I wish this documentary would get released in the US!

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » July 1st, 2009, 10:40 pm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1113732/

The name of the documentary linked to above is "In Search of Steve Ditko" (2007). It was a documentary produced by a British fan of Steve Ditko -- arguably the third most important artist in the history of American comics. (The number one artist in American comics was Jack Kirby and I'd say number two was probably Carmine Infantino.) I wish I could get this legally on DVD in R1 instead of having to watch lousy Flash videos of it!

Steve Ditko was the co-creator of Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and bunch of other characters at Marvel Comics in the 1960s. Besides creating the two previously named heroes, he was the designer of the vast majority of Spider-Man's classic rogues' gallery including but not limited to The Vulture, Dr. Octopus, The Green Goblin, The Chameleon, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, and The Sandman as well as the supporting Spider-Man characters of Aunt May and Uncle Ben, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, Liz Allen, Gwen Stacy, Norman and Harry Osborne, and many others. The major storylines of the first 38 issues and first two annuals of the Amazing Spider-Man were either plotted or co-plotted by Steve Ditko. Those same issues also happen to be the most heavily referenced and recycled storylines of the character, too.

Although he worked for a shorter time on The Hulk, Ditko designed and introduced The Leader during his run. His run on Dr. Strange was notable for redefining how magic was depicted in comics as well as for introducing a surreal almost psychedelic feel to comics.

After he left Marvel following increasing tension with Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee over story credits and direction on Spider-Man, Ditko created The Blue Beetle and The Question for Charlton Comics (later mostly absorbed by DC Comics in the mid-1980s). He returned to his earlier creation, Captain Atom, and redesigned the character's outfit and redefined his power levels as well. Leaving Charlton after it collapsed, Ditko created The Creeper as well as Hawk and Dove for DC Comics.

Ditko retired from comics for the most part in the late 1980s but still occasionally writes columns and does a strip or two once in a while. Very few photographs exist of him with the latest dating to the early 1960s and only one known audio recording exists. Ditko refuses to be interviewed on camera or on recorded tape and has done interviews through correspondence...

I'm including this documentary here just for people who happen to look out for cheap videos on DVD --
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314724/

I've recently seen copies of "Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters & Marvels" popping up at the discount store outlet, Big Lots. Big Lots specializes in selling heavily marked-down returns from other chainstores. Although this video is old (2002) and it was released around the same time as the first Spider-Man movie on DVD -- in fact it was packed in the deluxe collector's edition boxset with the movie! --, it's well worth getting for the measly price of $3. Big Lots sells unopened copies of DVDs. These are NOT recycled rental store copies.

Some of Stan Lee's memories are suspect and he does have a tendency to promote himself at the expense of others. In spite of that, Stan has a certain (albeit cheesy) charm and it's hard to hate him.

If you're a Kevin Smith fan, you're in for a treat. He's the one who gets to interview Stan at a comic book store!

Post by **Ben** » July 9th, 2009, 6:45 am

In Search Of Steve Ditko is a waste of time, George.

The overhyped Jonathan Ross (huge TV host here) doesn't do anything other than spend the BBC's money on learning little new on the artist, with a smack in the face to the viewer who has sat through this pandering (to Ross' ego) mess when the ultimate "interview" takes place behind closed doors at the end.

Seriously, we are trailed and trailed an interview with the guy, and he won't let the camera crew in. In Ross goes, to emerge 2 minutes later with a smug look of "I got to meet him and you don't", and he says he can't divulge the information and the program ends.

So Ross got his fanboy trip to Noo Yoik all paid for him, and didn't actually turn in a show that warranted the expense. I actually wanred Rand off this last year at Comic-Con as he was interested in it from the way it was set-up, but I'm honestly suprised you found anything of interest in it. You've actually printed more here than what we learn from Ross' poor research and suspect mini-chat with Stan Lee.

Phooey, phoney, and bah!

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » July 9th, 2009, 8:35 am

Ditko's a strange fellow, Ben. I've read some of his recent writings and he's very into Ayn Rand and Objectivism. His writing is basically ---- indecipherable and next-to-impossible to follow at times. It frankly gave me headaches.

