Comments on: Comic Book Urban Legends Minutiae

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:39:25 +0000

Completely fair complaint, Greg.

If I knew it would be showing up on Google searches years later, I'd have excised it back then.

I completely buy your story, and I have since you e-mailed me about it many moons ago.

As I noted in the comments, I realize that calling someone a liar is a bad thing, which is why I was looking for more verification - which you gave me some time ago.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

By: Greg Theakston

Greg Theakston — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:53:41 +0000

Brian,
I very much dislike it when my name and "liar" as used in the same sentence.
I have more credits than I need.
Lie?
Also, it was just Steve and me, so don't look for third-party verification.
Or even better, take it or leave it.
I'm sick of seeing "...or did Theakston flat out lie?" every time I Google myself.
Regards,
GT

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Wed, 31 May 2006 23:06:53 +0000

Thanks a lot for the effort, Jim! Russ' info is definitely interesting. Perhaps Ditko was doing a one-time only deal with Theakston there? Sorta like putting on a show? I could probably amend the "Urban Legend" to "Ditko once used a piece of original art as a cutting board," rather than the current "Ditko uses his original art as cutting boards." That may alleviate people's concerns a bit, no?

By: MacQuarrie

MacQuarrie — Wed, 31 May 2006 04:44:18 +0000

Jungle Jim Engel (a great cartoonist, by the way) says this:

My friend Russ Maheras has an ongoing relationship with Ditko both by mail, and in-person visits, and only speaks of him in highly complimentary terms.

I asked Russ about this, and he said that the studio HE's visited is not the same one Theakston did. He said there was a standard cutting board surface, and no piles of original art.

I think this story might fall into that "unverified" category....

By: MacQuarrie

MacQuarrie — Mon, 29 May 2006 07:47:32 +0000

I asked at OddballComics.com about the Ditko story, since there are some folks there who know people in contact with him...

Here's one reply:

Greg Theakston (the source of this particular story) has repeated if often in various forums. I have no reason to believe it's not true.

Another friend of mine, an original art collector with a highly developed sense of morality, wrote a letter to Ditko upon purchasing an early Spider-Man page. This friend offered to pay Ditko a percentage of his purchase price so that he (Ditko) would receive something from the sale of his artwork.

My friend in turn received a scathing letter from Ditko basically telling him to keep his money and disavowing any ownership of artwork he had already been paid for.

That said, everyone that I know personally who has MET Ditko says he is a pleasant, friendly guy.

It's easy to confuse the man's personality with his beliefs.

Sounds like it may be legit.

By: Emptyeye

Emptyeye — Sat, 27 May 2006 16:56:30 +0000

It depends, I guess. From what I remember of poking around Snopes, "undetermined" is what they use to mean "So vague that it COULD have happened, SOMEtime, SOMEwhere...." From what I can tell, and this may be by your design, but not a lot of the published ones ended up being that potentially vague.

By: Corey

Corey — Fri, 26 May 2006 20:09:38 +0000

Sure, let's see the "undetermined". Someone with more information might read it and be able to help come to a definite conclusion.