Here is the biography of Steve Ditko:
Steve Ditko was an American comics writer and artist of Rusyn descent. He is best known for co-creating the superheroes Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange for Marvel Comics. He created many other characters for various publishing companies.
Ditko was born in 1927 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His parents were master carpenter Stephen Ditko and his homemaker wife Anna. Both parents were first-generation American Rusyn immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Steve was the second of four children born to the Ditko family, and he was raised as a typical member of a working-class family.
Ditko's interest in comic strips and comic books began at an early age. His father, a fan of newspaper comic strips, introduced him to the work of comic strip artists of the 1930s and 1940s. The Ditko family's favorite comic strip was the adventure series "Prince Valiant" by Hal Foster.
Ditko received his secondary education at the Greater Johnstown High School and graduated in 1945. After his graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army and served in Allied-occupied Germany. During his military service, he drew comic strips for a military newspaper, which was his first comics-related work.
After his discharge from the Army, Ditko had the option to receive a college education, thanks to the G.I. Bill. He chose to enroll at the art school "Cartoonists and Illustrators School" (later known as the School of Visual Arts) in New York City. While studying at art school, Ditko found a mentor in veteran comic book artist Jerry Robinson, who encouraged him to write his own stories and create his own characters.
Ditko's first professional story was "Stretching Things" for Stanmor Publications, which was published in 1954. His second professional story, but first published work, was the romance story "Paper Romance" for Gillmor Magazines in 1953.
In the early 1960s, Stan Lee wanted to create a new teenage hero, called Spider-Man. He first gained permission to create such a story by his publisher Martin Goodman and then gave the assignment to Ditko, who was the company's second most prominent artist at the time. Ditko's version of the character was accepted by Lee.
Ditko created Spider-Man's original costume, which included a face mask that hid the character's facial features, a costume with no shoes that would allow the character to cling on walls, and a hidden wrist-shooter. Ditko also created the character's "web gimmick" and his spider signal.
Ditko's work on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange was highly acclaimed and helped establish him as one of the most popular and influential comic book artists of his time. He continued to work for Marvel Comics until 1966, when he left the company to return to Charlton Comics.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Ditko worked for various comic book publishers, including DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Pacific Comics. He created a number of characters, including the Creeper, Hawk and Dove, and Shade the Changing Man.
In the 1990s, Ditko worked for Valiant Comics and contributed stories for its stable of characters. He also contributed an Iron Man and Dr. Doom crossover story in the anthology Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8.
Ditko continued to work in the comic book industry until his death in 2018, at the age of 90.
