There was a thoroughly fascinating BBC documentary on YouTube a few days ago (broken into seven parts) about reclusive genius Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spiderman. Oh, don't bother looking for it there now, it's already been pulled for legal reasons.
Mr. Ditko basically walked away from Spiderman at the top of his game, never explaining his reasons for quitting. Ditko continued working in the mainstream comic book industry until 1998 or so, but he was never able to recapture the magic. He has refused to give interviews or make public appearances since the late 1960s, and only a handful of photos of him are known to exist publicly. The purpose of the documentary, as you may have surmised, is to find Steve Ditko. Do they? I'll never tell.
Aren't you sorry you missed it? Aren't you glad I saved it while I could? Flatulence Takes Practice!
You'll need a player to watch locally. I like FLV Player. (And it seems to work best if you open the player and then drag the file into it.)
4 comments:
Jay, thanks for this. Unfortunately I don't have the time or inclination to download the player, yadda, yadda, yadda. So tell me already, WHAT HAPPENS???
Okay, but first I must issue the requisite ... SPOILER ALERT!
Near the end of the show, they track the comic book legend to his NY apartment. The host of the documentary calls him outside the building and Ditko politely tells him to fuck off. The host, along with his assistant, decides to go in anyway (without cameras or any recording equipment), reasoning that if they've come this far ...
Surprisingly, the 79 year old Ditko lets them in and talks to them for 25 minutes, answering all questions and giving the guys some comics from his personal collection.
The host is beside himself when he reappears for the cameras back outside the building, and admits that, while he didn't get to show the audience the big finale he wanted, he is thrilled to have spoken with one of his comic book idols.
Great! Thanks, dick!
Man, I thought Lurker would be all over this one ...
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