tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post532986407687584238..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: It's a Fine Line: The Amazing Spider-Man, part 1Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-34032947233176062712011-02-15T18:05:16.595-06:002011-02-15T18:05:16.595-06:00Hi, Karen,
Responding late to this, but regarding...Hi, Karen, <br />Responding late to this, but regarding your statement that "Ditko didn't actually design Spider-Man's look -- that was the omni-present Jack Kirby's work", from what I've read, Kirby's design was never published and was quite different from the iconic version, which was indeed designed by Steve Ditko. Kirby's unused design apparently included buccaneer boots and half-covered mask (similar to Captain America's costume), along with a ring by which Peter Parker transformed himself into Spiderman and a gun with which he shot his webbing. Ditko noted to Lee that the premise was verrrrry similar to that of the Fly, which Kirby & his former partner Joe Simon had worked on for another company a few years before. And indeed, the Fly was a revision of a spidery character Simon had initially come up with (but never saw print). <br />So, ultimately, it seems Lee & Kirby were brainstorming for a new character to add to their superhero roster, which at this point only had the FF and the Hulk (you might include Ant-Man, but Hank Pym hadn't been fitted out with a costume and gotten his regular series yet). Kirby likely came up with the ideas for both Thor and Spiderman, contrary to what Lee wrote in Origins of Marvel Comics (just a few years before, a Kirby one-shot Thor story had been published by DC, so both ideas had been floating around for some time). Both were accepted, but Stan rejected Kirby's version of Spiderman and it was left to Ditko to revise him, which I'm sure most Spidey fans will agree was a good thing! Kirby's vision was great for the FF & Thor, among many others, but ill-suited for Spider-Man as we came to know him. <br />Of course, Kirby did do that first Spidey cover that adorned Amazing Fantasy #15, but that was a revision of Ditko's original version. Kirby did once claim to have designed Spider-Man's iconic costume, but later admitted he was wrong and publicly apologized to Ditko. <br />BTW, in one of his very few public statements, Ditko discussed how he decided Spider-Man should have a mask that completely covered his face as a means to hide his youthfulness. In Kirby's version, that didn't matter because Peter was transformed by the ring from a skinny kid into a muscular adult (hmm, very similar to the original Captain Marvel, not to mention Thor, even if Donald Blake was a skinny adult rather than a kid).Fred W. Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602124919964053532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-29753095089109940682010-11-08T20:38:52.427-06:002010-11-08T20:38:52.427-06:00In our concurrent poll, John Romita Sr. won by a l...In our concurrent poll, John Romita Sr. won by a landslide as your favorite Spider-Man artist, with Steve Ditko coming in a distant second. Thanks for voting!Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17032477453891087135noreply@blogger.com