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WORDS AbigAil chAndlerFor a very influential creator,
little is known about Steve ditko’s
personal life – which is how he
wanted it. his work was all that
mattered, and when that work
includes comic book characters
that are still shaping storytelling to
this day, why would you focus on
anything else?
he had an extraordinary run of
creativity in the Sixties, a period
during which he worked at Marvel
and co-created Spider-Man and
doctor Strange with Stan lee. ditko
created the famous Spider-Man
suit, web shooters and backstory,
stepping in after Jack Kirby failed
to deliver a design that worked.
during ditko’s Spider-Man run
from 1962-1966, many iconic
Spider-Man villains including
doctor Octopus and the greengoblin were created.
Spidey wasn’t his only major
Marvel contribution – he also
created doctor Strange, and
worked on characters like The
incredible hulk and iron Man,
contributing to their enduring looks,
backstories and powers.
ditko also created The creeper
and hawk and dove for dc,
and created the charlton comics
characters captain Atom and The
Question, both of whom were
later folded into dc, and who
formed the basis for dr Manhattan
and rorschach in Watchmen. he
continued creating and working
on comics up until his death from a
heart attack at the age of 90, going
on to create Shade, The changing
Man for dc in 1977 and Squirrel
girl for Marvel in 1992.WORDS AbigAil chAndlerWith over 1700 stories,
essays and screenplays, as well
as multiple awards, to his name,
harlan ellison is one of the most
prolific SF writers ever – as well
as one of the most famously
pugnacious. despite never being
comfortable with being labelled
a ‘science fiction writer’, his
powerful writing – which he
called ‘magic realism’, and
which others termed ‘speculative
fiction’ – was memorably political
and impassioned
he won his first of ten (and a
half) hugo Awards in 1966 for his
short story ‘‘repent, harlequin!’
Said The Ticktockman’. during the
Sixties he wrote a huge amount
of short fiction as well as writing
for TV shows including The Outer
limits, The Man From Uncle, and,most famously, the iconic Star
Trek: The Original Series episode
‘The city On The edge Of Forever’.
later, he wrote for The Twilight
Zone and was a consultant on
babylon 5. his most famous works
are probably his award-winning
short story ‘i have no Mouth, And
i Must Scream’ – later adapted into
both a videogame and a radio
play – and his post-apocalyptic
novella A boy And his dog, which
was turned into a film in 1975.
he also edited two of the most
influential sci-fi anthologies of all
time – dangerous Visions and
Again, dangerous Visions.
he would also fiercely resist
any project that tried to rip off his
ideas – his lawsuit against The
Terminator ended with him being
acknowledged in the film’s credits.Harlan Ellison
1934-
stEvE Ditko
1927-
© Pip r. lagenta