.