Many people in the arts are off their rocker, to be honest.

Ditko doesn't allow himself to be photographed or audio-recorded. The latest samples we have of him date back to the 1960s!

He's probably the comic book equivalent of Gloria Swanson.

I know you don't care for Ross but he got to do something that a bunch of Spider-Man fans would have liked to do. Ditko probably didn't want to meet the guy but figured the one-on-one moments off-camera would get the guy off his back otherwise he probably would have been hounded which is the last thing Ditko would have wanted, period.

Contrast this to Stan Lee who's constantly available for comment and is very much a glutton for self-publicity.

As much as I like Stan in general, he does have some negative aspects to his make-up like anybody else. It's just that his are so exaggerated that he often overshadows the contributions of his artistic collaborators -- like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby.

Spider-Man was NEVER the same after Steve Ditko left that title after issue #38 of the original Amazing Spider-Man comic. As slick as the John Romita, Sr. run was after Ditko's, the really great Spidey villains and the bulk of the memorable supporting characters were introduced during Ditko's run. He had a lot more to do with the foundation and success of that series and the the character's overall mythos and success than is generally acknowledged in the mainstream.

Frankly, Stan's "writing" of Spider-Man post-Ditko is flat and just doesn't have the energy of the 38 monthly issues and 2 annuals he did with Ditko.

I seriously consider Ditko at least the second or third most important artist in American comics after Jack Kirby. Maybe people don't like his particular art style (I appreciate his quirkiness and thought he was perfect on Spider-Man and the early Doctor Strange) but he was inarguably valuable to the development of the Marvel flawed archetypal character best personified by Spider-Man. American superhero comics were never the same after that character was introduced in 1962...

The American Library of Congress considered the original inked artwork from Amazing Fantasy # 15 -- Spider-Man's first published appearance -- worthy to be preserved after it was donated by its previous owner. That owner, a Ditko fan, contacted Steve Ditko to get his okay to donate the artwork to LOC.

Post by **Ben** » July 9th, 2009, 10:29 am

Absolutely not saying anything about Ditko or Lee. And not even saying much about Ross.

My point was that this documentary was a waste of space and did not do what it set out - or indeed promised - to deliver.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » July 9th, 2009, 2:26 pm

I see your point...

Still, with so little about Ditko out there I think there are people who'd be interested in a good documentary about him.

Obviously you don't think it delivers and I've only seen small snippets of it online.

Post by **Ben** » July 10th, 2009, 3:56 pm

GeorgeC wrote:I think there are people who'd be interested in a good documentary about him.

Exactly. But this is not it.

I'd be interested to see what you think when you've seen the whole thing in one sitting and feel as let down as I was when it played on TV here a couple of years ago. If I still had it on my drive I would burn you off a DVD, but it was so lame I just got angry and frustrated with it and wiped it off.

You might want to keep checking the BBC iPlayer, for it might pop up there, and there was some talk of a DVD release in the trade announcements a while back, but now I can't find any trace of it, even in the UK.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » July 10th, 2009, 8:16 pm

I've seen little bits and pieces of the "documentary" on YouTube. Not the whole thing, however. The night I skimmed it, I wasn't in a mood to sit in front o my computer for two hours!

On the other hand, sometimes the documentary business amuses whether it's for the right reasons or not.

I had a history teacher in college who was doing research about the history of the White Castle fast food company. It's a well-established chain in the Midwest, particularly Ohio.

I forgot about that for a few years until I was watching a documentary about American food on the History Channel. I was surprised and amazed to see my college professor on TV talking about White Castle! I remembered he'd talked about it years ago and chuckled to think he got some exposure for doing a paper or two on hamburgers!

I felt glad for him...

Post by **Ben** » July 11th, 2009, 11:27 am

Two hours?

It ran only 50 minutes when played over here. I can't imaging watching that for two hours and <I>still</I> being let down at the end. It would probably be worse, since that's more time wasted not reaching a satisfying conclusion!