As much as many people feel that Spider-Man is one of the seminal superheroes of all time, I don't think you can say that the version of the character that most of us are familiar with really emulate the Steve Ditko version of the character all that much. Spider-Man is very much Stan Lee's character (especially since most of the more soap-operatic aspects of the character came into play after Ditko packed up his artboard and moved full time into Ayn Rand Land).
That isn't to say that Stan and Steve didn't create a character that stands on his own and has come to typify a certain kind of comic book all on it's own tho:
This is a CLASSIC story, folks - and well worth taking a look at.
you just made my day. I spent this morning (well, part of it, anyway), my last day at work, reading that fantastic bit of wonderful! Now I want to read more. I swear, i could just sit and read comics all day!!! :)
Once in an interview Roz Kirby said that all of Diko's characters,for some reason, looked like they were Polish. Jack heard thi and started laughing and said "Rozzie - what kinda name do you think Ditko is? All of my characters look Jewish!"
Actually, from what I understand, Ditko never actually articulated what his issue with Lee was, but rather just walked in one day and said "That's it - I'm quitting". To this day Lee says he doesn't know if it was something in particular, or if it was just Lee being Good Ol Garroulous Stan and Ditko being a guy who was opposed to that.
Blake lives here in Toronto.
I was disappointed with THE ADVENTURES OF CAVALIER AND CLAY to the point where I haven't actually finished it. What I would *strongly* recommend before you read the Chabon is to read "Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book" by Gerard Jones because, I swear to God, Eric, the truth really is stranger than the fiction in this case. That book is PACKED with A-One stories about the origins of the comics industry.
stanleyleiber has recommended that book to me a number of times, but I've never gotten around to picking it up.
I have a book here by Ronin Ro called "Tales To Astonish", about the early Marvel days, but haven't gotten around to that one either (I'm currently deep in the new "Young Trudeau" biography.) I didn't realize Blake was Toronto-bound. Was did you think of his book?
On another Golden Age note, today I picked up the 'econo' Superman Archives Vol.1. Those issues were huge! I can't wait to sink my teeth into em.
And by the by, Mister Joe, you should receive Skidoo in a matter of days.
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