Unpublished Ditko

Steve Ditko’s creativity never took a break. He was constantly creating and even re-creating characters and concepts, both his own characters and other established ones. For every Ditko character that was published, there were a dozen others that never saw the light of day beyond his studio.

I wanted to tap some of that Ditko creative energy. In the early 1980s, after spending many hours talking with Steve in his studio, I created a quintet of features I thought would be just perfect for Steve to illustrate. We worked so well together and I felt I understood exactly what sort of characters and heroes he’d like to draw. He agreed to take a look at what I had up my sleeve.

I loved Steve’s early Marvel work in the pre-hero days, in titles such as Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Journey Into Mystery. Some of my favorites were those involving children. I loved the way Steve drew children. Ditko kids looks like something out of the old