LizzieMaine
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Althought I'm about as far from Ditko politically as it's possible to get -- in his later years he was a militant Objectivist -- he was also, indisputably, a comics genius, and I never read a story of his that wasn't worth my time.
One has haunted my memory my whole life -- when I was very young I came across a pile of old Charlton "Strange Suspense Stories" comics at my grandparents' house. I don';t know whose they were, or why they were there, but it was a rainy day so I read them. They were full of Ditko stories, including one that really stuck in my mind.
This futuristic scientist type spent his whole life trying to develop a device that could scan time and view the future, and had a cabal of rich men funding the project. They were getting impatient with him, and warned him if he didn't show them something soon, they were done with the project. Finally, he got his device to work -- and saw a world under the control of a global dictatorship run by the men who were his backers, who had used his device to further their plans of conquest. In this future world he himself was hailed as the greatest scientest of all time and lived in wealth and privilege as a trusted advisor to the ruling council. He watched it all unfold and then turned off his machine just as his backers returned demanding a report. "I'm afraid it doesn't work," he told them. "I'm afraid it'll never work."
I must've been seven or eight years old when I read that comic, but I've never forgotten that one story. It was only about six pages long, but the layout and the facial expressions and just the general flow of storytelling made more of an impression on me than any comic I've ever read. It was the first time I realized that comics could be more than just "funnybooks," and I have Steve Ditko to thank for it. May he rest in peace.
One has haunted my memory my whole life -- when I was very young I came across a pile of old Charlton "Strange Suspense Stories" comics at my grandparents' house. I don';t know whose they were, or why they were there, but it was a rainy day so I read them. They were full of Ditko stories, including one that really stuck in my mind.
This futuristic scientist type spent his whole life trying to develop a device that could scan time and view the future, and had a cabal of rich men funding the project. They were getting impatient with him, and warned him if he didn't show them something soon, they were done with the project. Finally, he got his device to work -- and saw a world under the control of a global dictatorship run by the men who were his backers, who had used his device to further their plans of conquest. In this future world he himself was hailed as the greatest scientest of all time and lived in wealth and privilege as a trusted advisor to the ruling council. He watched it all unfold and then turned off his machine just as his backers returned demanding a report. "I'm afraid it doesn't work," he told them. "I'm afraid it'll never work."
I must've been seven or eight years old when I read that comic, but I've never forgotten that one story. It was only about six pages long, but the layout and the facial expressions and just the general flow of storytelling made more of an impression on me than any comic I've ever read. It was the first time I realized that comics could be more than just "funnybooks," and I have Steve Ditko to thank for it. May he rest in peace.