DITKO UNLEASHED: A Steve Ditko exhibition in Palma De Mallorca (Of All Places)

So there's currently an exhibition on a selection of Steve Ditko's work here in Palma. Why Palma, I haven't the slightest idea - but I'm not going to ask questions about an exhibition on one of my biggest inspirations on my doorstep.

What I've always loved about his work is the awkwardness in which he draws characters. This is famously what got him the Spider-Man gig, and being able to look at these up close is such a delight. It's one of those things that makes you want to immediately draw over and over, using pens and markmaking and brush strokes to create the illusion of something being there. There was a selection of work there that I didn't even know existed - a collection of horror comics where he expertly uses ink wash to eerie effect. There's original art from the first Dr Strange comic and the famous Spider-Man scene where he's underneath a bunch of debris, barely escaping with his life. There's even a Fantastic Four story that he's inked, with none other than Jack Kirby having done the pencils. Real Life Kirby art! It's really a special exhibition.

Looking at this exhibition and reading up on Ditko has also made me appreciate the characters more, especially Dr Strange and Spider-Man, and part of that is because of the kind of man Ditko is in terms of both his art and his political opinions. Dr Strange is pretty cool, not just because he's the 'Sorcerer Supreme' who travels through dimensions protecting the Earth from forces we cannot physically or mentally comprehend, but also because he's a well-known recluse living in Manhattan who makes his living from his chosen craft, and is rather humble about it to the common person.

In other words, he's Steve Ditko.

People who need his services make their way towards Strange, and he does his job. I started thinking about Ghostbusters while looking at the pages of the first Strange comic. Ghostbusters is about shlubby blue-collar workers trying to get an extermination business off the ground, and they're so intertwined with 80's New York. The supernatural stuff that happens is really fun but the way that it's structured is that they just want to provide this service, and they're constantly being outed as con-men, hiring others who just want a job and aren't too invested in the details, environmentalists, city council etc.

Here's a great review by Red Letter Media - they also do a great commentary track on Ghostbusters 2.

Dr Strange's first issue deals with a guy making his way to Strange because he needs help with the supernatural, like a freelancer being approached with a job proposal. I would love to see Dr Strange having to deal with similar stuff in his Manhattan Sanctum.
"In this electrifying issue, Dr Strange tackles the horrors of invoices!"
"Dr Strange, I need your help with an interdimensional portal opening inside my ribcage! I don't have any money for this job but I can help give you some exposure, yeah?"

After reading this article about Ditko, I learnt more about his objectivism, and this added a new layer onto Spider-man for me. Everyone knows that Spider-man is a famous superhero, but people forget that the first Spider-man story isn't about a kid who becomes a superhero - it's about an average lonely nerd who gets superpowers, and then chases a career in wrestling. He then indirectly causes family tragedy through inaction and self-interest, and becomes a hero out of guilt. Peter Parker is like a tortured loner who, if he wanted to, would find it incredibly easy to throw away the costume and just make a ton of money. If it wasn't for his deep-rooted emotional attachment for loved ones and commitment to responsibility, regardless of his crushing burden to sacrifice a comfortable life of self-interest, it would be hard to say if he would be a likeable character at all. That was probably because of Stan Lee that he's a likeable and good-hearted character, with Ditko adding this extra depth.
It's interesting because Ditko has mentioned that a hero cannot be villainous in any way or else they are not a hero, even though most of Stan Lee's characters deal with being very well aware of the moral choices they are confronted with. Mr A, another Ditko creation, believes people are only good or evil, and would certainly be after Peter Parker for his active choice to not stop the wrestling burglar. Perhaps this is Ditko's idea for Spider-man, a way of exploring his own perspective on life by co-creating a hero who does a bad thing, but who is not a bad person. Who can say, since Ditko will never tell.

Whether or not Ditko or Lee had more influence on these characters seems to be pretty up in the air, and considering one of them is a recluse and the other is essentially a cartoon mascot, maybe nobody will ever know for sure. Either way, the exhibition is here until January, and it's well worth checking out.