STRANGE AND STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO
STRANGE AND STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO . Blake Bell. 2008; Fantagraphics. Steve Ditko is the comic book artist and writer who is most famous for the co-creation of Spider-Man , as well as Dr. Strange , with Stan Lee. Ditko became obsessed with writer Ayn Rand -- especially her novel The Fountainhead -- and its principles, and it had a profound effect on his life and work. Like the architect hero of Fountainhead , Ditko felt he had to remain true to his principles, and was loathe to make money doing what he saw as crap -- anything that didn't smack of Ayn Rand. Unfortunately, most readers did not have the same interest in Rand, and Ditko rejected suggestions to make his stories more readable even as his art suffered, everything becoming subordinate to his "messages." Occasionally Ditko would try more or less mainstream work, such as Marvel's short-lived Speedball comic, as well as Hawk and Dove and Shade, the...