Okay, so if anyone hasn't seen this yet, there's a provocative little essay by a lady named Amber Stanton, daughter of the fetish artist Eric Stanton who once shared studio space with Steve Ditko. I'll cut to the short and skinny for you guys: she says her dad claims to have designed Spider-Man. First I've heard of this claim, but this is getting a little out of hand.

Stan Lee says he "created" Spider-Man when he only came up with the name and the initial general idea of a troubled teen becoming a superhero.

Jack Kirby claimed he created Spider-Man, citing his cover to Amazing Adult Fantasy #15 as his evidence.

Then I vaguely seem to recall something about Joe Simon saying he created Spider-Man. I think it was in his 1990 autobiography, which I have not read.

Now there's this claim on the table that Eric Stanton created the design of Spider-Man's costume and web shooters. After the look of bondage gear, no less. Oh, and Aunt May is based on his real-life aunt, as well.


Man, I wish Ditko would just talk to some news outlet and put his side on record.

I thought you created Spider-Man.

That would be a pretty amazing feat, considering I wasn't born yet.

Ditko seems not to care at this point. About any of it -- the credit, the money. I'd be surprised if he had anything related to Spider-Man in his office or apartment.

I've read the various Lee and Kirby stories and concluded that much of what made Spider-Man a unique and compelling character was Ditko's creation, leavened with Lee's pop sensibility.

I've never heard of Eric Stanton. I can't help but be skeptical about a claim, 50 years later, by one of his children, that he's the true father of Spider-Man.

He's supposedly still got the original art and uses it as a cutting mat. If he doesn't destroy it all before he dies, whoever cleans out his effects is going to become very wealthy.



That's my thoughts, too. It's surprising how Amber's piece is tossed into the middle of the book with no support other than a couple of photos of her dad with Ditko, circa 1959. I doubt the full text of her three-page essay is available online yet, but if it doesn't show up soon I may key it in here.

I volunteer my services if someone will give me a heads up when he drops.

I dunno if Ditko had children. Some accounts say he did; some say he didn't. If he did, and if they survive him, they might conceivably wage their own war with Marvel/Disney/Sony upon their father's passing to see what the estate is entitled to.

Of course, from what little information I've seen, it sounds like Marvel has made throat-clearing noises to Ditko over the years about offering compensation, and he's been uninterested.

I admire creators like Steve Ditko and Alan Moore who want to produce stories their way, who are comfortable telling publishers to buzz off, who leave gobs of money on the table if they don't care for a project and who don't rest on their laurels.

If I were in their shoes, I'd be an enormous whore.

$1 million for a cheesy-ass WATCHMEN sequel? Sure, where do I sign! Another $1 million for the movie rights? See you at the red-carpet premiere, baby! $500,000 for the action figure collection? Save me a Nite-Owl ship with working lights!

Ditko refuses to talk about Spider-Man or pretty much anything else. Me, I'd be more like Len Wein, shamelessly wheezing and clambering up onto endless creator panels at comics conventions in my crappy Wolverine shirts to remind the world that I was co-creator of the Old Canucklehead back in 1970-whatever.

Ditko had children? That's a surprise, I've never heard that before. Lemme google...

Okay, apparently Will Eisner said Ditko had a son in the Eisner/Miller interview book? How about that. Yeah, after Steve Ditko dies, maybe we will be hearing from his heirs. They probably will have even less of a leg to stand on than the Kirby/Siegel/Shuster families, though.

If Ditko even has a will, it probably says "Pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps, ungrateful parasite progeny! You feel entitled to the rewards of my labor just because you outlived me? Think again, crybabies!"

I have heard in at least one place that the story about Ditko using his own old art as a cutting board is a myth, though.

Also, apparently Ditko did write at some length about his opinions on the creation of Spider-Man, in multiple issues of Robin Snyder's newsletter, "The Comics." Hard to track down now, but I'd like to read that some day.