Who was Steve Ditko? Spider-Man and Doctor Strange co-creator featured in coming Stan Lee: The Final Chapter documentary

Steve Ditko was no ordinary bicycle comic rule book creative person; he created Spider-Man and dr. Unusual with Marvel, two of the legends. Now, Ditko is featured in Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, a documentary directed by Jon Bolerjack. But would Ditko have wanted this recognition?

Notably, every year, when Ditko visited his hometown, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from his tiny New York City apartment, there was one rule—no one talked about work. His brother Patrick would remind the kids of this, per a Rolling Stone report. To his nieces and nephews, Ditko wasn’t a famous comic book artist. He was simply the funny uncle who took Christmas traditions seriously—especially making bobalki, a Slovak holiday dish.

“We were told not to pester him, so we didn’t,” his niece Joanna Opela told Rolling Stone in 2024. “The things that he wanted to share with us he did.” But one thing that was always around in their homes? Comics—boxes of them, sent straight from Steve’s Manhattan apartment.

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Ditko was born in 1927 and started filling in comics in the early 1950s, working with Captain America creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Soon, he shifted to Charlton Comics, where he created the character Captain Atom in 1960 with artist Reynold Brown. He also created The Question and Blue Beetle – characters both of which would go on to be DC mainstays.

But it was at Marvel (then Atlas Comics) where Ditko made history. Teaming up with writer Stan Lee, he crafted the first Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, bringing Spider-Man to life. His influence on the character was immense—Ditko designed Peter Parker’s iconic costume, co-created legendary villains like the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, and gave Spider-Man the grounded, everyday struggles that made him relatable. He also helped introduce Doctor Strange.

But, Stan Lee’s relationship with Ditko grew bitterly tense. Ditko left Marvel in 1966, largely over disputes concerning credit for creator and creative direction. Later, he became more free creatively at Charlton and DC, co-creating Hawk and Dove and The Creeper. In 1967, he introduced Mr. A, a vigilante influenced by Objectivist philosophy, one of which he shaped much of his individual work.

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Ditko rarely gave interviews, never attended conventions, and worked out of a modest office in Midtown Manhattan until his passing in 2018.

“Socially, he could be difficult… He had so many rigid walls around him about certain things that people didn’t understand,” Squirrel Girl co-creator Will Murray told Rolling Stone.

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