8 comics heroes that show Steve Ditko is more than just Spider-Man
With the new Amazing Spider-Man film and a recoloring of the original Amazing Fantasy #15 released recently, it's easy to think of Steve Ditko solely as the man who co-created the wall-crawling teenaged superhero Peter Parker.
But Ditko is responsible for many a famous, heroic face. Here are 8 examples of major players Steve Ditko either created or helped co-create.
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Captain Atom Appearing first in Space Adventures #33 (1960), Allen Adam was just a normal technician until fate (and a runaway rocket) saw him atomized in the Earthâs upper atmosphere. Astonishingly able to reform his body, he was transformed into the super-powered ⦠Captain Atom!
Doctor Strange Once the finest surgeon in America, selfish Doctor Stephen Strange was struck down in a car accident leaving him unable to ever operate again. Destitute, Strange sought out the Ancient One hoping to be healed. Instead he learned the mystic arts and took up the Ancient One's battle against the forces of black magic.
The Question Famous investigative journalist Vic Sage teamed with professor Aristotle Rodor to become the man without a face. With the aid of a dangerous substance, Pseudoderm, Sage is able to transform his features and brutally fight crime wherever it may live.
The Creeper A Gotham City TV host turned security officer, Jack Ryder undergoes a transformation while trying to rescue scientist, Dr. Yatz. Seriously wounded in the attempt, Ryder is saved by Yatz's secret serum and a mysterious device which, together, grant him the power to transform into the wild, yellow-skinned super strong crime fighter, the Creeper!
Hawk and Dove Hot-headed conservative Hank Hall and pacifist liberal Don Hall were as different as two brothers can be. Did that make them enemies? No! Instead, when gifted strength and agility beyond that of mortal men from the Lords of Chaos and Order, Hank and Don team up as costumed vigilantes to fight crime as ... Hawk and Dove!
The Destructor Unlikely hero Jay Hunter began as a mob loyalist, but when his scientist father is struck down and killed by those he once trusted, Hunter must become something more. Luckily for Jay, his father gifted him a super serum granting him the strength and acute senses he would need to take down the mob as ⦠the Destructor!
Stalker Being an immortal ain't all it's cracked up to be, a fact the warrior Stalker knows all too well. Seeking out power and eternal life, he faces off against the Demon Lord, Dgrth, but in defeating him, Stalker loses his own soul. Now Stalker faces a seemingly endless quest to regain the soul he lost.
Mr. A Similar to the Question, Rex Graine starts out as a journalist. Not satisfied with simply reporting, Graine dons a steel, expressionless mask and a completely white suit to become Mr. A. This character was the personification of Ditko's fascination with Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and represents one of the few characters written, drawn, and owned by Ditko.